Costa-Pacifica

The 'Costa Smeralda' will no longer sail in the Arabian Gulf as previously scheduled. Instead, the vessel will operate a programme in the Canary Islands and Madeira, introducing a new seven-day itinerary between the two archipelagos. With this decision, Costa intended to provide clarity and planning certainty for all guests and travel partners at an early stag As the outlook in the Middle East remained uncertain for the winter season 2026/27, Costa will not operate itineraries in the area for the upcoming season. Under the revised deployment, the 'Costa Smeralda' will operate the Canary Islands programme following a planned drydock. The ship’s new schedule will significantly increase the company’s guest capacity in the region. The redeployment was also affecting the 'Costa Pacifica', which had originally been scheduled to operate cruises in the Canary Islands and Madeira. After its own drydock, the ship will instead be repositioned to the Western Mediterranean. From there, the 'Costa Pacifica' will operate a combination of seven-day itineraries visiting Western Mediterranean destinations and longer voyages covering parts of Southern Europe and North Africa. The company also indicated that new extended itineraries were planned as part of the programme. The changes meant that the previously scheduled repositioning voyages forthe 'Costa Smeralda' between Europe and the United Arab Emirates will not take place. Passengers booked on those sailings, as well as guests booked on the cancelled Middle East cruises, will be able to transfer to other Costa sailings. Affected guests may choose another cruise and will receive €200 in onboard credit per cabin, equivalent to €100 per person for two guests sharing a cabin. Passengers booked on the 'Costa Pacifica’s former Canary Islands programme were to be transferred to the new 'Costa Smeralda' itineraries under the same conditions. New itineraries for both ships were expected to open for booking before the end of March 2026.

On Oct 31, 2022, a passenger suffered cardiac problems aboard the 'Costa Pacifica', which was en route from Barcelona to Lisbon, in the North Atlantic. Salvamento Marítimo deployed the SAR boat 'Salvamar Spica' to the scene, which medevaced the patient and transported him to the port of Almería, where an ambulance was waiting for the further transport to hospital.Photo: Photo: https://twitter.com/salvamentogob/status/1587127314101444608/photo/1

The 'Costa Mediterranea' arrived in La Spezia in the morning of April 10 and will remain moored alongside the 'Costa Pacifica' until at least April 12. On the 'Coast Pacifica' there were currently 950 crew members, while on the 'Costa Mediterranea' were 750. There will be an exchange of personnel so that people from the Far East will be concentrated on the 'Costa Mediterranea'. After a new stop in Brindisi for a similar operation it will head to the Far East. The 'Costa Pacifica' will continue to remain in the port of La Spezia until the end of the emergency. The Costa and MSC cruises were suspended until May 30. The La Spezia terminal was taking care of the logistics to get spare parts and supplies on board.

-The 'Costa Pacifica' sailed from the port of Civitavecchia to the port of La Spezia on March 26 a,nd berthed at the Mollo Garibaldi on March 27 at 6.40 a.m. On board were only 900 crew members without symptoms of coronavirus, some of whom were waiting of repatriation through special flights or transfers organized by Costa Cruises in coordination with national and international authorities. The ship has completed the disembarkation of passengers at the port of Civitavecchia. Costa Cruises confirmed that the health situation on board the ship did not present any problems and was constantly monitored. According to the provisions issued by the Italian government, crew members will be required to remain on board the ship and disembarkation will be allowed only for repatriation as soon as possible.