Costa Cruises flagship Costa Smeralda, arrived this morning in the port of Savona for final preparations ahead of the planned restart in the Mediterranean scheduled for 10 October.

Among the planned activities, the main focus will be on the implementation of the Costa Safety Protocol, the protocol developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, which contains new operational health and safety measures adopted in prevention of COVID-19. The new procedures which are compliant with the Italian and European health authorities have been already implemented on Costa Deliziosa which has successfully completed the first cruise. Costa Cruises safety protocol measures include antigen swab tests for all guests before embarkation and protected shore excursions.

The exact itinerary of the cruise ship is still unknown, as it’s rather unlikely that Costa Smeralda will be able to sail its previous itinerary in the Western Mediterranean with stops in Barcelona or Marseille. Most probably Costa Cruises will announce a modified route for the Costa Smeralda and more details in the following days. After the restart of Costa Deliziosa (on September 6, 2020) and Costa Diadema (on September 19, 2020), Costa Smeralda will be the third cruise ship of Costa Cruises to resume service. On December 27th, 2020 Costa Firenze will be the fourth Costa ship to resume cruises.