The world's second ship fully powered by natural gas
The Costa Smeralda entered service in December 2019. 337 metres, twenty
decks, 2612 cabins, 5224 travellers at double occupancy. She is the largest
ship Costa ever ordered, and the world's second cruise ship to run entirely on
liquefied natural gas.
This is not a recycled claim. Four engines fed by three cryogenic tanks
replace heavy fuel oil, and the emission reductions measured by the yard are on
the order of eighty-five per cent for nitrogen oxides and ninety-five per cent
for particulates. Sulphur oxides all but disappear. On a ship this size the
effect is real.
A deployment that changed in March 2026
This ship was to spend the 2026-2027 winter in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. On 13
March 2026 Costa cancelled its entire Middle East programme and redeployed the
Smeralda to the Canaries and Madeira, on seven-day cruises. The line has no
ship left in that region. If you read elsewhere a page announcing the Emirates
on this ship, it is out of date.
Summer runs in the western Mediterranean out of Barcelona, Civitavecchia,
Marseille and Savona. Last dry dock in 2025.
The other ships in the fleet
The Costa Toscana is her exact twin. The Costa Pacifica and the Costa Fascinosa share an older hull with more
inside cabins. The Costa Diadema is the most accessible in the fleet.
What to know about the line
Costa lost half its fleet between 2019 and 2026: from sixteen hulls to
eight. Seven were sold or transferred, one was scrapped. Nine of our seventeen
pages therefore describe a ship that has changed name, flag and company, or
that no longer exists at all.
The house is a hundred and seventy years old. Genoese, founded in olive oil
in 1854, a shipowner since 1924, a carrier of passengers since 1947. It has
belonged to an American group since 2000 and counts among its nine cruise
brands. Three of its ships have been transferred in recent years to the group's
North American brand.
On the Costa Concordia wreck, the facts without the novel. On 13 January
2012, off the island of Giglio, 4252 people aboard, 33 dead including a salvage
diver, the captain sentenced to sixteen years and the company fined after
pleading guilty. The muster drill before sailing, compulsory everywhere today,
follows directly from it.
What is included, and what is not
The fare covers the cabin, meals in the main restaurants and the buffet,
evening shows, daytime entertainment, the children's club and port taxes. It
covers neither the flight, nor insurance, nor drinks outside meals, nor
excursions, nor speciality restaurants.
On the hotel service charge, let us be exact: it is mandatory under the
contract, debited automatically to the onboard account each day, and adjustable
on request at the front desk during the cruise only. It is neither a free
gratuity nor an inclusion.
An advisor's remark on excursions. The catalogue runs past two thousand
options, which is a real strength on itineraries with a daily call. It is also
the item that most often derails a budget, because nobody goes ashore
empty-handed seven days running.
What life aboard asks
The rhythm is that of a cruise with a call every day: you get up early,
spend the day ashore, come back for dinner. Entertainment starts after the meal
and runs late. A traveller who dines at six will find doors closed, and one
looking for afternoon activities will find the ship quiet.
The clientele is mostly European and often Italian, with more North
Americans on Caribbean and South American itineraries. Announcements run
through several languages in turn. Tolerance of smoking is wider than in North
America. These are facts, not faults: but a client who does not know them will
experience them as faults.
On accessibility, the line publishes no official table of adapted cabins by
ship. The numbers quoted here come from third-party databases derived from deck
plans; they are indicative and carry no guarantee. Have the cabin validated
with the line before paying a deposit.
Arranging this trip from Montreal
The flight is booked separately. Plan a night on site before embarkation,
and keep the return day free: an early disembarkation and a tight connection
sit badly together. Mediterranean ports are often reached non-stop from
Montreal for part of the year; the others need a connection.
The contract of passage provides for Italian law and the courts of Genoa,
exclusively. The carrier is an Italian company; the North American entity is
its sales agent and not the carrier. The Athens Convention, invoked in the
contract, caps liability for personal injury.
Nothing establishes that this line holds a Quebec travel agent's licence.
Your protection comes from the licensed agency: Voyages AquaTerra deposits your
payments in a trust account and your file falls under the Compensation Fund for
Customers of Travel Agents.
