''Carnival Venezia'' is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Originally intended to serve the Chinese market, she debuted as ''Costa Venezia'' for sister brand

Costa Cruises Società per Azioni, S.p.A. (), operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily ca ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

on 18 May 2019. At and with a capacity of 4,208 passengers, she became the largest ship commissioned for the Costa fleet upon her delivery. In 2023, amid a corporate fleet reshuffling in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and its impact on the industry, ''Costa Venezia'' was transferred to Carnival under a new sub-brand named "Costa as Carnival" operating as "Carnival Fun Italian Style". The new concept was designed to integrate ''Costa Venezia'' and sister ship ''

Costa Firenze ''Costa Firenze'' is a constructed at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera for Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, and sister ship to ''Costa Venezia. Costa Firenze'' is scheduled to be transferred to Carnival Cruise Line, C ...

'' into Carnival in a bid to boost domestic American capacity after the cruise line had sold numerous older vessels while Costa contended with operational challenges in its core markets. In March 2023, she was officially renamed ''Carnival Venezia'' during her pre-delivery renovation and debuted for Carnival the following May as the lead vessel for the new sub-fleet of ''Venice''-class ships.

Planning and construction (2015–2019)

Carnival Corporation Carnival is a Catholic Church, Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgy, liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (o ...

entered a strategic agreement with Fincantieri in March 2015 about five cruise ships for delivery between 2019 and 2022. The ''Enchanted Princess'' was ordered in April 2016. In December 2015 Carnival and Fincantieri signed a memorandum of agreement about four cruise ships of them. In January 2016, Carnival Corporation announced that they had made firm their commitment with Fincantieri to expand Costa Cruises' Asia fleet, with two vessels at each, with a guest capacity of approximately 4,200 passengers. The contracts were finalized in April 2016, which were built off of a memorandum agreed upon between the cruise line and the shipyard earlier in 2015. The ships, comprising a new class of vessels in Costa's fleet, were planned to carry an interior design that would focus on Costa's Italian traditions for their Asian clientele to experience. On 1 November 2017, Costa Cruises announced that the first of the two vessels built specifically for the Chinese market would be named ''Costa Venezia''. The announcement came at the coin ceremony for the ship at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone. On 22 June 2018, ''Costa Venezia'' was floated out from the shipyard and additional details were also announced about the ship's interior design and facilities, revealing that many of the key features of the ship would be inspired by

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

landmarks and their architecture, including the ship's main atrium, theatre, and restaurants. She completed her first round of

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on 27 December 2018 and began the second round on 18 January 2019. Fincantieri officially delivered ''Costa Venezia'' to Costa Cruises on 28 February 2019 in Monfalcone.

Costa Cruises (2019–2023)

On 1 March 2019, Costa frequent cruiser Gan Beiye christened ''Costa Venezia'' at the naming ceremony in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. The ship operated a

vernissage A vernissage (from French, originally meaning " varnishing") is a preview of an art exhibition, which may be private, before the formal opening. If the vernissage is not open to the public, but only to invited guests, it is often called a ''pri ...

cruise on 3 March, departing from Trieste to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, before arriving back in Trieste on 8 March, after which she sailed her official inaugural voyage, a 53-day cruise from Trieste to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Beginning on 18 May 2019, ''Costa Venezia'' was homeported year-round in

, serving exclusively Chinese guests on itineraries around

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. After several years of inactivity, in May 2022, she was redeployed to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

to sail in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

before she halted service for Costa on 1 December.

Carnival Cruise Line (2023–present)

On 22 June 2022, Carnival Corporation announced that ''Costa Venezia'' and sister ship ''

'' would be transferred to Costa's sister brand, Carnival Cruise Line, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, under a new sub-brand, "Costa by Carnival" operating as "Carnival Fun Italian Style". Both ships would be renamed with the Carnival prefix, painted in a hybrid Costa and Carnival livery, and staffed and operated by Carnival. It was a project aimed at boosting Carnival's capacity in the American market during its recovery following the

and came after Carnival had sold numerous older vessels in its fleet while Costa faced operational challenges in its core markets, including Europe and China. In December 2022, Carnival revealed that ''Carnival Venezia'' and ''Carnival Firenze'' would be slotted into its fleet as a sub-class of its existing ''Vista''-class, known as the ''Venice''-class. It also revealed that the two ships would combine many of the staples found on existing Carnival ships with new features and amenities inspired by Italian design and tastes, including new menu items across their bars and restaurants. In March 2023, the ship began her refit and rebranding effort at the Navantia shipyard in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, and she officially joined the fleet on 22 March in a handover ceremony that also witnessed her renaming to ''Carnival Venezia''. The ship left the shipyard in late-May and commenced operations on 29 May 2023 with her inaugural voyage, a two-week

transatlantic crossing Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...

from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, after which she will be christened by her godfather, American comedian

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

, on 14 June 2023. ''Carnival Venezia'' will sail year-round from her homeport in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and beginning in December 2024, she will also operate week-long Caribbean voyages from Port Canaveral on a seasonal basis.

References

{{Carnival Cruise Line Venezia Ships built by Fincantieri 2018 ships