It Will Be a Cold Day

It was a cold day in Finland when Costa Toscana floated out at the Meyer shipyard in Turku.  

Here's something few people normally get to see. This is the entire float-out ceremony of Costa Toscana (Tuscany), which is the sister ship to Costa Smeralda, as it was broadcast from the Meyer Turku yard this morning, complete with some interesting comments by company and design executives. 

Fincantieri Delivers Costa Firenze

Fincantieri delivered the 135,500-ton Costa Firenze to Carnival's Costa Crociere brand today at Trieste. As the name would imply, the ship has a Florentine Renaissance theme throughout. 

The video below is a first look at the ship's stunning interior. 

Photo courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Costa Smeralda Milestone

Costa Smeralda refuled (bunkered) with LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) for the first time in Italy on October 25 (2020) at La Spieza. 

Photos courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Are You Missing Something?

Costa has launched a video campaign in all their European markets that is laying the groundwork for their return to cruising. It's called "The Holiday We Miss" and builds on a previous very successful Costa campaign that used the slogan, "The Holiday You're Missing."

This is the video Europeans are seeing with the hashtags, #CRUISINGSOON and #RIPARTIAMOINSIEME

Flying around Costa Smeralda

The 185,000-ton Costa Smeralda glided into Savona, Italy on Friday directly from Meyer Turku, ready for her first cruise on Saturday. It probably still has that new ship smell.

Costa Firenze Floated Out

Fincantieri floated out the 135,500-ton Costa Firenze at their Marghera yard today. The ship is the sister to Costa Venezia which was built at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard and entered service last March.

Look quickly, because Costa Firenze, like her sister, is designated to operate in the Chinese market for the foreseeable future.

Details appeared in the November 6 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Photos courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.  

Other Things You'll Want to Know - October 28, 2019

CND subscribers also read about:

• An additional delay for Costa Smeralda's delivery, pushing the inaugural cruise back to December 21.
• Carnival Sunrise arrived at Ft Lauderdale ready to homeport there for its winter season
• Negligent homicide charges were filed against the grandfather of an 18-month-old girl who fell through an open window to her death on Freedom of the Seas when it was in San Juan in July.
• The Coast Guard ended their search Saturday evening for a 26-year-old man who went overboard from Carnival Dream last Thursday evening.  

Details appeared October 28 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Meyer Turku Cuts Steel for Costa Toscana

The first steel was cut today at Meyer Turku for Costa's second LNG-powered ship, Costa Toscana. The 180,000-ton ship will be a sister to Costa Smeralda which will have entered service this fall.

Details appeared in the July 30 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Like a Trip to Florence

Costa Cruises said today their second new ship dedicated to the Chinese market will be named Costa Firenze. The 135,500-ton vessel will be a sister to Costa Venezia, which entered service on March 1.

Costa Firenze is currently under construction at Fincantieri's Marghera yard for delivery in October 2020.

The complete story appeared in the May 6 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

A Cheesy Day on Costa

Most people who book a Costa cruise do so because they want the Italian experience Costa exports so well all around the world. Costa often positions themselves as the ambassadors of aspects of Italian excellence with short- term initiatives onboard.

Usually these special experiences aren't significant enough that one would book a cruise just for it, or even choose one itinerary over another just to be on the right ship, but if you happen to be on one of the selected ships, it's like you've won a small prize in the lottery.

The complete story appeared in the April 3 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Passenger Arrests aboard Two Ships for Smuggling Drugs

Authorities in two countries have disrupted major drug smuggling operations on two cruise ships in the last few days by arresting groups of passengers traveling to Europe carrying significant amounts of drugs.

Details appeared in the April 1 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Seems Like Old Times

Costa Cruises' headquarters are in Genoa. Of course their cruise ships always called there at the busy port in the heart of town. Then about twenty years ago, Costa built a gleaming new terminal down the coast in the nearby town of Savona and the big Costa ships moved there. But Costa's headquarters (and heart) stayed in Genoa.

