With the US market maturing, its amazing to see so many new builds being delivered this year.
The trend seems to expand into untapped markets. Royal Caribbean is "home porting" ships all over the globe. The Vision is going in South America, Rhapsody in Asia, and a whack in Europe, including a Freedom class boat in the UK. I am theorizing them building a non US income stream to pay for all the new vessels.
The article below gives a great overview of the activities this year.
Martin
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Cruise Industry set to welcome 10 newbuilds
Mike Hood, 21 January 2008 Lloyds List
A TOTAL of 10 new cruiseships will debut this year, including the very first post-panamax ships for Celebrity, MSC Cruises and P&O Cruises, as the world cruise industry goes from strength to strength, writes Mike Hood.
With the cruise market in the UK and the rest of Europe booming, it is no surprise that four of the newbuildings are specifically aimed at the European market, including the largest ship yet built for the British market, P&O Cruises’ 3,092-passenger capacity Ventura. Other ships destined for Europe include a second Sphinx-class vessel for Aida Cruises, the 2,050-passenger capacity AIDAbella; and two ships for MSC Cruises, the 3,300-passenger capacity MSC Fantasia and the 2,568-passenger capacity MSC Poesia.
This year will see Carnival Cruise Lines introduce its new
3,006-passenger capacity Carnival Splendour, Celebrity its 2,850-passenger capacity Celebrity Solstice (pictured) and Holland America Line its Signature-class 2,100-passenger capacity Eurodam.
The largest vessel to debut in 2008 will be RCCL’s 3,643-passenger capacity Independence of the Seas (pictured below) , which will operate out of the UK for the summer, while the smallest ship to enter service during the year is the as yet unnamed 210-passenger capacity newbuilding at Canada’s Irving Shipbuilding for US owner Pearl Seas Cruises. The last vessel to be delivered in 2008 will be Princess Cruises’ 3,100-passenger capacity Ruby Princess.
Four of the 10 new cruiseships for 2008 are under construction at Italy’s Fincantieri — Carnival Splendour, Eurodam, Ruby Princess and Ventura; two are being built at Aker Yards France — MSC Fantasia and MSC Poesia.
Meyer Werft Germany is building the AIDAbella and Celebrity Solstice, Aker Yards Finland is building Independence of the Seas and Irving Shipbuilding in Canada is building Pearl Seas.Labels: around the world, business, Carnival, cruise ships, Irving, RCI, shipyard
3,006-passenger capacity Carnival Splendour, Celebrity its 2,850-passenger capacity Celebrity Solstice (pictured) and Holland America Line its Signature-class 2,100-passenger capacity Eurodam.