ITALY/CHINA. Costa Cruises, the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation, and Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri today celebrated the official float-out ceremony of Costa Venezia – the cruise line brand’s first ship designed and built specifically for the China market.
The ceremony was held at the shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, where the ship is being built.
Costa Venezia, designed with the specific leisure and entertainment preferences of Chinese guests in mind, will bring Venetian and Italian culture to life through such spectacles as the Carnival of Venice and the city’s famed gondolas, the company said.
Guests will be able to sample fine Italian dining, shopping and entertainment while enjoying a range of Chinese cuisines and Chinese-style karaoke bars.
Costa Venezia is expected to set sail in March 2019, arriving in China next May after a 53-day voyage following the route of Marco Polo. After this, Costa Venezia will ply East Asian routes.
“As our first ship built specifically for the Chinese market, Costa Venezia marks a new era not just for Costa Cruises and Fincantieri but for the Chinese cruise industry as a whole,” said Costa Group Asia President Mario Zanetti. “From its initial conception all the way through to today’s float-out ceremony and beyond, everything about Costa Venezia has been designed with the Chinese consumer in mind.”
Costa Cruises was the first international cruise brand to serve the local Chinese market, starting in 2006. At a length of 323 meters and measuring 135,500 gross tons with a capacity of 5,260 guests, Costa Venezia will be Costa’s largest ship operating homeport cruises from China. A sister ship will be launched in 2020.
