Find here the answer to which are the newest cruise ships currently under construction or on order. You can jump directly to the lists of new vessels on order / under construction (2018-2027), as well as new river ships (2015-2019) and new cruiseferries (2010-2024).
Here you'll find them all - from small to really big to the ever largest cruise ships from the fleets of Royal Caribbean, NCL and MSC. So browse to know the world's major cruise ship orders for construction of brand new passenger ships, with information on their cost to build, passenger capacity, builders and shipbuilding yards.
Our list of new built cruise ships with first sailings ("Inaugural Cruises", aka "Maiden Voyages") offers simply the most special travel deals ever. These are absolutely unique offers for one-time-only events, which just like our birthdays are moments cherished for a life time. Most of the world's top cruise companies add to their fleets one newly build (or acquired) ship in every 2 to 4 years on the average.
Newest cruise ships
In the period 2015-2016, 17 new vessels were launched adding a total of 41162 passenger capacity to the worldwide industry, which was 9,1% growth, with additional USD 3,4 billion dollars in annual revenue.
By the year 2027, based on all current shipbuilding orders, Royal Caribbean (RCCL) will be ranked the world's largest passenger shipping company (estimated annual passenger capacity 5,7 million), followed by Carnival Corporation (approx 5 million passengers annually).
- MSC's passenger capacity will be increased by nearly 160% (2027 over 2017) from approx 1,7 million to 4,4 million passengers.
- NCL Norwegian's passenger capacity growth (2027 over 2017) will be approx 65% (2,14 million to 3,3 million).
- The annual capacity growth of Celebrity will be 62,5% (0,8 million to 1.3 million), of Princess 28% (1,8 million to 2,3 million).
- New companies entering the market are Virgin Voyages, Ritz-Carlton, Norwegian Yacht Voyages, Diamond Cruise, Anteros Cruises, Alteza Cruises.
Next YouTube video is about the new luxury mega-yacht Scenic Eclipse designed for polar cruises (to Antarctica and Arctic destinations).
Cruise vessels on order 2018-2027 deliveries
Global shipbuilding orders for 2018-2026 showed a record number of cruise vessels on order - 120.
- Vessels' total value (based on the current orderbook) is around USD 69 billion. They are owned by 37 different companies and built at 18 different shipyards.
- The number of passenger berths that will be introduced following these deliveries over 273,000.
- 11 of all ships were ordered and designed specifically for the Asian market (China).
- Of all ships on order, 25 are ice-strengthened expedition vessels (out of 32 total). Total berths are over 7,000, average passenger capacity is 225, average GT is around 13,000 tons. Expedition cruise market's leaders are Ponant and Huritgruten. The largest shipbuilder is VARD-Fincantieri (11 orders).
- Analizing shiporders 2018-2026, the average newbuild size was 95,000 GT tons, passenger capacity 2350 (double occupancy), total gross tonnage around 122,000 GT tons, per bed cruise ship building cost around USD 253,000. For comparison, in 2015 there were only 48 vessels on order.
- As of 2018, of all the 120 shiporders, 32 are smaller-sized luxury ships.
- As of 2018, global cruise industry employs around 250,000 seafarers. It needs annually approx 70,000 new crew and staff (replacing old personnel) plus around 10,000 additional crew per year for the newbuild vessels entering service. Most hotel staff and common crew are from Philippines, Indonesia, India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, China. Most officers are from Italy, Holland, Germany, Norway and Sweden.
- As of 2018, global ocean cruise industry is valued USD 45,6 billion (up 4,6% over 2017), serving 26 million passengers (up 3,3% over 2017).
- The largest "small ship" cruise companies are Viking Ocean (16-ship fleet by 2027) and Compagnie du Ponant (12-ship fleet by 2021).
- By 2027, world's ocean-going cruise fleet will consists of 472 vessels. Industry's estimated revenue for 2018 was USD 40 billion, with projected growth to USD 59 billion (2027). In terms of passengers, North America generates over 1/2 passenger sourcing, Europe around 1/3, Asia-Pacific ~1/6.
- By 2027, the luxury cruise market is expected to grow around 140% - from 45 vessels (2018) to 84 (2027), with average passenger capacity around 500. Market's leading company is Viking Ocean (36% share, 18 ships), followed by Silversea (13% share, 12 ships), MSC (10%, 4 ships), Crystal, Ponant, Hapag-Lloyd, Regent.
