Costa Smeralda has left on her first voyage marking the return of Costa cruises to Savona. During her first cruise Costa’s flagship will call at various ports across Italy. Costa Smeralda is the third ship in the Italian company to return to service and will continue to call at Savona every week until the end of 2021.
Costa Cruises departs again today from Savona with Costa Smeralda. The company flagship, is the third Costa ship to return to service, after the Costa Deliziosa and Costa Diadema.
The one week itinerary of Costa Smeralda will have five departures from Savona, from October 10 to November 7, 2020, dedicated to the rediscovery, in safety, of the best of Italy, with calls at La Spezia, Cagliari, Naples, Messina and Civitavecchia/Rome.
For Costa Smeralda this is a real homecoming following the Covid19 emergency pause, as Savona has always been her home port since December 21, 2020, when she made her first cruise after leaving the Meyer shipyard in Turku where she was built.
Savona will play a leading role in the Italian company’s restart program. After the first five cruises in Italy, Costa Smeralda will continue to call at Savona every week until the end of 2021, with an itinerary that will include Italy, France and Spain.
Also read: A taste of Italy on board Costa Smeralda
In Winter 2020/21, from November 3 2020, Costa Diadema will also dock at the Palacrociere cruise terminal and will offer 12-day cruises to the Canary Islands, 14-day cruises to Egypt and Greece, and 14-day cruises also to Turkey. These will be repeated in Fall 2021. During Spring and Fall 2021, Costa Fortuna, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa will also arrive in Savona, offering mini-cruises in the Mediterranean and 10-day cruises to Portugal.
All aboard!
The embarkation of guests on Costa Smeralda for today’s first departure from Savona has been carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, which contains new operational measures in response to the COVID-19 situation, dealing with all aspects of the cruise experience both on and off the ship. The procedures, devised with the support of independent public health experts, are in line with the health protocols defined by the relevant Italian and European authorities.
On arrival at the Palacrociere terminal, with staggered entrance times by virtue of online check-in, each guest had their temperature scanned, submitted a health questionnaire and was subjected to an antigen rapid swab test, with the possibility of an additional molecular swab test for any suspected cases. Prior to embarking, crew members were also subjected to a molecular swab test at intervals and were quarantined for 14 days. In addition, each member of crew will have a monthly test.
An itinerary dedicated to a safe rediscovery of Italy
Starting with the first call at La Spezia, the destinations on Costa Smeralda itinerary can be visited only by joining the protected excursions organized by the company for small groups of people on sanitized means of transport, and subject to temperature measurement before leaving and rejoining the ship.
The shipboard amenities and entertainment have been redesigned based on the procedures in the Safety Protocol but still retain the distinguishing features of a Costa cruise holiday, thanks partly to the physical distancing enabled by the ship’s reduced capacity. For example: repeat performances of the live shows for smaller audiences; a switch from buffet restaurants to seated dining; reduced capacity and minimum distance between tables in the theater, show lounge, bars and restaurants; staggered entrance for some facilities such as the spa, pools and kids’ miniclub with a limited number of people allowed in at any one time.
Also, there is enhanced cleaning and sanitization in all areas on board, including cabins, while the shipboard health services have been expanded. Other health & safety measures are the use of face masks whenever necessary, hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the ship and the introduction of self service clinical thermometer kiosks.
A travelling smart city
Costa Smeralda is as a “travelling smart city”, where sustainable technologies and circular economy concepts are applied to reduce the environmental footprint and support sustainable cruising. With her innovative technological propulsion system based on LNG, she is able to virtually eliminate sulfur dioxide emissions (zero emissions) and particulate matter (95-100% reduction), while greatly reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides (direct reduction of 85%) and CO2 (up to 20%).
On board, special desalination plants process seawater directly to meet daily water supply requirements, and energy consumption is reduced to a minimum thanks to an intelligent energy management system. Waste is managed on board with 100% separate collection for recycling of plastic, paper, glass and aluminum.
For more details and bookings visit costa.com.