The delivery of Carnival-owned Costa Smeralda has been delayed until mid-November at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.
Costa Smeralda Delivery Delayed
Due to the complex construction of Costa Smeralda, the delivery date has been pushed back. Instead of in mid-October, the large vessel will now be commencing her inaugural season on November 30, 2019. The mega cruise ship is the first of its kind for Costa Cruises and it’s also the first passenger vessel this size for the shipyard.
Meyer Turku stated the following:
With its new cruise ship LNG propulsion system and many sophisticated rooms with stage and audio/video equipment the complexity and sophistication of the ship is very high in order to create a unique Costa-style passenger experience. Aside from its unique design features also its size of 180 000 GT is impressive and much larger than the recently built ships at Turku shipyard.
In getting this all to work together with many involved persons and companies, Meyer Turku had a slower progress speed than needed, despite counter-actions. Meyer Turku apologizes to all that are affected by this change.
With the ship at around 180,000 gross tons and with new technologies, the shipyard has struggled to keep up the peace without keeping quality. It is also the first time this class ship has been constructed at the shipyard with new features and advancements. With the new delivery date in the middle of November, it means quality can be maintained and the ship can be fully ready for the first guests.
With the delivery delayed this now means Costa has canceled all the original sailings. Those guests booked and travel agents are being notified by the cruise line. Costa president Neil Palomba has also apologized:
“Our priority is always to offer our guests a unique vacation experience that exceeds their expectations. Unfortunately, the Meyer Turku yard needs more time to ensure that Costa Smeralda will do just that and this is absolutely crucial as far as we’re concerned. At the same time, I would stress that Costa Smeralda is a totally innovative project in terms of both technology and product.
In particular, the use of LNG propulsion, which we were the first to invest in, epitomizes Costa’s vocation for ground-breaking, responsible innovation by greatly reducing emissions, thus laying down a marker for the cruise industry as a whole. We deeply regret this delay and apologize for the inconvenience caused to all our guests who’ve already booked a cruise on Costa Smeralda sailing prior to November 30. In any case, we trust that we’ll be able to welcome them on board our new flagship and we’ve already made the necessary arrangements so as to offer them a new choice of departure dates.”
Costa Smeralda will be departing Savona, Italy on November 30. All cruises through April 2021 will go ahead as normal and the week-long sailings in the Western Meditteranean will include calls at Savona (Saturday), Marseille (Sunday), Barcelona (Monday), Palma de Mallorca (Tuesday), Civitavecchia (Thursday) and La Spezia (Friday).
The huge cruise ship which is owned by the Carnival Corporation is the largest ever built for the Costa Cruises and already joins a similar LNG powered vessel for sister cruise line Aida Cruises which is based in Germany. More similar LNG vessel are also under contcution or on order for Carnival Cruise Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and more for Aida Cruises.
The ship which has 2,600 staterooms will have 11 different restaurants (including one specifically conceived for casual family dining), 19 bars, a splendid spa area with 16 treatment rooms, an onboard waterpark with waterslides, 4 pools and a dedicated facility where kids can hang out and make new friends their age. Costa Smeralda will also have her very own museum: the CoDe – Costa Design Museum, displaying the excellence of Italian design.
An identical sister ship named Costa Toscana is scheduled to join the fleet in 2021.
