Costa Ready to Restart Cruise Operations This Weekend

Costa Deliziosa

Costa Cruises is scheduled to restart sailing in Italy this Sunday, Sept. 6.

Carnival’s Italian brand will be followed by Germany-based AIDA Cruises scheduled to resume on Nov. 1.

The brands will begin in a gradual, phased-in manner with six initial ships and limited itineraries, becoming the first two of Carnival’s nine brands to resume operations.

“Our highest responsibilities and top priorities are always compliance, protecting the environment, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, the communities we visit and our crew,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “We are engaged with a large number of medical experts and scientists around the world, and they are providing us with extremely valuable insight that we are using to develop new and enhanced protocols that are in the best interest of our guests, crew and overall public health. In areas of the world where community spread is largely mitigated and authorities are supportive of a gradual return to service over time, we look forward to again welcoming guests onboard.

The initial cruises will take place with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols developed with government and health authorities to follow shoreside mitigation guidelines, the company said.

Costa Cruises is restarting sailing with two initial ships departing from Italian ports beginning Sept. 6.

The Costa Deliziosa will offer weekly cruises from Trieste on Sept. 6, 13, 20 and 27, visiting five destinations in southern Italy, including Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, and Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.

The Costa Diadema will follow on Sept. 19 from Genoa, calling at Italian ports in the western Mediterranean, including Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

The one-week itineraries are being reserved exclusively for Italian guests.

AIDA Cruises will resume its cruise operations with two of its ships, sailing from the Canary Islands in November 2020, followed by an additional two ships departing from the western Mediterranean and the United Arab Emirates beginning in December 2020.

The first of the brand’s cruises are set to begin Nov. 1, with seven-day voyages to and departures from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, with AIDAmar, followed by sailings from Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife with AIDAperla on Nov. 7. In December, AIDA Cruises will resume sailing operations in the Western Mediterranean with AIDAstella departing on seven-day cruises from Palma, Mallorca, beginning Dec. 12. Additionally, AIDAprima will offer seven-day cruises from Dubai starting Dec. 11 and from Abu Dhabi beginning Dec. 15.

In working with global and national health authorities and medical experts, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises have developed a comprehensive set of health and hygiene protocols to help facilitate a safe, healthy return to cruise vacations, according to a press release.

Costa Releases More Details on Restart

Costa Diadema

Costa Cruises restart plan includes two new itineraries for Italian guests only, sailing to only Italian ports. Guests will only be allowed off the ship on organized shore excursions from Costa.

From September 6 to September 27, the Costa Deliziosa will depart every Sunday from Trieste, with calls in Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.

On September 19, the Costa Diadema will leave from Genoa and call at Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

“With the aim to allow guests to better enjoy their holidays while respecting the safety of guests, crew and local communities, the company has developed the Costa Safety Protocol for its fleet,” the company announced. “The Costa Safety protocol is a comprehensive set of measures and procedures in response to the COVID-19 situation, relating to all aspects of the cruise experience, both onboard and ashore. Supported by a panel of independent scientific experts in Public Health, the Costa Safety Protocol is consistent with the health protocols defined by the Italian Government and European (EU Healthy Gateways) authorities. The protocol will be constantly updated based on the evolution of the scenario and medical knowledge.”

Costa Cruises to limit resumption in sailings to Italian passengers only

Costa Cruises to limit resumption in sailings to Italian passengers only

Costa Cruises return to operations next month will be restricted to passengers from its home country of Italy only.

However, the company also confirmed the extension of its pause in operations until September 30 for all the other cruises.

The Carnival Corporation brand is to resume sailing with one-week itineraries on two ships.

Costa Deliziosa will depart from Trieste and Costa Diadema from Genoa.

The cruises “will be reserved exclusively for Italian guests, with one-week itineraries calling at Italian ports only, allowing to rediscover in safety Italy’s finest destinations,” the company said.

“The decision was made considering the evolution of the epidemiological scenario and taking in account the regulation issued by the Italian Ministry of Health regarding mandatory checks for travellers returning from some European and foreign destinations, which suggests a cautious approach.

“Therefore, this solution will allow Costa guests to better enjoy their holiday, with fewer worries.”

Costa Deliziosa will sail on September 6, 13, 20, 27 and Costa Diadema on September 19, with further itineraries to be announced: “as soon as possible”.

The line said: “Costa is working for a responsible and safe resumption of its cruises starting from 6 September, as already announced in recent days, tirelessly monitoring the epidemiological situation that is constantly evolving.

“The company hopes that from October the situation will allow to welcome onboard its ships also guests of other nationalities.”

The company added: “Costa is continuing to work in close cooperation with flag state authorities, Italian regions, local institutions, health authorities, harbour master’s offices, ports and terminals and RINA to ensure a responsible, smooth and well-organised application of the new regulations and protocols approved by the Italian government for the restart of cruises.”

The move follows rival MSC Cruises announcing the resumption of sailings in the Mediterranean from Sunday (August 16).