Costa Confirms Restart of Cruise Operations in September

Costa Cruises has confirmed it will resume sailing with two ships in September but only allowing Italian guests.

The ships will visit Italian ports, but all guests who disembark must take shore excursions organized by Costa, so the company can ensure preventive measures are taken. (MSC Cruises, which started sailing Aug. 16 with a similar rule, kicked a family off a cruise for leaving a ship-sponsored excursion to explore on their own.)

From Sept. 6 to Sept. 27, Costa will depart every Sunday from Trieste and visit Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, and Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.

On Sept. 19, Costa will leave from Genoa to call at Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

The company otherwise has suspended service for all other ships in the fleet until Sept. 30, 2020. Costa said it will continue to constantly monitor the situation, with the aim of offering additional itineraries starting in October with an increasing number of ships.

The Costa Safety protocol is a comprehensive set of measures and procedures in response to the COVID-19 situation, relating to all aspects of the cruise experience, both onboard and ashore.

Supported by a panel of independent scientific experts in Public Health, the Costa Safety Protocol is consistent with the health protocols defined by the Italian Government and European (EU Healthy Gateways) authorities.