Ship Preview: Costa Toscana
Costa Toscana features more than 2,600 cabins, 21 restaurants, 19 bars, 4 swimming pools, a theatre, spa, kids’ facilities, and several new to the line attractions across her 180,000 gross tons and 17 passenger decks.
Delivered in 2021 at the tail-end of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Costa Toscana was presented by Costa Cruises as the first step in its recovery from the global shutdowns necessitated by the coronavirus. She was the only ship delivered by the entire Carnival Corporation during the year, with all others pushed back by at least a year, but was a sign of the impressive things to come.
Designed as a floating ‘smart city’, Costa Toscana features sustainable solutions and circular economy concepts to reduce her environmental impact, in addition to LNG fuel technology that eliminates sulphur emissions and significantly reduces carbon emissions. In addition, she boasts energy efficiency management software to reduce wastage, and even elements of her interior design incorporate recycling, such as the driftwood used to create the interiors of the new-to-the-line Archipelago Restaurant.
The ship’s interiors were designed by Adam D. Tihany and an international pool of architectural firms, Dordoni Architetti, Jeffrey Beers International, Partner Ship Design and Rockwell Group, as a tribute to Tuscany, the region of Italy from which Costa Toscana takes her name.
The ship is very much an Italian creation with her furniture, lighting, fabrics and accessories all supplied by 15 Italian companies. These include companies, such as Molteni& C (sofas and chairs), Roda (outdoor and indoor furniture), Flos (decorative lighting), and Dedar and Rubelli (fabrics, upholstery, chairs, sofas).
Dining aboard Costa Toscana
The ship features 21 restaurants, offering dishes by high-profile chefs such as Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze and Ángel León. The menus available aboard Costa Toscana are the result of authentic local recipes from every place visited by the cruise line, and will be offered through Destination Dishes and the menus of the Archipelago restaurant.
Destination Dishes are individual meals influenced by the tradition and flavours of the port the ship will visit the following day. They will be available in Costa Toscana’s main restaurants and are complimentary as part of the cruise fare.
The Archipelago restaurant meanwhile is a new-to-the-line concept that Barbieri, Darroze and León have each collaborated on to create three menus composed of five refined dishes, designed to explore the food of the region through which guests are sailing.
The chefs’ menus, like the Destination Dishes, are designed with local producers in mind are although are not as region-specific as the Destination Dishes, they are locally sourced as much as possible.
Archipelago features “island” tables for a more intimate dining experience, framed by a copper sculpture enclosing unique pieces of driftwood, which are made using wood salvaged from the shores of Italy. This is part of the restaurant’s focus on sustainability, with every meal prepared with food waste in mind, while part of the revenue from the restaurant will also be donated to Guardians of the Coast, the environmental education programme for the protection of the Italian coastline run by the Costa Crociere Foundation.
Aboard Costa Toscana, there is also an entire restaurant dedicated to families with children. Squok Restaurant is named after the cruise line’s kids club and has been conceived and designed according to their needs.
In the Food LAB, guests will be able to try out their cooking skills under the guidance of Costa Chefs, while standout specialty restaurants include the Pizzeria Pummid’Oro, the Sushino and the Teppanyaki.
When it comes to finding a spot for a drink, guests are spoilt for choice with Costa Toscana offering 19 bars, including themed bars in collaboration with major Italian and international partners, such as Caffè Vergnano 1882, the Campari Bar, two Aperol Spritz Bars, the Ferrari Spazio Bollicine, and the new Kartell Cafè and Heineken Star Club & Bistro.
Fun and activities aboard Costa Toscana
The social “heart” of Costa Toscana is the Colosseo, an atrium in the middle of the ship spread over three decks, around which many of the ship’s main bars and lounges are located. Huge LED screens on the walls and on the dome, tell a different story in each port of call throughout the day.
Up top, the Piazza del Campo is a large three-tier sunbathing area facing aft where pool games and other entertainment takes place by day and night. There is also an open-air balcony on the top deck with a crystal floor over-hanging the sea.
At the bow of the ship, the Piazza dei Miracoli is the shopping, dining and entertainment hub, where many of her specialty restaurants are located and intersect with the retail area and the multi-deck theatre.
The Passeggiata Volare lounge is located at the highest point of the ship, 65 meters above the ocean, providing sweeping ocean views, while the new Poltrona Frau Arena is a multifunctional space, which can become a theater for shows during the day and a nightclub by night. Children are also catered for with the Splash AcquaPark, with its slide located on the highest deck, as well as a new video game arcade, and the Squok Club.
Spa and well-ness aboard Costa Toscana
Costa Toscana is also replete with relaxation and pampering options, starting with the Sole Mio wellness area, featuring a beauty salon, sauna, hammam, thalassotherapy pool, 16 treatment rooms and the snow, salt and relaxation rooms.
Up on the pool deck, there are also four swimming pools, one of which is a salt water pool. There is also a huge gym with the latest Technogym equipment and a sports complex with sea views.
Staterooms aboard Costa Toscana
There are a total of 2,663 cabins on board of Costa Toscana, including 28 suites, 106 terrace staterooms, and 1,534 cabins with balconies. Just 168 of the cabins are ‘outside’ categories (with only a porthole), while for those on a budget there are 827 inside cabins, which have no view to the outside, but are dirt cheap.
All the cabins are designed by the Milanese studio Dordoni Architetti and reflect the colours and landscapes of the Italian regions from which each deck takes it name. So no two rooms on different decks are the same. A new category of cabin introduced aboard Costa Toscana is the “terrace over the sea”. These corner cabins offer a cabana on the massive balcony where guests can have breakfast, drink an aperitif or simply enjoy the sound of the ship’s wake.
Costa Toscana inaugural itineraries
Costa Toscana’s first cruise will departs from Savona on March 5th, 2022. The itinerary includes a week in the Western Mediterranean to discover Spain, Italy and France, with calls at Marseilles, Barcelona, Valencia, Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome.
From May until mid-October 2022, the itinerary will incorporate more seaside destinations, such as Savona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Ibiza, Valencia and Marseille, while from mid-October, Palma de Mallorca will replace Ibiza.
