While inspections and repairs are completed on Costa Allegra, which suffered a generator room fire last week, Costa will replace it on its scheduled programs with Costa Voyager beginning March 18. The company still does not have an estimate on how long the ship will be out of service.
Costa Voyager's original itineraries in the Red Sea will be suspended. Passengers booked on the Red Sea program, are being offered other 7-day programs or the option to cancel without penalty plus a future cruise credit equal to 30% of the fare they paid on Costa Voyager. Alternative cruises Costa is offering include a 7-day option in the UAE, a 7-day Caribbean option from Guadeloupe, and 7-day eastern and western Mediterranean programs.
The 24,000-ton Costa Voyager carries 832 passengers, double occupancy, with a maximum capacity of 927 passengers. It was originally built for Royal Olympic Cruises in 2000 as Olympic Voyager, and in 2004 joined the Iberocruceros fleet. (Iberocruceros is a Carnival brand.) Last year it was refurbished and transferred within the Carnival fleet, to the Costa brand.
Details appeared in the March 6, 2012, edition of Cruise News Daily.
