Carnival Cruise Lines Adds Another Two Ships to Fleet Expansion Plans

Carnival Cruise Line on Wednesday announced that it would be adding two additional ships to its fleet by 2023.

One will be an Excel-ship ship that was previously planned for its sister line AIDA Cruises and the other, Costa Magica, will come from Costa Cruises, another sister brand. The ships will join the fleet in late 2023 and mid-2022, respectively.

The two will join Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, two ships already announced, giving Carnival a total of 27 ships by the end of 2023.

“We are excited about these additions to our fleet which reflect the strong position that Carnival has established in the U.S., the pent-up demand we continue to see for cruise vacations, and the overall plans by Carnival Corporation to optimize capacity and growth in key markets,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. 

“While our immediate focus is on our restart of guest operations this summer, this is another cause for excitement at Carnival, and we will be announcing more detailed plans about homeports, itineraries, and ship names very soon.”

While Mardi Gras and Celebration details have already been revealed, not much is known about the two additional ships, both of which will have to go through an extensive refurb and drydock before joining Carnival.

Carnival, in its announcement, did say that “these ships bring many new amenities and features for guests, as well as environmental benefits and enhancements as Carnival continues to exceed and expand targets for emissions efficiencies.”