Costa Cruises announced that its first cruise ship built specifically for the Chinese market will be named in Trieste on March 1, 2019. The ship, currently under construction at the Fincantieri Monfalcone shipyard, is the first Costa Cruises vessel designed specifically to offer the best of Italy to the Chinese market.
The name of the ship is announced as Costa Venezia.
It is part of an expansion plan that includes seven new ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of over 6 billion euros. With a gross tonnage of 135,500 tonnes, a length of 323 meters and capacity for over 5,100 guests, Costa Venezia is the biggest ship ever introduced to the Chinese market by Costa. It will offer a series of previously unseen innovations designed specifically for Chinese customers, introducing guests to Italian culture, style and taste, starting from the interiors inspired by the city of Venice.
The programme for the Costa Venezia naming celebrations in Trieste, which is currently being finalized with the addition of further important events that may be announced in the coming months, envisages getting the whole city involved by way of a firework display that will be visible from Piazza Unità d’Italia and giant screens for viewers to follow the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event will be attended by around 1,500 guests from China, South Korea, Japan and several European countries, and they will also have the opportunity to discover Trieste and its surrounding area, as the ship will be moored in the city until March 3, when it will depart for its first cruise. This is a further positive effect for the region in addition to the benefits of the construction of the ship, taking place in the Monfalcone shipyard as this involves thousands of workers in the shipyard and along the supply chain.
“We are very happy to be celebrating the naming of Costa Venezia in such a beautiful Italian city as Trieste. Costa was the first company to operate in China in 2006 and over the years we have established ourselves as a leader, offering a product focused on Italian excellence. Costa Venezia will feature other unprecedented innovations, designed specifically to offer Chinese customers a real Italian experience, marking a new era for both Costa and the whole Chinese market, which is among the most promising in the world in terms of future growth” – according to Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Group Asia.
Mayor of Trieste Roberto Dipiazza stated: “It is a great pleasure for the city of Trieste to host the naming ceremony of this new ship by Costa. With great pride, both from an institutional and personal point of view, I applaud this new jewel, which is the result of the work of the best talents in shipbuilding and Italian design who reside in our region and city. Our expertise, our values are well rooted in the Costa Group. This new ship, along with the other “queens” that we had the pleasure of admiring in our Gulf, will be another ambassador of Made in Italy in the world. There is a strong bond of mutual respect between Trieste and the Costa Group, that I am sure will continue to strengthen in the future”.
Costa Venezia will make it possible for its Chinese guests to experience the uniqueness of Venetian and Italian culture. The ship’s theater will be inspired by Venice’s “La Fenice” theater; the main atrium will be reminiscent of “St. Mark’s Square”, while the restaurants will imitate the typical architecture of Venetian alleys and squares. On board there will also be real gondolas, made by craftsmen in the Squero di San Trovaso, while an enchanting costume party will recreate the magical atmosphere of the famous Venice Carnival. Guests will be able to savor the delicacies of Italian cuisine, go shopping in the on-board shops which stock many famous Italian brands and enjoy the internationally-renowned Italian entertainment. They will also feel at home thanks to a wide choice of Chinese cuisine, Chinese-style karaoke and parties like the “Golden Party”, full of surprises and gifts to win every ten minutes.
The first Costa Venezia cruise, its vernissage, will depart from Trieste on March 3, 2019 and sail to Greece and Croatia. On March 8, the ship will be back in Trieste for the start of its maiden cruise: an exceptional 53-day journey following in the steps of Marco Polo across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, South East Asia and East Asia, and ending in Tokyo. The vernissage and maiden cruises will be the only departures available for European and American guests wanting to enjoy a vacation on the new ship. From May 18, 2019, Costa Venezia will be dedicated exclusively to Chinese guests, offering cruises in Asia departing from Shanghai.
Costa Venezia will be the second Costa ship named in Trieste: in 2011, in the splendid setting of Piazza Unità d’Italia, celebrations were held for the naming of Costa Favolosa. After Costa Venezia, the group’s next ship to come into service, in October 2019, will be Costa Smeralda, the new Costa Cruises flagship and the first ship for the global market fuelled by LNG. A second ship designed exclusively for the Chinese market, a sister ship to Costa Venezia, is currently under construction by Fincantieri in Marghera, with delivery expected in 2020.
The Costa Group is the leading cruise company in Europe and Asia, headquartered in Genoa (Italy). The 26 ships of the brands Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia together have a total capacity of more than 74,000 beds. The fleet will be further strengthened by 7 new vessels by 2023. The company has a global workforce of 27,000 employees working onboard and in its 20 offices in 14 countries.