New MSC ships 2017-2026
On March 20, 2014, MSC and STX France signed in Paris a letter of intent for building 2 new mega liners (scheduled delivery in 2017 (Meraviglia) and 2019 (Bellissima), with optional 2 more sisterships. Each of the new ships features weight of 167,600 GT. As GT they are slightly smaller than the Quantum-Class (167,800 GT), but with bigger passenger capacity - 4500 vs 4180.
The MSC's new liners feature expanded facilities (theater, MSC Yacht Club, solarium, amusement park, aqua park, 2-deck "inside promenade"), new dining options, new cabin categories (duplex suites in the Yacht Club area), optimized hull design, better propulsion and fuel scrubbers.
In February 2016, MSC announced it would build two new mega ships of the so called "Meraviglia Plus" class. There is unofficial information about an additional MSC shiporder for four more Meraviglia-plus class (GT 177,000 tons) ships. Each is able to carry up to 6,300 passengers at full capacity. Each of the two newbuilds has 200 additional cabins and is 16 meters longer compared to the Meraviglia class ships,
This made MSC (as private company) France's largest foreign investor - with over USD 8,6 billion in export contracts over 5-year period.
- On April 6, 2016, MSC signed a letter of intent with STX France for construction of up to four new class vessels. The ships are LNG-powered, with GT tonnage 200,000 tons and passenger capacity 5,400 (at double occupancy).
- During MSC Seaside delivery (November 29, 2017), MSC announced the order of 2 more "Seaside EVO" class ships from Fincantieri (contract value EUR 1,8 billion). The new ships are bigger (16 m longer, 17,330 GT tons heavier, capacity 467 more passengers) in comparison to sisterships Seaview and Seaside. Newbuilds' deliveries were scheduled for 2021 and 2023.
- With the addition of Seaside EVO, MSC had an unprecedented total investment of EUR 10,5 billion into 12 new vessels with scheduled deliveries by 2026.
The first of these four "World Class" vessels will be delivered in 2022.
In October 2018, MSC Cruises and Fincantieri announced the signing of a MOA (memorandum of agreement) for the construction of 4 ultra-luxury cruise liners for a total value exceeding EUR 2 billion. The newbuilds, the first of which is scheduled for delivery in Spring 2023, will feature gross tonnage (GT) of approximately 64,000 GRT and 500 cabins. The remaining 3 ships are due to come into service one per year over the next 3 years. The cruise ships will boast, amongst other, the latest and best environmental technology and cutting-edge maritime solutions. They will showcase highly-innovative design and introduce ground-breaking options for passenger comfort and relax.
New Carnival ships 2019-2022
In March 2015 was announced, that Carnival Corporation orders a total of 9 new vessels to be built by two different companies. Fincantieri SpA (Italy) will construct 5 ships in Monfalcone and Marghera. Meyer Werft BmbH will construct the other 4 ships in Germany (Papenburg) and Finland (Turku).
One of the new vessels will be of a new class, with gross tonnage of 175,000. All new ship orders feature next-generation cruise vessel designs, and will serve the company's well established markets (North America, Europe), as well as the booming markets of Asia and Australia. Each ship will be designed accordingly to the brand line it will serve - Costa, Princess, Holland America and Carnival Cruise Lines.
Cruise ship orders set a new record, as the global market will introduce in 2019 more passenger berths than ever - over 40000 in total. The 2019's order book has 12 new ships (average passenger capacity of 3362). For comparison, about 33500 berths were introduced in 2010, and about 30000 in 2001.
The biggest vessels debuting in 2019 are two Carnival Corporation ships for AIDA and Costa (each with capacity 5200 pax). Among the smallest are four Ponant yachts (each with capacity 180 pax). Next photo represents NCL's new vessel design by Project Leonardo.
Next video is about the new Ponant ships.
