Carnival Cruise Line will welcome an additional two Costa cruise ships to its fleet in 2023 and 2024. Costa Venezia will operate from New York and Costa Firenze will sail out of Long Beach, both merging Italian style and ambiance with Carnival Cruise Line’s signature fun.
Costa Vessels to Join Carnival Cruise Line
The Miami-based cruise line is going full Italian style with “COSTA by Carnival” and bringing two Costa cruise ships to the Carnival fleet.
Costa Venezia will join in Spring 2023 and debut out of New York City, while Costa Firenze will join in 2024 and debut under her new cruise brand out of Long Beach, California.
The cruise line is bringing the Italian style of cruising to the U.S. market and guests will get to enjoy the stunning Italian-inspired decor that both the ships offer.
“Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambiance and beauty of Italy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We’re going to invite our guests to Choose Fun with Carnival, Italian Style!”
This follows after the recent announcement that Costa Luminosa will be joining the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in November 2022. That ship, however, will be completely rebranded and renamed Carnival Luminosa, while Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will be retaining their Costa Cruises identities.
Dry Dock Planned
Both ships will undergo dry dock work prior to relocating to the United States, but full details on that work have not yet been released. Because the ships are intended to bring the essence of Italy – the vibe Costa Cruises is known for – to the North American market, it is unlikely they will be completely renovated, or given Carnival Cruise Line’s signature “whale tail” funnel.
What the ships will bring, however, is a popular class of cruise ship beloved by passengers who have sailed with both Carnival and Costa. Both vessels are modified Vista-class ships, and the only two Vista-class ships sailing with Costa Cruises.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista class ships in the U.S. and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy,” said Duffy.
“There are lots of ways we plan to create an immersive fun experience for our guests who choose to sail on these ships, which have beautiful Italian-design elements, dining and retail that will deliver Carnival fun leveraging the spirit of Italy from our sister line Costa Cruises.”
Carnival Cruise Line already operates three Vista-class vessels in the Fun Ship fleet: Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Panorama, which joined the line in 2016, 2018, and 2019, respectively.
The two Costa ships are younger sisters in the class, with Costa Venezia having debuted in 2019 and Costa Firenze in 2020.
“We are excited to see these iconic ships make their debut in the U.S. under the leadership and operation of our sister brand,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises.
While there are always slight variations among sister ships, both Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are very similar, weighing 135,500 gross tons and accommodating up to 5,260 guests.
Itineraries to Be Announced
The exact itineraries for the two ships have not yet been announced but will be forthcoming as details are finalized. With Costa Venezia to be homeported in New York City, it is likely the ship may offer sailings to Bermuda, The Bahamas, New England, and Canada.
From Long Beach, California, Costa Firenze will be perfectly positioned to offer Mexican itineraries or voyages along the California coast, perhaps also including longer sailings to Hawaii.
At the moment, both ships will continue operating their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival, and Costa Cruises is notifying guests impacted by the redeployment plans.
