I am hearing severla rumors that NCL is looking at building a ship around the 200,000gt mark. That puts it at just slightly smaller than the current largest Oasis and Allure of the Seas which come in at 225,000gt.
The bid will likely go to STX, possibly in Finland. If Germany’s Meyer Werft are successful in their bid for the Finnish yard, then it adds fuel to the fire. NCL just recently took delivery of the German built Breakaway and Getaway and have two more ships on order from them. They are apparently very pleased with Meyer’s work.
If that’s the case, NCL’s upcoming slots [not made public at this time] will transfer to Finland, and Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity, will take the rest of the upcoming Papenburg slots. Star Cruises are also interested in ordering 2 more 150,000gt ships in addition to their 2 already on the books. I expect this all to be cleared up, and we will know the future of this, by the end of the summer.
For now it seems that Carnival Corp will stick with Fincantieri and MSC will stick with STX France & Fincantieri.