Launched in 2009, Costa Luminosa is the first of Costa Cruises Luminosa-class ships, together with Costa Deliziosa.

History - construction and ownership

Costa Cruises is a Genoa-headquartered subsidiary company owned by Carnival Corporation. Costa is Europe's second largest cruise line (after MSC) with year-round operations in the Mediterranean. Costa was founded in 1854 as a cargo shipping company. It started passenger shipping services in 1947, with regular Transatlantic crossings between Europe (Italy) and South America. In 2000, Costa Cruises was acquired by Carnival Corporation (shipowner).

The 92,720-ton, 3,570-passenger cruise ship Costa Luminosa is a twin vessel to Costa Cruises Deliziosa ship. This huge and warm liner with simple design is easy to navigate. Luminosa debuted in 2009, introducing the evolution of retro-style for Costa cruise lines. The line which is based in Italy and is much European-influenced has produced mega-sized cruise vessels as the 114,500-ton Costa Pacifica and Costa Serena (the biggest-ever in the fleet).

Besides the ship's staff and crew, Costa cruise passengers are also served by Peper robots - the latest cyborg technology implemented fleetwide in 2016. These humanoid robots greet and guide passengers upon embarkation. They also assist them throughout the cruise by providing information and tips on onboard dining, entertainment, enrichment program (workshops, pre-scheduled events), casino and shopping promotions, shore excursions and tours. Pepper robots are mobile and communicate in 3 languages (English, German, Italian). They can also interpret human emotions by analyzing voice tones and facial expressions.

Cruise itinerary program

Costa Luminosa itinerary program is based on 10-day Caribbean round-trip cruises with departures from Miami FL. In the summer, Luminosa sails in Europe on Baltic Sea itineraries to Scandinavia and Russia ports leaving from Stockholm and St. Petersburg, with Transatlantic crossings on repositioning.

In January 2018, Luminosa started a 106-night / 107-day world cruise (itinerary January 6 - April 22) roundtrip from Venice Italy, The around the world voyage visited a total of 41 ports and popular travel destinations, like Caribbean, Panama Canal (transit), Pacific Mexico, USA (California, Hawaii), South Pacific Islands, Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia (Singapore / 2 overnights), Suez Canal (transit), For the full list of ports of call see in the ship's wiki section.

Cabins

Costa Luminosa has a total of 1130 cabins (of which 110 Suites, 662 Balcony, 180 Inside rooms) in 13 grades. Most Costa Luminosa staterooms are 185-sq. foot Balcony rooms - 68% of all staterooms have a private balcony. 23 are the wheelchair accessible cabins. The largest aboard Costa Luminosa is the Grand Suites (455 ft2). There are also 52 Spa Staterooms (with 4 Spa Suites). The most magnificent among Luminosa apartments is the Panorama. It is situated aft and measures 320 sq.feet, with the best feature the wraparound balcony, but there what to like inside, too. Panorama’s width is as much as two standard rooms and feels quite spacious, including a desk, seating place, queen bed (converting to twins), and beautiful bath with two sinks and Jacuzzi tub. Those who dwell Luminosa suites have access to priority embarkation, concierge service, and lots of other perks.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Costa Luminosa features four restaurants. Its MDR, Taurus, is a beautiful 2-deck venue in the aft of the ship with gorgeous views. One of its best features is the way it is designed into smaller areas, each with a different ambiance. The buffet restaurant, called Ristorante Buffet Andromeda, is open for breakfast, lunch, and tea (late-afternoon snack). Andromeda operates in a lunch counter fashion, where passengers line up to plod through the variety of offerings, which is quite uncomfortable. The quality of the food is the usual steam-table fare, though some exceptions include the omelet station at breakfast, the pasta station at lunch, and the hot and crispy pizza slices available from lunchtime through the evening. Costa Luminosa also offers complimentary 24-Hour Room-Service.

Follows the complete list of Costa Luminosa restaurants and food bars.

• Ristorante Samsara (serves healthy and low-calorie food; with complimentary dining room for guests in Samsara Spa cabins, and a specialty restaurant for other passengers at a surcharge/reservations are required)
• Ristorante Taurus (aft Dining Room, complimentary; serves open seating breakfast and lunch, 2 fixed dinner seatings - at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.)
• Ristorante Buffet Andromeda (self-service buffet restaurant, complimentary; offers breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea at 4-5:00 p.m., and dinner; in the evening is transformed into Pizzeria, complimentary, with waiter service)
• Club Luminosa (specialty dinner restaurant; reservations-only)
• Lido Dorado Bar and Buffet (offers snacks and sandwiches, lunch buffet station).

