Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri reached an agreement for construction of two cruise ships, for Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines. Both cruise ships will be the first of a new and innovative class of vessels.

Holland America line ship will have a gross tonnage of 99,000 tons, with capacity of  2,660 passengers, will be delivered in fall 2015 and will join the fleet of brand five years from the "Nieuw Amsterdam", delivered in Marghera 2010. The cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Lines will have 135,000 gross tons, capacity of 4000 passengers and will enter service in 2016, four years after "Carnival Breeze", delivered in Monfalcone in spring 2012.

The parties have reached an agreement and hope to sign a contract as soon as possible The Fincantieri's CEO, Giuseppe Bono, said: "This new order brings to 61 cruise ships that we constructed for Carnival Group and confirms the leadership of Fincantieri in the world in the field of cruise ships, even at a time of slowdown in demand. " Bono concluded: "We hope that this order is a strong signal for the resumption of a strategic sector for the country's economy and for the entire industry."

The chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, Micky Arison, said:” The order confirms the group's strategy of introducing two to three ships per year divided among the top ten brands. We have carefully planned the introduction of these new ships to ensure their brand enough time to broaden the base of its customers and absorb the new capacity, without depressing the profitability of existing ships, "

The agreement between Fincantieri and Carnival consolidates the successful partnership between the two companies that has lasted for over twenty years.