Carnival Cruise Line announced that Costa Cruises ship Costa Luminosa will join the Carnival fleet in September and will begin operations as Carnival Luminosa in November 2022 from Brisbane, Australia.
The acquisition of Costa Luminosa is an update of previously announced plans for Carnival to take over Costa Magica, which will now remain at Costa Cruises.
Following this delivery, Carnival Luminosa will operate seasonally from October to April from Brisbane, and then move to Seattle, where it will sail through Alaska from May to September, before returning to Brisbane.
The Luminosa is a sister ship to four other popular Spirit-class ships already sailing for the carnival. Entering service in 2009, the ship can accommodate up to 2,826 guests and 1,050 crew members with 92,720 gross tons.
"With our full fleet back to guest operations and the pent-up demand for Carnival we are seeing every week aboard our ships, the chance to expand with Luminosa and then the arrival of Carnival Celebration in November provides our guests with more choices and new ways to enjoy a Carnival vacation," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Our Spirit-class ships are very popular with our guests and Luminosa will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment. And equally important, this will allow Carnival to finally start our highly anticipated itineraries from Brisbane, so we'll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under.”
Given the short timeframe for the Carnival Luminosa to be ready for use, the ship will undergo some modest updates to switch from Costa to Carnival in the next few months before the November service begins. The ship will initially not have all the spaces with the Funship 2.0 brand that can be seen throughout the carnival fleet. The crew of the Carnival Cruise Line, known for its exceptional hospitality and fun, will work on the entire ship. Cruises from Brisbane will be announced soon, and Carnival will sail a variety of itineraries that will initially include visits to Australia’s favorite places such as the Great Barrier Reef and Early Beach, and, as destinations open over time, ports such as Noumea and Lifou Island. in New Caledonia, Port Vila and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Duffy said, "The opportunity to deliver these bucket list itineraries will be exciting for our guests and we are thrilled to see the growing number of guests from the U.S. sailing on Carnival in Australia."
