Just as I came back home from Savona from my Costa Smeralda cruise, a new Costa beauty decided to make her maiden appearance in the city!
Today, in the port of Savona, Costa Cruises presented a preview of the Costa Firenze, their newest ship in the fleet which will finally leave on her maiden voyage on the 4th of July!
She was designed and built by Fincantieri at the Marghera shipyard near Venice. Firenze was delivered almost six months ago, but due to an ongoing pandemic her inaugural season has been pushed back several times, but she is finally here, ready for her first passengers! Soooo exciting!
Costa Firenze is inspired by the Florentine Renaissance at its greatest glory and captures in detail the taste for beauty for which the city of Florence is known worldwide.
The interior design reflects the harmony of a walk down a street or square in Florence, starting with the choice of colors, geometries and shapes of the interior design. The charming atrium ‘Piazza della Signoria’ is symbolic and pays homage to the Florentine square. Part of the on-board offer is also characterized by the Florentine inspiration, as in the case of the Fiorentina Steak House, which offers some of the best Tuscan meats, and the Frescobaldi wine experience, where guests can experience the Cultivating Toscana Diversity, tasting the Marchesi Frescobaldi wines.
Costa Firenze is the second Vista-class ship built for Costa. The first one was Costa Venezia back in 2019 which was inspired by, yes you guessed it, the stunning city of Venice! I had the honour to sail on her maiden voyage and she was such a beautiful ship, comepletely different from any previous ship built for Costa, in a good way of course, but unfortunately not many people got to sail on Venezia before she left Europe to sail year-round in Asia. Luckily, Costa Firenze will be staying in Europe for much longer!
Costa Firenze’s first cruises, starting with the inaugural voyage on July 4, will allow guests to visit six different Italian destinations in a week’s holiday: Savona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Catania, Palermo and
Cagliari, which can be explored in depth with dedicated excursions, with port calls lasting over 10 hours.
From the end of July to the end of August, the itinerary will also allow guests to rediscover Malta, with a stop in Valletta, and from 12 September also France (Marseille) and Spain (Barcelona and Ibiza), with departures from Italy.
During the winter of 2021-22 Costa Firenze will be positioned in Dubai to visit the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. The one-week itinerary includes Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat and a multi-day stop in Dubai,
with specific packages for visiting Expo Dubai 2020. Costa Cruises is the Gold Sponsor of the Italian Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020. And finally she will be back in the Mediterranean for the summer season of 2022 so you will definitely have a chance on this stunning new ship!
To seal the link with the city, Costa Cruises President Mario Zanetti and the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, announced a cooperation agreement on board the Costa Firenze to promote tourism in the city,
starting with Costa’s contribution to the restoration of Dante’s plaques on the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death.
There are a total of 33 stone plaques, placed in many places in the city, the result of a historical research project dating to the early 20th century. Each plaque bears a quotation from one of the three canticles of
the Divina Commedia — nine from the Inferno, five from the Purgatorio and 19 from the Paradiso — in which reference is made to places, real events and illustrious citizens of the time. By following the plaques, which trace a poetic path, citizens and tourists can relive places and historical events in which the greatpoet was often a protagonist.
The preview of the Costa Firenze was also an opportunity for Costa to present its Manifesto for valuedriven, sustainable and inclusive tourism: a decalogue summarizing the company’s commitment to grow
together with the territories visited by its ships. According to the Manifesto, destinations are not considered as a set of tourist attractions, but as communities to build together a model of tourism that
generates greater economic and social value, inspiring a new “renaissance”. With the presentation of the Manifesto, Costa will initiate a process of sharing with institutions, associations and stakeholders in the cities, regions and countries where the company is operating to develop a dialogue and a collaboration that follows the principles of the Manifesto, starting from the Costa Firenze itinerary.
Here is what President of Costa Cruises and the mayor of Savona had to say during the preview!
“Costa Firenze’s concept is inspired by an iconic city, which represents Italian art, taste and refinement in
the world’s collective imagination. We designed this ship to offer our guests a unique experience, especially
for families and couples. The debut of Costa Firenze, as well as the restart of the three other Costa ships that
have returned to cruising in recent weeks, is an opportunity for us to promote a new model of tourism, in
which we strongly believe as a leading company in the sector. As we have made explicit in our manifesto,
this model aims at the collaboration among different public and private entities to enhance the excellence
of the territories in a sustainable way. The cooperation with the city of Florence is the first concrete
manifestation of this approach: Costa Firenze will become a true platform for promoting the city of Florence
around the world, particularly during Expo 2020 Dubai”– Mario Zanetti, Costa Cruises President
“Savona welcomes Costa Firenze, a new ship celebrating the 25th year of Costa Cruises operations in the
port. In this quarter of a century, Costa and the city have grown together. During the five years of my
management as a Mayor of Savona, we developed a great collaboration on inclusion and sustainability
projects and a great support for cultural initiatives. Furthermore, we are glad that the Costa Firenze, a ship
dedicated to the city of Florence, arrives in Savona just when our city is celebrating the 700th anniversary of
Dante Alighieri’s death, with an exhibition in the Civic Art Gallery dedicated to the precious Dante volumes,
normally kept in the Ancient Fund of the Civic Library”-Ilaria Caprioglio, Mayor of Savona
What do you think about this brand new ship? What are your thoughts on the design and are you maybe booked on this beauty?
As I’ve previously mentioned, I sailed on her older sister ship Costa Venezia and I fell in love with that ship, so I wouldn’t think twice about booking a cruise on Firenze! I just love how they incomporated these older design elements, but made them look contemporary which gives the whole ship such a unique look and style! They are also pretty large ships so they have so much to offer, you really have to give them a try! I know I’m looking at those cruise deals on Firenze like a hawk
Thanks for reading, Dominik!
