MIAMI — Carnival plans to grow its fleet by two additional ships by 2023.

The cruise line announced today that it will take delivery of an Excel-class ship that had previously been assigned to sister line AIDA Cruises that will arrive in late 2023.

Carnival will also take ownership of Costa Magica from Costa Cruises. That ship will go through a dry dock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion and join the fleet by mid-2022.

These two ships are in addition to the new capacity growth represented by Mardi Gras, Carnival’s first Excel-class, liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship which starts sailing from Port Canaveral on July 31 and sister ship, Carnival Celebration, which will be delivered and sail from Miami starting in late 2022, as part of Carnival’s 50th birthday festivities.

The addition of these four ships will bring the Carnival fleet to 27 by year-end 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 Carnival’s President, Christine Duffy. “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.”

Meanwhile Carnival’s parent company, Carnival Corporation, announced that eight of its nine brands are resuming guest operations in the U.S., Caribbean and Europe, with sailings announced on 42 ships to date through the end of fiscal year 2021. 

The lineup of currently planned sailings represents 52% of the corporation’s total fleet capacity returning by the end of the fiscal year, and builds on recent restarts in Europe from its Germany-based AIDA Cruises and Italy-based Costa Cruises brands.

Here’s a look…

Carnival Corp.’s North America-based brands:

• Carnival will resume guest cruise operations with eight ships by the end of August, including sailings out of Galveston, Miami, Port Canaveral, Long Beach and Seattle (to Alaska). Included in that roster is Mardi Gras, the line’s newest and most innovative ship, and first cruise ship in North America powered by eco-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG), with sailings from Port Canaveral starting on July 31.
• Princess Cruises expects to resume guest cruise operations in July with Alaska sailings and a series of cruises around UK coastal waters, as well as cruises out of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii and California coast starting in September.
• Holland America Line expects to resume guest cruise operations in July with Alaska sailings, followed by sailings from Greece in August, and from Italy and Spain in September, as well as sailings to Mexico, Hawaii, the California coast and the Caribbean this fall.
• Seabourn expects to resume guest cruise operations in July sailing from Greece and Barbados, along with the beginning of the Antarctica season in November.

Carnival Corp.’s Europe-based brands:

• Costa Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in May with sailings in Italy and Greece, and is now offering sailings to France and Spain in July, followed by Portugal and Turkey in September. 
• AIDA Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in March sailing in the Canary Islands, in May with sailings in Greece and Germany, and is now offering additional sailings out of Germany as well as sailings in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta from July, and the Persian Gulf from November.
• P&O Cruises (UK) will offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around UK coastal waters beginning in June, expanding to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast starting in September.
• Cunard will offer a series of cruises this summer sailing around UK coastal waters in July, followed by voyages to the Iberian coast and Canary Islands. In November, Queen Mary 2 returns to service with a combination of transatlantic crossings and Caribbean cruises.

“For all of our brands, our highest responsibility and top priorities are always compliance, environmental protection, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, our shipboard and shoreside employees, and the communities we visit,” said Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation. “We are excited to see eight of our world-leading cruise line brands sailing this summer, and to date, we’ve announced over half of our capacity returning by the end of the fiscal year, as we work to meet significant pent-up demand for cruising and get back to what we do best – serving our guests with one of the world’s most popular vacations.”