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

Costa Cruises Deliziosa and Luminosa ships are built on new smaller for Costa lines design. The balance of slightly smaller size and exotic routes plays a good part in the wish of Costa to orient these two cruise ships to higher-spending guests. Luminosa cruise ship appeals to new passengers who want to travel to thrilling destinations on a vessel still offering all mega-sized conveniences of Costa Crociere. And these are from vast spa amenities and kids club to Grand Prix simulator and other amusement options. Costa Luminosa ship provides two dining rooms, casino, theater, two show lounges, library, steam room, modern fitness center, 4 swimming pools, and 5 jacuzzis plus SPA.

Among amenities, onboard Luminosa is the three-level wellness facility with gym, called "Samsara Spa". It offers the guest a Turkish bath, a thalassotherapy pool, UVA-ray solarium, sauna, many treatment rooms. Entertainment options on board include a 4D cinema, a huge three-level theater, an 18-hole championship golf simulator, PlayStation World area, Grand Prix race car simulator. The ship also has 290 original artworks and 4730 prints onboard.

Follows the complete list of Costa Luminosa lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens, and adults.

• Teatro Phoenix (800-seat, 3-tiered theatre, and main show lounge; hosts grand scale show productions, musicals, classical concerts, ballet performances, circus, and laser light shows)
• Cinema Mizar (4D cinema room, featuring 3D films with moving seats)
• Grand Bar Elettra (with own dance floor and stage for live performances; hosts quiz games and fashion reviews)
• Rigel Cigar Lounge and Bar (selling cigars and fine liquor)
• Sala Carte (cards room)
• Casino Vega (served by bar Vega)
• Luminosa Atrium (9-deck high “Atrio Supernova” - open-floor area with live music and entertainment, served by Atrium Lobby Bar Supernova)
• Discoteca Altair (Disco Nightclub, DJ program nightly)
• Antares Piano Bar (live music, dance floor, cabaret-style performances)
• Caffetteria Sirius (specialty coffee and chocolates bar/patisserie)
• Biblioteca Bellatrix and Internet Point (Library/computers room)
• Galleria Shops (duty and tax-free shops for brand watches, jewelry, perfumes, fashion clothes, Costa-logo merchandise, sportswear, gifts, tobacco, and liquor)
• Photo Gallery and Shop; Galleria d’Arte (Luminosa’s Art Gallery)
• Libra Lounge and Bar; Virgo Lounge and Bar
• Bar Scuderia Costa (themed bar Formula 1 with Grand Prix simulator)
• Mondo Virtuale (Video Games Arcade)
• Cappella (Wedding Chapel, also used for religious services)
• Squok Club (kids lounge with Mini Club (3-6 yo) and Maxi Club (7-11 yo) playing rooms; with complimentary kids programme and supervised activities; complimentary babysitting)
• Teen Zone (teenagers' lounge with Teen Junior (12-14 yo) and Teen Club (15-17 yo) rooms; complimentary supervised activities, themed parties, sports contests)
• Centro Banessere Samsara (2-level Spa and Wellness complex, with Fitness and separate Spinning/Aerobics Room; Venus Beauty Salon, Massages and Treatments Rooms, Japanese TeaRoom, Relaxation Room, Thermal Suites, Solarium, Tepidarium (heated loungers), Laconium (low humidity sauna), Aroma Steam Baths, Thalassotherapy pool, Turkish Bath, Solarium, Saunas, Kinesis Room. All Luminosa’s guests in Samsara Spa staterooms have free access to most of the Spa complex)
• Lido Dorado pool area (lido pool with two Whirlpools, huge LED screen, PlayStation nights; served by Lido Dorado Bar)
• Delphinus pool area (with two Whirlpools, served by Lido Delphinus Bar)
• Lido Squok (kids’ mini Aqua park)
• Balconata Dorado (outdoor movie screen)
• Area Yoga (outdoor area)
• Campo da Gioco (combined court for tennis and basketball); Pista da Jogging (Power Walking/Jogging Track), doubled with a Roller Skating Track; Putting Green Area; Virtual Golf Game.

