Costa Firenze

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Costa Firenze
Costa Firenze 2021.jpg
History
Italy
NameCosta Firenze
NamesakeFlorence, Italy
OwnerCarnival Corporation house flag.svg Carnival Corporation & plc
OperatorCosta Cruises
Port of registryGenoa,  Italy[1]
Ordered1 April 2016[1]
Builder
Yard number6273
Laid down22 Dec 2015[1]
Launched6 November 2019
Completed22 December 2020[1]
Acquired30 September 2020
In serviceJuly 2021
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and type Vista-class cruise ship
Tonnage135,156 GT[1]
Length323 m (1,059 ft 9 in)
Beam37.2 m (122 ft 1 in)[1]
Depth11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)[1]
Decks18[1]

Costa Firenze is a Vista-class cruise ship constructed at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera for Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, and sister ship to Costa Venezia.

History[]

Planning and construction[]

Carnival Corporation entered a strategic agreement with Fincantieri in March 2015 for five cruise ships for delivery between 2019 and 2022.[2] On 30 December 2015, Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri signed a memorandum of agreement for four cruise ships, with two then-unnamed ships for Costa Asia among the four.[3] This announcement coincided with Carnival Corporation's unveiling of its plans for the expansion of the Costa Asia fleet, which would consist of two vessels at 135,500 GT each, with a guest capacity of approximately 4,200 passengers per vessel.[4] The contracts for the two newbuild vessels were finalized in April 2016.[5] The two ships, comprising a new class of vessels in Costa's fleet, were designed to be sister ships and continue carrying Costa's Italian-style interior designs and features while hosting an Asian clientele.[4]

On 6 May 2019, Costa Cruises announced that the second of the two vessels built specifically for the Chinese market would be named Costa Firenze, named after Florence, Italy, and have interior features inspired by Florentine history and culture.[6] The ship was floated out from the shipyard on 6 November 2019.[7]

Interiors[]

"Costa Firenze" on YouTube

Delivery[]

Costa Firenze was scheduled to be delivered on 30 September 2020 and postponed to a time later in 2020,[7] but the delivery took place on the 22 December 2020.[8]

Operational career[]

Carnival Corporation announced on 6 May 2019 that Costa Firenze would initially spend her first month sailing in the Mediterranean, calling in ports in Italy, Spain, and France.[9] Her maiden voyage was scheduled for 1 October 2020, departing from Trieste and calling in Bari, Barcelona, and Marseille, before arriving in Savona.[9] Then, she was to depart from Savona on 2 November to begin a 51-day cruise to Hong Kong, arriving on 22 December.[9]

However, in late-August 2019, Costa Cruises announced changes to Costa Firenze's maiden deployments.[10] These changes scrapped the maiden voyage and her month of Mediterranean sailings that were planned and the ship will, instead, head for Singapore immediately following her delivery and debut for Chinese customers on 20 October.[10][11] But on 13 July 2020, it was reported that Costa will revert to deploying Costa Firenze to Europe, scheduling her to sail weekly itineraries in the Mediterranean after being delivered, and also operate all cancelled sailings of Costa Toscana through 2021 due to the ship's delayed delivery.[12] Costa Firenze is now scheduled to begin operating in China in late-2021.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Costa Firenze (9801691)". Leonardo Info. Registro Italiano Navale. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Fincantieri: Five Next-Generation Ships for Carnival Corporation" (Press release). Fincantieri. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Fincantieri: 4 Cruise Ships for Carnival" (Press release). Fincantieri. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b Leppert, Jason (4 January 2016). "Carnival Corp. Announces Four New Cruise Ships for Three Brands". TravelPulse.
  5. ^ Leppert, Jason (4 April 2016). "Carnival Corp. Celebrates Koningsdam and Finalizes New Ship Orders for Costa, P&O and Princess". TravelPulse.
  6. ^ "Costa Names 2020 Newbuild for China Costa Firenze". Cruise Industry News. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Costa Firenze Floats Out at Fincantieri". Cruise Industry News. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Handover Of Costa Firenze, The Ship Inspired By The Beauty Of The Renaissance". 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Costa Cruises Presents Costa Firenze, the New Ship Arriving October 2020" (Press release). Carnival Corporation & plc. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b Kalosh, Anne (27 August 2019). "Costa ship shuffle strengthens Mediterranean presence". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Costa Cruises Celebrates Float Out of Costa Firenze" (Press release). Fincantieri. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Costa Firenze Set to Stay in Europe 2021 Before Heading to China". Cruise Industry News. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
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