Carnival Corporation has reached an agreement for the construction of two new cruise ships for its AIDA Cruises brand.

The 125,000-ton ships will be the largest ever constructed for the cruise line.

A memorandum of agreement has been signed with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build the two 3,250-passenger ships, which are scheduled for delivery in March 2015 and March 2016.

The all-in cost for these vessels will be approximately euro 140,000 per lower berth.

Yesterday, Carnival confirmed the order of a new vessel for its Costa Cruises line.

The order for the two ships marks a return by Carnival Corporation to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which built two highly successful ships for Princess Cruises, both of which were delivered in 2004.

The AIDA order marks Carnival Corporation’s first new ship delivery for 2016 and continues the company’s strategy of introducing two to three ships per year.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O Cruises (Australia).

Together, these brands operate 101 ships totalling approximately 200,000 lower berths with ten new ships scheduled to be delivered between May 2012 and March 2016.

Carnival Corporation also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon.

Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.