The only one of the nine to be cut up
The Costa Victoria no longer exists. Out of a German yard in 1996, 253
metres, fourteen decks, 964 cabins, she served the line for twenty-four years
before being scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in the spring of 2021. Of the nine
ships in our catalogue that left the fleet, she is the only one cut up rather
than sold on.
The chronology is precise. The ship leaves Dubai on 7 March 2020 with a
positive case aboard; seven hundred and twenty-six travellers are placed in
quarantine and the last disembark on 25 March. On 19 June 2020 the hull is sold
to an Italian yard. Renamed, she leaves Piombino on 13 January 2021, is
deliberately beached at Aliaga on 28 January, and dismantling begins in March
2021.
What else to know
No source documents any incident during the demolition, contrary to what is
sometimes read. The hull had been refitted twice, in 2004 with the addition of
more than two hundred balconies, then in 2013.
This page sells nothing and never will again. It exists because the name
goes on being searched, and because it is better to read here what happened to
this ship than to land on a 2019 sales page left online elsewhere.
The ships Costa still operates
The Costa Smeralda and the Costa Toscana run on liquefied natural gas. The Costa Pacifica and the Costa Fascinosa share the
fleet's most common class.
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.
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.
