Walt Disney and Universal Studios dominate the the theme park business in the United States. They're not the only players in the space, but everyone else is clearly in a fight for third place.
United Parks, the former SeaWorld, and the newly-merged Six Flags and Cedar Fair are clearly second-tier operators. Nobody believes they can unseat Disney or Comcast's Universal studios.
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Instead, their fighting in the niches. Both companies offer relatively strong value compared to Disney and Universal. The Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks also have the advantage of being both affordable, and spread out around the country.
You might be disappointed if you had to fly to a Six Flags or Cedar Fair and stay in a hotel, but as a day trip, it's a positive experience.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival have not separated their portfolios of brands from rivals including MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, which still hope to be mass audience players. Virgin Voyages and Margaritaville at Sea, however, hope to be strong niche players offering experience that the big boys don't offer.
Now, however, both Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line — both of which have already shared plans to invest hundreds of millions on new private destinations — both have plans to continue adding megaships to their fleets.
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Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Royal Caribbean grows the Icon class
Royal Caribbean has signed a new agreement with Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku to order a fourth Icon Class ship for delivery to Royal Caribbean International in 2027. The agreement also includes options to build a fifth and sixth Icon Class ship.
Icon of the Seas is currently the largest cruise ship in the world.
“Building on the incredible momentum and market response to the launch of Icon of the Seas and the excitement for its sister ship, Star of the Seas, coming in 2025, we’re thrilled to join with Meyer Turku once again to expand our roster of Icon Class ships and continue our future growth plans,” said Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty.
Icon has been a huge hit for Royal Caribbean regularly setting revenue records and sailing at 132% of capacity.
"The first ship in the Icon Class launched in January 2024 as a first-of-its-kind vacation and introduced an all-encompassing lineup of experiences that combines the best of every vacation – from the beach retreat to the resort escape and the theme park adventure. The next ship in the lineup will continue to deliver revolutionary experiences as it joins Icon, Star of the Seas (launching in 2025) and the yet-to-be-named third Icon Class ship (launching in 2026)," Royal Caribbean shared on its website.
Carnival Cruise Lines goes big too
Carnival Cruise Line has made it clear that it's not going to cede the megaship space to Royal Caribbean. The cruise line has ordered three new ships for its namesake brand that will be a new class, its biggest ever.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri will provide design, engineering, and construction of these liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ships, which will be delivered in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively.
Carnival has shared plans to build a total of 5 new ships.
All of those ship will be large ships, with the new order being the biggest the cruise company has ever ordered.
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"Carnival Corporation placed its first new-build orders in five years for two more Excel-class ships that will join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2027 and 2028," according to the company.
“We are doubling down on the growth of Carnival Cruise Line – our highest-returning brand – to keep up with the incredibly strong demand we continue to see for the world’s most popular cruise line,” said CEO Josh Weinstein. “At this point, our newbuild pipeline is just one delivery in each of 2025, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2031 and 2033."
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