Luminosa is Costa's 1st of two Luminosa-Class liners (inaugural cruise on June 3, 2009), with sistership Costa Deliziosa. Both are hybrid Vista-Spirit class designed and Panamax vessels, which allows them to transit through Panama Canal's old locks. Luminosa was christened (together with Costa Pacifica) on June 5, 2009, in Port Genoa. This was industry's first dual-christening ceremony and also a Guinness World Record. Another fun fact is that both liners were launched in their respective shipyards on the same day - Luminosa in Venice (Marghera yards) and Pacifica in Genoa (Sestri Ponente yards).

For summer 2016 season, Costa Cruises introduced new shore tours to Moscow (Russia). The unique shore excursion was part of Costa Luminosa's 2016 Baltic cruise itinerary program in Northern Europe. The new tour to Moscow is during ship's overnight port stay in St Petersburg and deals prices are inclusive of 8 hours high-speed train travel on the Sapsan railway.

Ship's Captain (Master) is Pietro Sinisi - with Costa Cruises since 1995, Captain since 2008.

World Cruise 2018

Next, are listed all ports of call included in Costa Luminosa's World Cruise 2018 itinerary. The 106-days long Venice roundtrip (Jan 6 - April 22) cruise prices started from USD 17,390 pp (Inside Cabin fare) and up to USD 34,890 (Suite Cabin).

• Day 1 Venice (Italy) embarkation
• Day 2 Bari (Italy)
• Day 3 At Sea
• Day 4 Civitavecchia / Rome (Italy)
• Day 5 At Sea
• Day 6 Marseille (France)
• Day 7 Barcelona (Spain)
• Day 8 At Sea
• Day 9 Casablanca (Morocco)
• Day 10 At Sea
• Day 11 Tenerife (Canary Islands)
• Days 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 At Sea
• Day 17 St. Lucia
• Day 18 Barbados
• Day 19 Grenada
• Days 20, 21 At Sea
• Day 22 Cartagena (Colombia)
• Days 23, 24 At Sea
• Day 25 Puerto Caldera (Costa Rica)
• Day 26 At Sea
• Day 27 Puerto Quetzal (Guatemala)
• Days 28, 29 At Sea
• Day 30 Puerto Vallarta (Mexico)
• Days 31, 32 At Sea
• Day 33 San Diego (USA)
• Days 34, 35 Los Angeles (USA) overnight
• Day 36 At Sea
• Days 37, 38 San Francisco (USA) overnight
• Days 39, 40, 41, 42 At Sea
• Day 43 Hilo (Hawaii)
• Days 44, 45, 46, 47 At Sea
• Day 48 Pago Pago (Samoa)
• Days 49, 50, 51 At Sea
• Day 52 Suva (Fiji)
• Day 53 At Sea
• Day 54 NOUMEA
• Days 55, 56 At Sea
• Days 57, 58 Sydney (Australia) overnight
• Day 59 At Sea
• Day 60 Brisbane (Australia)
• Days 61, 62 At Sea
• Day 63 Cairns (Australia)
• Days 64, 65, 66, 67 At Sea
• Day 68 Komodo Island (Indonesia)
• Day 69 Lombok (Indonesia)
• Day 70 Benoa (Bali Indonesia)
• Day 71 At Sea
• Day 72 Jakarta (Indonesia)
• Day 73 At Sea
• Days 74, 75, 76 Singapore (overnights)
• Day 77 Port Klang/Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
• Day 78 Langkawi (Malaysia)
• Days 79, 80 Phuket (Thailand) overnight
• Days 81, 82 At Sea
• Day 83 Colombo (Sri Lanka)
• Days 84, 85 Cochin (India) overnight
• Day 86 Mormugao (India)
• Days 87, 88 Bombay (India) overnight
• Days 89, 90 At Sea
• Days 91, 92 Dubai (UAE) overnight
• Days 93, 94 Muscat (Oman) overnight
• Day 95 At Sea
• Day 96 Salalah (Oman)
• Days 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103 At Sea
• Day 104 Heraklion (Greece)
• Day 105 Katakolon (Greece)
• Day 106 At Sea
• Day 107 Venice (Italy) disembarkation