Costa Cruises has revised its plans, postponing its restart to May. The decision was made in light of the restrictions still in place in Italy and other European countries to contain Covid-19. These measures prevent the company from offering its guests the best cruise vacation experience, especially regarding the shore excursions.
According to the new plan, the Costa Smeralda's departure from Italy is scheduled for May 1st, with an unchanged coastal itinerary, taking guests to various Italian destinations on 3- and 4-day mini-cruises or, alternatively, a 7-day cruise, calling at Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Messina, and Cagliari. From June 12th, the Costa Smeralda will resume week-long cruises in the Western Mediterranean, visiting Italy (Savona, Civitavecchia, and Palermo), France (Marseille), and possibly Spain (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca).
The departure date of the Costa Luminosa, the second Costa ship scheduled to resume operations, has been postponed to May 16 from Trieste, and the following day from Bari, confirming its one-week cruise program around Greece and Croatia, in accordance with the recent roadmap for the resumption of international tourism in Greece.
The resumption of Costa cruises will continue to rely on the application of the strict Costa Safety Protocol. This protocol contains operational measures related to all aspects of the cruise experience, both onboard and ashore, which have been successfully implemented in Italy since September 6. These measures include capacity limitations, complimentary antigen testing for all guests and crew just before embarkation, temperature checks upon disembarkation and re-embarkation, "bubble" shore excursions, physical distancing onboard and in cruise terminals, new ways of using onboard services, increased health and medical services, and the use of face masks. In addition, Costa Cruises offers its Spanish guests the convenience of taking a PCR test back onboard to facilitate their re-entry into Spain.
The company continues to work tirelessly with national and local authorities in the countries included in its ships' itineraries outside of Italy to define the details of resuming its cruise operations.
As previously announced, all other cruises scheduled through the end of May, and not included in the Costa Smeralda and Costa Luminosa itineraries updated today, are cancelled. Costa is in the process of informing travel agencies and affected customers of the changes.
