Costa Magica

''Costa Magica'' is a operated by Costa Crociere. She debuted in 2004 as a sister ship to , and is also referred to as a ''Fortuna''-class ship. ''Costa Magica'' pays homage to some of the most famous destinations in Italy including Positano, Portofino, Bellagio, and Sicily which are all incorporated into her public rooms and restaurants. At , she is one of the largest ships in the Costa Crociere fleet.

In June 2021, Carnival Cruise Line announced that ''Costa Magica'' would be transferred to its own fleet, and converted to match the rest of its ships. This decision was later reversed, with Carnival electing instead to transfer .

Design and description

The vessel was designed by the American architect Joe Farcus and is the sister ship to . As built ''Costa Magica'' had a gross tonnage (GT) of 102,857 and . This later increased to 102,784 GT and 9,859 DWT. The cruise ship measures long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of .

The ship is powered by two diesel engines turning two fixed pitch propellers creating . Ward states the ship has two azimuth thruster pods. This gives ''Costa Magica'' a maximum speed of . The vessel is also equipped with seven electric generating sets creating .

''Costa Magica'' has 1,359 cabins total ranging in size from . 522 have a balcony. The cruise ship has capacity for 2,718 passengers and has a crew of 1,068. There is a nine-deck atrium with a bar on the lowest level, a spa and a three-deck theatre.

Construction and career

The ship was constructed by Fincantieri in Genoa, Italy with the yard number 6087. The vessel's keel was laid down on 1 September 2002 and launched in November 2003. The vessel was completed on 26 October 2004 and entered service in November of that year. The vessel is owned and operated by Costa Crociere and is registered in Genoa.

2020 COVID-19 pandemic

On 12 March 2020, two passengers aboard were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 while quarantined in Martinique. The ship, with 3,300 people on board, had been disallowed entry to several sea ports including Grenada, Tobago, Barbados and Saint Lucia, due to over 300 Italian nationals on board. On 16 March, the ship was allowed only to take on provisions and refuel at St. Maarten with no one allowed to leave the ship.

It was later reported that passengers from the ship disembarked in mid-March leaving just the crew aboard. The ship then travelled to Miami, Florida but was not allowed to dock there. 13 crew members were evacuated from ''Costa Magica'' and to hospitals in Miami after displaying COVID-19 symptoms. The rest of the crew were tested aboard both ships which were lying off Miami and Eventually, the ship stopped three miles (4.8 km) offshore from Miami, and on 26 March, the U.S. Coast Guard reported evacuation of six sick crew members from the ship. On 30 March, those who tested negative were taken to the airport and put aboard charter flights to repatriate them to their home nations. Those who tested positive remained aboard the ships, which then sailed for Europe.

An update by CNN on 3 April 2020 stated the ship remained near Miami after "six crew members with respiratory symptoms were evacuated from the ship, and then transported to a hospital". The Port of Miami had not provided consent for the vessel to dock but all passengers had previously disembarked at Guadeloupe.

Transfer to Carnival Cruise Line

On 23 June 2021, it was announced that ''Costa Magica'' would be rebranded and transferred to the Carnival fleet in mid-2022, and would most likely join the ''Sunshine''-class. On 14 June 2022, Carnival revealed that ''Costa Magica'' would remain in the Costa fleet, with to be transferred instead.

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External links

Official website

Costa Magica current position

{{Costa Cruises

2003 ships
Ships built by Fincantieri
Ships built in Genoa
Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic
Ships of Costa Cruises