London, Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Carnival Cruises is still preparing for the start of regular operations. Three of the corporation's subsidiaries made announcements about changes to their business practises, and one of the corporation's ships was sold. Carnival Corp. is retiring older vessels from operation and moving them to routes and subsidiaries where they are more appropriate.
In March 2022, CEO Arnold Donald informed investors of his plans to decommission 3 more ships. Following this, a total of 22 ships would be withdrawn from Carnival's fleet in 2019. An abrupt increase from the pre-pandemic situation, when they were retiring 3 ships year in an effort to update their fleet.
Newer LNG-powered ships like the MARDI GRAS are filling the vacancies. The LNG-powered ships CARNIVAL CELEBRATION and CARNIVAL JUBILEE will make their fleet debuts in 2019. Additionally, Carnival Cruises bought COSTA LUMINOSA from its affiliate Costa Cruises.
According to Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, the LUMINOSA is a perfect match for the much awaited Brisbane itinerary. The ship will be delivered in November 2022 and begin operating seasonally in Brisbane, Australia, from October through April before moving to Seattle for Alaska routes from May through September.
Carnival recently retired one of its ships from its German brand AIDA, the 42,200 gross tonne, 2002-built AIDAVITA. Carnival decided to retire the ship after 20 years of service in favour of a sizeable new LNG-powered addition to their fleet.
Report by: The Decision Maker – Maritime editors)