AIDAnova, the first ship in the class, in 2018 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | |
Operators | |
Preceded by |
|
Built | 2017–2023 |
In service | 2018–present |
Planned | 11 |
Building | 0 |
Completed | 9 |
Active | 9 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Cruise ship |
Tonnage | 183,900 GT |
Displacement | 80,000 |
Length | 1,115 ft (340 m) |
Installed power | 4x MaK 16VM46DF, 57.2 MW total |
Propulsion | Two ABB azimuth thrusters, 37 MW total |
The Excellence class, [1] [2] [3] including the sub-classes Helios class [4] and XL or Excel class, [5] is a class of cruise ships ordered by Carnival Corporation & plc for its subsidiary brands AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line. The ships are being constructed by Meyer Werft at their shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and Meyer Turku at their shipyard in Turku, Finland. The first, AIDAnova, entered service for AIDA Cruises in 2018.
In March 2015, Carnival Corporation entered into a strategic partnership with Meyer Werft to build new ships between 2018 and 2022. [6] In June 2015, four ships were ordered for delivery between 2019 and 2020. [7] [8] In September 2016, three more ships were ordered for Carnival Cruise Line and P&O Cruises for delivery in 2020 and 2022. [9] In February 2024, Carnival Cruise Line placed an order for another Excellence class ship for delivery in 2027.
The Excellence class are the first cruise ships in the world to be dual fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and traditional fuel oil, which is intended to make them more environmentally friendly than traditional, diesel-powered ships. [8] Each ship is expected to cost $950 million. [10]
The first four ships in the class suffered delivery delays. The delays of AIDAnova, Costa Smeralda and Mardi Gras were attributed to the ships being the first to be fueled by LNG, design complexities, difficulties coordinating subcontractors, and the large size of the ships. [3] The delay of Iona was due to a temporary suspension of operations by P&O Cruises, and slower construction progress, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [11] Mardi Gras was later delayed until 2021, also due to the pandemic. [12]
Ship | Subclass | Built | Operator | Builder | Gross tonnage | Flag | IMO number | Notes | Image | Newbuilding no. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AIDAnova | Helios class [13] | 2018 | AIDA Cruises | Meyer Werft | 183,858 [14] | Italy | 9781865 | World's first LNG-powered cruise ship. [15] | S.696 | |
Costa Smeralda | 2019 | Costa Cruises | Meyer Turku | 185,010 [16] | Italy | 9781889 | NB 1394 | |||
Iona | Excel class [5] | 2020 | P&O Cruises | Meyer Werft | 184,089 [17] | United Kingdom | 9826548 | S.710 | ||
Mardi Gras | Excel class [18] | 2020 | Carnival Cruise Line | Meyer Turku | 181,808 [19] | Bahamas | 9837444 | NB 1396 | ||
AIDAcosma | Helios class [13] | 2021 | AIDA Cruises | Meyer Werft | 183,900 [10] | Italy | 9781877 | Originally planned for 2020. | S.709 | |
Costa Toscana | 2021 | Costa Cruises | Meyer Turku | 186,364 [10] | Italy | 9781891 | Originally planned for 2020. | NB 1395 | ||
Carnival Celebration [20] | Excel class [18] | 2022 | Carnival Cruise Line | Meyer Turku | 183,521 [21] | Bahamas | 9837456 | Construction started on January 13, 2021. [22] | NB 1397 | |
Arvia [23] | Excel class [5] | 2022 | P&O Cruises | Meyer Werft | 185,581 [24] | United Kingdom | 9849693 | Construction started on February 22, 2021. [25] | S.716 | |
Carnival Jubilee [26] | Excel class | 2023 | Carnival Cruise Line | Meyer Werft | 183,200 [27] | 9851737 | Originally ordered for AIDA Cruises. [28] Construction started on March 18, 2022. [29] | S.717 [30] | ||
TBA | Excel class | 2027 | Carnival Cruise Line | Meyer Werft | 180,000 | Order announced February 13, 2024. [31] first order by the Carnival Corporation after five years [32] | ||||
TBA | Excel class | 2028 | Carnival Cruise Line | Meyer Werft | 180,000 | Order announced March 26, 2024. [33] |
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This trademark funnel design is built onto the line's ships. Carnival is ranked first on the list of largest cruise lines based on passengers carried annually.
Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across nine cruise line brands and one joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival Corporation, and UK-based Carnival plc – which function as one entity. Carnival Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, whereas Carnival plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with an ADR listing on the NYSE. Carnival is listed in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices.
