Costa Luminosa was in Sydney on 6 November 2015 as part of a World Cruise. I found a small camera at Circular Quay (right near where the ships dock) that afternoon. I recall I had a quick look through the photos and was able to identify some info that would assist in having the camera returned to its owner. I took the camera to the terminal and spoke to security and they refused to take the camera (along with a note I had written with some details) onboard the ship as it was a security risk. Unfortunately, there was no ship staff around that I could discuss it with. I was going on a cruise myself the next day so I had to wait until I returned home to follow up, I called Carnival - not interested. I messaged Costa via FB - also said nothing they could do. So, I put the camera in a drawer and promptly forgot about it until I found it this week during a declutter session.

I can see from the photos that the couple embarked in Genoa on 14 September 2015 and that they are most likely German (a photo shows their laptop screen and files in German). Does anybody recognise them?

Also, are there any Costa ships actually sailing at the moment with customers on board? I seem to remember that Italian authorities stopped them from entering their ports again, due to a upsurge in covid cases, or have i got that wrong?

Wonder if anyone can help? There is no detailed cancellation policy on Costa's depleted website.  Even if my Costa Smeralda cruise takes place in April it will be going to very different destinations ( Marseilles,Barcelona, Majorca,Palermo will be replaced with La Spezia, Naples, Messina and Cagliari). Is this grounds for a cancellation without incurring the fee as it is effectively a completely differently itinerary which I'm not interested in?

Costa Kreuzfahrten April 2020 – April 2022 (d2u1z9itwych95.cloudfront.net)

But here's a great overview of what she looks like on the inside:

Love it or hate it, anyone can admit Costa will always have unique, not-cookie-cutter decor that is clearly inspired by key themes on each of their vessels. I think this ship's interior design reflects the vibe they really wanted to project for the "Florentine Renaissance."

I know she was initially scheduled to head to Asia immediately but that was before the pandemic struck, so now she's scheduled to sail in the Mediterranean first. Are you booked on a Firenze sailing later next year? (February, March, etc.) Share and let us know! I feel like there's not enough coverage of these newer Costa vessels, but specifically for the Venezia-class, so if anyone would like to give any POV insight, that would be great.

I noticed there was a good deal on the second week of the Easter break where I could get the three of us on the cruise for just under £1000 total, so went for it.

Are any others, dipping their toe back in with brand new bookings ( as opposed to using FCC)?  Or have I just gone a bit mad 🙂

I expect we'll have a good idea if this will sail by the time final payment comes around in Feb and I prefer to put my faith in cruise lines that are already out there sailing. 

yesterday we started our cruise on Costa Smeralda!

For the ones that didn't follow our live from MSC Grandiosa (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2759896-live-from-msc-grandiosa-genoa-september-6-13-2020/) just a little presentation. We are Italians and live in Italy, I'm in my middle 40s (the number in my screenname is no for accident:-)) and my fiance, Darko, in his 30s. This is our 22st cruise, 7th on Costa, other companies we cruised on are Princess, MSC, HAL, Carnival and NCL.

We are happy to share our experience and answer you questions.

Just a note: we have no Internet package, so we'll connect only when in port. Please be patience, as you probably know time flies when on a cruise, we'll write as soon as we can.

Our itinerary:

10/31 Savona dep. 7:00pm

11/1 La Spezia 7am-8pm

11/2 at sea

11/3 Cagliari 7am-3pm

11/4 Naples 9am-6pm

11/5 Messina 7am-2pm

11/6 Civitavecchia 9am-8pm

11/7 Savona arr. 9am

In every port people embark and debark.

As you might know in these pandemic times you can only get of the ship when booked on a Costa excursion. We booked on a couple of excursions this time, one in Cagliari and one in Messina.

I've previously sailed on 'European' lines, CMV; P+O; MSC & as well as NCL, (I believe the nearest comparison is probably MSC, but I could be wrong), my friend however has only sailed NCL once (& a Nile cruise), & I think it may be the price which is giving her a little concern, as it is a fair bit lower than other lines.  
It's my understanding that they have a more traditional theme, i.e. set meal times etc & I am aware of the all announcements in many languages, but should there be any other aspects of which we should be aware?

