Luxury line to add 2 ships for $500 million

Jason · October 20, 2006

Carnival luxury line to add 2 ships for $500 million

Source: Tom Stieghorst, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Carnival Corp. on Thursday said it is spending $500 million to buy two new ships for its luxury Seabourn Cruise Line subsidiary, saying it needs more capacity for affluent travelers.

Each ship will cost $250 million and is designed to carry 450 passengers, more than double the size of the 208-passenger ships Seabourn now operates.

Those ships are among the smallest of any in the luxury segment, which generally tops out at about 1,000 passengers.

In a statement, Seabourn President Deborah Natansohn said the current ships have had more demand than they could accommodate. "The new ships will allow us to bring the unique Seabourn experience to a larger number of people," she said.

Planned for delivery in 2009 and 2010, the new ships will double the fleet capacity to five vessels with about 1,524 berths. The contract for the ships was announced by Carnival Chairman Micky Arison at a conference in Italy.

"This order represents our confidence in the luxury segment of the cruising market," said Arison, who added that Seabourn had shown consistent revenue growth in recent years.

Seabourn was founded with two ships delivered in 1988 and 1989. It acquired a third vessel in 1993.

Other luxury lines have more modern fleets. Fort Lauderdale-based Silversea Cruises has four ships, the most recent dating to 2000. Another competitor, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, added its most recent ship in 2003.

The hallmark of the luxury end of the cruise industry is intimacy. "It's all really yacht style," said Seabourn spokesman Bruce Good. He said some of the features found on Seabourn's existing ships, such as the open air Sky Bar and the fold-out water sports marina on the stern of the ship, will be continued on the new models.

Luxury cruises tend to be longer, pricier and more exotic than the rest of the market. A suite on a 14-day voyage to Vietnam and Thailand on Seabourn is listed in brochures as selling for $10,265 per person.

Joanandjoe · October 20, 2006

We saw that on another board, and it's great news. Hopefully Windstar, Silversea, and Regent will soon follow suit. 450 PAX is about the same size as the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, the nicest ship on which we've sailed. The Seabourn ships will be just the right size for us: 200 to 450 PAX. If we like the Caribbean on our Noordam cruise (which, for a heat and sun hater like me is by no means a sure thing!), we'll look into the Seabourn Pride Cruise on 11/10/07, Barbados to Barbados (Tobago, Margarita Island, Granada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenadines). The small ships go to places where the big ones can't go.