ShareThisNew ships scheduled to premiere this year:
AIDA Cruises: AIDAluna (2,050 passengers, 69,200 gross tons, April); German cruise line's third newly built ship; sister to AIDAbella and AIDAdiva.
Carnival: Carnival Dream (3,652 passengers, 130,000 gross tons, October); largest ship in Carnival's history; will debut in Europe in September, then move to Caribbean in December.
Celebrity: Celebrity Equinox (2,850 passengers, 122,000 gross tons, fall 2009); sister to highly touted Celebrity Solstice, it will include most of the same features, including verandas for 85 percent of staterooms, a glass-blowing studio and a Lawn Club, a real grass field for lawn games and picnics.
Costa: Costa Luminosa (2,260 passengers, 92,700 gross tons; June); being promoted as "a new kind of ship." Costa Pacifica (3,000 passengers, 114,500 gross tons; June); sister to Serena and Concordia.
MSC Cruises: MSC Splendida (3,274 passengers, 133,500 gross tons; July); sister to recently launched MSC Fantasia, currently the line's largest ship.
Pearl Seas Cruises: Pearl Mist (214 passengers, 6,000 gross tons, first quarter); the new upscale cruise line's first and only ship will sail in northeastern Canada and the Caribbean; intended for cruise travelers with a "high net worth," according to promotional materials.
Royal Caribbean: Oasis of the Seas (5,400 passengers; 220,000 gross tons; November); new largest ship on the planet. See story item No. 6 for details.
Seabourn Cruise Line: Seabourn Odyssey (450 passengers; 32,000 gross tons; June); first new ultra-luxury cruise ship in six years; will sail Seabourn's first world cruise in 2010.
Silversea Cruises: Silver Spirit (540 passengers; 36,000 gross tons; November); Silversea's biggest ship.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit the San Francisco ChronicleSidebar to CRUISETRAVEL2009
