Carnival exercises option for new ship

[CanadianCruiser]

MIAMI (AP) - Cruise ship operator Carnival Corporation said Monday it exercised an option to buy a new ship for its Holland America Line brand.

The 86,000-ton, 2,100-passenger vessel will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri at its Marghera shipyard for an estimated 425 euros ($568.6 million).

The ship will be the sister vessel to the Eurodam, which is under construction and set to debut next summer. The two ships will be the largest in Holland America's fleet.

Holland America Line President and Chief Executive Stein Kruse said in a statement the two ships represent a 23 percent increase in capacity from 2008 through 2010.

Delivery of the new vessel is set for fall 2010.

Including the new ship, Carnival has 17 new vessels on order, with 12 being built by Fincantieri.

[SmooCruise]

dang....that's a lot of ships on order! So do you think cruise fare will go up to pay for these? Or down because there are so many more options for cruises?