Carnival Luminosa accidents and incidents

14 September 2023Other Incidents

On September 14, 2023, Carnival Luminosa started CCL's longest cruise - the 30-night/31-day Carnival Journey itinerary (Transpacific crossing) from the USA to Australia via Alaska and Asia.

However, to avoid potential bad weather (a low-pressure system forming in Alaska) with forecasted unusually strong winds and high swells/waves, the itinerary was altered. All scheduled Alaskan destinations were canceled and the ship spent 10 consecutive days at sea.

The next table shows the revised itinerary.

To mitigate the cancellation of the Alaskan stops were introduced two additional/unscheduled ports in Japan - Otaru (Sept 24th) and Hakodate (Septh 25th), both on Hokkaido Island.

As compensation for the missed calls, passengers received US$200 per stateroom in OBC/onboard credit as well as reimbursement of any pre-purchased land tours/shore excursions for the dropped destinations.

08 September 2022Other Incidents

On September 8, 2022, in Port Palermo (Sicily Italy), Luminosa was officially handed over from Costa Cruises to CCL-Carnival Cruise Lines.

During the special ceremony, Costa's Captain Nicolantonio Palombella handed over the vessel to Carnival's Captain Adriano Binacchi.

15 June 2022Other Incidents

(Costa Luminosa) On June 15, 2022, CCL-Carnival Cruise Line announced that Costa Luminosa will be transferred from Costa to CCL in September and renamed "Carnival Luminosa", starting for CCL in November 2022 out of Brisbane QLD Australia after a scheduled drydock refurbishment.

When the announcement for Luminosa's acquisition by Carnival was made (June 15th), the ship's schedule listed a total of 173x future voyages (itineraries with departures between June 19, 2022, and April 16, 2024).

Luminosa's acquisition followed the shipowner Carnival Corporation's decision for Costa to keep Costa Magica in the fleet.

Note: On June 23, 2021, CCL announced plans to add two additional ships to its fleet by 2023. The vessels included an EXCEL-class newbuild 2023 (Carnival Jubilee/originally was assigned to AIDA) and Costa Magica.

26 April 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

(Costa Luminosa) On April 26, 2022, a male crew suffering a heart attack was medevaced by a Portuguese Navy vessel. The medical rescue operation was conducted through MRSC Funchal (Funchal Sub-Center for Maritime Search and Rescue) in conjunction with Porto Santo Port Authority.

The cruise ship contacted Funchal Lifeguard Station at ~6:30 pm Madeira time (~17:30 UTC). The crew was transported to Port Funchal (by ~9:30 pm) and ambulanced to a hospital by Bombeiros Sapadores do Funchal (Municipal Fire Brigade).

The incident occurred during the 14-day Western Mediterranean voyage (itinerary April 13-27, roundtrip from Malaga) with call ports Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Cadiz, Canary Islands (Arrecife-Lanzarote, Puerto del Rosario-Fuerteventura, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and Funchal Madeira.

15 December 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

(Costa Luminosa) On December 15, 2021, Italian media outlets reported that two crew were medevaced from the liner navigating in the Adriatic Sea, en route from Port Monopoli (Bari Metro, Italy's Apulia region) to homeport Savona (Italy).

The Brindisi Port Authority was contacted at ~10:50 am (9:50 UTC) on Dec 15th as the ship requested an emergency medical evacuation for a female crew (23-year-old Peruvian) suffering from severe abdominal pains and renal colic. The  Italian coastguard dispatched a patrol boat that intercepted the ship near Port Brindisi to offload the patient.

At ~22:30 (21:30 UTC) on the same day, the liner again requested a medical evacuation for another female crew (30-year-old Filipino) suffering a facial injury. From Port San Benedetto del Tronto's coastguard station was dispatched a patrol boat that met the ship approx 10 km (6 mi) off the coast. The woman was offloaded at sea, transported to the harbor and ambulanced to an emergency room.

During the incidents, Costa Luminosa was without passengers and scheduled to restart operations on December 18th (5-day Savona roundtrip itinerary).

March 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Costa Luminosa/Coronavirus) During the 17-day Caribbean and Transatlantic cruise (itinerary March 5-22) from Fort Lauderdale (Florida USA) to Naples (Italy), in Puerto Rico (March 8) the ship disembarked 3 passengers (in critical conditions), who on March 13th tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus). One passenger (68-year-old Italian man) died on March 12th in George Town (Grand Cayman). One passenger (68-year-old Italian woman) died on March 21st in San Juan (Puerto Rico).

On March 16th, following the Transatlantic crossing, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) were disembarked and ambulanced 3 passengers - one with fever and two suffering breathing issues. Luminosa stopped in the Canaries only for provisions (passenger disembarkation was denied).

On March 20, the ship docked in Marseille-Fos Port and was boarded by French health authorities for health checks on all the crew and passengers. Costa Cruises announced that Luminosa has 5 passengers and 2 crew with "flu-like symptoms". Two of the passengers later tested Coronavirus-positive.

The affected voyage had planned visits (call ports) to Puerto Rico (San Juan, Mar 8), Antigua (St Johns, Mar 9), Canary Islands (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Mar 16), Spain (Malaga, Mar 18 / cancelled), France (Marseille, Mar 20) and Italy - Savona (Mar 21) and Naples (Mar 22). Debarkation in the Italian ports was uncertain as Italy enforced a complete lockdown on March 9.

The ship was carrying a total of 1780 people (1370 passengers plus 410 staff-crew).

On March 20, Luminosa disembarked (in Marseille) 721 passengers (including nationals from Canada and USA). The same day, the 359 Northamerican cruisers were flown to Atlanta Airport where were screened for COVID-19. Of these "flight passengers", 3 tested Coronavirus-positive (but without experiencing the symptoms) and 13 were sick (but not tested?).

