Transferred to China, she never carried a single passenger there
The Costa Atlantica no longer sails for Costa. Delivered in July 2000, 292
metres, 1057 cabins, she served the line for nineteen years: the Caribbean in
winter, Europe in summer, the American east coast in between.
On 12 January 2020 she was transferred to a Chinese joint venture of the
same group. Then the pandemic closed the Chinese market, and the ship stayed
laid up there without ever entering service. Three years alongside, for a hull
in perfect order.
Where she is today
The sale to an American company was confirmed in October 2023. The ship was
completely rebuilt in Belfast between January and May 2024, left the yard on 19
May, and made her first commercial cruise on 14 June 2024 out of Tampa,
Florida. She has sailed the Caribbean since, under another name and another
flag.
This page stays online because the name goes on being searched. It sells
nothing: it says where the hull is and under what name she sails.
The ships Costa still operates
The Costa Favolosa covers the fjords and the Caribbean. The Costa Serena leaves for South America.
The Costa Diadema is the most accessible in the fleet. The Costa Deliziosa has the best ratio of cabins
with a balcony.
A fleet halved in six years
Costa operated sixteen ships in 2019. It operates eight since mid-September
2026. That is not a slowdown, it is a contraction: seven hulls were sold or
transferred to other brands, one was scrapped in Turkey, and the latest
departure dates from this month.
The house is Genoese and old. Founded in 1854 in olive oil and textiles, it
moved to shipping in 1924 and to carrying passengers in 1947. An American
group bought half of it in 1997 and all of it in 2000. It has since belonged to
a set of nine cruise brands, where its position has clearly weakened: three of
its ships were transferred to the group's more profitable North American
brand.
A word about 13 January 2012, because there is no reason to skirt it. The
Costa Concordia struck rocks off the island of Giglio with 4252 people aboard.
The toll: 33 dead, including a diver killed during the salvage. The captain was
sentenced to sixteen years. The whole industry drew from it the muster drill
now compulsory before sailing.
Where this hull is today
She left Costa on 12 January 2020, changed hands a second time, was refitted
in Belfast in the spring of 2024, and has been
Margaritaville at Sea Islander since 14 June 2024. She leaves Port Tampa
Bay, Florida, for four to seven nights towards Key West, Mexico and the
Caribbean.
Our inventory carries one hundred and seventeen dates under her present
name. The hull itself is still the 2000 one: a refit redoes the interiors, not
the steel. The current ship's page gives the cabin categories, the eight adapted
cabins and the mandatory daily charges.
From Quebec
The flight is not part of the cruise fare, and none of these routes begins
here. Depending on the embarkation port, expect a direct flight to Europe or a
connection; for the Caribbean and South America a connection is almost always
needed. Arrive the day before at the very least: a cruise ship leaves on
time.
A point of law better read before than after. The carrier is a company under
Italian law; the North American entity is only its sales agent. The contract of
passage provides for Italian law and the courts of Genoa, exclusively, and
invokes the Athens Convention, which caps liability for personal injury.
Nothing establishes that this line holds a Quebec travel agent's licence.
Your protection comes from elsewhere: Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from
Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur, and the Compensation Fund for
Customers of Travel Agents covers your file.