Today, there was a homecoming, because Costa returned to the Port of Genoa, right in the heart of town, when the 103,000-ton Costa Fortuna returned to make its homeport there through this fall for a total of 34 calls.

The complete story appeared in the March 26 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photos courtesy of Costa Cruises. All rights reserved may not be copied or used without express permission.

A “Flood” of Excitement in Finland

Meyer-Turku celebrated the float out of Costa Smeralda today at their yard in Finland, marking the first time the ship has touched water, when Meyer and Costa officials opened the valves that let water into the dry dock.

Actually, it was more of a float up because it will take about 24 hours to fill the giant dry dock and tow the ship to an outfitting pier where its interior will be completed in time for delivery in October.

This is also an important milestone because Costa Smeralda is the first Costa ship, and the first to be sold globally, that will be powered both at sea and in port by clean-burning liquified natural gas (LNG).

The complete story appeared in the March 15 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Note: Additional photos still being added to this item. 

Water begins to flood the dry dock

Photo courtesy of Meyer-Turku and Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 4, 2019

CND subscribers also read about:

• Winter weather in the Northeast creating some scary moments for passengers aboard Norwegian Escape on Saturday night
• Say good-bye to Carnival Triumph 
• Princess sets specific dates Medallion Net will be available on next ships to get their faster internet
• Fincantieri says Viking has finalized the order for two ships which will be delivered in 2024 and 2045.
• Costa Venezia was named in Trieste on Friday, and part of the show was a flyover by the Italian Air Force's precision flight team, Frecce Tricolori. (photo below)

Details appeared in the March 4 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Photo courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission. 

Ready for China

Fincantieri delivered Costa Venezia today at their yard in Monfalcone, and within six hours it was on its way to Trieste for Costa's celebration of its new ship will be held. After a brief preview cruise, the 135,500-ton ship will be headed to Asia, never to be seen in the west again - or at least not for the foreseeable future. Even though Costa was Carnival's original pioneer brand for China and has been sailing there for more than a decade, this is the first ship the brand had built specifically for the Chinese market.

After a quick five-night preview cruise, the West will have one more chance to see the ship during a 52-day positioning cruise from Trieste to Asia sailing on March 8.

The complete story appeared in the February 28 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Video courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Topping Off

Meyer Turku "topped off" Costa's new flagship, Costa Smeralda, this week when it installed the funnel aboard the 180,000 ship. The ship is the first for the world market to be powered by Liquified National Gas (LNG) both at sea and in port. Costa Smeralda will enter service on October 20, 2019.

Photos courtesy of Costa Crociere. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - December 14, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• A passenger going overboard from Carnival Victory
• Costa extending their contract to manager Savona's cruise terminal until 2044
• A Coast Guard medevac from Norwegian Escape

Details appeared in the December 14 edition of Cruise News Daily

Video courtesy of the US Coast Guard. All rights reserved.

Naming Costa Venezia

Costa said today they are going to christen Costa Venezia in their hometown of Trieste on March 1 before they send it off for the foreseeable future to China.

The ship is the first Costa has purposefully designed specifically for the Chinese-sourced market. The Chinese enjoy trying new things, going new places and have a desire to travel to Europe and Italy in particular. Costa Venezia will help satisfy that desire simply by stepping aboard. Much of the ship resembles Italy.

You can see what a unique ship this is going to be in the renderings below.

The complete story appeared in the December 7 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - December 3, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Carnival Legend going to Europe in 2020
• Costa's new television commercial airing in Europe (but not the US) starring Penelope Cruz. Catch it below.

Details appeared in the December 3 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - November 30, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Costa expanding their food donation program to Barcelona. Since it's inception, the program has provided more than 70,000 meals to the hungry where the food would have gone to waste.
• MSC has acquired a significant interest in Trieste's cruise terminal.
• CLIA will have a new president effective January 1.

Details appeared in the November 30 issue of Cruise News Daily.