New cruise ships 2018-2027 on order and under construction
| Shipowner | Ship Name (launch year) | Vessel Details (Gross Tonnage, Capacity | Building Cost (millions USD or EUR) / Shipbuilder |
|---|---|---|---|
Blue Star Line (owned by Clive Palmer) | Titanic 2 (replica of RMS Titanic 1 ship from 1912) November 2018 |
| $500 / CSC Jinling (China) |
| (1) $645 , MHI-Mitsubishi (2) $950, Meyer Werft | ||
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Queen TBN (2022) |
| $ / Fincantieri | |
Celestyal TBN1 (2020) Celestyal TBN2 (2021) |
| $ | |
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| (1) Meyer Turku, $950 (2) Fincantieri, $780 | |
Celebrity Flora (May 2019, Galapagos fleet) |
Flora (pax 100, cabins 50) | $900 / STX France | |
Disney TBN1 (2021), Disney TBN2 (2022), Disney TBN3 (2023) |
| $ / Meyer Werft (Papenburg Germany) | |
TUI (Hapag-Lloyd Cruises) | Hanseatic Nature (2019 April), Hanseatic Inspiration (2019 October), Hanseatic Spirit (2021) |
| $155 each / VARD Norway-Romania |
ms Koningsdam (2016), ms Nieuw Statendam (2018 December), ms TBN (2021) (Pinnacle-class vessels) |
| $520 each / Fincantieri | |
"Breakaway Plus" class
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| (1-2) $920 each (3-4) $1,1 billion each (5) $850 million each (1-2-3-4) Meyer Werft (5) Fincantieri | |
2x Seaside-class ships (similar design to RCCL Quantum-class)
2x Seaside EVO ships (May 2021, February 2023) Meraviglia class
Meraviglia Plus class (larger than the RCI's Quantum ships)
4 ships "World Class" (LNG-powered)
4 ultra-luxury ships
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passenger capacities
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shipbuilders:
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Seven Seas Explorer (2016), Seven Seas Splendor (2020) |
| $450 (each) / Fincantieri | |
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passenger capacities:
The USD 2,5 billion financing for both RCI Oasis-class Finland-built ships (8 and 9) was announced in Dec 2017. The international bank consortium includes BNP Paribas (France), HSBC (UK), BBVA (Spain), Commerzbank (Germany), BayernLB (Germany), DZ Bank (Germany), KfW IPEX-Bank (Germany), JPMorgan (USA), Santander Bank (USA), SMBC (Japan). The largest loan package was provided by KfW IPEX (EUR 686 million). Both loans were granted per vessel (separately) with terms of 12 years from the ship's delivery date. | cost
shipbuilders:
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Mein Schiff 4 (2015), Mein Schiff 5 (2016), Mein Schiff 6 (2017), Mein Schiff 1 (2018 April), Mein Schiff 2 (2019), Mein Schiff 7 (2023), Schiff 8 (2024), Schiff 9 (2026) |
passengers:
| (3, 4, 5, 6) $625 each (1, 2, 7) $614 builder- Meyer Werft (Finland) (8, 9) - Fincantieri (Italy) | |
3 transferred / old ships
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| EUR 200 million (each) | |
Genting Hong Kong (Crystal Cruises) |
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| $960 each / Lloyd Werft (Germany) |
MS Roald Amundsen (2019 July), MS Fridtjof Nansen (2020 July), TBN1 (2021) new expedition class vessels designed by Rolls-Royce Marine |
| $220 each / Montex Shipyard (Poland) and Kleven Shipyard (Norway) | |
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Scenic Eclipse (2019 January), Scenic Eclipse II (2020) |
| $ / Uljanik Group (Croatia) | |
Genting Hong Kong (Star Cruises, and Dream Cruises) |
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| (1-2) $960 / Meyer Werft (Germany) (3-4) $ / Lloyd Werft (Germany) |
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| $400 each / Fincantieri (Naples) EUR 230 each / VARD Norway | |
Spirit Of Discovery (June 2019), Spirit of Adventure (August 2020) |
| $350 (each) / Meyer Werft | |
Scarlet Lady (2020), TBN2 Lady (2021), TBN3 Lady (2022), |
| $710 each / Fincantieri (Genoa) | |
NYV Caroline (2023) plus 3 more same-class yachts (deliveries 2024, 2026, 2027) |
| $ / MetalShips and Docks (Spain) | |
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3x new National Geographic ships (both US-flagged) National Geographic Quest (2017), National Geographic Venture (2018) National Geographic Endurance (2020 January), TBN (2021) |
(NatGeo Endurance ship)
| $55 each / builders - Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (Washington USA) NatGeo Endurance - $135 / builder Ulstein Verft (Norway) | |
TBN1 (2019), TBN2 (2021), TBN3 (2022) |
| $225 (each) / Barreras Shipyard (Vigo, Spain) | |
Australias Cruises Patagonia | Ventus Australis (polar expedition ship) 2018 January |
| $ / ASENAV Shipyard (Valdivia, Chile) |
Oceanwide Expeditions | Hondius (polar expedition ship) May 2019 |
| $150 / Brodosplit shipyard (Croatia) |
Mystic Cruises (charters to Nicko Cruises) | World Explorer (2019), World Voyager (2021), World Navigator (2022) |
| $80 / WestSEA (Viana, Portugal) |
Coral Expeditions | Coral Adventurer (2019) |
| $75 / VARD Vung Tau Vietnam (VARD Norway) |
Star Clippers | Flying Clipper (2018-Q3) |
| EUR 100 million / Brodosplit (Croatia) |
Sea Cloud Cruises | Sea Cloud Spirit (2020) |
| MetalShips and Docks (Vigo, Spain) |
Peace Boat | Ecoship (2020) plus 8 optional vessels |
| $ / Arctech Helsinki (Finland) |
SunStone Ships Inc | Greg Mortimer (2019), Ocean Victory (Sept 2020), Ocean Explorer (March 2021), Ocean Odyssey (May 2022), plus 4 optional vessels |
| $65 / CMIH-China Merchants Industry Holdings |
Antarctica XXI | Magellan Explorer (2019) |
| $50 / ASENAV Shipyard (Valdivia, Chile) |
Xiamen International | Xiamen China (2018 October) |
| $490 / Xiamen Shipbuilding (China) |
Next image shows a new expedition cruise ship design by Knud Hansen (KN).
