MIAMI — Carnival Cruise Line and Costa Cruises, both part of Carnival Corporation, are teaming up to launch a brand new concept in spring 2023 called COSTA by CARNIVAL.

Designed for Carnival’s North American guests, the partnership will see the Costa Venezia join the Carnival fleet next spring to sail from New York. This will be followed by Costa Firenze, arriving in spring 2024 to sail from Long Beach.

Carnival will operate the ships, both of which will marry Carnival’s food and entertainment offerings with Costa’s Italian design features.

“Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will bring Carnival’s guests the ambiance and beauty of Italy. We’re going to invite our guests to ‘Choose Fun’ with Carnival, Italian style!” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Duffy added that the ships will continue operating their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for dry dock work and deployment. Deployment and itinerary plans are being finalized, with the Venezia announcement coming soon. Costa will be informing clients who will be impacted by the news.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista class ships in the U.S. and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy,” added Duffy. “There are lots of ways we plan to create an immersive fun experience for our guests who choose to sail on these ships, which have beautiful Italian-design elements, dining and retail that will deliver Carnival fun, leveraging the spirit of Italy from our sister line Costa Cruises.”

Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises, said: “We are excited to see these iconic ships make their debut in the U.S. under the leadership and operation of our sister brand. Costa providing the beautiful ship with its Italian design and Carnival delivering fun, Italian style!”

Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze are sister ships to Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama. They all accommodate up to 5,260 guests.