By
Alex Smith |
Costa Luminosa is to join the Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet in September and will start guest operations as Carnival Luminosa in November 2022 from Brisbane, Australia.
The acquisition of Luminosa is an update to previously announced plans for Carnival to take ownership of Costa Magica, which will now remain in the Costa Cruises fleet.
After its delivery, Carnival Luminosa will operate from October through to April from Brisbane, then redeploy to Seattle, USA, where it will sail Alaska itineraries from May until September, before returning to Brisbane.
Luminosa is a sister ship to the four other Spirit-class vessels that already sail for Carnival. The ship accommodates up to 2,836 guests and 1,050 crew.
“With our full fleet back to guest operations and the pent-up demand for Carnival we are seeing every week aboard our ships, the chance to expand with Luminosa and then the arrival of Carnival Celebration in November provides our guests with more choices and new ways to enjoy a Carnival vacation,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Our Spirit-class ships are very popular with our guests and Luminosa will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment. And equally important, this will allow Carnival to finally start our highly anticipated itineraries from Brisbane, so we’ll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under.”
The ship will undergo updates to change over from Costa to Carnival branding and style ahead of its November debut. However, it will not initially have all of the signature Carnival Cruise Line public spaces. Carnival Luminosa will sail a variety of itineraries that will initially include visits to well-known destinations such as the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach. As destinations open over time, ports of call will also include Noumea and Lifou Isle in New Caledonia, Port Vila and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
“The opportunity to deliver these bucket list itineraries will be exciting for our guests and we are thrilled to see the growing number of guests from the US sailing on Carnival in Australia,” said Duffy.