CCL-Carnival Cruise Line is teaming up with Costa Cruises to create a new concept for Carnival’s North American passengers when COSTA by CARNIVAL debuts in 2023 spring and Costa Venezia joins the Carnival fleet to start sailing from NYC (New York USA).
Costa Venezia is to be followed by Costa Firenze arriving in 2024 spring to sail from Los Angeles/Long Beach (California USA).
Carnival will operate the liners, which will enjoy the service, food, and entertainment that its guests enjoy with the Italian design features of Costa.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze would bring Carnival’s passengers "the ambiance and beauty of Italy."
“We’re going to invite our guests to Choose Fun with Carnival, Italian Style!
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista-class ships in the U.S. and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy. 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 Cruises.”
President of Costa Cruises, Mario Zanetti, said they were excited to see the "iconic ships make their debut in the USA under the leadership and operation" of their sister brand.
"Costa providing the beautiful ship with its’ Italian design and Carnival delivering FUN, Italian Style!”
Zanetti said Costa would be informing customers impacted by the news.
According to Duffy, the liners would continue operating their regular Costa itineraries until they're assigned to Carnival for dry dock works and deployment. Deployment/itinerary plans are now being finalized, with Costa Venezia's announcement coming soon given her spring 2023 launch date.