Carnival Cruise Line recently unveiled the first details of Project Ace, their largest cruise ships yet that will be at least 230,000 gross tons in size.
Carnival has three Project Ace ships on order that will debut in 2029, 2031, and 2033. While the cruise line hasn’t given a lot of details on these new ships, here is what we know so far.
During a press event on Carnival Celebration before Seatrade Cruise Global, Carnival talked a little about Project Ace and even had a Q&A with members of the media.
The ships will hold 8,000 passengers at maximum capacity, among the most in the world.
Say hello to Project Ace from Carnival Cruise Line, new 8,000 passenger ship that will debut in 2029. pic.twitter.com/gWR5EclE6X
— Cruise Fever (@CruiseFever) April 6, 2025
James Shillinglaw, Editor in Chief of Insider Market Report, asked Carnival’s President Christine Duffy if the ships would be the largest in the world.
Duffy said that the purpose of the ships wasn’t necessarily that they would be the largest in the world. She said that she wasn’t sure on the exact size of the ships, but they were more concerned with what the ships would offer than being the “biggest in the world”.
Carnival has yet to name the homeport for the first ship, but it’s hard to imagine that the vessel would homeport outside of Florida (my opinion, not fact).
I asked Ben Clement, executive vice president maritime & new builds for Carnival Cruise Line, if Terminal F in PortMiami would be able to accommodate an Ace class ship. He said that it will be able to hold that class of ship when it’s built.
Carnival spent millions of dollars upgrading and expanding the terminal before Carnival Celebration debuted in 2022.
Cruise Fever will continue to monitor all new news on Project Ace from Carnival Cruise Line and will have all updates on this new class of ships right here on our website.