Costa Luminosa Costa Luminosa and her sister ship,
Costa Deliziosa were ordered from the
Fincantieri Marghera shipyard on 12 June 2006. The
keel of
Costa Luminosa was
laid on 10 October 2007 in the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard at
Venice. After 18 months, the ship was handed over to Costa Cruises on 1 May 2009. The christenings of
Costa Luminosa, and the
Costa Pacifica were held in
Genoa on 5 June 2009. It was the first time that two cruise ships were simultaneously christened in Italy. The dual christening ceremony set a then
Guinness World record in the category, "Most ships inaugurated in one day by one company". The two ships also
launched simultaneously in their shipyard on 5 June 2008;
Costa Luminosa in Marghera and
Costa Pacifica in Sestri Ponente.
Costa Luminosa made her first on 5 May 2009, a 10-day cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean, departing Venice, with ports of call at
Istanbul,
Bari,
Olympia,
Rhodes,
Smyrna,
Mykonos and
Athens. It was followed by mini cruises in Eastern Mediterranean, again departing Venice on 15 May 2009. Her second was on 19 May 2009. In the summer of 2009, the ship offered 11 and 14-day cruises at the Baltic capitals, Norwegian fjords and the
North Cape. Despite claims of sustainable practices by both Costa Cruises and its parent company Carnival,
Sveriges Television reported in 2015 that
Costa Luminosa dumped the toilet waste of its 3,200 passengers and crew in the sea, instead of taking use of harbour facilities, often provided free of charge by Baltic ports. The report calculated that more than of waste was dumped during a single cruise in the
Baltic Sea. The report did not suggest that the marine pollution regulations
MARPOL 73/78 were breached. From 2017 every summer she sails on seven-night cruises to the
Greek Islands. During the winter period
Costa Luminosa goes on seven-night cruises in the
Caribbean.
Coronavirus pandemic On 29 February 2020, a 68-year-old Italian man in critical condition was transferred from
Costa Luminosa to a hospital in the
Cayman Islands due to heart issues. His death was announced two days later. On 5 March 2020 the vessel left
Fort Lauderdale for a transatlantic cruise. Two people disembarked with symptoms of the coronavirus in
Puerto Rico. Subsequently, on 13 March 2020, it was confirmed to be due to
COVID-19 – the
first known cases in Puerto Rico. One of the two persons died several days later. Because of the virus outbreak several sick passengers were left at
Tenerife and passengers were placed under quarantine in their rooms. The ship was not allowed to dock in Spain. It docked at
Marseille, France, discharging sick passengers who flew home distributing the virus, After the disembarkation at Marseille, French authorities confirmed 36 people with COVID-19 infection. On 21 March local news in Puerto Rico reported the death of the quarantined Italian woman. On 7 April, a Miami lawyer filed a lawsuit against Costa Cruises over mishandling and allowing passengers to sail aboard
Costa Luminosa despite having flu-like symptoms. She spent her final season for Costa sailing seven-night cruises to the Greek Islands.
Transfer to Carnival Cruise Line On 14 June 2022 it was announced that
Costa Luminosa would be transferred to the fleet of
Carnival Cruise Line in September 2022, receiving the name
Carnival Luminosa. On 8 September 2022
Costa Luminosa was officially handed over to Carnival Cruise Line. After a refit, the ship sailed to Brisbane, Australia to begin voyages that started on 6 November. The ship has since spent the southern-hemisphere summer months in Australia in 2023 and 2024. == References ==