The Pinnacle Project was a massive cruise ship concept developed by Carnival Corporation in the early 2000s. The ship would have been over 200,000 tons, making it the largest in the world at the time, and would have featured innovative amenities such as a people mover system, a massive artificial mountain, and a rock-climbing wall. However, the project was ultimately canceled due to escalating costs and a shift in the Euro-dollar ratio, making it financially unviable. Despite this, some of the design elements have been implemented in later ships, and the project remains an example of ambitious and revolutionary thinking in the cruise industry.
1. The Carnival Corporation owns eight cruise lines, including Carnival.
2. The Carnival brand sails 25 vessels, making it the largest cruise line in the world.
3. The Pinnacle Project started around 2003-2004 as a plan to build a unique cruise ship.
4. The project was led by Joseph Farkas, a legendary architect for Carnival.
5. The Pinnacle ship would have weighed over 200,000 tons, making it the largest cruise ship in the world at the time.
6. The Queen Mary II was the largest cruise ship at the time, weighing around 150,000 tons.
7. The Pinnacle ship would have featured a people mover system, a series of suspended monorails that would circle decks 16 and 2.
8. The ship would have had a massive artificial mountain with two slides and a rock-climbing wall.
9. The ship's funnel would have been made of colored glass, acting as a skylight for the ship's stern atrium.
10. The Pinnacle Project was cancelled in February 2005 due to technical requirements and cost concerns.
11. The Euro-dollar ratio swing at the time made the project too expensive for Carnival.
12. The project's cost was estimated to be over a billion dollars, which was deemed too high by Carnival's shareholders.
13. A scaled-back version of the project, called Project Next Generation, was proposed but also cancelled.
14. Some features from the Pinnacle Project have been implemented in other Carnival ships, such as the Spirit-class ships' funnels.
15. Royal Caribbean developed a similar project, called Project Genesis, which later became the Oasis-class ships.
16. The Oasis-class ships were constructed starting in 2006, while Carnival's Pinnacle Project was cancelled.
17. The Pinnacle Project's designers and executives were passionate about the project, but it was ultimately deemed too ambitious and expensive.