I think it’s fair to say 2012 was not the year for Costa Crociere. In January 2012 the world was awoken by the sad news that the Costa Concordia and over 30 passengers and crew had been lost. Just several weeks later the Costa Allegra was left adrift after a fire onboard cut out all of her power and just this week the Costa Pacifica was damaged whilst trying to dock in Marseille, France.

The cruise line has really handled a media storm this past year of bad press, I suppose there has been little for them to get too excited about however, there is light at the end of the tunnel and once again the cruise line can enjoy some GOOD press as construction has now begun on Costa’s brand new flagship.

Let me introduce to you Costa Diadema. Currently under construction at Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard, this vessel will join the Costa fleet as the tenth ship built by Fincantieri for the line since the year 2000.

She will be a whopping 132,500 tonnes, the largest cruise ship to ever fly the Italian flag! Onboard there will be space for 4,947 passengers and 1, 253 crew members. Her length will be 306 metres, her breadth 37.2 metres and she will cost somewhere in the region of 550 million Euros.

Costa Crociere S.p.A. CEO Michael Thamm commented: “The construction of the Costa Diadema is a tangible commitment to the future growth of our Company. It is significant not only for us but also for Italy in general and Venice in particular. The Costa Diadema consolidates our alliance with Fincantieri, which has already resulted in the building of 10 new ships for us since 2000, worth a total of almost 5 billion Euros with the creation of wealth and employment for the country as a whole.”

The Costa Diadema will be even more inviting and more fun, both internally and externally, with exclusive innovations regarding the choice of cuisine, entertainment and technology.

It’s nice that Costa can once again focus on something positive, and a new ship will always do wonders to boost ones moral. I personally can’t wait to see what this new ship will be like and what exciting itineraries she will sail.

Author: Danielle