Carnival Reveals Names of New Ships, Will Replace Rollercoaster
With more than 50 years of providing cruisers with fun ships, Carnival Cruise Line took advantage of the cruise industry’s biggest event to announce the names of its two new Excel-class ships, joining the fleet of 29 ships by 2028.
At a pre-Seatrade Cruise Global event taking place aboard Carnival Celebration in Miami, Florida, on April 6, 2025, Carnival Cruise Line’s President Christine Duffy made the big reveal before a gathering of invited cruise media insiders.
“We are very excited today to announce that our fourth Excel ship is coming in 2027,” said Duffy.
“We’re continuing with our naming convention, showing the respect that we have for those original Carnival Cruise Line ships. It’s being named Carnival Festivale,” she continued, also revealing the fifth vessel will be Carnival Tropicale.
The two new builds, to be constructed at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and outfitted with liquified natural gas (LNG) to reduce emissions like earlier Excel-class vessels, will pay homage to the cruise line’s original ships with the same names.
Originally, MS Festivale and MS Tropicale were among the first vessels to sail under the Carnival banner in 1977 and 1981, respectively.
In fact, the MS Tropicale was the very first new-build vessel designed specifically for Carnival Cruise Line and introduced the world to its now-iconic whale-tail funnel.
Duffy, who is celebrating 10 years as head of Carnival Cruise Line, is considered the mother of its Excel ships that debuted with Mardi Gras in 2021 and was followed by Carnival Celebration in 2022 and Carnival Jubilee in 2023.
The brand-new 180,000-gross-ton Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale will become the cruise line’s fourth and fifth Excel-class ships and will set sail in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
Duffy explained the first of the sister ships will have a music focus and passengers can expect to find musical tributes throughout the ship.
She also announced that Carnival Festivale will be sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida, which will then push Mardi Gras into short cruise itineraries to the cruise line’s private Celebration Key and Half Moon Cay destinations.
Introducing Sunsation Point
During the special event, Carnival Cruise Line also announced that its at-sea rollercoaster, BOLT Ultimate Sea Coaster, is being replaced on the newer Excel class ships with a brand-new outdoor activity area to be called Sunsation Point.
Although BOLT was a first-of-its-kind rollercoaster at sea that quickly became the feature of the Ultimate Playground zone when it was first introduced on Mardi Gras, the cruise line is replacing it on the newer vessels in favor of expanding its WaterWorks zone and providing more entertainment offerings.
“These will be three outdoor decks where we continue to have our mini golf, the ropes course, and all the things people like on the outdoor decks but an expansion of what we’re going to call WaterWorks Ultra,” said Duffy.
Read Also: What’s It Like to Ride the First Roller Coaster at Sea?
She went on to explain that the expanded WaterWorks, renowned for its waterslides, splash pads, and water dumping buckets, will be the largest aboard Carnival ships and will receive four new water slides, family rafting, and an additional new arcade and games area on each ship.
“We sail more families and more kids than any other cruise line,” added Duffy. “Sunsation Point is going to be over-the-top with activities and fun for families and people of all ages.”
Additionally, Sunsation Point will feature evening entertainment on select evenings.
Carnival Cruise Line teased that more exciting announcements will be made this week during Seatrade, where Cruise Hive reporters will be the first to pass along more reveals.
Carnival Reveals Names of New Ships, Will Replace Rollercoaster