13 Weinstein’s confidence stems from Carnival Corporation’s portfolio of “world-class brands”. “They offer diverse cruise experiences and they’re the strongest performers in their respective markets,” he says. “We also have a very mature destination strategy. We’re a leader in the Caribbean, which is an enormous drive-to market for many of our brands, and home to several of our exclusive island destinations. Northern Europe and the Mediterranean have been spectacular for us for years. And we have an untouchable strategic advantage in Alaska, where we own over 3,000 rooms in hotels and lodges, glass-domed rail cars and the largest fleet of motor coaches. We’re also making significant progress towards decarbonisation. I’m very confident that if we make incremental improvements across the business every day and manage costs well, we will reach – and likely exceed – these targets.” One of the key steps to achieving its PROPEL targets will be to maintain intentional fleet capacity growth while investing in return-generating refurbishment programmes for the company’s existing ships and its exclusive destinations in the Caribbean and Alaska. “I’ve been pretty open and consistent about my belief that Carnival Corporation can excel by focusing on moderate capacity growth and doing more with the great assets we already have,” says Weinstein. “We’ve been introducing one or two newbuilds annually for the last few years and we’ll follow that strategy for the foreseeable future – in fact 2026 is the only year we don’t have a new ship coming out. The most cost-effective way for us to significantly advance operational performance and the guest experience across multiple brands in a relatively short time frame is to extensively renovate midlife ships. We can refurbish maybe 20 to 25 vessels for the same cost as constructing one big newbuild.” Carnival Cruise Line, for example, has revamped seven vessels in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, both AIDA Cruises and Holland America Line are carrying out their most extensive renewal projects to date. In February 2025, AIDA Cruises began a multi-year project to refurbish seven of its older ships – AIDAdiva, AIDAbella, AIDAluna, AIDAblu, AIDAsol, AIDAmar, AIDAstella – at Chantier Naval de Marseille to create a new Selection class. By 2028, all seven vessels will have refreshed interiors, expanded outdoor areas, additional suites and upgraded dining, entertainment and wellness facilities. They will also have updated technical systems to optimise operational efficiency and decrease fuel consumption. Similarly, Holland America Line is spending more than $500 million to complete bow-to-stern revitalisations on six of its 11 ships in partnership with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The multi-year project will span four Vista-class ships – Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam and Noordam – and two Signature-class vessels – Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam. Photo: AIDA Cruises AIDA Cruises is installing new spaces on seven of its ships as part of its biggest-ever fleet revitalisation project “ Carnival Corporation can excel by focusing on moderate capacity growth and doing more with the assets we already have” KEYNOTE
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