CARNIVAL Cruise Lines has decided to go ahead with an option for a new 84,000-tonne ship to be delivered in late 2001.
It marks the first of two options that accompanied the line’s 1998 order of the 2,112-passenger Carnival Spirit, which is to enter service early next year.
The new sister ship will be named Carnival Pride. At a cost of around $375m each, the ships represent a new class of vessel, which have been dubbed the Spirit Class.
The ships will have two-level main dining rooms, fitness facilities, conference centres and wrap-around outdoor promenades. They will also be the first Carnival vessels to offer wedding chapels.
A total of 80% of the cabins on the ships will be outside, and 87% of these will offer private balconies. The ships will also have multiple swimming pools – both ships having a retractable dome for one pool.
The vessels are being built by Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland.