Costa Cruises will resume operations with its entire fleet this summer.
The gradual resumption of service includes the March 5 departure of Costa Toscana on its first cruise. By summer, the company's entire fleet will resume operations, with all four of the new ships delivered in recent months - Costa Toscana, Costa Smeralda, Costa Firenze and Costa Venezia - deployed in the Mediterranean.
Also, the company hopes that by spring or summer it can once again operate shore excursions in "free mode," as opposed to reduce capacity "bubble" tours.
Costa's plans to operate more than 1,800 cruises from spring 2022 to winter 2022-23. The voyages of three to 127 days will visit 179 destinations around the world.
"We are seeing the growth in demand for holidays, and I am sure that this trend will increase further in the coming weeks," said Roberto Alberti, chief commercial officer of Costa Cruises. "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.
"In 2021, we safely recorded on our ships more than 1.5 million passenger movements, achieving a truly unique and exceptional record considering the context in which we operated," Alberti continued. "We also reached previously unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction, thanks to the efforts and investments we have made since the restart of our operations. 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."
After Costa Toscana, Costa Favolosa will resume service on April 28, with "mini-cruises" in the Mediterranean. Costa Venezia will start on May 1 from Istanbul, with a one-week itinerary in Turkey and Greece, Costa Smeralda will relaunch on May 7, offering a one-week itinerary in the western Mediterranean. Costa Pacifica will resume operations on June 4 from Bari, exploring Greece and Malta.
The two-week cruises to the Canary Islands and the Azores, originally planned with the Costa Pacifica in April and May, will be carried out by Costa Luminosa, while Costa Fortuna will return operating in Northern Europe on June 12.
After the winter season in South America, Costa Diadema will also return to the Mediterranean in May. Back from the Caribbean, Costa Deliziosa will resume Mediterranean cruises from April 15, while Costa Firenze will be positioned in Genoa on April 7 to begin her program of cruises in Spain, Italy and France.
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