There was a fifth, for which the class was named – the Costa Concordia, which sank in 2012. There are two Excellence Class ships in the Costa fleet – Costa Toscana and Costa Smeralda. They are part of the wider Excellence Class which includes ships such as P&O Cruises’ Iona and Arvia, and Carnival’s Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee. Costa Cruises is one of the cheapest cruise lines in Europe, offering a range of itineraries not just around the Mediterranean but also further afield, including the Caribbean, South America and more. Costa Pacifica is a music-themed ship designed by cruise ship architect Joseph Farcus.
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Honeymoon Cruises
Designed by parent company Carnival's Joe Farcus, they leave virtually no surface unadorned. Prepare for an abundance of bling, with Carerra marble, Murano glass, terrazzo, mosaics, inlaid wood (both real and faux), quite a few bare breasts (on artwork, not passengers), and a flock of Cupids with cherubic penises dangling overhead. Throw in an Egyptian-themed theater and a Chinese-inspired bar for good measure, and you could experience visual overload. Fortunately, Mediterranea's cabins are roomy and low-key in their decor, so your eyes get a break.
Costa Cruises
That means you either have to be incredibly lucky or be comfortable doing your own thing ashore. For English-language passengers, don't bother booking excursions online. Instead, visit the Shore Excursion office on Deck 6 to see what tours have enough English-speaking participants.
Venezia Class
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The company is most infamous for the sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off the island of Isola del Giglio in January 2012. After Carnival's take over, a new-building program commenced for the line, utilizing Carnival Cruise Lines Spirit-class and Destiny-class design platforms for the new ships. There are currently four ships in the Concordia Class for Costa – Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa.
Costa Classica collision
Three Costa ships were offloaded to Carnival Cruise Line and renamed Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Firenze, and Carnival Venezia. We thoroughly enjoyed the polite European habit of acknowledging fellow passengers when entering or departing an elevator. Don't be surprised if a complete stranger greets you with, "Bonjour, Madame," or departs with a "Buona sera!" as the doors close. Ship staff make a real effort to accommodate various nationalities when it comes to announcements, excursions, entertainment, menus and signage. Major announcements are made in Italian, English, French, Spanish and German -- and there are designated hosts who conduct separate passenger orientations in those languages as well. Many staff are multilingual, instantly hopping from one language to another.
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The Costa-FlixBus deal allows now Costa customers to pre-book (add upon cruise booking) FlixBus return transfers from any of the European port cities that FlixBus serves. Currently, FlixBus has Europe's largest intercity bus network with 400,000+ daily connections to 1000+ destinations in 30 countries. In late-September 2017, Costa announced its partnership with Juventus (football club).
There are currently six classes of ship in the Costa Cruises fleet – Excellence, Venezia, Diadema, Luminosa, Concordia, and Fortuna. Several of these classes are part of wider ship classes for the Carnival group, with sister ships in other fleets. None of the ships in the Costa fleet are small, so if you like the idea of a more intimate atmosphere onboard then it may not be the cruise line for you. But there is a very different experience on the smaller ships in the fleet compared to the biggest, with the larger ships definitely feeling busier, but compensating for that with more dining and entertainment options. These ships, as of 2024, make the list of the top 10 largest cruise ships in the world.
Introduction to Costa Cruises
Costa Pacifica's schedule for summer 2023 (June 3 thru October 7) lists Taranto Italy s both a homeport (also reached with a fly-cruise package) and a call/transit port for passengers embarking in other ports, particularly Catania. Taranto (a total of 19x calls/Saturday visits/port stay 8 am and 5 pm) was included as part of a 7-day Greek Islands itinerary also visiting Catania (Sicily), Valletta (Malta), and Greece's Mykonos Island and Santorini Island. In this guide, I’ll break down the full range of Costa cruise ships by their size, how old they are, and the different classes available. There are some differences an English-speaking audience should be aware of. While the ship has a dedicated English-language ambassador and prints all relevant notices, including the "Oggi a Bordo" Daily Program, in English, your experience ashore will depend largely on how many other English guests are aboard.
