Costa adds second ship, Costa Diadema, back into service out of Italy
Costa Cruises has added Costa Diadema to its line-up of resumed cruises in Italy, making it the second ship to be brought back into service by the cruise line. Costa Diadema departed Genoa on Saturday on a week long roundtrip cruise calling in Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.
Her all-Italian itinerary is in-line with domestic travel restrictions aimed at countering the spread of COVID-19. Similarly, only Italian residents can book the cruises. However, from September 27th, the cruises will be available for all European citizens who are residents in any of the countries listed in the most recent Prime Ministerial Decree.
“At last Costa’s cruises are back in Genoa and Liguria, which has been our home for over 70 years,” said Group CEO, Costa Group & Carnival Asia Michael Thamm. “We’re setting sail again gradually and responsibly, with safety protocols that are unrivalled in the tourism industry. The initial response from our guests has been most encouraging,” he added.
Liguria features prominently in Costa’s return to cruising, with a total of around 80 calls in this part of north-west Italy between now and the end of the 2020-2021 winter season.
From October 10th, the cruise line will bring Costa Smeralda back into service, homeporting in Savona. She will sail one-week cruises in the Western Mediterranean. From November, Costa Diadema will move to Savona, for 12-day cruises to the Canary Islands and 14-day cruises to Egypt and Greece.
Costa Firenze, currently under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard, will make her debut on December 27th, also sailing in the Western Mediterranean, and calling at Genoa and La Spezia every week. While AIDA and TUI are also planning to resume cruises in the Mediterranean, AIDAblu will begin operating in October, Costa and MSC are the only cruise lines to have resumed cruises in any significant capacity so far.
The health and safety measures developed by both cruise lines, and strictly enforced, have formed a major part of the safe return to cruising plan developed by the CLIA and submitted to the US Centres for Disease Control for approval.
