Meyer Turku Starts Construction Of First XL Class Ship For Carnival Cruise Line

On 15 November 2018, Meyer Turku started production of the first 180,000 gross tonne cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Line.
 
The new ship will be the largest ever built for the cruise line and the first cruise ship based in North America to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

The new ship will offer a variety of never-before-seen innovations and is part of Carnival Corporation’s ‘green cruising’ design platform.
 
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said: “This new ship promises to be truly special, from its ground-breaking one-of-a-kind features to a distinctive hull painting and hull design that is both timeless and forward-thinking while paying tribute to our nearly 50-year history of making wonderful vacation memories for our guests”.
 
Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku, said: “We are extremely pleased to work together with Carnival on this large and highly innovative ship. With the first steel cutting, our efforts in designing the hull, features and interior of the ship start to take shape. We are also very proud to build the first-ever LNG using cruise ship for North American market, making this state-of-the-art green technology a reality”.

​Carnival Cruise Line has revealed a new red, white and blue hull design for the new flagship of the fleet. It is expected that the current ships in the fleet will be painted to match in the coming years.

The as-yet-unnamed ship will operate from Florida from 2020. Carnival Cruise Line is expected to reveal the name of the new ship in December 2018.
 
Details of the ships inaugural season are planned to be announced by the cruise line in January 2019, along with details of the new ship’s vary array of exciting features.
 
Meyer Turku will also construct a second XL class ship which will be delivered to Carnival Cruise Line in 2022.