Costa Cruises is updating the 2022-23 deployment of two of its fleet’s newest and most innovative ships — Costa Venezia, which entered service in 2019, and Costa Toscana, currently under construction and set for delivery in December 2021. Starting in May 2022 Costa Venezia will offer cruises departing Istanbul, Turkey, on an exclusive itinerary. Costa Venezia will further strengthen Costa’s offer in the Mediterranean, where Costa Toscana also will operate starting in March 2022.

“Waiting for the return of cruises to Asia, we have decided to bring the Costa Venezia back to the Mediterranean to offer a truly unique, never-before-seen cruise program that will only be available with Costa,” said Roberto Alberti, Costa Cruises’ chief commercial officer. “The heart of this new product is Turkey, with Istanbul, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In line with our plan to gradually resume operations, we have also decided to move the entry into service of our new flagship, Costa Toscana, to March 2022.”

Costa Venezia’s new Turkey program includes three unique itineraries, each starting and ending in Istanbul. They are designed with longer stopovers in ports, which enable guests to fully enjoy each destination, visiting cities rich in history, ancient ruins, UNESCO World Heritage sites and beautiful beaches.

From May 1 to Nov. 13, 2022, Costa Venezia will offer two weeklong alternating itineraries in Turkey and Greece that can also be combined into a single 14-night “super tour” with eight 10-hour-long port calls. The first itinerary includes a two-day stopover at Istanbul and calls at Izmir and Bodrum, Turkey; and Mykonos and Athens, Greece. The second itinerary includes two-day stops at both Istanbul and Kusadasi, Turkey; and Rhodes and Heraklion, Greece.  In winter 2022-23, Costa Venezia will offer a third 12-day itinerary in Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Cyprus, with a two-day stop at Istanbul and calls at Bodrum; Limassol, Cyprus; a two-day call at Haifa, Israel; Alexandria, Egypt; and Kusadasi.

The shore excursions portfolio designed for Costa Venezia cruises enable guests to experience Ephesus by night with a private concert in a Roman amphitheater, admiring the lights of the Bosphorus by night, sleeping in houses carved into the rock in the lunar landscapes of Cappadocia, Turkey, discovering the natural pools of Pamukkale, Turkey, as well as the Parthenon in Athens, the beaches of Mykonos and Rhodes, and Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Israel.

Costa Venezia’s new itineraries, which include “flight&cruise” packages from all major European countries, will be available for booking starting in October.

The new flagship Costa Toscana, the Costa brand’s second LNG-powered ship, will be delivered as scheduled in December 2021, entering service March 5, 2022. The itinerary the ship will offer from that date will remain unchanged, with weeklong cruises in the western Mediterranean visiting Savona, Italy; Marseille, France; Barcelona and Valencia, Spain; Palermo, Sicily; and Civitavecchia (the port of Rome).

The Costa Toscana cruises originally scheduled from Dec. 18, 2021, until early March 2022 will be operated by Costa Luminosa, which will cancel its program of long winter cruises in the Mediterranean due to restrictions currently in place in Israel. The company is currently informing guests and travel agents affected by these changes.