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), previously known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passengers counts. In 2018, Royal Caribbean International controlled 19.2% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 14.0% by revenue. As of January 2024, the line operates 28 ships and has three additional ships on order.
Costa Crociere S.p.A., operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1948 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily caters to the Italian cruise market, but the company's 10 ships, which all sail under the Italian flag, provide itineraries sailing to countries globally.
P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transport company P&O and was founded in 1977. Along with P&O Cruises Australia, another former subsidiary of P&O, it has the oldest heritage of any cruise line in the world, dating to P&O's first passenger operations in 1837.
AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market; as seagoing "club resorts", AIDA ships have on-board amenities and facilities designed to attract younger, more active vacationers. As of September 2023, the cruise line operates 11 ships.
TUI Cruises is a cruise line based in Germany. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Group, both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company.
Meyer Turku Oy is a Finnish shipbuilding company located in Turku, Finland Proper. The company is fully owned by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft GmbH. The main products are cruise ships and cruiseferries.
Carnival Celebration is an Excel-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is Carnival's second vessel of the fleet's Excel class, a subclass of Carnival Corporation & plc's Excellence class. At 183,521 GT, she is the largest ship in Carnival's fleet. Unlike her sister ship, Mardi Gras, as well as the original Celebration, this ship is named Carnival Celebration using the Carnival prefix. Her name was announced on 21 August 2020. She was ordered on 6 November 2016 from the Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku. She features the worlds first roller coaster at sea, named Bolt. Construction started on 13 January 2021 and was completed on 2 November 2022.
MS Iona is an Excellence-class cruise ship in service for P&O Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg, she was delivered in October 2020 at a cost of £730 million. At 184,089 GT, Iona became the largest cruise ship commissioned for P&O and the British market upon delivery until sister ship Arvia was delivered in 2022. Iona was floated out on 18 February 2020 and delivered eight months later on 9 October amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed her debut by more than a year until 7 August 2021, when she sailed her maiden voyage from Southampton.
The Icon class is a class of cruise ships ordered by Royal Caribbean International to be built by Meyer Turku in Turku, Finland. As of 2024 this class is the largest cruise ship class ever constructed. Royal Caribbean plans to have three Icon-class ships by 2026.
Carnival Panorama is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. After Carnival finalized the ship's order with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in December 2016, the vessel had her keel laid in January 2018. She was formally delivered in October 2019 as the last Vista-class vessel and as the flagship of the fleet; she has served in the latter role until the Mardi Gras debuted in 2021. Measuring 133,868 GT and 323 m long, she is the largest of Carnival's three Vista-class vessels. Since her debut in December 2019, she has been homeported at the Port of Long Beach and sails week-long itineraries to the Mexican Riviera.
AIDAnova is a cruise ship built by Meyer Werft GmbH in Papenburg, Germany under contract from Carnival Corporation for AIDA Cruises. The first of the new Excellence-class ships, she was launched on 21 August 2018 and delivered on 12 December 2018.
Costa Smeralda is an Excellence-class cruise ship currently operated by Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. At 185,010 gross tonnage (GT), she is the largest ship commissioned for and to ever operate for Costa, and is the sixth-largest cruise ship in the world, as of 2019. Costa Smeralda is also the second cruise ship in the world to be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), making Costa the second cruise line to operate a ship running on LNG, after sister brand, AIDA Cruises, became the first in 2018. Costa Smeralda has a sister ship, Costa Toscana, that was delivered in 2021. Costa Smeralda's inaugural cruise sailed on 21 December 2019.
Costa Firenze is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Costa Cruises. She was constructed at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera, and entered service in 2021 as a sister ship to Costa Venezia, which was transferred to Carnival Cruise Line and renamed Carnival Venezia under the Costa by Carnival concept. This ship will follow suit in 2024 under the name Carnival Firenze.
Mardi Gras is an Excellence-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is Carnival's lead vessel of the fleet's Excel-class, a subclass of the Excellence class, and was built by Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku in Turku, Finland. She also has often been incorrectly referred to as Carnival Mardi Gras, though Carnival has specified that her name does not include the "Carnival" prefix, a first since the Fantasy-class vessels originally omitted "Carnival" in their names upon their debuts. Mardi Gras has been subject to numerous delays in her construction, delivery, and debut amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent impact on tourism. First scheduled for a summer 2020 delivery and debut, she was delivered to Carnival on 18 December 2020. After her debut was postponed on numerous occasions, Mardi Gras began operating weekly sailings on 31 July 2021.
MS Arvia is an Excellence-class cruise ship in service for P&O Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. The ship was built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg and left the shipyard on 5 November 2022. She was delivered on 9 December 2022 to P&O Cruises.