The Excel class is Carnival Cruise Line's liquefied natural gas platform, built between 2021 and 2023 — Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration by Meyer Turku at its Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland, and Carnival Jubilee by Meyer Werft in Germany — at 183,521 GT the largest ships ever built for Carnival. LNG propulsion, a first for a North America-based Carnival ship, is only part of the change: the interiors are organised into themed zones rather than decks, suites gained their own Excel-class enclave, and Mardi Gras carried BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea. The names are deliberate revivals, honouring celebrated ships from Carnival's earliest decades.
