Costa Luminosa Restarts From Trieste With Cruises In The Adriatic And Greece
Costa Luminosa, the second ship of the Italian company to resume operations in 2021, marks the restart of the cruise sector in the eastern Mediterranean.
TRIESTE, Italy, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Costa Cruises announced that Costa Luminosa set sail again on May 16 from the port of Trieste, becoming the company's second ship in 2021 to resume operations and the first to resume cruises in the Adriatic Sea and Greece. Overall, Costa has a total of four ships scheduled to resume cruises this summer.
In addition to Trieste, Costa Luminosa's one-week itinerary includes visits to Bari and four beautiful Greek destinations: Corfu, Athens, Mykonos and Katakolon/Olympia. It will be available throughout the coming summer season and part of the autumn until mid-November 2021 for a total of 27 cruises.
Costa Luminosa's restart was celebrated in Trieste by Costa Cruises President Mario Zanetti, together with several local authorities, including the Mayor of Trieste, Roberto Dipiazza; the Councilor of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Pierpaolo Roberti; the Captain of the Trieste Coast Guard, Vincenzo Vitale; and the CEO of Trieste Terminal Passeggeri, Francesco Mariani.
"With the restart of the Costa Luminosa, we are finally bringing cruises back to the Adriatic Sea and Greece, one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations, and reviving a sector of great importance to the economy of many European countries, including Italy, as well as the eastern part of the Mediterranean," said Costa's Zanetti. "Just to illustrate the importance of this restart, before the pause caused by the pandemic, our company generated an annual economic impact of almost €13 billion in Europe, creating over 63,000 jobs. We are particularly pleased to be resuming from Trieste, a city that has always welcomed us warmly, and which will be the home port of Costa Luminosa not only this year, but also in 2022. We look to the future with optimism, and we are working to make Trieste even more strategic for cruises, promoting a sustainable development and a quality guest experience".
Health and safety procedures have been enhanced through the adoption of the Costa Safety Protocol, developed by the company together with scientific experts and Italian authorities, which contains operational measures related to all aspects of the cruise experience, both on board and ashore. The measures include a reduction in the number of guests; swab tests for all guests before embarkation and after half of the cruise; swab tests for the crew before embarkation and regularly during their stay on board; temperature checks every day, every time guests disembark and re-enter the ship, and every time they enter the restaurants; visits to destinations only with protected excursions; social distancing on board and in the terminals; new ways of using onboard services; enhanced sanitation and medical services; and the use of protective masks when necessary.
As for the holiday experience, guests will enjoy new features, including a renewed excursion program, which will allow them to discover off-the-beaten path destinations, exclusively for Costa guests. Guests will also enjoy new menu options that feature dishes specific to the locations that Costa Luminosa will visit.
Costa Luminosa is the second of four Costa ships that will operate in summer 2021, offering cruises in the Mediterranean. On May 1, the flagship Costa Smeralda departed from Savona with an itinerary exclusively dedicated to Italy. On June 26, Costa Deliziosa will restart with week-long cruises in Greece. July 4 will see the departure of the Costa Firenze, the new ship inspired by the Florentine Renaissance, with one-week cruises in Italy. In addition, from 3 July Costa Smeralda will begin sailing in international itineraries, with one-week cruises in Italy, France and Spain.
"Trieste welcomes the return of the Costa Cruises ships. In recent years we have developed a very important collaboration with the company that guaranteed a regular presence of Costa ships in our beautiful city. Trieste is a city with a tourist vocation and the return of Costa rewards us for the work we are doing, but above all it means that tourists are back," said the Mayor of Trieste, Roberto Dipiazza.
"The restart of Costa Cruises from Trieste is one of the many positive signs of recovery for our local economy. Trieste, as all the art cities in Italy, has been strongly affected by pandemic crisis. Now reservations are resuming and there is a gradual return to normality. Trieste and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region are ready to welcome back tourists, thanks also to the safety protocols we implemented"- said the Councilor of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Pierpaolo Roberti.
"The Trieste Cruise Terminal restarts together with the Costa Luminosa. We have done our utmost to ensure the restart of the cruises from Trieste, together with all the authorities and operators, because we are confident that it will support the tourist growth of the City and the Region" -stated Francesco Mariani, CEO of Trieste Terminal Passeggeri.
"We will contribute to implementing the Covid interdisciplinary protocol in 2021, as we did during the last year. I welcome back with great enthusiasm in my port the restart of the cruise service, which is highly strategic for the economy of our country, and I guarantee the absolute commitment of the Trieste Coast Guard Office in contributing to port operations that are strictly respectful of the special rules set up to guarantee safe cruises," - said the Captain of Trieste Coast Guard, Vincenzo Vitale.
SOURCE Costa Cruises
