Carnival Cruise Line to Bring Costa Venezia to the U.S. In 2023, Costa Firenze in 2024

[CruiseAdict218]

“Carnival Cruise Line announced today that it is teaming up with Costa Cruises and creating a new concept for Carnival’s North American guests when COSTA by CARNIVAL debuts in the spring of 2023 and Costa Venezia  joins the Carnival fleet sailing from New York. Both brands are owned by Carnival Corporation. 

 

The Costa Venezia will be followed by Costa Firenze arriving in the spring of 2024 to sail from Long Beach.

 

The moves add approximately 8,500 berths to the North American market, according to Cruise Industry News estimates. 

 

Both ships are presently sailing in Europe but were originally intended to operate in the Chinese cruise market.

 

Carnival will operate the ships, which will marry the great service, food and entertainment that Carnival’s guests enjoy with Costa’s Italian design features.

 

“Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambiance and beauty of Italy,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. 

 

“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,” said Duffy. 

“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.”

Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises, said, “We are excited to see these iconic ships make their debut in the U.S. under the leadership and operation of our sister brand. Costa providing the beautiful ship with its Italian design and Carnival delivering FUN, Italian Style!” 

 

Zanetti said that Costa will be informing clients impacted by this news.

 

Duffy said that the ships will continue operating their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for drydock work and deployment. 
 

Deployment and itinerary plans are being finalized, with the Venezia announcement coming soon given the spring 2023 launch date, according to a statement. 

 

The Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are sister ships to the Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama.”

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27731-carnival-cruise-line-to-bring-costa-venezia-to-the-u-s-in-2023-costa-firenze-in-2024.html

[InspireLiberty]

I wonder what this means for Panorama out of Long Beach - but seeing as Firenze is the same ship (essentially) I am not too worried.

[Indytraveler83]

Wow... So Carnival is adding 2 Vista class ships to North America without even needing to refurb then?

 

1)Makes me wonder if Carnival Corp is working toward making Carnival and Costa operate under the same umbrella, instead of as two separate brands?  This is 3 Costa ships pulled from Europe and now operating under Carnival.

 

2) Wonder if this will impact any of the other older ships in the Carnival fleet? 

[Mallow]

I wonder how much Carnivalization they will do to the ships or if they really want to try the Costa ships/services in the US market.

[jeepchick444]

Just snooped on Costa website lol These are new/newer ships Very excited!! 😎🛳️

[pc_load_letter]

Another option in Long Beach is very welcome.

[molecrochip]

1 hour ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Wow... So Carnival is adding 2 Vista class ships to North America without even needing to refurb then?

 

1)Makes me wonder if Carnival Corp is working toward making Carnival and Costa operate under the same umbrella, instead of as two separate brands?  This is 3 Costa ships pulled from Europe and now operating under Carnival.

 

2) Wonder if this will impact any of the other older ships in the Carnival fleet? 

Actually, it’s four ships as Carnival Jubilee was originally destined to be a new build for Aida.

[MzOhioLady]

Looking forward to seeing what the itineraries will be for both ships!

[tidecat]

I'd be more curious to see if any Vista-class ships wind up doing shorter cruises, much like one of the Oasis-class ships for Royal is currently doing.

[CruiseAdict218]

1 hour ago, InspireLiberty said:

I wonder what this means for Panorama out of Long Beach - but seeing as Firenze is the same ship (essentially) I am not too worried.

 

Firenze would sail along side Panorama and Venezia along side Magic from NYC; though I wonder if they would tweak Panorama or Magic's sailings to make room. 

 

1 hour ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Wow... So Carnival is adding 2 Vista class ships to North America without even needing to refurb then?

 

1)Makes me wonder if Carnival Corp is working toward making Carnival and Costa operate under the same umbrella, instead of as two separate brands?  This is 3 Costa ships pulled from Europe and now operating under Carnival.

 

2) Wonder if this will impact any of the other older ships in the Carnival fleet? 

Should also note, this pair was originally destined for China and sailing from that region doesn't seem to be on the books for the immediate future. 

 

With the pair remaining in Costa livery, I wouldn't expect any other ships to exit the fleet; one is a nice boost for NYC which really had its season cut down mixing it with Norfolk but I'm curious if they will move out Miracle or Radiance from the West side.

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, Indytraveler83 said:

Wow... So Carnival is adding 2 Vista class ships to North America without even needing to refurb then?

