The ongoing changes to Carnival Corporation’s Italian cruise brand Costa Cruises are continuing as the line announced it will be transitioning its oldest cruise ship to new owners in 2026. The line has been significantly downsized since the 2020 pause in operations and the return to service after the pandemic.
Costa announced that the Costa Fortuna (102,669 gross tons) will be transferred to a new owner in mid-September 2026. The identity of the new firm was not revealed. The ship is currently operating in the Mediterranean with cruises to Greece and Turkey, and for the winter of 2025/2026 is scheduled to be homeported in the Canary Islands.
The Costa Fortuna was built by Fincantieri and delivered in 2003. It is based on Carnival Cruise Line’s Destiny platform. It is 892 feet (272 meters) in length with maximum passenger accommodations of approximately 3,500 people. The Costa Fortuna was among the first mega cruise ships for the brand and in Europe.
With the departure of the ship in 2026, Costa will have shed six ships from its fleet. Two of the brand’s newest ships, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenza, were transferred to Carnival Cruise Line to launch a sub-brand Costa by Carnival, which is marketed as “Fun Italian Style.” The ships are operated by Carnival in the American market, while the brand also took over the older Costa Luminosa. The ship, rechristened Carnival Luminosa, is deployed between Australia and Alaska.
Costa also sold its ship the Costa Victoria for scrap early in the pandemic and sold the Costa Romantica to Celestyal Cruises, which later sold it for scrap. It also never reactivated the sister ship to the Costa Fortuna, the Costa Magica. The ship was sold to Seajets, who planned to relaunch it as the Goddess of the Night for Greek Island cruises marketed by a new brand Neonyx Cruises. After a disastrous report about the condition of the ship, the 2024 launch was scrubbed with the company promising to start cruises in 2025. So far, nothing has been announced for those cruises.
One of the pioneers in cruising, Costa claims a 77-year heritage dating back to when it was started by the Costa family to provide immigrant service to South America. In the 1950s, the company started cruising. Acquired by Carnival Corp., it was cited for its fast growth and success in the broad market for Europeans. However, Carnival Corp. has said it would be focusing on the brands with the strongest financial returns and began downsizing Costa. The brand has been rumored for possible newbuilds, but nothing has been announced.
Costa highlights that it is following a strategic path, including investing more than €200 million in the last five years modernizing and upgrading its ships. With the sale of the Costa Fortuna, the company will have eight cruise ships, including two of the LNG-fueled cruise ships delivered in 2019 and 2021.
The fleet improvements will be completed in November when the company’s second-oldest cruise ship, Costa Serena (114,500 gross tons) finishes an extensive dry dock refurbishment. Costa reports they are adding a new food court with innovative restaurants and bars, updating the design for the main restaurants, redesigned pools and bars, and completely renovating suites.
The Costa Serena has been deployed in Asia and was the company’s ship for China before the pandemic. In October 2026, she will depart Tokyo bound for Buenos Aires to replace the Costa Fortuna. The Costa Serena will cruise in South America in the winter of 2027 before redeploying to the Mediterranean for the summer of 2027.
