Cruise Shipbuilding Keeps European Yards Busy to mid-2030s

A flourishing cruise market and European shipbuilders’ unerring contractual success in the sector has taken orderbooks into the middle of the next decade, ensuring production continuity and underpinning fresh capital expenditure and R&D commitments by the continent’s foremost players.

Just how important the segment is to the industry and supply chain may be gauged from the fact that at least three-quarters of the value of European yards’ commercial orderbooks is attributable to cruise vessel construction.

Europe’s in-depth professional and trade skill strengths as regards the ecosystem covering design, engineering, outfitting, and onboard systems, together with adeptness in project management, are fundamental to the market prominence achieved by the leading builders concerned, namely the Fincantieri Group, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku.

Another card in the hand of the European yards is the propensity for an anticipative approach to design and powering. Fuel-flexibility is at the core of new and emerging generations of vessels, extending beyond LNG dual-fuel solutions to embrace ‘greener’ options, such as methanol. The through-life design concept foreseen by builders also affords a wider platform for broader, ongoing technological updating and internal design reconfiguration.

Concerns had been expressed that the elongation of the European cruise vessel production program, by reducing the scope for owners to obtain medium-term delivery slots, might open up opportunities on the international market for Chinese shipbuilders. However, the major brands have continued to keep faith with European yards, as expressed in a raft of orders over the past four or five months carrying completion dates well into the 2030s.

China’s impact on the high-capacity vessel market to date has been limited and has been achieved so far through recourse to European know-how. The technical foundation for the two diesel-electric newbuilds ordered from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) by CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping—which subsequently became Hong Kong-registered Adora Cruises—was provided by Fincantieri in collaboration with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).  

Norwegian Cruise Line's recently commissioned Norwegian Luna, from Fincantieri's Marghera (Venice) yard.
Image courtesy NCL

Fincantieri remains the most prolific builder, with Monfalcone and Marghera being the points of concentration for high-capacity cruise vessel construction within the group’s Italian shipyard network.Judicious subcontracting of steelwork fabrication to lower-cost areas has assumed increasing importance within Fincantieri’s business strategy, where the focus on heightened productivity and throughput capacity is attended by more intense cost control oversight. The current plan provides for greater reliance on Romania for supply of certain hull sections, with contemporaneous investment in dedicated home yards. This includes the purchase of a new jumbo crane at the Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste.

In respect of the group’s cruiseship workload, Fincantieri’s Capital Markets Day presentation in Milan during February this year referred to “a growing commercial pipeline, both in terms of quantity and quality, with improving margins and new orders expected in the coming months, which will extend the visibility of the backlog beyond 2036.” 

A tranche of contracts quickly followed, including three ships for various brands of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) Holdings, plus a fresh intake of business from Viking Cruises, encompassing two 378-passenger expedition-type vessels plus options on two more 1,000-passenger capacity ships from the long-running Viking Star series.

Both NCL and Viking had already augmented the Fincantieri orderbook during 2025, and at scale in both cases, through respective commitments to four 227,000 gt vessels, commanding delivery positions in 2030, 2032, 2034, and 2036, and four more Viking Ocean sisters for 2030/2031 handovers.

Fincantieri’s vision for ‘The shipyard of the future’ spans the entire planning and production process from digital design to advanced automation and the deployment of collaborative robots. This embraces 4D dynamic production planning to unlock bottlenecks through proprietary AI algorithms and designs prepared for full life-cycle optimization.  

Following a period of great uncertainty and profound change at Meyer Werft, culminating in acquisition by the State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) and the Federal Government, the German yard landed a prestigious and extensive contract towards the end of 2025. The deal with MSC Cruises signified the attraction of a new and influential customer, viewed as a long-term strategic partner.

The order entails four 180,000 gt newbuilds to be delivered at yearly intervals from 2030 onwards, with options on fifth and sixth ships appended to the deal. Designated the New Frontier class, featuring what are described as next-generation environmental technologies, each vessel will provide for a maximum passenger complement of 5,400. Realisation of a six-ship series will keep the Papenburg yard running at full capacity through 2035, with commensurate benefits for the German advanced maritime manufacturing ecosystem.

MSC Cruises has hitherto met fleet development requirements via Meyer Werft’s arch-rivals in Italy and France. The commitment to existing business relationships is undiminished, as MSC’s transaction with Meyer had been preceded shortly before by the assignment of contracts to Chantiers de l’Atlantique for seven and eighth vessels in the MSC World-class program, due in 2030 and 2031. This constituted the second tranche of MSC orders won by the French yard in 2025, the earlier deal having embraced fifth and sixth ships in the series.

Chantiers de l’Atlantique has also consolidated its business relationship with the Royal Caribbean Group this year by landing a firm contract for two vessels commanding delivery positions in 2029 and 2032, plus four on option, based on a new type designated the Discovery class. A total of 21 ships have been built for the organization over the past 40 years. Current production embraces a seventh 231,000gt Oasis-type behemoth the Celebrity Xcite for the premium Celebrity brand.

Through the intervention of September 2024, the Federal Government and Niedersachsen obtained a total 80% share of the then cash-strapped shipbuilder in exchange for a EUR 400 million ($465m) injection. Up to that point, the company had been under Meyer family ownership and control for seven generations.

Consequently, given the Italian and French state holdings in Fincantieri and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, respectively, national involvement has gained added dimension across the entities that largely sustain European pre-eminence in the luxury, high-capacity cruiseship production market.  

However, compared to the situation at its main European competitors, there is an altogether different strand to the German intervention, in that the agreements include provision for a possible buy-back by the family at some future stage. The public involvement in Meyer Werft is viewed as interim, the central objective being to financially stabilize the shipbuilder while strengthening competitiveness.  

It is understood that the Meyer family retains 100% of the shares in premier Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku, full ownership having been obtained 11 years ago through the purchase of the state’s 30% holding via Finnish Industrial Investment.  

Fincantieri's investment plan includes a new jumbo crane at the Monfalcone yard for cruise ship production.
Image courtesy Fincantieri