Costa Cruises Ships by Size, Age and Class (Updated 2022)
Costa Cruises has an active fleet of twelve ships with no other ships on order currently.
The fleet primarily conducts voyages for Italian passengers out of Italy and Western Europe.
In this guide, we will cover all the different ships in the Costa Cruises fleet and how they compare to each other.
Introduction to Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises was founded back in 1854 and whilst now they are a fully owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation (alongside Holland American Line, P&O Cruises and others) they initially started off as a shipping line that operated cargo ships.
Giacomo Costa set up the original business and in 1924 passed it on to his three sons who eventually started passenger services in 1948.
The first voyages were between Italy and South America on the ship Anna C. These voyages were not the same sort of cruises on offer as today, they were regular ocean liner voyages like between Southampton and New York.
It wasn’t until 1959 that the company started offering the more familiar cruise voyages in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean regions.
Finally, in 1964 their first purpose-built cruise ship was delivered and they soon had twelve ships in the fleet by 1980 – at the time, the world’s largest fleet of passenger services.
In 1986 the company renamed itself Costa Cruises and it was partly acquired by Carnival Corporation and a partner (Airtours) in 1997, before being fully owned by Carnival in 2000.
The company is most infamous for the sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off the island of Isola del Giglio in January 2012.
Thirty-two passengers were unfortunately lost in the disaster and the Captain (Francesco Schettino) was imprisoned for his role in the event.
Costa Cruises Frequently Asked Questions
Costa Cruise Ships by Size (from largest to smallest)
| Ship Name | Tonnage (GRT) | Passengers (Max) | Length | Decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Toscana | 185,010 | 6,554 | 1,105ft / 337m | 20 |
| Costa Smeralda | 185,010 | 6,554 | 1,105ft / 337m | 20 |
| Costa Firenze | 135,300 | 5,260 | 1,062ft / 324m | 18 |
| Costa Venezia | 135,225 | 5,260 | 1,062ft / 324m | 18 |
| Costa Pacifica | 114,500 | 3,780 | 952ft / 290m | 17 |
| Costa Fascinosa | 114,500 | 3,780 | 952ft / 290m | 17 |
| Costa Serena | 114,147 | 3,700 | 952ft / 290m | 17 |
| Costa Diadema | 132,500 | 4,927 | 1,003ft / 306m | 17 |
| Costa Favolosa | 113,216 | 3,780 | 952ft / 290m | 17 |
| Costa Fortuna | 102,669 | 3,470 | 893ft / 272m | 13 |
| Costa Deliziosa | 92,720 | 2,828 | 964ft / 294m | 16 |
| Costa Luminosa | 92,600 | 2,826 | 962ft / 293m | 16 |
What does ‘Tonnage (GRT)’ mean?
GRT (Gross Registered Tonnage) is a term used to calculate the volume inside a ship. It is a measure of cubic capacity and is calculated by the total volume from inside the hull and decks of the ship. 1 GRT = 100 cubic feet of space. In essence, the bigger the GRT – the more ‘space’ the ship has for passengers, cargo, etc.
How are ‘Passengers (Max)’ calculated?
You’ll see multiple numbers for passengers on ships – this is because many ships include extra beds in cabins (such as the sofa/couch can convert to a pull-out bed) – but the majority of cabins usually have 2 people in them. the ‘Max’ number is if every cabin used their additional pull-out bed, etc. This number is unlikely to be reached very frequently.
Costa Cruise Ships by Age (from newest to oldest)
| Ship Name | Built | Refurbished |
|---|---|---|
| Costa Toscana | 2021 | - |
| Costa Firenze | 2020 | - |
| Costa Smeralda | 2019 | - |
| Costa Venezia | 2019 | - |
| Costa Diadema | 2014 | |
| Costa Fascinosa | 2012 | |
| Costa Favolosa | 2011 | 2018 |
| Costa Deliziosa | 2010 | |
| Costa Pacifica | 2009 | 2017 |
| Costa Luminosa | 2009 | 2017 |
| Costa Serena | 2007 | |
| Costa Fortuna | 2003 | 2014 |
Are all Costa Cruise Ships new builds?
Whilst all of the current Costa Cruises ships have been purpose-built for the cruise line, a majority of them share the same blueprint class as some of the other Carnival Corporation brands, such as Princess, P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line.
Costa Fortuna for example is identical to Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory, having been built by the same shipyard to the same specifications, but then fitted out with the Costa Cruise style and branding.
Costa Cruise Ships by Class (from newest to oldest)
| Ship Name | Class |
|---|---|
| Costa Fortuna | Destiny-Class |
| Costa Serena | Concordia-Class |
| Costa Pacifica | Concordia-Class |
| Costa Favolosa | Modified Concordia-Class |
| Costa Fascinosa | Modified Concordia-Class |
| Costa Luminosa | Hybrid Atlantic/Vista-Class |
| Costa Deliziosa | Hybrid Atlantic/Vista-Class |
| Costa Diadema | Modified Dream-Class |
| Costa Venezia | Modified Vista-Class |
| Costa Firenze | Modified Vista-Class |
| Costa Smeralda | Excellence-Class |
| Costa Toscana | Excellence-Class |
Several of the classes share sister ships under Carnival Corporation, these include:
- Costa Fortuna – Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory
- Costa Venezia – Cunard’s Queen Victoria and P&O Cruises Arcadia
- Costa Smeralda – P&O Cruises Iona and Carnival’s Mardi Gras
Final Thoughts
Costa Cruises is a very popular Italian line with Italians and international passengers.
Their Italian flair shows through with the bright, glitzy feel of their ships and the large range of different onboard pasta dishes!
More recently their ships have added 4D Cinemas, roller-skating tracks and freshly produced Mozeralla onboard.
We hope you enjoyed this guide. Check out some of the other guides in this series which include MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line.
