Newbuilds are under way at Germany-based Meyer Werft's subsidiary Neptun, which is fully booked until 2012.
At the end of 2008 the company set a milestone with the 122,000GT ship 'Celebrity Solstice', the biggest cruise ship ever built in Germany.
A highlight in April this year was the delivery of 'AIDAluna', AIDA Cruises' new flagship which started its maiden voyage after its christening at Mallorca. Another three ships are being built for the Rostock-based cruise line. The shipyard is also building the first of two ships for Disney Cruise Line for delivery in 2011.
Meanwhile, at STX Europe, the world's biggest cruise ship is nearing completion. The 225,000GT 'Oasis of the Seas', with a capacity of 5,400 passengers plus nearly 2,000 crew, is being built at the Turku (Finland) shipyard. STX Europe will be delivering 'Oasis of the Seas' to Royal Caribbean International in the northern autumn this year, followed by 'Allure of the Seas' in 2010.
Elsewhere, at Italy's Fincantieri, the 'Costa Luminosa' was delivered to Costa Crociere in April. This will be followed by delivery of 'Costa Pacifica' in May and a double christening in Genoa in June. These two cruise ships pave the way for the world's largest fleet expansion with three additional ships being delivered to Costa Crociere by 2012.
New cruise line TUI Cruises, a joint venture of TUI and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, will christen its new ship, 'Mein Schiff' (My Ship) in May 2009. Formally the 'Celebrity Galaxy' (built 1996 at Meyer Werft), this has now been completely converted at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven. Two more ships will be introduced by TUI Cruises by 2012.
Innovative river cruise ships
The market of river cruise ships is also on the move. The Neptun shipyard in Rostock-Warnemünde will deliver one river cruise ship in 2009 and one in 2010 to its customer A'Rosa.
Last year Neptun built the river cruiser 'Premicon Queen', a further development of the TwinCruisers, for the Munich-based Premicon.
River cruise company, Nicko Tours in Stuttgart, is also expanding its fleet with a five-star deluxe suite ship, 'Nile Excellence', offering cruises along the River Nile, and 'Century Diamond', the first German-speaking river cruiser at the Yangtze in China Furthermore, Viking River Cruises is soon to take delivery of its 14th newbuild this northern summer. The delivery will mark the introduction of the first river cruise ship with a diesel-electric engine. 'Viking Legend' will be characterised by low fuel consumption and low noise emissions.
