AIDAcosma Excellence-Helios (Carnival XL)

Made in Germany, Turkey, Finland

Year built: 2019

Engine: 2 MAK-Caterpillar

Power: 76706 HP

Length: 337 m

Passengers: 6600

Crew: 1500

Cabins: 2600

Speed: 33 kn

Price: 840 million €

The Excellence class, including the sub-classes Helios class and XL or Excel class, is a class of cruise ships ordered by Carnival Corporation & plc for its subsidiary brands AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line.

The ships are being constructed by Meyer Werft at their shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and Meyer Turku at their shipyard in Turku, Finland. The first, AIDAnova, entered service for AIDA Cruises in 2018.

Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across nine cruise line brands and one joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival Corporation, and UK-based Carnival plc – which function as one entity. Carnival Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, whereas Carnival plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with an ADR listing on the NYSE. Carnival is listed in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices.

The American entity Carnival Corporation has its headquarters in the United States, with operational headquarters located in the city of Doral, Florida. The UK entity Carnival plc has its headquarters in Southampton, England.

Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have been built at the yard. Its “Dockhalle 2” is the third largest shipbuilding hall and the building with the fifth-largest usable volume in the world as of 2022.

Meyer Werft has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group, together with Neptun Werft in Rostock. In 2014, the company added the Turku shipyard in Finland to the group.

The shipyard is an anchor on the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Read more: History of shipbuilding with Oliver Davis ...