All & any information (good & bad) from previous cruises would be of great help.

Thanking you in anticipation.😷

Have a look to our Smeralda cruise review video.

Please enjoy our video from this trip:

But we would love to hear it in YOUR words. Please do respond to this thread

Thank you

Adam

The only good deal I found was Abu Dhabi/Dubai to Barcelona/Savona on Smeralda in March 2022 and it got cancelled for no reason whatsoever.

Now there are no cruises around South East Asia, Japan, China or the middle East

Other Cruise fares around North Europe and the Mediterranean have gone up significantly.

So, are the Transatlantic Cruises the only deals left?

Dear Guests,

As we all have learned the global alert on the pandemic is dramatically increasing every day in all countries worldwide and almost all sectors are moving quite fast to react to the challenges posed by such an unprecedent issue. 

Over the last few days, the continuously growing number of cases throughout European countries have prompted the relevant national health authorities to elevate their precautionary measures and to impose several restrictions aimed at containing the spreading of the Covid-19. 

We at Costa Cruises believe that a cruise should be the most relaxing and enjoying experience that deserves all the best conditions to be memorable. We are managing our operations with a great sense of responsibility towards our guests and crew members, as well as the residents of the communities we visit with our ships.  

Being responsible is not a choice for us. It represents a pillar we cannot and do not intend to trade off for any reason. 

Within this context we made an attentive assessment of the actual situation and we cannot exclude that its evolution may lead to additional restrictive measures, thus impacting on the safe return of guests to their home country. 

For this reason, by taking into consideration the above described situation, for the time being we responsibly decided to restrict embarkation until the end of November to those nationalities with infection rate is higher than Italy as sourced from the  European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, an agency of the European Union ( https://covid19-country-overviews.ecdc.europa.eu/) and therefore we regret to inform you that your cruise on board Costa Smeralda is cancelled.

Nevertheless, as we do not want you to miss a cruise with Costa, you can choose to change your reservation

with any cruise at the best available price or an equal cruise taking place in November 2021 at the same price, with an additional credit on board of £ 200.00 per cabin in case of cruises lasting 7 or more nights ( or £ 150.00 per cabin for cruises lasting less than 7 nights).

Needless to say, that in case the above-mentioned proposals are not going to meet your expectation or don’t  fit with your travel plans, Costa is ready to give you:

•    a future cruise credit equal to the amount already collected by Costa Cruises for the canceled cruise and a credit on board of £ 200.00 per cabin for cruises lasing 7 or more nights (or £ 150.00 per cabin in case of cruises lasing less than 7 nights) usable within 18 months from the day of its issue and for departures by 30/04/2022, or alternatively

•    the refund of the amount paid. In this case we invite you to send us the refund request to the address info@uk.costa.it accompanied by your bank details (Iban code, bank name, beneficiary of the Current account and BIC code). We will refund within the terms of the law and compatibly with the technical times necessary to process the request.

On behalf of all of us at Costa Cruises, we extend our sincere apologies for the disruption to your vacation plans and trust you understand this decision was made with everyone’s best interest at heart. 

For any additional information we remain at your complete disposal.

Costa Cruises 

Cruises and conferences

The prime minister says it cautiously, he does not go out of balance. But then he talks about " cruise ships that have to start traveling again because tourism is a fundamental piece of our economy ", he focuses " on the fairs and conferences that we have to organize, because only in this way can all activities be resumed", he understands which direction this new phase is taking. The masks, the distances, "are fundamental , but they must not be perceived as a limitation. I can say it because I recalled from the first day the respect of the rules that provided for the obligation to use these devices and nowI am very pleased to see who derided us, forced to cover our nose and mouth and above all to advise everyone, young people first of all, that we must be careful ».

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/third-costa-ship-resume-service-will-venture-beyond-italy-next-month