Costa Firenze

Costa Firenze is a Vista-class cruise ship currently under construction at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera for Costa Cruises, a division of Carnival Corporation & plc. She will exclusively serve the Chinese market along with her sister ship, Costa Venezia, after arriving in China in fall 2020.[1] At the time of her delivery, Costa Firenze and Costa Venezia will jointly be the second largest ships in the Costa Cruises fleet, behind Costa Smeralda.

Costa Firenze
History
Name: Costa Firenze
Namesake: Florence, Italy
Owner: Carnival Corporation & plc
Operator: Costa Cruises
Ordered: April 2016
Builder: Fincantieri (Marghera, Italy)
Yard number: 6273
Launched: 6 November 2019
Acquired: 30 September 2020
In service: October 2020
Identification: IMO number: 9801691
Status: Under construction
General characteristics
Class and type: Vista-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 135,500 GT
Length: 323 m (1,059 ft 9 in)

History

Planning and construction

Carnival Corporation entered a strategic agreement with Fincantieri in March 2015 for five cruise ships for delivery between 2019 and 2022.[2] On 30 December 2015, Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri signed a memorandum of agreement for four cruise ships, with two then-unnamed ships for Costa Asia among the four.[3] This announcement coincided with Carnival Corporation's unveiling of its plans for the expansion of the Costa Asia fleet, which would consist of two vessels at 135,500 GT each, with a guest capacity of approximately 4,200 passengers per vessel.[4] The contracts for the two newbuild vessels were finalized in April 2016.[5] The two ships, comprising a new class of vessels in Costa's fleet, were designed to be sister ships and continue carrying Costa's Italian-style interior designs and features for the ships' Asian clientele.[4]

On 6 May 2019, Costa Cruises announced that the second of the two vessels built specifically for the Chinese market would be named Costa Firenze, named after Florence, Italy, and have interior features inspired by Florentine history and culture.[1] The ship was floated out from the shipyard on 6 November 2019.[6]

Delivery

Costa Firenze is scheduled to be delivered on 30 September 2020.[6]

Itineraries

Carnival Corporation announced on 6 May 2019 that Costa Firenze would initially spend her first month in service sailing the Mediterranean Sea, calling on ports in Italy, Spain, and France.[7] Her maiden voyage was scheduled for 1 October 2020, departing from Trieste and calling in Bari, Barcelona, and Marseille, before arriving in Savona.[7] Then, she was to depart from Savona on 2 November to begin a 51-day cruise to Hong Kong, arriving on 22 December.[7]

However, in late-August 2019, Costa Cruises announced changes to Costa Firenze's maiden deployments.[8] These changes scrapped the maiden voyage and her month of Mediterranean sailings that were planned and the ship will, instead, head for Singapore immediately following her delivery and debut for Chinese customers on 20 October.[8][9]

References
  1. "Costa Names 2020 Newbuild for China Costa Firenze". cruiseindustrynews.com. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  2. "Fincantieri: Five Next-Generation Ships for Carnival Corporation" (Press release). Fincantieri. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  3. "Fincantieri: 4 Cruise Ships for Carnival" (Press release). Fincantieri. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  4. Leppert, Jason (4 January 2016). "Carnival Corp. Announces Four New Cruise Ships for Three Brands". TravelPulse.
  5. Leppert, Jason (4 April 2016). "Carnival Corp. Celebrates Koningsdam and Finalizes New Ship Orders for Costa, P&O and Princess". TravelPulse.
  6. "Costa Firenze Floats Out at Fincantieri". cruiseindustrynews.com. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  7. "Costa Cruises Presents Costa Firenze, the New Ship Arriving October 2020" (Press release). Carnival Corporation & plc. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  8. Kalosh, Anne (27 August 2019). "Costa ship shuffle strengthens Mediterranean presence". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  9. "Costa Cruises Celebrates Float Out of Costa Firenze" (Press release). Fincantieri. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
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