Costa Cruises is resuming its cruises with the Costa Deliziosa as the ship leaves at 5 p.m. on Sunday from Trieste on a one-week cruise designed to rediscover – in complete safety – the best of Italy, and calling only at Italian ports – namely Bari, Brindisi, Corigliano-Rossano, Siracusa and Catania, according to a press release.

“We’re delighted to be able to welcome our guests onboard again after more than five months without cruising and we’re also happy to be restarting operations right here in Italy. Our decision to resume responsibly with Italian cruises for Italian guests is particularly significant for us, since we’ve believed and invested in this country for more than 70 years as the only cruise company flying the Italian flag,” said Group CEO, Costa Group and Carnival Asia Michael Thamm.

“For the last few weeks, we’ve been working together with the authorities on implementation of the new health procedures that will allow our guests to make the most of their cruise experience while ensuring maximum safety. Meanwhile, we’re continuously monitoring the situation with a view to gradually reintroducing cruising on more ships from October, with itineraries extended also to include guests from our other European markets.”

The guests embarking on Costa Deliziosa for her first three September cruises will all be residents of Italy; embarkation will be carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, a document developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, containing new operational measures in response to the COVID-19 situation.

On arrival at the terminal in Trieste, with staggered entrance times thanks to of online check-in, each guest will have their temperature scanned, submit a health questionnaire and be subjected to an antigen rapid swab test. Passengers will not be cleared for boarding unless and until they have tested negative.

Prior to embarking, crew members have also been tested with molecular swab at intervals and been quarantined for 14 days. In addition, each member of crew will have a monthly swab test.

Costa Cruises’ next ship due back in service is the Costa Diadema, scheduled to leave from Genoa on September 19. Like the Deliziosa, she will only be calling at Italian ports and carrying guests from Italy, with stopovers in Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

Costa then announced it plans to introduce the Smeralda back into service in October followed by the Firenze in December.