The newly rebranded and renamed Carnival Venezia arrived in Halifax this morning, June 11. The elegant ship is on its first voyage since its transition from Costa Crociere (a Carnival Cruise Lines brand) to Costa by Carnival, a new hybrid brand, with the sub-title "Carnival Fun Italian Style".
The ship was built by Fincantieri Monfalcone as Costa Venezia and entered service in May 2019, catering to the Chinese market and operating out of Shanghai. The major shakeup in the cruise industry due to COVID caused Carnival to re-think its marketing and so transferred the Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze to the new Costa by Carnival brand.
Costa Venezia entered refit at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain in March 2023 and was handed over March 22 with the new name Carnival Venezia. The ship's hull was repainted in the new Carnival "swoop" livery introduced last year, but retains the "trademark" ashcan funnel of Costa Crociere. The "Carnival Fun Italian Style" sobriquet is also inscribed on the hull.
The Vista class ship measures 135,225 gt with a passenger capacity of 4,208 (double occupancy), 5260 maximum and crew of 1,278. It began its current trip in Barcelona, May 29 calling in Malaga, Gibraltar, Lisbon and Ponta Delgada. On arrival in New York, its new base of operations, there will be a naming ceremony on June 14, with the ship's "godfather" [!] Jay Leno as sponsor.
The ship will make Caribbean tours out of Manhattan, but will use Port Canaveral as base during the winter.
Addendum:
The economical three week refit and transfer to "Costa by Carnival", saw the removal of the "Costa" name from the large illuminated billboard beneath the funnel.
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