Costa Smeralda is third ship to be brought back into service by Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises is deploying its newest, largest cruise ship, Costa Smeralda in the Mediterranean out of Italy, the third ship to do so since it resumed cruises in a limited capacity.

Costa Smeralda will begin a new season of cruises from October 10th, 2020, operating five one-week voyages from Savona until November 7th. Each itinerary will call in La Spezia, Cagliari, Naples, Messina and Civitavecchia.

RELATED: Costa Cruises to homeport largest newest ship Costa Smeralda in Dubai for 2021/22

RELATED: Costa reportedly preparing largest ships Diadema and Smeralda for Med in August

The 180,000-gross ton, more than 6,000 passenger capacity LNG-powered ship will join Costa Deliziosa and Costa Diadema, which have already been returned to service in Italy.

Like its fleetmates, Costa Smeralda will be visiting only Italian cities initially as part of Costa Cruises’ efforts to resume cruises responsibly.

However, from November 14th, 2020, Costa Smeralda will resume one-week cruises from Savona, Italy, visiting France and Spain.

Highlights of the new itinerary:

The first call on the itinerary is Savona, from where guests can visit other nearby destinations, such as Genoa or Finalborgo.

The second is La Spezia, with excursions to the Cinque Terre, Lerici, Florence or Pisa.  

The next call is Cagliari, followed by Naples, with the possibility to visit Sorrento, Pompei and the Royal Palace of Caserta.

The last two destinations of the itinerary are Messina, with excursions to Etna volcano and Taormina, and Civitavecchia, gateway to Rome and Tarquinia. 

Any passengers wishing to go ashore at any port of call must book a shore excursion through the cruise line, and will be required to remain with the group at all times to ensure there is no contact with members of the public.

These measures are part of the Costa Safety Protocol, developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts.

It is fully compliant with the relevant provisions defined by the Italian and European authorities, with social distancing on-board, mandatory mask wearing, rapid testing before boarding and enhanced hygiene measures.

The Costa Safety Protocol considers every aspect of the cruise experience, from booking to returning home.

RELATED: Costa Cruises joins AIDA in return to cruising in September with two ships

RELATED: Costa Cruises begins hull assembly for new LNG mega-ship Costa Toscana

Costa Smeralda was christened in Savona on February 22nd, and is the latest of Carnival Corporation’s Excel-class cruise ships, based on the same design as AIDA Cruises’ AIDAnova and Carnival’s Mardi Gras.

She includes the CoDe – Costa Design Museum, the first museum built on a cruise ship, to the Solemio Spa, 16 restaurants, more than two dozen bars and cafes and extensive kids facilities, including a dining room solely for families.