Costa Cruises will be resuming cruises from March 27. The cruise line believes the ships are ready to set sail once again, after a short break in the last months.
The line has scheduled an Italian itinerary from the end of March 2021, while May will see the Carnival Corporation-owned cruise line operate cruises to international destinations.
Flagship Costa Smeralda Will Set Sail First
The first ship to start sailing will be the company’s flagship vessel Costa Smeralda. Scheduled for March 27, 2021, the vessel will be sailing on 7-day itineraries in Italy for one month before her itinerary will change to one-week cruises in the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean cruises will be taking Costa Smeralda on May 1 from Italy (Savona, Civitavecchia, and Palermo), France (Marseille), and Spain (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca).
A second ship, the Costa Luminosa, will be joining Costa Smeralda from May 2, 2021. The second costa ship to set sail in 2021 is scheduled to sail from Italy on cruises departing and arriving in Trieste, with ports of call in Bari, Italy, Corfu, and Athens in Greece, and the beautiful port of Kotor in Montenegro.
Introducing and Perfecting New Measures
So far, Costa cruises are still working with the national and local authorities of the included countries to hammer out the final details of the restart of cruising. The company plans to implement enhanced safety and health measures under the Costa Safety Protocol.
Also Read: How to Social Distance Effectively on a Cruise?
This protocol, which contains operational measures related to all aspects of the cruise experience, has been perfected by the cruise line since the middle of last year. The Italian cruise line is one of the few companies that have been able to offer regular sailings since the pandemic.
The measures include limited capacity onboard, swab tests for all guests and crew, temperature checks when disembarking and re-embarking the ship, protected shore excursions, physical distancing on board and at the cruise terminals, new ways of using onboard services, enhanced sanitation, and medical services, and use of protective face masks when necessary.
Second Cruise Line To Announce Restart
Costa Cruise Line is the second European cruise line to announce a restart of cruises in March. As we announced yesterday, sister company AIDA cruises will be sailing with four various vessels in the Canary Islands, Western Europe, and the Mediterranean.
The negotiations with the local authorities will also include other ships from Costa cruises as the line will be increasing its vessels sailing in Europe from the end of May. Costa Deliziosa will be sailing on May 29 from Venice with stops in Mykonos, Santorini, Argostoli/Kefalonia, and Bari before returning to Venice.
Costa Magica will sail on 8 days (7 nights) voyages on May 29 from Bari to Catania, Mykonos, Valletta in Malta, and Santorini. Costa Pacifica will sail on 8 days (7 nights) voyages on May 29 from Barcelona on the following itinerary: Barcelona, Cagliari, Palermo, Civitavecchia/Rome, La Spezia, Marseilles, Barcelona.
Worth Reading: Former Carnival-Owned Cruise Ship is Beached in Turkey
Finally, Costa Firenze will be sailing from Genoa from May 30 with ports of call like Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Ibiza, Barcelona, Marseilles, and returning to Genoa.
It looks then that the European cruise lines are preparing for a gradual restart, which will gear up to multiple ships sailing in European waters later this spring and summer. Of course, this does depend on how the current lockdowns go, which are in place all over Europe currently.
