Princess Cruises' Bold Bet on the Future: Three New Ships Ordered Through 2039

Princess Cruises made a major long-term commitment to its guests this week, announcing a deal to build three brand-new ships from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri — with deliveries stretching all the way to 2039.

The announcement, reported by Cruise Industry News, was made on April 15, 2026, and signals that Princess isn’t just planning for the next few years — it’s mapping out what cruising will look like more than a decade from now.

What Princess Is Actually Building

The three ships will sail under a new designation: the Voyager class. Each vessel will weigh in at 183,000 gross tons and carry approximately 4,700 guests — making them among the largest ships in the Princess fleet. They’ll be built on an evolved version of the Sphere Class platform, the same next-generation architecture that underpins the recently launched Sun Princess and Star Princess.

Deliveries are scheduled for late 2035, 2038, and 2039.

All three ships will be LNG-powered, continuing Carnival Corporation’s push toward cleaner fuel sources across its brands. With this order, Carnival Corporation will operate 21 LNG-based vessels across its portfolio — a significant scale of investment in alternative fuel technology.

Why This Matters for Future Cruisers

The Voyager class ships are being billed as a platform for redesigned dining, pools, entertainment, and “reimagined spaces throughout each vessel,” according to Princess Cruises president Gus Antorcha. The goal, as stated, is to delight loyal guests while drawing in a new generation of first-time cruisers.

That framing is worth paying attention to. Princess has traditionally skewed toward a slightly older, more experienced cruising demographic — travelers who appreciate classic itineraries, refined dining, and a less frantic onboard pace. The Sphere Class ships (and now the Voyager class) represent a deliberate effort to keep that core audience happy while also making the brand feel relevant to travelers who might otherwise default to Royal Caribbean or Norwegian.

Whether that balance works in practice is something we’ll be watching closely as the Sun Princess and Star Princess continue to build their reputations at sea.

A Long Runway — and a Strong Signal

The delivery timeline here is unusually long. The first Voyager class ship won’t arrive until late 2035, with the final two following in 2038 and 2039. That’s a nine-to-thirteen year horizon, which underscores just how capital-intensive shipbuilding is and how far in advance cruise lines must plan their capacity.

For Fincantieri, the agreement secures work at its Italian shipyards through the end of the decade and beyond — a significant economic commitment on both sides of the deal.

For travelers, the practical takeaway isn’t “book now” — it’s more about what this says about where Princess sees itself going. The line is clearly investing in growth, not contraction. And as the cruise industry continues to report record demand across the board, that confidence appears well-founded.

What to Watch

We’ll be looking for more details on the Voyager class as they emerge — particularly around itinerary planning, onboard concepts, and how the new platform differentiates from the Sphere Class. If the Sun Princess experience is any indication, these will be ambitious ships with a lot of new ideas baked in.

For now, if Princess Cruises is on your radar, the Sun Princess and Star Princess are the best preview of what the Voyager class might eventually deliver. And if a 2035 or later sailing ever makes it onto your bucket list, well — you heard about it here first.