The cruise industry has bounced back from covid-19, and now it's making up for lost time.
In May, Carnival Cruise (CCL) became the first company to get its entire full fleet back onto the water following the departure of Carnival Splendor from the Port of Seattle, and the other two major companies, Norwegian (NCLH) and Royal Caribbean (RCL), have followed suit.
But Carnival Cruise isn’t just getting its ships back out onto the water. It’s also actively trying to expand its fleet. The company recently announced it was acquiring the cruise ship Costa Luminosa from the Italian company Costa Crociere. That's a sort of paper transaction because Carnival owns Costa so essentially the ship is being transferred between brands.
It’s currently being renovated and will relaunch in November under the Carnival banner, and will specialize in visits to Australian attractions such as the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach.
But now Carnival has also announced plans to acquire two more ships from Costa Cruises and will roll them out in the next two years. That gives the company more smaller (still huge, but small relative to the largest-in-the-world vessels Royal Caribbean keeps building) ships which allow it to access ports the larger ships cannot.
What Ships Has Carnival Cruise Moved From Costa Cruises?
Carnival has teamed up with Costa Cruises for a new concept dubbed Costa by Carnival, which will kick off in the Spring of 2023 when the Costa Venezia will set sail from New York.
Carnival will operate the ships, which will maintain Costa’s Italian design features. The plan is for them to stay on their current itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for dry dock work and deployment, plans which are still being finalized.
The Costa ships give Carnival an answer to Royal Caribbean's bigger is better philosophy and this could appeal to people who pine for the cruise experience of years ago.
Carnival Cruise
What Other Costa Ship Has Joined Carnival?
In the Spring of 2023, the Costa Venezia will be joined by Costa Firenze, which will set sail from Long Beach. Both ships weigh 135,500 gross tons and can accommodate up to 5,260 guests.
While the Costa Luminosa will be completely rebranded and renamed Carnival Luminosa, the Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will be retaining their Costa Cruises identities and Italian aesthetic.
“Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambiance and beauty of Italy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line in a statement. “We’re going to invite our guests to Choose Fun with Carnival, Italian Style!”
Duffy added that “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. 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.”
Deployment and itinerary plans are being finalized, with the Venezia announcement coming soon given the spring 2023 launch date. Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are sister ships to Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Panorama, weighing 135,500 gross tons and accommodating up to 5,260 guests.
