Adora Cruises (CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping) is a Chinese-British-American

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

that was scheduled to begin operation in 2020, but was delayed due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

History

CSSC Carnival was founded in October 2015 as a joint venture, worth about $4 billion over ten years, between British-American cruise line

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

, Chinese sovereign wealth fund

China Investment Corporation China Investment Corporation (CIC) (Chinese: 中国投资有限责任公司; pinyin: ''zhōngguó tóuzī yǒuxiàn zérèn gōngsī'') is a sovereign wealth fund that manages part of the People's Republic of China's foreign exchange reserves. C ...

, and Chinese shipbuilder

China State Shipbuilding Corporation The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is a Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate. Description CSSC is one of the top 10 defence groups in China. It consists of various shipyards, equipment manufacturers, research institutes and shipb ...

(CSSC). CSSC Carnival is headquartered in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and is majority owned by the Chinese shareholders, which collectively own 60% of the company, with Carnival holding the remainder. In September 2016, the company announced plans to order two new ships, with options for two more, with deliveries planned to begin in 2022. In February 2017, two more options were added to the order, and it was announced that the vessels would be built at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company through a joint venture between CSSC, owner of the shipyard, and Italian shipbuilder

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

, with the first ship to be delivered in 2023. In November 2018, the contract for the first two Chinese-built ships was formally signed at a cost of about $1.5 billion, and CSSC Carnival announced that it planned to purchase two ships already in service, to enter its fleet beginning in late 2019.

Fleet

Adora Cruises will begin operations with two ships purchased from

Costa Cruises Società per Azioni, S.p.A. (), operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily ca ...

, ''

Costa Atlantica ''Costa Atlantica'' is a owned and operated by Adora Cruises. She was built in 2000 by the Kvaerner Masa-Yards Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. ''Costa Atlantica'' was sold to CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping in late 2019. Design an ...

'' in 2020 and '' Costa Mediterranea'' in 2021. The first Chinese-built vessel, to be constructed off of the ''Vista''-class design, is expected to be delivered in 2023, with the sister ship following in 2024. If all four options are exercised, a new ship will be delivered annually through 2028.

References

{{Members of the Carnival Corporation Carnival Corporation & plc China Investment Corporation Shipping companies of Hong Kong Cruise lines