Costa Fascinosa to be delivered in Venice on May 5, 2012

Costa Fascinosa (114,500 gross tonnage and 3,800 total guests), the new flagship of the Italian passenger fleet Costa Cruises, will be officially delivered to Costa at the Venice Passenger Terminal on May 5 and will depart on her introductory cruise before her first itinerary (her vernissage cruise) on May 6, 2012.
Costa Cruises’ new flagship built at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard was the result of an investment worth 510 million euros and involved 500 Italian suppliers and 10,000 workers.

Costa Fascinosa is set to make her debut just two months after the delivery of Costa neoRomantica and will be followed in October 2014 by a new 132,500 gross tonnage Costa ship, also to be built in Marghera.

Costa Fascinosa has successfully completed her sea trials, passing a series of running tests on her systems, machinery and engines, and will be officially handed over to Costa Cruises by the builder Fincantieri the day before her vernissage cruise.

On May 6, Costa Fascinosa will set sail from Venice bound for Slovenia, Trieste and Croatia on a cruise hosting the 19th edition of the “Champions of the Sea” - an annual event in partnership with Costa Cruises that celebrates the best travel agents across five continents.

On May 11, Fascinosa will depart from Venice once again, this time on her inaugural cruise – a 10-day itinerary visiting Greece, Israel and Turkey. For the rest of the 2012 (northern) summer season until the end of November, Costa Fascinosa will be operating seven-day cruises from Venice and Bari to Greece and Croatia.

Since 1990 Costa Cruises has invested 5.8 billion euros in work at Italy’s Fincantieri, T. Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto shipyards, with a total of 14 ships built or on order, in addition to the refurbishment of other fleet members already in service.