And they said the Costa brand was dead….
When Carnival ordered 3 ships for AIDA/Costa back in August, there was a provision for a second ship for Costa. Rumor has it that Carnival my be close to picking up that option.
Here’s what I wrote back in August:
[The deal] calls for one ship for Italian/European brand Costa Crociere. The unnamed vessel will come in at 132,500grt. making her the largest for Costa and 3rd largest in Carnival Corp (QM2 and Royal Princess are larger). Pax numbers are, 3,700 lower berths, 4,928 total guests. Delivery of the USD$794 million vessel will be 2014. She will be constructed in the [Fincanteri] yard.
If true, it signifies that the Costa brand is not going anywhere. After the Concordia disaster, it seemed like everyone in the media was calling for Carnival plc. to dissolve the brand.