Carnival Cruise Lines announced on 26 October 20112 that it had signed an agreement with Fincantieri for the construction of a 135,000gt ship with a capacity for 4,000 passengers to be delivered in winter 2016. Although similar in size to the recently-delivered Carnival Breeze (2012/128,500gt), she is the first vessel of a new class. With current orders, this will bring the total number of ships built by Fincantieri for all of the Carnival Corporation brands to 61. But it is not just new ships that Fincantieri provide for Carnival. The forthcoming transformation of Carnival Destiny, in a $150 million, 49-day shipyard visit, into Carnival Sunshine (due back in service in April), and the modifications to Costa Romantica, are just some of the upgrading work with which the Italian shipbuilder has been involved recently.
Carnival Glory (2003/110,239gt) is the latest ship to be upgraded internally to the so-called Fun Ship 2.0. She came back into service on 15 November 2012 after a two-week refit at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport. The upgrade principally involves new bars and dining venues, and Carnival Glory is the fourth ship to receive this treatment, with Carnival Liberty the first, followed by Carnival Dream and Carnival Conquest.
