Costa Cruises and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri have celebrated the official float-out of Costa Venezia, the first ship designed and built specifically for the Chinese market. The ceremony was held at Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, where the ship is being built.
“Costa Venezia marks a new era not just for Costa Cruises and Fincantieri but for the Chinese cruise industry as a whole,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Group Asia. “From its initial conception all the way through to today’s float-out ceremony and beyond, everything about Costa Venezia has been designed with the Chinese consumer in mind. Costa Venezia will continue to deliver on Costa Cruises’ authentic Italian experience while also providing a unique vacation experience that will resonate with Chinese guests by being fully tailored to their travel preferences.”
“Today we celebrate a milestone in the construction of Costa Venezia which, together with its sister ship, will strengthen Costa's commitment in an emerging market,” added Luigi Matarazzo, Fincantieri’s executive vice president of New Building for the Merchant Ships Business Unit. “Thanks to the effort of the Monfalcone shipyard, in a moment of exceptional growth of the cruise industry, we confirm our global leadership in this sector and our long term relationship with Costa Cruises”.
Costa Venezia will enter service in March 2019, once the interior fittings have been completed.