Carnival and Costa Cruises Team Up for New Concept in North America
Carnival Cruise Line and sister line Costa Cruises have announced a new collaboration brand for North American guests named COSTA by CARNIVAL.
COSTA by CARNIVAL will make its official debut in the spring of 2023. Costa Venezia will join the Carnival fleet with sailings from New York. The brand will expand in the spring of 2024 with Costa Firenze sailing from Long Beach.
Carnival Cruise Line will operate and manage the ships. The newly-created brand will bring Carnival’s notable great service, food and entertainment, and pair it with the Italian design features of Costa Cruises.
“Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambiance and beauty of Italy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “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.”
Both COSTA by CARNIVAL ships are a part of the Vista class of vessels, and sisters to Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama. Each ship weighs 135,500 gross tons with the capacity to accommodate up to 5,260 guests.
The ships will continue to operate their previously scheduled Costa Cruises itineraries until they head for dry dock work and deployment by Carnival.
“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. Costa providing the beautiful ship with its’ Italian design and Carnival delivering FUN, Italian Style!”
Deployment and itinerary plans are still being finalized by Carnival. The line anticipates announcing more from COSTA by Carnival leading up to the upcoming 2023 launch date of Costa Venezia.
Read More Cruise News
Join the discussion
Tell us: Do you think the smoke stack for COSTA by CARNIVAL ships will stay Costa yellow with a big C, or will it be transformed into Carnival Cruise Line's signature whale tail?
1 Comment
Posted by MJtraveler
It should be a Whale Tail with the new Carnival livery. If it it the "Venice Class" of the Carnival fleet, it should look like their sister ships on the exterior. The names can be "Costa Luminoso," for example, to identify the "Costa by Carnival" new class.