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Carnival (CCL) Celebrates Float-Out of Costa Toscana in Turku

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Carnival Corporation & Plc (CCL - Free Report) recently celebrated the float-out ceremony of flagship Costa Toscana at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland. Costa Toscana, which is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), is part of an expansion plan that includes seven new ships to be delivered to Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of more than six billion euros. Costa Toscana will begin service in December 2021.

The new flagship will facilitate all extraordinary settings from Solemio Spa to areas of entertainment, themed bars and 16 different restaurants. The main attraction of the new flagship will be the "Colosseo," a space in the centre that will spread over three decks. With more than 2,600 cabins and four luxurious swimming pools, it will offer some extravagance experience to visitors.

Due to the use of LNG, Costa Toscana has been created in an intelligent energy efficiency way. It helps sustainable solutions to the environment and circular economy concepts. Plants will process seawater directly per requirements at minimum energy consumption.

With respect to this, Mario Zanetti, chief commercial officer of Costa Cruises and president of Costa Group Asia, stated, "Despite the current challenging scenario, Costa Group is confirming its investment in fleet expansion. We are confident in the recovery of our industry, and we are excited about the arrival of new ships like Costa Toscana, which embodies the elements we want to focus on for the future.”

Expansion to Drive Growth

Carnival recently announced the addition of a new ship Enchanted Princess to its global fleet of Princess Cruises. Notably, the 145,000-ton unit marks the first ship to have been completed and delivered amid the coronavirus pandemic. Currently docked at Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the 3,660-guest ship comprises luxury Sky suites, entertainment venues, pools and whirlpool hot tubs. It also comes with an OceanMedallion wearable device that offers personalized services and touchless interactive entertainment.



Shares of Carnival have gained 38.6% in the last six months, compared with the industry’s 37.5% growth.

Zacks Rank

Carnival Corporation — which shares space with Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. (LIND - Free Report) , Cedar Fair, L.P. (FUN - Free Report) and Royal Caribbean Group (RCL - Free Report) — currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Lindblad and Cedar have an impressive earnings growth rate of 54.5%, 77% for 2021, respectively. Also, Royal Caribbean has an earnings growth rate 25.5% for 2021.

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