Carnival Cruise Line will create a new cruise concept in the US with two ships from Italian sister line Costa Cruises.
Costa by Carnival will make its debut in the spring of 2023 when Costa Venezia joins the Carnival fleet, sailing from New York.
Costa Venezia will be followed by Costa Firenze (pictured) arriving in the spring of 2024 to sail from Long Beach, California.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said: “Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambience and beauty of Italy.
“We’re going to invite our guests to ‘Choose Fun with Carnival, Italian Style’.”
More: Costa Luminosa to transfer to Carnival fleet in September
She added: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista class ships in the US and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy.
“There are lots of ways we plan to create an immersive fun experience for our guests who choose to sail on these ships, which have beautiful Italian-design elements, dining and retail that will deliver Carnival fun, leveraging the spirit of Italy from our sister line Costa Cruises.”
Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises, added: “We are excited to see these iconic ships make their debut in the US under the leadership and operation of our sister brand.”
Costa will be informing clients whose cruises are affected by this news.
The ships will continue their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for dry dock work and deployment.
Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are sister ships to Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, which accommodate up to 5,260 passengers.
The announcement follows news that Costa Luminosa will transfer to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in September and will start sailing as Carnival Luminosa in November 2022 from Brisbane, Australia.
Luminosa is a sister ship to Carnival’s four other Spirit class ships that already sail for Carnival.