Carnival Adds Costa Luminosa: November 2022 Sail

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that a ship from its sister brand, Costa Cruises, will be joining the Carnival fleet in September.

Costa Luminosa will begin sailings this November from Brisbane, Australia as the latest addition to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet with the new name Carnival Luminosa.

Carnival’s acquisition of Luminosa replaces previous plans for Carnival to take Costa Magica, which will now remain with Costa Cruises.

After the delivery, Carnival Luminosa will operate seasonally from October through April from Brisbane, then reposition to Seattle to sail Alaska voyages from May through September.

Luminosa is a Spirit-class ship, making her a sister to other Spirit-class vessels already in the Carnival fleet: Carnival Spirit, Pride, Legend, and Miracle. Luminosa entered service in 2009, and comes in at 92,720 gross tons.

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“With our full fleet back to guest operations and the pent-up demand for Carnival we are seeing every week aboard our ships, the chance to expand with Luminosa and then the arrival of Carnival Celebration in November provides our guests with more choices and new ways to enjoy a Carnival vacation,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“Our Spirit class ships are very popular with our guests and Luminosa will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment.”

Given the short timeline before Carnival Luminosa is scheduled to enter service, the ship will undergo small updates to change from the Costa branding to the Carnival branding over the next few months. Initially, it will not have all of Carnival’s Fun Ship 2.0 branded spaces.

Itineraries out of Brisbane will be announced soon. The ship will operate voyages to favorite destinations including the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach. As ports open over time, places such as Noumea and Lifou Isle in New Caledonia, Port Vila and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji will be added.

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