Ocean cruise newbuilding delivery and orderbook updates – swelling at fastest pace in years

Both the volume of newbuildings delivered and the size of the current orderbook have shown further signs of a rapid revival since our previous updates in August.

The latest indicators from CruiseTimes Research suggest that demand for newbuildings has continued to strengthen, especially in the contemporary segment of the industry. The inflow of construction orders has been gathering pace in recent months, but it is still short of matching demand growth, primarily because of cash-flow constraints caused by high debt levels. Major cruise groups are still struggling to restructure their long-term debts despite successively robust financial performances.

However, global lending markets have eased considerably, and there are signs that interest rates may fall further in the near term. This should spur more newbuilding orders. In the last 12 months, the orderbook has been swelling at the fastest pace in a decade.

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Constriction eased

After a period of delays, the protracted supply chain constraint seems to have eased. There are now fewer delays caused by this issue. Two reported delays in the last three months are unrelated to supply chain constraint.

In mid-August, Four Seasons Yachts announced that the inauguration of its first newbuild would be delayed by up to two months from its original date of November 2025. It cited a strategic decision (not a supply chain issue) as the reason. Instead of the originally planned Caribbean maiden voyage on 25 January 2026, the ship is now scheduled to start its commercial sailing in the Mediterranean in March, missing the Caribbean season altogether.

In September, Disney Cruise Line announced that its 208,000-gross-ton Disney Adventure would be delayed due to production process issues. The ship, originally scheduled for launch on 15 December 2025, is now expected on 10 March 2026, forcing the line to cancel 22 planned sailings.

As ship technology becomes more advanced, we may in future see more delays due to technical issues, especially those related to alternative fuel installations.

Five ships

Between 8 August and 13 November, five more newbuilds were delivered to their owners. Their capacities ranged from 154 to 4,300 lower berths and totalled 12,626.

On 9 September, China Merchants Heavy Industry’s Haimen shipyard delivered SunStone Ships’ 154-passenger expedition vessel Douglas Mawson to Aurora Expeditions. This was the final unit of the Infinity-class series.

On 26 September, Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard delivered the 177,882-gross-ton Star Princess to Princess Cruises. This was the company’s second LNG-powered Sphere-class vessel and the 17th ship of its fleet, following the 2024-built Sun Princess.

Also in September, the much-delayed Brilliant Lady was finally delivered to Virgin Voyages. The ship arrived at its homeport in Miami in October to a star-studded welcome.

On 16 October, Disney Cruise Line took delivery of the 144,000-gross-ton, LNG-powered Disney Destiny. This is the sixth ship that Germany’s Meyer Werft has built for the line.

On 24 October, Chantiers de l’Atlantique delivered the 140,000-gross-ton Celebrity Xcel, the fifth Edge-class vessel, to Celebrity Cruises.

For the remainder of the year, only two more minor newbuilds, totalling 418 lower berths, are scheduled. In reality, we can only expect one more ship, the 224-passenger Star Seeker of Mystic Cruises, as the other unit, the 194-passenger Janssonius of DIV Shipbuilding, is presently showing no sign of being finalised.

2025, though not record-breaking, is still shaping up to be a good year for ocean cruise ship newbuilding deliveries.

Newbuildings delivered (1 January – 13 November 2025)

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Major domination

Major cruise brands have continued to dominate the orderbook listing. We see no reason for this situation to change, even in the long run.

After a decade of rapid fleet expansion, Viking Holdings is still a major contributor to the orderbook. In terms of vessel numbers on order, Viking indisputably leads the field. Based on its confirmed orderbook in mid-September 2025, the company expected 10 more ocean cruise newbuilds by 2031, and 25 additional river cruise newbuilds by 2028. Upon taking delivery of these vessels, Viking will operate a fleet of 23 ocean cruise ships and 112 river ships.

In terms of capacity, the four cruise majors – Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL), Royal Caribbean Group (RCG), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), and MSC Cruises Group (MSC) – are still by far the biggest contributors to volume. They dominate the orderbook entries, with no fewer than eighteen 200,000-gross-ton-plus vessels on order, as well as numerous smaller ships under construction as of 13 November 2025.

Six new orders were confirmed between 8 August and 13 November. But the demand for new capacity still outpaces the speed of new orders being placed.

In September, RCG confirmed the order for a fifth Icon-class megaship with Meyer Turku for 2028 delivery, and added an option for a seventh unit. The company now expects a total of four megaships of at least 200,000 gross tons by the end of 2028 – one Oasis-class and three Icon-class units.

The Icon-class cruise ship construction is now the single biggest industrial project in Finland, employing 13,000 workers in the entire supply chain. RCG also hinted at entirely new, post-Icon-class, “game-changing” vessels in the pipeline. The group is committed to building ships in Finland for the foreseeable future. It has signed a framework agreement with Meyer Turku, securing the right to build ships there until 2036. This could mean more megaship projects to come.

At the end of September, TUI Cruises and Fincantieri signed a contract for the design and construction of two more 161,000-gross-ton InTUItion-class dual-fuel (LNG and MGO) vessels for 2031 and 2032 deliveries. The order replaced the earlier memorandum of agreement signed in March for two smaller ships intended for the group’s Marella Cruises brand.

In October, Scenic Group revealed that it was building a 270-passenger, 26,500-gross-ton yacht, Scenic Ikon, for 2028 launch. This will be the company’s biggest ship. Each of its two previous biggest vessels, Scenic Eclipse I and II, have 228-passenger capacity and are 17,592 gross tons in size.

In early November, NCLH announced that it had contracted Fincantieri for a third Prestige-class vessel for 2033 delivery.

On 11 November, MSC revealed that it had reached an agreement with Chantiers de l’Atlantique for two more World-class vessels for 2030 and 2031 deliveries, extending the series to eight ships.

As of 13 November, the size of the global cruise ship construction orderbook has swelled to just under 8.4 million gross tons, with a total capacity of more than 195,000 lower berths.

Ocean cruise newbuilding orderbook on 13 November 2025 (140,000 gross tons and above)

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Ocean cruise newbuilding orderbook on 13 November 2025 (45,000–139,999 gross tons)

Source: CruiseTimes Research

Ocean cruise newbuilding orderbook on 13 November 2025 (small, upscale, & expedition)

Source: CruiseTimes Research

*Delivery likely to be delayed.