This summer, Costa Cruises intends to bring its entire fleet back to operations, including the four ships the company launched in recent months. Costa Toscana, Costa Smeralda, Costa Firenze and Costa Venezia will all be operating in the Meditereanean in the summer months.
The cruise line has the intention not to require guests to book a shore excursion to be able to leave the vessel. Instead, guests will be able to explore the multitude of destinations independently. A feature that has been sorely missed from the cruise experience in the last year-and-a-half in the Mediterranean.
Costa Cruises Resumes Gradual Restart
Over the next few months, Costa Cruises intends to bring its entire fleet back to operations. From the spring onwards through winter, the cruise line wants to sail on 1,800 cruises, visiting 179 different destinations, on cruises lasting 3 to 127 days.
To achieve this, the cruise line will be operating 13 ships this year, including its newest four cruise ships, Costa Toscana, Costa Smeralda, Costa Firenze, and Costa Venezia, and steadily bring all other ships online to start welcoming guests.
Roberto Alberti, SVP & Chief Commercial Officer of Costa Cruises:
“We are seeing the growth in demand for holidays, and I am sure that this trend will increase further in the coming weeks. Our rich itinerary program suits for every need and includes some great new features, such as cruises to Turkey.”
“Our cruise experience has been profoundly enriched and will allow guests to discover destinations in an authentic way, also thanks to extended stops in some ports. Furthermore, our guests will be able to enjoy their vacations on a fleet with latest generation ships, which combine sustainable innovation with entertainment, hospitality, and well-being”.
Costa Cruises Start-Up Dates
The company’s newest cruise ship, Costa Toscana, will be sailing from March 5. The ship is an LNG-powered excellence-class ship, which sister-ships include Costa Smeralda, Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and more. She will be sailing an itinerary from Savona, Italy, to Marseille, Barcelona, Valencia, Palermo, and Civitavecchia.
After that, the next ship to return is Costa Favolosa on April 28, offering guests 4- and 5-day mini-cruises in the Western Mediterranean. Costa Venezia, designed and built to be sailing for the Chinese market, will be sailing on a 7-day itinerary from Istanbul instead, calling in ports in Turkey and Greece starting May 1.
Costa Toscana’s sister-ship Costa Smeralda will begin operations from May 7, calling in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Valencia, Palermo, and Civitavecchia on 7-day cruises. Costa Luminosa will be sailing on 14-day cruises from Savona to Marseille, Barcelona, Casablanca, the Canary Islands, and The Azores.
Other Costa Ships to return to operations or which will reposition to Europe for the spring and summer include:
- Costa Fortuna will begin operations in Northern Europe on June 12 on 14-day cruises to Norway from Ijmuiden, Netherlands, or Bremerhaven, Germany.
- Costa Diadema will also return to the Mediterranean, offering a cruise to Lisbon on May 5, after which she will combine sailings in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
- Costa Fascinosa will be leaving on May 1 to cruise to the Azores, which is available only to club members; after this, she will sail to Northern Europe.
- Costa Deliziosa will resume her Mediterranean cruises from April 15,
- Costa Firenze will resume on April 7 on voyages in Spain, Italy, and France.
Costa Not Requiring Shore Excursions
Guests will no longer be required to book a shore excursion to leave the ship this summer and possibly already in spring. As health protocols will no longer be as stringent as they have been in Europe:
Roberto Alberti: “I am confident that the return to free shore excursions, which we are planning for next summer and which we hope can be anticipated as early as next spring, will be an extra incentive to choose a Costa cruise.”
From the winter of 2022, Costa Cruises also hopes to bring back the grand voyages, including a World Cruise on Costa Deliziosa departing January 6, 2023. The itinerary will take guests to India, the Maldives, South Africa and Namibia, South America, and New York before returning to Europe.
