CCL-Carnival Cruise Line announced that Costa's ship Luminosa will join the fleet of Carnival in September 2022 and will start guest operations as Carnival Luminosa in November from Brisbane (Queensland Australia).
Both Costa and CCL are fully-owned subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation.
The acquisition of Luminosa is an update to the previously announced plans for Costa to take Costa Magica, which will now remain in the Costa fleet.
After the delivery, Carnival Luminosa is due to operate seasonally from October 2022 through April 2023 from Brisbane, then reposition to Seattle (Washington USA), where she will sail Alaska itineraries from May 2023 through September 2023, prior to returning to Brisbane.
The 2009-built Luminosa is a sistership to the 4 other Spirit-class vessels that already sail for Carnival. She accommodates up to 2826 passengers and 1050 crew at volume 92720 GT-tons.
Luminosa will be drydock-refurbished over the next months ahead of her November service start-up.
Luminosa will not initially have all of the Funship 2.0 branded spots that are seen across the fleet of Carnival. The entire ship will be staffed by the CCL crew. Cruises from Brisbane will be announced shortly, and the company will sail a variety of itineraries that will include visits to Australian favorites like the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach, and, as destinations open over time, ports of call including Noumea (Grande Terre island, New Caledonia), Lifou Island (New Caledonia), Port Vila (Efate Island, Vanuatu) and Mystery Island (Aneityum, Vanuatu).