New river cruise ships 2018-2019-2020
This survey shows the list of newest river cruise ships and luxury boats. These are all newbuilds, so the list excludes boats that are chartered to other companies (thus only refurbished and renamed).
For all riverboats tracked at CruiseMapper you can visit our River Cruises hub, where are listed all river shipping companies and their fleets.
| Shipowner / Shipbuilder | Riverboat Names | Vessel Details (launch year, capacity) |
|---|---|---|
Viking River Cruises longships shipbuilder: Neptun Werft (Rostock, Germany) |
(1, 4, 5) 95 cabins, 190 passengers |
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shipbuilder: USA (Chesapeake Shipbuilding) |
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shipbuilder: Vahali Shipyards, Belgrade (Serbia), Lloyd Werft (Germany), Vietnam (Dara) |
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Scylla AG (Scylla Cruises, Nicko Cruises, Riviera Travel UK (under charter) |
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shipbuilder: Holland |
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Genting Hong Kong (Crystal River Cruises) shipbuilder: Lloyd Werft (Germany) |
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shipbuilders: Vietnam (1), Holland (2), Croatia (3) |
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shipbuilder: Germany |
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shipbuilder: Holland | Passengers: 128 |
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Douro Azul (Riviera Travel UK) |
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Arosa Flusskreuzfahrten | Arosa Douro (126 pax, 63 cabins) | 2019 |
Vantage Deluxe World Travel |
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small river cruise companies:
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New cruiseferries
Here are listed all new cruise ferries built between 2010-2020. RoRo vessels as types can be ferries (car and passenger ships), cruise ferries (with passenger cabins), cargo ships and freight barges.
| Ferry Company | Ship Name (launch year) | Vessel Capacity | Building Cost / Shipbuilder |
|---|---|---|---|
TBN (2020) |
| Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry (China) | |
WB Yeats (2018) |
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Epsilon (2011) |
| Cantiere Navale Visentini (Italy) | |
Honfleur (2019) |
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Color Hybrid (2019) |
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TBN (2021) |
| Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry (Xiamen, China) | |
TBN1, TBN2 (2021 Q! and Q3) |
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Blue Star Patmos (2012), Blue Star Delos (2011) |
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Spirit of France (2012), Spirit of Britain (2011) |
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Stena Britannica (2010), Stena Hollandica (2010) |
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STENA LINE | six E-Flexer class ferries |
| AVIC Weihai Shipyard, China |
Hypatia de Alejandria (2019) |
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Abel Matutes (2010) |
| Barreras Shipyard (Spain) | |
Visemar One (2010) |
| Cantiere Navale Visentini (Italy) | |
TBN1 (2020), TBN2 (2022), plus 2 optional |
| GSI (Guangzhou Shipyard International) | |
TBN1 (2021), TBN2 (2023), plus 2 optional |
| CSTC (China Shipbuilding Trading Co) | |
Megastar (2017) |
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Cruise Olympia (2010) |
| Fincantieri (Italy) | |
Nova Star (2014) |
| ST Marine (Singapore) | |
SCANDLINES | Berlin (2016), Copenhagen (2016) | - | - |
Forza (2010) |
| Nuovi Cantieri Apuania (Italy) | |
CMN MERIDIONALE | Piana (2011) | - | - |
WSDOT FERRIES |
| - | - |
FJORD LINE |
| - | - |
COTUNAV (CTN Ferries) | Tanit (2012) | - | - |
Weidong Ferry | New Golden Bridge VII (2018) |
| Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (Japan) |
At the following tag link can be found listed all CruiseMapper's news related to new ships.