180,000 GRT ship will carry 5,286 passengers

Details have been revealed on Carnival’s newest ship to debut in 2020. Its size and capacity are set to rival that of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-Class, the largest ships in the world.

The new 180,000 ton Carnival mega-ship will create a new class of ships for the cruise line. When she debuts in 2020, she’ll be the first LNG powered ship in North America – this is part of Carnival’s “green cruising” initiative and the going trend for new ships due to their extremely low emissions. Steel-cutting for the ship will take place in November 2018 at Meyer-Werft shipyard in Turku, Finland. This will begin construction on the new 5,286 lower-berth ship. We can expect more details and itineraries to be released in 2019.

An agreement is underway to see this new ship home port at Port Canaveral from the new Carnival terminal that is currently under construction. Construction for the new terminal began in April this year and is due to be completed in late 2019 to early 2020, just months before the arrival of the new mega-ship. The state-of-the-art terminal is being built to handle the increasing number of passengers sailing from the port.

Terms on the agreement are to be finalised at a board meeting on the 29th of August that should allow the ship to homeport at Port Canaveral. Three other Carnival ships are currently offering here cruises year-round for the cruise line, carrying approximately 650,000 guests annually. In October, Carnival Breeze will join her three sisters to meet obvious demand in the area and further cementing Carnival as the number one cruise operator from the port.

“We are very excited about the prospects of homeporting our largest ship at Port Canaveral, a valued business partner for more than 25 years,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Easily accessible from all over the southeast with excellent facilities and friendly staff, Port Canaveral is one of our most popular and fastest-growing homeports. This fantastic new ship, coupled with our future plans for Port Canaveral, will provide guests with an unparalleled seagoing vacation experience from the minute they arrive.”

“The Port and Carnival Cruise Line have worked closely for decades building a successful partnership together. We are proud of our partners at Carnival and eager to begin this new chapter in our business relationship,” said Canaveral Port Authority Port Director and CEO Capt. John Murray. “Carnival’s commitment to Port Canaveral demonstrates their confidence in our ability to support one of the world’s most successful cruise brands. We’re excited and looking forward to having their largest and newest class of ship homeported here.”

Carnival Cruise Timeline:

• April 2018 – Work began on new Carnival terminal at Port Canaveral
• October 2018 – Carnival Breeze will homeport at Port Canaveral
• November 2018 – Steel-cutting ceremony for Carnival mega ship at Meyer-Werft shipyard in Turku, Finland
• December 2019 – Carnival Panorama, the third ship in Vista-Class, debuts
• Late 2019/ Early 2020 – New Carnival Terminal is completed
• 2020 – Carnival mega ship debut

Carnival mega-ship vs ship Symphony of the Seas