Costa Toscana, the newest ship in the Costa Cruises fleet and the second Excellence-class LNG-powered ship for the cruise line, will sail Saturday from Savona on her maiden cruise.

The 7-night maiden voyage will visit Marseille, Barcelona, Valencia, Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome, marking the start of a season of summer cruises in the Mediterranean.

Costa Toscana will remain positioned in the Western Mediterranean until late November. During the summer season she will call at Savona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Ibiza, Valencia, Marseille, while during the fall season Palma de Mallorca will take Ibiza’s place.

Costa Toscana in port in Savona, Italy

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“The departure of Costa Toscana represents the next step in the journey that will bring our fleet back to full capacity this summer,” said Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises.

“We are seeing an increasing demand for our cruises. Furthermore, as the general situation improves, we expect a simplification of our enhanced health and safety protocols, based on our ongoing monitoring of the pandemic,” he added.

“I believe that cruises will soon be back to normal, with new protocols that will allow our guests to fully enjoy the experiences on board and ashore, with the return, for example, of free excursions for guests.”

Costa Toscana environmental technology

The ship’s LNG-propulsion system makes it possible to almost eliminate the emission of sulphur oxides (zero emissions) and particulate matter (95-100% reduction), while also significantly lowering nitrogen oxide (direct reduction of 85%) and CO2 (up to 20%) emissions.

The ship also has a series of cutting-edge technological innovations designed to further reduce environmental impact.:

The entire daily requirement of water is met by transforming that of the sea through the use of desalinators.

Energy consumption is reduced to a minimum thanks to an intelligent energy efficiency system.

Separate waste collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminum will be carried out on board.

Costa Cruises return to service

Costa Toscana’s entry into service is part of the cruise line’s ongoing resumption of service since the pandemic, with seven more ships due to return to operation this year, bringing the entire fleet of 12 vessels into service.

From spring 2022 to winter 2022/23, Costa’s cruise itineraries includes a total of more than 1,800 cruises, with itineraries ranging from 3 to 127 days in length.

The cruise line’s ships will visit 179 destinations around the world, with a completely revamped excursion offer, which provides about 1,800 different tours to enjoy unique experiences in the heart of each place.

Costa ships will offer 112 restaurants or food areas throughout the fleet, with new features such as dishes from three great chefs like Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze and Ángel León, who interpret the flavors of the destinations included in the itineraries.

Costa Cruises’ 2022/23 deployments include its winter cruise season in the Middle East, during which Costa Firenze will sail roundtrip from Dubai in the Arabian Gulf between November, 2022 and March, 2023.