Costa Serena had been scheduled to sail in Asia this year but so far hasn’t resumed service
Costa Cruises, which has operated in China since 2006, canceled sailings across Asia amid a reorganization of its business in the region.
Though Costa’s withdrawal from Asia had already been signaled, Bloomberg reported the cancellation and reorganization, citing a company statement that referred to ‘continued uncertainty.’
Sailings touching China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and South Korea are impacted.
Pre-pandemic, Costa had built two ships for China, Costa Firenze (2021) and Costa Venezia (2019). Venezia operated there from mid-2019 to early 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown, but Firenze’s 2021 Asia debut never happened.
Costa Serena adrift
The 2007-built Costa Serena had been scheduled to resume Asia sailings in 2022 but has remained out of service.
Ship transfers to Carnival
Carnival Corp. & plc hasalready reduced Costa capacity by moving three ships to Carnival Cruise Line.Costa Luminosa has already been reflagged and renamed Carnival Luminosaand is scheduled to begin service from Brisbane, Australia, in November.
Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are going intothe Costa by Carnival concept.
10% capacity reduction
During Carnival Corp.’s Sept. 30 business update, CEO Josh Weinstein said: ‘In light of the continued closure of cruise operations in China and our Costa brand’s significant presence there pre-COVID, we are reducing Costa’s capacity by 10% from 2019 levels, while bolstering our highly successful Carnival Cruise Line brand through the previously announced transfer of three ships, including two via our innovative Costa by Carnival initiative launching in 2023.’
