Karl WP Beyer 
The cruise
Costa Pacifica in Bridgetown / Barbados
Costa's company logo
Costa's long company history
How it all began
It all started more than 160 years ago. In 1854 Giacomo Costa fu Andrea founded a trade in fabrics and olive oil. It was very successful: After a short time, foreign markets were opened up. The company was forced to reserve ships to handle the transport capacities. The ships were initially chartered; However, in 1924 the company had its first ship built, the "Ravenna". Towards the end of the 1940s, Costa owned eight ships. However, the tonnage of the freighters was extremely small compared to Costa's current ship units with a total of 27.534 tons.
Switch to passenger shipping
Since many Italian passenger ships were lost during the Second World War and a flow of emigrants overseas began after the war, the Costa family invested in passenger ships. The ships built in the following years went mainly to North and South American destinations. Since 1952, free ship capacities have been used for trips in the Mediterranean region during off-peak times.
The first ship built for holiday cruises was the "Franca C". In 1959 it was still divided into three ship classes. The Franca C. was designed for 7- and 14-day cruises in North America and the Caribbean. With the commissioning of the "Eugenio C." in 1964, the "class thinking" on board was abandoned. Instead of three ship classes, there was only one deck accessible to all passengers.
Creation of Costa Crociere SpA
In 1986 the shipping activities were bundled into a joint-stock company called Costa Crociere SpA. The IPO followed in 1989. After that, several cruise ships were built. With increasing expansion, however, the company was no longer able to finance the ships. Costa was therefore sold in 1997 to the market leader Carnival Corporation and the British Airtours, each holding a 50 percent stake. Three years later, Carnival took over the Airtours share.
Costa Luminosa - transfers to Carnival
In 2004, Carnival assigned the German cruise brand AIDA Cruises to the Costa shipping company. This previously belonged to the British P&O Group, which transferred its cruise activities to Carnival in 2003. Costa also took over the cruise brand IberoCruceros, which is focused on the Spanish market. This brand was abandoned in 2014.
What does Costa Cruises stand for?
In the Genoa According to the company, the resident cruise line stands for a mixture of Italian lifestyle, Italian hospitality, good cuisine and represents "Made in Italy". Positioned in the middle market segment, the ships of the Costa Group appeal to people of all ages and marital status thanks to good food, good entertainment and an ambitious range of leisure and sports activities. – Costa customers can choose between three tariff models: “My Cruise” offers the essentials with a cabin and full board, port fees and tips. The "All Inclusive" tariff includes an extensive drinks package. A wide range of drinks are included in this rate at any time of the day. The "Super All Inclusive" tariff also includes various shore excursions. Suite guests automatically enjoy the all-inclusive tariff.
Costa Mediterranea - future China
Overview of Costa ships
The shipping company currently operates ten cruise ships. Two other ships are used exclusively in the Far East for Asian clients. Costa's ship units have steadily increased in size in recent years. Examples of this are the "Costa Serena", "Costa Pacifica", "Costa Fascinosa" and "Costa Favolosa", which joined the fleet between 2007 and 2012. Each of these ships has a tonnage of more than 110.000 GT. The Costa Diadema is measured at 132.500 GT. She was taken over in autumn 2014.
The flagship of the shipping company is currently the "Costa Toscana". She and her sister ship "Costa Smeralda" use environmentally friendly, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel. The 337 meter long ships have more than 2.600 cabins. As far as the maximum permissible capacity of the ships is concerned, 6.600 beds can be assumed. Both ships are measured with more than 180.000 GT.
Costa Toscana at sea - Photo © Costa Crociere SpA
| Costa ships |
Year of Manufacture | tonnage |
| Costa Toscana | 2021 | 183.900 |
| Costa Firenze | 2020 | 135.156 |
| Venice coast | 2019 | 135.225 |
| Costa Smeralda | 2019 | 185.010 |
| Costa Diadema | 2014 | 132.500 |
| Costa Fascinosa | 2012 | 113.216 |
| Costa Favolosa | 2011 | 113.216 |
| Costa Deliziosa | 2010 |
92.720 |
| Costa Pacifica | 2009 |
114.288 |
| Costa Fortuna | 2003 | 102.587 |
The volume brand Costa Crociere SpA stands for the "Italian moments" in life in the world's largest cruise group Carnival Corporation & plc. The ships, which are elaborately and colorfully designed on the inside, offer the passengers a lot: pleasant cabins, good restaurants and bars, cultivated entertainment as well as lavish wellness and sports facilities. Costa ships call at destinations all over the world. Since 2006, the shipping company has also been offering cruises in the growth market of Asia.
Costa Firenze - the name
Costa Firenze in Abu Dhabi
Costa is probably permanently associated with the sinking of the 290 meter long Costa Concordia off the Mediterranean island of Giglio in January 2012. The accident claimed 32 lives. After the ship disaster, the Carnival group and Costa Crociere improved the control systems on board the ships and introduced external monitoring measures on the ships' "bridges".
Update October 2022
