Half of the cruise ships to be built in the next decade will be luxury and ultra-luxury vessels. There are a total of 39 orders for luxury cruise ships through 2037, though more are sure to follow. The coming years will be hectic, with 7 launches this year alone, 9 in 2027, and 6 in 2028. This is the current order book.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 76 – March 2026
Fincantieri holds almost a monopoly on the construction of luxury and ultra-luxury cruise ships, distributing orders among its shipyards in Ancona, Palermo, Monfalcone and Marghera.
The company with the most orders is Viking Ocean, with 12 ships on order. The company has applied to ocean-going cruises the strategy that made it successful in river cruises: building many identical ships to offer a consistent product. Between 2015 and 2023, it built nine identical 47,842 GRT ships for 930 passengers, and in 2024, it launched a new series of 54,300 GRT ships for 998 passengers, representing only a slight increase in size and capacity, but the same concept. It already has two of these ships in operation and ten more on order, in addition to two 30,150 GRT expedition vessels, sister ships to the Viking Polaris and Octanis.
Explora Journeys is due to receive four more ships by 2028, which will join its existing two to create a fleet of six. Meanwhile, Oceania Cruises will launch a new series of ships in 2027 with the arrival of the 86,000-ton Sonata, which will be the largest luxury cruise ship to date. It will be followed by the Arietta in 2029, and three more ships in 2032, 2035, and 2037.
Regent Seven Seas is also starting a new series of ships this year, with the delivery of the Prestige in December, which will be followed by three sister ships in 2030, 2033 and 2036. Crystal Cruises will have two new ships, one in 2028 and the second in 2030.
The Entry of Hotel Brands:
Four Seasons recently took delivery of its first cruise ship from the shipyard, a unique 35,040-gross-ton vessel that we have already discussed in previous issues. Following Ritz-Carlton's entry into the sector, a new era of competition among luxury hotel brands has begun, which will intensify with the arrival in June of the Corinthian, the first ship of the Orient Express. In 2027, the Aman at Sea will arrive, along with the second ships of the Four Seasons and Orient Express.
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