When it comes to ranking the largest cruise ships in the world, size is measured in gross tonnage (GT), not gross register tonnage (GRT), an older measurement system phased out decades ago under international maritime convention and no longer used…
Costa Cruises is one of the oldest names in European passenger shipping, tracing its roots back to 1854 when the Costa family began transporting olive oil throughout the Mediterranean. The company entered the passenger business in the mid twentieth century…
During an internal corporate review of Italian brand Costa Crociere, it was announced that they will see a fleet makeover soon. In November last year it was announced that the Costa Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea will leave their fleet for…
This afternoon, a freak squal blew the transiting Costa Deliziosa off course and out of the main channel while leaving Venice. View this post on Instagram One of the increasingly frequent freak storms hit #Venice this afternoon. So violent that…
Costa Cruises just started sailing their first purpose built ship for China. Before we begin looking at her public areas, first some background. Carnival Corp designs ships for multi-brand deployment. The Venezia is part of the Vista-class of ships. She…
And so it begins….. Carnival Corp. has just announced that their newly set up partner line, CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping, will be receiving the 85,619gt Costa Atlantica and her sister Costa Mediterranea. The ships, built in 2000 and 2003 respectively, will…
Carnival Corp. has announced that they have agreed with Germany’s Meyer Werft for the construction of a third ship for Aida. She will be based on the Excellence-class of vessels. The first in that line, AIDAnova, will be launched later…
At the steel-cutting ceremony at Meyer Turku in Finland, Costa Cruises announced that their newest ship will be named Costa Smeralda. They also released this new rendering of her. She’ll be based on the AIDAnova class of vessels. These are…
Carnival Corp. surprised the industry last year when they not only ordered 9 ships, but ordered most of them with LNG fueled power plants. LNG is still new to the maritime industry with only a handful of commercial vessels using…
Fincantieri has announced that they have finalized and agreement with Carnival Corp. for the construction of 4 more ships. With this announcement, we now know 8 of the 9 ships they ordered back in March. This order breaks down as…
Carnival subsidiary Princess recently announced that the Majestic Princess will be based full time in China and be specially tailored for that market. In addition, Carnival Corp. has doubled down on that market and will launch two more ambitious strategies…
UPDATE:Here’s official photos from Costa. These blurry photos my be the first glimpse we have of 4 of the 9 ships that Carnival Corp placed in their massive 9 ship order back in March. It was announced that of the nine, four…
Costa Cruises held a lavish naming event for Costa Diadema in its headquarters city of Genoa, Italy. At 132,500 tons and more than 1,000 feet long, Costa’s new flagship, the “Regina del Mediterraneo” or Queen of the Mediterranean, was built at Fincantieri’s…
Costa Cruises have just taken over their newest ship the 132500gt Costa Diadema. Based on the Carnival Dream, the ship will be christened on Nov. 7 in Genoa. The ship will depart the shipyard in Marghera on Oct. 30 and…
In Asia, Bohai Ferry has officially launched and are now sailing the ex-Costa Voyager. She was renamed to China Taishan. What was once the fastest cruise ship when she sailed for Royal Olympic Cruises, can now be seen sailing between Yantai,…
UPDATE MONDAY: Another photo today of her Arrival in Genoa’s inner port. UPDATE SUNDAY 12:30pm: The Costa Concordia has reached outter port limits on Genoa. UPDATE 8:48am: The Concordia has officially left her resting place off Giglio. Shes…
While the countdown is nearing its end, there has been a last minute change to the refloating of the Costa Concordia. Originally, the project managers chartered the Dockwise Vanguard to carry the Concordia to its final destination. It was originally…
UBS Investment Research is claiming that Carnival Corp. intends to place an order for 2 ships this summer. That would place them on track for delivery in 2017. It is not expected that this will be delivered to Carnival Cruise…
Several publications are reporting that the Costa Concordia will be scrapped in Genoa, Italy. Ironically enough, Genoa is her port of registration. As is the custom in an Italian legal case, the ship will be seized by Italian officials once…
Normally this wouldn’t be all that dramatic of a deployment, however they will be sending some of their best hardware to Asia to compete with the Quantum of the Seas. Costa was originally scheduled to just sail the 1996-built Costa Victoria…
Bad news for Costa’s PR team as they’ll have to work overtime now. The Costa Deliziosa has broken down in Valencia harbor. The ship was docked at the time and her sailing time will undoubtedly be delayed. Her next cruise…
EDITORIAL NOTE: The date for the removal is July 18th. Not June as mentioned in the article below. Origionaly Published on: May 13, 2014 @ 14:34 Officials in Italy have announced June 18th as the date that they will officially refloat the partially sunken…
The 24,427gt Costa Voyager has always been the outcast in the Costa Cruises fleet. It is currently being heavily rumored that Chinese interests have purchased, or are very close to purchasing the ship. She would be operating for Bohai Ferry in…
UPDATE: Cruise Critic is reporting that a port in Britain is among 12 ports/groups that are in the process of bidding to accept the Concordia. Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling facility (TERRC) at Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool, on the…
According to Cruise Business Review, the 2000-built Costa Voyager (ex-Olympic\Olympia Voyager) is reportedly for sale by Costa Cruises. Never really understood what they were doing with her in the fleet. When constructed, the 836-pax was able to achieve an unprecedented 27-knots.