By
Alice Chambers |
Carnival Cruise Line is to operate two ships in Costa Cruises’ fleet, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze, in a new joint programme, ‘Costa by Carnival’.
Carnival will operate both ships for its North American guests, combining Costa’s Italian style with Carnival’s service, food and entertainment.
The ships will continue sailing their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for deployment, with Costa Venezia to start operations for Carnival in 2023 and Costa Firenze in 2024.
“We are excited to see these iconic Costa ships make their debut in the US under the leadership and operation of our sister brand,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises. “Costa providing its beautiful ships with their Italian design and Carnival delivering fun - Italian style!
“Given the slow restart of the Asian operations and the strong restart of cruises in the US, we decided to seize this opportunity to allow the many North American guests to appreciate our unique ships’ features, creating synergies within this important market.”
Costa Cruises will soon establish which ships will replace Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze on its planned itineraries, including its exclusive programme in Turkey.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista class ships in the US and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “There are lots of ways we plan to create an immersive fun experience for our guests who choose to sail on these ships, which have beautiful Italian design elements, dining and retail that will deliver Carnival fun leveraging the spirit of Italy from our sister line Costa.”