Costa Cruises to Restart Sailings in the Mediterranean from March 2021

Costa Cruises has announced that its Costa Smeralda and Costa Luminosa ships are ready to begin cruising again, offering sailings to Mediterranean destinations in March and May 2021.

The season will restart with the departure of the company’s flagship Costa Smeralda on a series of three, four and seven-day cruises from 27 March 2021.

The ship’s unchanged itineraries will call at Italian ports including Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Messina and Cagliari.

Costa Smeralda will also restart one-week cruises in the Western Med from 1 May 2021, with visits to Savona, Civitavecchia and Palermo in Italy, Marseille in France and Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca in Spain.

The cruise line’s second ship Costa Luminosa will also return to service, departing from the Italian ports of Trieste and Bari on a programme of one-week cruises in Greece and Croatia from 2 May 2021.

Costa Cruises is working with national and local authorities of the countries included in the itineraries of its ships outside Italy to define the details of the restart of cruise operations.

The company has also created a new safety protocol, which contains operational measures relating to all aspects of the cruise experience, both onboard and ashore.

These measures were implemented during the past few months of cruise operations and include limits on passenger numbers, swab tests and temperature checks for all guests and crew when disembarking and re-embarking and new ways of using onboard services.

Physical distancing is also required on board and at cruise terminals, along with protected shore excursions, enhanced sanitation and medical services and the use of face masks when necessary.

All cruises scheduled until the end of May which are not included in the updated program will be cancelled and Costa is in the process of informing travel agents and customers affected by changes.