Officials from the Carnival Corporation announced Costa Cruises would host new sailings starting in March with enhanced health and safety protocols.
Costa Cruises’ relaunch begins with the departure of the flagship Costa Smeralda on March 27, which is scheduled to transport passengers on three- and four-day mini-cruises and a longer seven-day voyage.
During her first set of sailings, Costa Smeralda will make calls at several Italian locations, including Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Messina and Cagliari.
Starting on May 1, Costa Smeralda will then return to sailing one-week cruises in the western Mediterranean, with visits to Italy (Savona, Civitavecchia and Palermo), France (Marseille) and Spain (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca).
Costa also announced a second ship, Costa Luminosa, will return to service with a departure from Trieste on May 2 and the following day from Bari. The cruise line is working with national and local authorities of the countries included in the itineraries of its ships outside Italy.
As part of the restart process, the Costa Safety Protocol contains operational measures related to all aspects of the cruise experience, including limited capacity, COVID-19 tests for all guests and crew, temperature checks, protected shore excursions, physical distancing and more.
All other cruises scheduled until the end of May will be canceled, with the company informing travel agents and customers impacted by changes.
In September, the Costa Deliziosa returned to service with a voyage from Trieste, Italy, to several Italian ports.
