Carnival Corp has received a Covid-19 safety credential for one of its nine brands but is not quite ready to pull up anchor on its entire fleet of 90 ships.
Costa Cruises has received a Biosafety Trust Certification from cruiseship classification society Rina that tests "all aspects of life onboard and ashore", the Arnold Donald-led cruise major said.
The certificate signed off on several areas of the vessels' operations, including embarkation procedures, hotel services, catering, fitness, relaxation areas and shore excursions.
The classification society also assessed how they adhered to the brand's plans to prevent and control infections and required crews to get trained on Costa's health protocols.
Measures include administering antigenic Covid-19 swab tests to all embarking passengers on the 6 September voyage from Trieste aboard the 2,828-berth Costa Deliziosa (built 2009) and all other Costa ships returning to service.
The brand is also giving passengers the chance to buy insurance that will cover any services needed as a result of contracting Covid-19.
"The return of Costa cruises will be progressive and in the name of maximum safety for guests, crews and destination communities," the brand said in a statement.
"For this reason, the company has chosen to offer itineraries only in Italy, reserved exclusively for Italian guests, for its September cruises."
The 4,927-berth Costa Diadema (built 2014) will follow on 19 September with a seven-day cruise that will call at several ports on the coast of Italy.
Cunard pulls back the reins
While Costa Cruises gets ready to pull up its ship anchors, Carnival brand Cunard has pushed back its November relaunch to at least late March next year.
Cunard made this decision in light of UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) guidance and the complexity of operating world voyages, Carnival said.
Cunard will extend operational pauses for the 2,547-berth Queen Elizabeth (built 2010) to 25 March, the 2,095-berth Queen Mary 2 (built 2004) to 18 April and the 2,081-berth Queen Victoria (built 2007) to 16 May.
In addition, Queen Elizabeth’s sailings due to depart between 26 March and 13 December in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska will be cancelled.
“These voyages will be replaced with a programme of shorter-duration European holidays ranging from three to 14 nights, departing from Southampton," president Simon Palethorpe said.
He added that the Queen Mary 2's World Voyage for 2021 has been postponed to 2022.
