New inaugural program for the Costa Smeralda
Due to a delay in the construction of the new ship in the Meyer shipyards in Turku, Finland, Costa Cruises announced that the Costa Smeralda will begin its 7-day Mediterranean cruise program from Savona on November 30th, 2019.
The Costa Smeralda, the first ship of Costa Cruises powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), will begin its cruise programs on November 30th, 2019 because its current state of construction will not allow for the delivery of the ship on the originally agreed upon date.
Unfortunately, Costa Cruises has announced this delay, which will require the cancellation of all the originally planned cruises and inaugural activities. The first cruise for the Costa Smeralda will therefore depart on November 30th, 2019 from Savona. The itinerary, which will be offered until April 2021, has remained unchanged: a week in the western Mediterranean with stopovers in Savona (Saturday), Marseille (Sunday), Barcelona (Monday), Palma de Mallorca (Tuesday), Civitavecchia (Thursday) and La Spezia (Friday).
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“Our priority is to always offer our guests a unique vacation experience that goes above and beyond their expectations. Unfortunately, the Meyer shipyard in Turku needs more time so that the Costa Smeralda will be able to satisfy this essential requirement. I would like to emphasize that the Costa Smeralda is a totally innovative project, both from a technological point of view as well as a product. In particular, the LNG propulsion, in which we were the first to believe, represents a unique example in the responsible innovation sector that is able to significantly lower emissions, marking a turning point in the cruise ship industry. We are deeply sorry for this delay and we apologize to all our guests that had booked a cruise on the Costa Smeralda scheduled before November 30th. We hope to have them aboard our new flagship and we are already working on the schedule to be able to offer new departure dates.” –said Neil Palomba, Director General of Costa Cruises.
Costa Cruises is taking steps to be able to inform travel agents and reserved guests about the departure dates before November 30th, 2019.