Construction begins on new Carnival ship

A shipyard in Italy this week officially began construction of a new Carnival ship scheduled to debut in 2018.

Carnival says the Fincantieri shipyard near Venice held an official keel-laying ceremony for the as-yet-unnamed, 3,954-passenger vessel, which is set to arrive in the spring of 2018.

The ship will be a sister to the soon-to-debut Carnival Vista.

At 133,500 tons, the two vessels will be the largest in the Carnival fleet. They're the line's first new ships since the debut of the 3,690-passenger Carnival Breeze in 2012.

At 130,000 tons, the Carnival Breeze and sister Carnival Magic are the line's largest vessels now at sea.

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