MIAMI — Costa Cruises’ Costa Luminosa will join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in November 2022.

The original plan was for Costa Magica to join Carnival, but that plan changed, and Magica will now stay with Costa.

The newly named Carnival Luminosa will sail from Brisbane, Australia through April 2023, and then reposition to Seattle for Alaska itneraries May – September 2023, before returning to Brisbane.

As a result, the cruise programs for Costa Luminosa from September 2022 onwards will be cancelled. Costa will be informing passengers with a specific re-protection plan.

MODEST UPDATES FOR CARNIVAL LUMINOSA

Luminosa is a sister ship to the four other Spirit-class ships that already sail for Carnival. Entering service in 2009, the ship accommodates up to 2,826 passengers and 1,050 crew at 92,720 gross tons.

“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 Carnival’s President Christine Duffy.

Restaurant onboard Costa Luminosa

Carnival’s Spirit class ships are highly rated by the cruise line’s passengers, she says, adding that Luminosa “will be a great addition given the large number of balcony cabins which make her an ideal ship for this deployment. And equally important, this will allow Carnival to finally start our highly anticipated itineraries from Brisbane, so we’ll have two ships operating in Australia for the high season Down Under.”

Carnival Luminosa will undergo modest updates to change over from Costa to Carnival over the next few months ahead of the November service start-up.

Because of the tight timeline, Carnival Luminosa won’t initially have all of the Funship 2.0 branded spaces that are seen across the Carnival fleet, says Duffy.

Cruises out of Brisbane will be announced shortly, and Carnival will sail a variety of itineraries that will initially include visits to the Great Barrier Reef and Airlie Beach, and, as destinations open over time, ports of call such as Noumea and Lifou Isle in New Caledonia, Port Vila and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

“The opportunity to deliver these bucket list itineraries will be exciting for our guests and we are thrilled to see the growing number of guests from the U.S. sailing on Carnival in Australia,” said Duffy.

Also in Australia later this year, Carnival Splendor will arrive in Sydney for year-round Australia sailings, starting Oct. 2, 2022.