<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">Carnival Corporation &amp; PLC <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>is reportedly in advanced talks with Meyer Werft in Germany for an order of two cruise ships for its Princess Cruises brand, the Lloyds List shipping daily says on its website, citing Italian and German shipping sources.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; color: #000000;">&nbsp;</span></span></span></p>
<p><span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">&ldquo;We are in talks with several customers about new orders,&rdquo; Meyer Werft&rsquo;s spokesman Peter Hackmann was quoted as saying. &ldquo;There are also some promising talks despite the critical situation in the whole industry. But we do not give status reports before a contract has been signed.&rdquo; </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; color: #000000;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span>A Carnival spokesp</span><span>erson was reported as saying: &ldquo;We are talking to yards, all yards, and we will announce anything when we have it to announce.&rdquo; </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">However, the spokesperson added: &ldquo;We have acknowledged before that we are considering Princess as a priority candidate for newbuildings. We have also said that the strength of the euro has been a damper.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: small; color: #000000;">&nbsp;</span></span></span></p>
<p><span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span>Princess Cruises&rsquo; president and ceo Alan Buckelew </span><span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>told Cruise Business on 22 September that the company has designed a new prototype that is based largely for the design of the Ruby Princess. "The new ship would be a bit longer and would comply with new stability rules,&rdquo; he said, However, he also underlined "that there are no plans to make huge differences with the current ships.We like to operate a very consistent fleet.&rdquo;</span></span></span></span><span></span></p>