 

1)Makes me wonder if Carnival Corp is working toward making Carnival and Costa operate under the same umbrella, instead of as two separate brands?  This is 3 Costa ships pulled from Europe and now operating under Carnival.

 

2) Wonder if this will impact any of the other older ships in the Carnival fleet? 

I would say yes and yes. 

[Alexintheboro]

Makes me think that Costa Venezia will Sail out of New York full time instead of seasonally.

 

They may move Radiance to the East Coast and keep Panorama on the West Coast, once Costa Firenze comes into Service as Carnival has done extensive work to build up the Long Beach Terminals.

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, Mallow said:

I wonder how much Carnivalization they will do to the ships or if they really want to try the Costa ships/services in the US market.

I would say none at all, try it before refurbishment. See how it works. The ships are nearly new.

Edited June 22, 2022 by KmomChicago

[Beezo]

7 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I would say yes and yes. 

I disagree, respectfully 🙂.  I don't think you are going to see Costa absorbed into Carnival.

 

I think they are feeling the pressure from MSC Cruises.  They now have multiple ships based in the US market.  MSC Cruises focuses on Italian-style cruising, no matter where the ship is in the world.

 

Rather than build out the Costa brand to Americans, it's easier to position it as Costa by Carnival.  It will have the Italian style but catered to Americans.

 

Interesting move indeed...

Edited June 22, 2022 by Beezo

[Saint Greg]

I'd like to see Panorama come to New Orleans or Galveston.

[Beezo]

https://carnival-news.com/2022/06/22/carnival-cruise-line-to-bring-costa-venezia-to-the-u-s-in-2023-costa-firenze-in-2024-to-sail-as-part-of-the-carnival-fleet/

 

Im curious - Do you think they will rebrand the exterior of the ship to Carnival, but keep the interior Costa?

There is mention of dry dock prior to entering Carnival's fleet...

[Indytraveler83]

8 minutes ago, Beezo said:

https://carnival-news.com/2022/06/22/carnival-cruise-line-to-bring-costa-venezia-to-the-u-s-in-2023-costa-firenze-in-2024-to-sail-as-part-of-the-carnival-fleet/

 

Im curious - Do you think they will rebrand the exterior of the ship to Carnival, but keep the interior Costa?

There is mention of dry dock prior to entering Carnival's fleet...

 

My (totally uniformed) opinion would be no, they'll leave it and just do basic scheduled maintenance.  

 

This feels like a test run... Seeing if the ships will do well here as is, yet preserving their state in case Carnival wants to put them back into another market.  

 

Edit: Just looked at photos, these ships are GORGEOUS.

Edited June 22, 2022 by Indytraveler83

[cruizergal70]

Seems like a waste if they do the same Mexican/Caribbean itineraries. It would have been better to keep them in Europe or even Asia and try to develop those markets.

[mz-s]

Carnival has a lot of older vessels in their fleet, they need as much newer tonnage as they can get to compete with. Evidently Carnival feels they can get more out of these ships in the USA vs. keeping them in Europe.

[tntornadox]

I really like this idea. I've wanted to try Costa for awhile now but they left US shores a few years ago and haven't returned. But the idea of being on a Costa ship with a Carnival crew is VERY intriguing for me. As has been posted, these are new, beautifully designed ships so mixing that with the fun of Carnival will be very interesting to watch. Even though selfishly I wish one of these was coming to Florida and sailing the Caribbean, I will travel to sail on one for the unique opportunity. I kinda feel like this is a reaction to MSC's growing presence here.

 

Beyond that, there is mention of a drydock before the handover. I doubt they'll change much but I can definitely see some of the 'Fun Ship' eateries being added to appeal more to the US taste and market. Otherwise, I say leave them as they are! Following closely.

[Jamman54]

Looking at the deck plans they are going to have to add a pool and hot tubs to create a "Havana " experience or an Italian equivalent on deck 5 aft  to make me want to sail on them, and New York is our home port. 😎

Edited June 22, 2022 by Jamman54

[CarnivalShips480]

Apparently the funnels are staying...

[Beezo]

7 minutes ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Apparently the funnels are staying...

Same funnel, Carnival colors?

[CarnivalShips480]

18 minutes ago, Beezo said:

Same funnel, Carnival colors?

Yellow and blue

[jimbo5544]

38 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Looking at the deck plans they are going to have to add a pool and hot tubs to create a "Havana " experience or an Italian equivalent on deck 5 aft  to make me want to sail on them, and New York is our home port. 😎

Would not count on the adding the true “havava” area to these two shis.