Carnival announces new P&O Cruises ship for 2010
Carnival Corporation has signed a letter of intent for a new 116,000-ton ship for its P&O Cruises brand.
The new €535 million vessel will have 3,076 lower passenger berths and is scheduled for delivery in spring 2010.
Built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri at its Monfalcone yard, externally the vessel will be similar to P&O Cruises’ Ventura, which is due to enter service in April 2008.
But new product features and a different interior design will be announced at a future date.
With this latest order, P&O Cruises will have a fleet of seven ships.
P&O Cruises managing director David Dingle said: “This latest order results from the strong continuing growth of the cruise market in the UK.
“Each of the new ships that we have built for Britain has increased the demand for cruising through a reputation for innovation, style and customer service.
“Our projections indicate that we will require further new capacity to meet this additional demand by 2010.”
Carnival Corporation now has 20 new ships on order, 14 of which are being constructed by Fincantieri.
The building slot at Fincantieri being used for this new P&O Cruises vessel means that a 130,000-ton newbuild for Carnival Cruise Lines due to enter service in summer 2010 will not do so until spring 2011.
Carnival chairman and CEO Micky Arison explained: “It had been our intention all along to schedule delivery of the P&O Cruises ship for 2010 and the Carnival Cruise Lines vessel for 2011.
“However, because we completed the agreement for the Carnival newbuild first, we temporarily placed it in the first available shipyard slot pending finalisation of the P&O Cruises agreement.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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