Carnival Corp has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy for a fourth cruise ship for Cunard.
Based on passenger capacity, this 113,000 gt ship will be the largest in the fleet at 3,000 pax. She is due to be delivered in 2022.
Carnival Corp’s CEO, Arnold Donald, said: “We are very pleased to announce a fourth ship for our immensely popular Cunard brand, which is also one of the most legendary brands in the entire vacation industry.
“Cunard offers a fleet of unrivalled vessels and one of the most unique travel experiences in the world, which together create an enchanting and memorable vacation for our guests.
“While today’s news helps drive Cunard’s overall strategic growth plans, we also look forward to launching this next-generation cruise ship to help meet increasing global demand and entice even more travellers to explore the Cunard experience.
“Fleet enhancement is an important part of our ongoing goal to exceed guest expectations. This includes replacing less efficient ships with more efficient vessels over time, as part of our managed capacity growth,” he said.
Cunard is currently two thirds of the way through an upgrade programme that saw $132 mill spent on the refurbishment of ‘Queen Mary 2’ in 2016 and $40 mill spent on ‘Queen Victoria’ earlier in 2017. ‘Queen Elizabeth’ is expected to undergo a similar upgrade next year.
Cunard’s senior vice president Simon Palethorpe said: “We have only recently marked the 50th anniversary of one of Cunard’s much loved ocean liners, the legendary ‘QE2’. What better way to celebrate her important role in Cunard’s past than by announcing our commitment to Cunard’s future with the commissioning of a new ship.”
