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.
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SOURCE Costa Cruises