Following the restart of its ships in the Mediterranean, Costa Cruises continues with its program to resume operations, announcing significant updates for the 2021-2022 season. The main changes affect the Italian company's three most innovative ships: Costa Firenze, Costa Toscana, and Costa Smeralda.
Costa Firenze, the latest addition to the Costa fleet and dedicated to the Florentine Renaissance, will enter service on July 4th from Savona and will operate in the Mediterranean until the end of November 2021. In the winter of 2021-22, the ship will sail from Dubai for cruises to the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar, including visits to Expo 2020 Dubai. From April 2022, Costa Firenze will resume offering week-long cruises to Italy, France, and Spain.
Costa's presence in the Mediterranean will be further strengthened by the Costa Toscana, a new sustainable ship powered by liquefied natural gas, currently under construction and set to debut in December 2021. Throughout 2022, the Costa Toscana will be dedicated to seven-day cruises in the Western Mediterranean, allowing passengers to visit fascinating Spanish destinations such as Barcelona and Valencia in the spring, or Ibiza and Valencia in the summer.
In the winter of 2021-2022, the Costa Smeralda, the company's current flagship, will replace its sister ship Costa Toscana in South America, before returning to the Mediterranean to cruise around Italy, France and Spain.
“Costa’s offering for the remainder of this year and all of next year is a direct response to our customers. As a result of the positive feedback and requests we received after sales opened, we have made improvements and added more ships to our programs, continuing with our phased and gradual restart plan in a still-evolving situation. With this approach, we offer guests fantastic vacations with state-of-the-art ships, first-class service, restaurants and spas, and a strong presence in all the regions where we operate. In the Mediterranean, starting in May 2022, we will deploy our three most innovative ships for the first time for a truly unique cruise vacation,” stated Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises.
Costa's winter 2021-22 programs will be complemented by four additional ships. The Costa Diadema will depart from Savona on September 26, offering extended cruises to Turkey and Greece or Spain and Portugal. Starting in December, it will also operate in the Caribbean, with three different itineraries to discover the beauty of various Caribbean islands and their beaches. The Costa Fascinosa will return to service on September 23, again departing from Savona, for 10-day cruises to Lisbon, while during the winter it will offer cruises to South America. The Costa Deliziosa will continue its Eastern Mediterranean cruise program until January 8, 2022, when it will depart for its World Cruise. The Costa Luminosa, currently operating in the Eastern Mediterranean, will offer two-week cruises to the Canary Islands or Israel.
During the 2022 season, in addition to the Costa Firenze, Costa Smeralda, and Costa Toscana cruises in the Western Mediterranean, three more ships—Costa Deliziosa, Costa Luminosa, and Costa Pacifica—will be available in the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, four ships—Costa Diadema, Costa Fascinosa, Costa Favolosa, and Costa Fortuna—will operate in Northern Europe, with itineraries to Baltic cities and the Norwegian fjords.
All updates to Costa's programs will be rolled out gradually to Costa's booking systems over the coming weeks. The company will contact guests and travel agents affected by the changes as soon as possible to provide them with the details.