On March 21, Luminosa disembarked (in Savona) 198 passengers (113 Italian + 85 Swiss) out of total 716. The ship with the remaining 518 passengers remained berthed in Savona.

On March 23, French health authorities announced that 36 former Costa Luminosa cruisers tested Coronavirus-positive.

Since March 20, a total of 8 crew were disembarked from the moored cruise ship and hospitalized in Savona's Ospedale San Paolo (St Paul's hospital). All of them suffered Coronavirus symptoms (fever and breathing problems) and were offloaded after their conditions worsened. Luminosa ship's total Coronavirus death toll was 3 (2 passengers + 1 crew).

On March 24, a total of 118 crew (India citizens) were disembarked and bused to Pisa City's B&B Hotel Pisa, with scheduled charter flight repatriation. On April 9, all were tested for COVID-19 and 38 of the results returned positive. The infected were bused to Pisa's Hotel Casa Betania and quarantined for 2 weeks.

19 April 2019Coast Guard Medevacs

(Costa Luminosa) On April 19, 2019, an 85-year-old female passenger (suffering a broken leg) was medevaced from the liner navigating in Red Sea en-route from Muscat to Aqaba. The elderly woman (French) broke her leg while the ship was near Saudi Arabia's southwestern coast. The Captain contacted Jeddah's Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (via King Abdulaziz Airport’s Search & Rescue Center). The medical emergency operation was conducted by Saudi Arabia Border Guards' ship Al-Lith dispatched to meet the cruise vessel near Al-Qahmah (southwestern Asir). The woman was offloaded and transferred to Port Jazan, from where was ambulanced to Prince Mohammed Bin Nasser Hospital.

The incident occurred at the end of the 112-day "Costa World Cruise 2019" roundtrip from Venice Italy (32-day itinerary segment Singapore-Venice) with call ports in Malaysia (Klang, Penang Island), Thailand (Phuket), Sri Lanka (Colombo), India (Cochin, Mormugao, Mumbai), UAE (Dubai), Oman (Muscat), Jordan (Aqaba) and Greece (Piraeus-Athens, Katakolon).

21 November 2018Boat Rescue

(Costa Luminosa) On November 21, 2018, at around midnight the cruise liner responded to a distress signal and helped the Hellenic Coast Guard in the rescue of crew from a live fish carrier. The cargo ship Kilic 1 (1986-built, Turkey-flagged) suffered an engine room fire accident in the evening of November 20, while en-route from Tunisia to Turkey, approx 15 km (9 ml) southeast of Cape Matapan (mainland Greece's southernmost point). The vessel was on fire and adrift.

The vessel's crew (11, all Turkish) failed to extinguish the fire and abandoned the ship. All the 11 men boarded the cruise liner in good health. The Hellenic Coast Guard dispatched 6 vessels to the scene, plus 1 navy helicopter and several fire-fighting tugs. Costa Luminosa diverted its course and upon arriving at the scene lowered a tender boat, retrieved all the crew of the burning ship and transferred them to a merchant ship involved in the rescue operation.

The incident occurred during 7-day Mediterranean cruise (itinerary Nov 17-24) roundtrip from homeport Venice to Bari, Piraeus-Athens, Katakolon, Kotor (Montenegro) and Split (Croatia).

On October 31, 2019, Captain Pietro Sinisi (Costa Luminosa's Master) was awarded by AFRAS (Association for Rescue at Sea) for saving the cargo ship's crew. The award ceremony was held at RHOB (Rayburn House Office Building) in Washington DC (Capitol Hill neighborhood).

On July 20, 2022, for aiding Kilic 1, Captain Pietro Sinisi received the Navy Bronze Medal of Merit presented by Vice Admiral Nicola Carlone (1960-born, appointed Commandant of the Italian Coast Guard in 2011). The ceremony was held in Rome City and was attended by Admiral Enrico Credendino (1963-born, appointed Chief of the Italian Navy in 2021).

Note: Pietro Sinisi (1972-born, Captain since 2008) is with Costa Cruises since 1995.

11 December 2014Fire Accident

(Costa Luminosa) On December 11, 2014, the vessel experienced an engine room fire, when one of its diesel engines (#4) caught on fire.

The accident occurred at ~5 am, during an 18-day Transatlantic repositioning cruise (itinerary December 2 to 20) from Europe to the Caribbean (Savona to Miami Florida). No injuries were reported.

10 December 2013Other Incidents

(Costa Luminosa) On December 10, 2013, in call port Grand Turk (Eastern Caribbean), a 70-year-old male passenger from the Holland America Line’s (HAL) ship MS Nieuw Amsterdam fell into the water between the pier and the docked there Luminosa.

The elderly man remained afloat for ~10 min until a HAL crew jumped and helped him to safety.

2013Sea Pollution

(Costa Luminosa) In 2013, the cruise vessel was criticized by the Swedish news media for continually dumping raw sewage (toilet wastewater) into Baltic Sea.

By the international maritime law, all marine vessels (including cruise ships) should use the ports’ harbor facilities, which wastewater discharging services are often free of charge.

The Swedish media stated that on a single 7-day Baltic Sea cruise itinerary, the quantity of dumped waste could reach over 5 million liters (1,32 million US gallons).

05 June 2009Other Incidents

(Costa Luminosa) On June 5, 2009, the naming ceremony took place in Genoa Italy. The event was also special because it was a dual christening, including (for the first time ever) two Costa ships - Luminosa and Costa Pacifica. Both were christened simultaneously, setting a Guinness World record for “Most ships inaugurated in one day by one company”.

Fun fact is that both vessels were also launched simultaneously (on June 5, 2008) at their respective shipbuilding yards in Marghera (Luminosa) and in Sestri Ponente (Pacifica).