She was then towed to Mahé, Seychelles, where the passengers disembarked. The Fortuna Class for Costa only includes one ship, the Costa Fortuna. The Costa Magica was once part of this class too, but was sold in 2023. It’s a sub-class of the Sunshine Class, formerly the Destiny Class, including three Carnival ships. And one final interesting note with Costa – all of the ships barring the two biggest have a Deck 0, and it’s accessible to guests on the ship too.
Instead, a three-story space at the center of the ship known as the Colosseo functions as an entertainment pavilion for vocal and visual performances ranging from guest headliners to full-blown dance productions. Crew aboard Costa Toscana are all true polyglots, switching effortlessly from French to Italian to German to English. Service is, by and large, gracious; we only had one negative interaction with a staff member who just truly didn't care what we were asking for.
Spanning Decks 6,7 and 8 and flanked by three stories of glass windows on both port and starboard sides, this circular space is also situated near the Kartell Caffe coffee bar; the Campari Bar; and the Caffe Vergnano 1882 on Deck 6. Even if you're not directly viewing the performances, you can always hear them from some of the key bars on the ship. Public rehearsals are held here during the day, allowing passengers to glimpse the work that performers put into their nightly shows. The new technology was first tested on AIDAstella where Pepper learned to engage with passengers and crew. The first set of robots were introduced on Costa Diadema and AIDAprima in April 2016.
The project (scheduled completion by 2018's end) covered all active ships in the fleet plus the new vessels under construction - Smeralda and Venezia. The fresh-made Fior di latte cheese and buffalo mozzarella are also used in some Pummidoro pizzas, prepared with sourdough and select ingredients. By the end of 2017, these unique cheeses were also included in the menus served in other onboard restaurants.
It was named originally for the Costa Luminosa, before she transferred to Carnival and became the Carnival Luminosa. Two Cunard ships – Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth – are also part of this wider class. It’s part of the wider Dream Class, which includes three Carnival ships including the Carnival Dream.
Costa ships' fresh-made mozzarella, as well as other onboard-made traditional Italian cheese specialties, can be ordered from the special "Goccialatte" menu available in the Costa Cruises' signature pizzerias "Pummid'oro". In March 2024 were introduced "Sea Destinations” (onboard programming) themed on the current itinerary's ports/island destinations. In 2023, Costa Cruises marked its 75 years of passenger shipping since its first passenger ship - SS Anna C (1955-built), departed from Genova/Milano to Buenos Aires (Argentina) on March 31, 1948, carrying a total of 768 guests. The first voyages were between Italy and South America on the ship Anna C. These voyages were not the same sort of cruises on offer as today, they were regular ocean liner voyages like between Southampton and New York. For most guests, the best Costa Cruises ships are the two biggest and newest, the Costa Toscana and Costa Smeralda. They are in the best condition and have the most variety of dining options and activities to enjoy onboard.
By leveraging their knowledge, connections, and attention to detail, they save you time and money, while ensuring that all your needs are met and exceeded. With a specialist by your side, you can embark on a carefree vacation, confident that every aspect of your journey has been thoughtfully planned and curated to provide you with a memorable and fulfilling cruise experience. Time and time again, it has been proven that the expertise and knowledge of a cruise specialist can enhance every aspect of your cruise experience. The next table shows all Costa ships with their homeports (departure ports) and itinerary program reviews. The UAE-based Costa Smeralda offers 7-day Red Sea cruises from Dubai (two-day/overnight stay) visiting Muscat Oman, Doha Qatar, and Abu Dhabi UAE.
And that varies because, unlike North American ships (but common for some European lines), Costa Toscana embarks and disembarks passengers in almost every port on its Mediterranean itinerary. The use of color to differentiate Costa Toscana's public rooms is immediately apparent, from the forest greens of the Kartell Caffe on Deck 8 amidships to the fire-engine red of the aptly-branded Campari Bar on Deck 7. To that end, wandering the decks of Costa Toscana is a journey in discovery -- not just of the ship itself, but of Europe and Italy. Deck 17 hosts the bright-orange Aperol Spritz bar, for instance -- a partnership with the Italian brand that created the iconic drink in the 1920's in Venice.
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