Giant New Carnival-Owned Cruise Ship Departs for Sea Trials

The Costa Smeralda has departed the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland for sea trials. The giant ship is operated by Carnival-owned Costa Cruises.

Costa Smeralda Departs for Sea Trials

The largest-ever Costa cruise ship and a new generation for the cruise line has departed the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland for sea trials. The Carnival Corporation-owned cruise ship will undergo many tests while at sea to make sure the large vessel is seaworthy and that all propulsion systems work correctly. This is the only time many systems can be tested as at the shipyard this is not possible.

The Costa cruise ship is the first of her class however she is similar to Aidanova which has already entered service for German-based sister cruise line Aida Cruises which is also owned by Carnival.

Costa Smeralda is delayed due to the complex configuration of the ships which includes new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). It is also the first ship of its kind constructed at the shipyard at 180,000 gross tons with 2,600 staterooms, 4 pools, 11 restaurants, and 14 bars.

The new ship will debut in min-November now due to the delay. The inaugural season will commence on November 30, 2019, from Savona, Italy. The seven-day Medditereanane cruises will include calls at Savona (Saturday), Marseille (Sunday), Barcelona (Monday), Palma de Mallorca (Tuesday), Civitavecchia (Thursday) and La Spezia (Friday).

Also Read: Construction on Carnival-Owned Cruise Ship Forces Delayed Delivery

Once the ship has successfully completed sea trials it won’t be too long until she is delivered to Costa Cruises. Crew members will soon start to arrive to set up their departments ready for the first passengers.

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