Carnival Luminosa

Costa Luminosa and her sister ship, Costa Deliziosa were ordered from the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard on 12 June 2006.[11] The keel of Costa Luminosa was laid on 10 October 2007 in the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard at Venice.[9] She floated out of drydock on 30 June 2008 and completed her sea trials on 30 March 2009.[12] After 18 months, the ship was handed over to Costa Cruises on 1 May 2009.[1]

The christenings of Costa Luminosa, and the Concordia-class Costa Pacifica were held in Genoa on 5 June 2009. It was the first time that two cruise ships were simultaneously christened in Italy. The dual christening ceremony set a then Guinness World record in the category, "Most ships inaugurated in one day by one company". The two ships also launched simultaneously in their shipyard on 5 June 2008; Costa Luminosa in Marghera and Costa Pacifica in Sestri Ponente.[13][14]

Costa Luminosa in Geirangerfjord

Costa Luminosa made her first vernissage cruise on 5 May 2009, a 10-day cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean, departing Venice, with ports of call at Istanbul, Bari, Olympia, Rhodes, Smyrna, Mykonos and Athens. It was followed by mini cruises in Eastern Mediterranean, again departing Venice on 15 May 2009. Her second vernissage cruise was on 19 May 2009.[15] In the summer of 2009, the ship offered 11 and 14-day cruises at the Baltic capitals, Norwegian fjords and the North Cape.[15]

During the 2009–2010 winter season, the ship operated in Dubai, offering seven-day cruises in the Persian Gulf with calls at Dubai, Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.[15] After the political problems in Bahrain, the company changed the itinerary removing Bahrain.[16]

Despite claims of sustainable practices by both Costa Cruises and its parent company Carnival, Costa Luminosa continually dumped the toilet waste of its 3,200 passengers and crew in the sea, instead of taking use of harbour facilities, often provided free of charge by Baltic ports. In 2015, Swedish television calculated that over 5,000,000 litres (1,100,000 imp gal; 1,300,000 US gal) of waste was dumped during a single cruise in the Baltic Sea, already damaged by poisonous blue algae.[17]

From 2017 every summer she sails on seven-night cruises to the Greek Islands. During the winter period Costa Luminosa goes on seven-night cruises in the Caribbean.

She spent her final season for Costa sailing seven-night cruises to the Greek Islands.

On 14 June 2022 it was announced that Costa Luminosa would be transferred to the fleet of Carnival Cruise Line in September 2022, receiving the name Carnival Luminosa. On 8 September 2022 Costa Luminosa was officially handed over to Carnival Cruise Line.[18] After a refit, the ship sailed to Brisbane, Australia to begin voyages that started on 6 November. [19]

Costa Luminosa at Argostoli's gulf

On 29 February 2020, a 68-year-old Italian man in critical condition was transferred from Costa Luminosa to a hospital in the Cayman Islands due to heart issues.[20] On 12 March 2020, the Health Services Authority of the Cayman Islands announced that the man was their first confirmed coronavirus case.[21][22] His death was announced two days later.[20][23]

On 5 March 2020 the vessel left Fort Lauderdale for a transatlantic cruise. Two people disembarked with symptoms of the coronavirus in Puerto Rico. Subsequently, on 13 March 2020, it was confirmed to be due to coronavirus disease 2019 – the first known cases in Puerto Rico.[24] One of the two persons died several days later. Because of the virus outbreak several sick passengers were left at Tenerife and passengers were placed under quarantine in their rooms. The ship was not allowed to dock in Spain. It docked at Marseille, France, discharging sick passengers who flew home distributing the virus,[23] and went to Savona where the rest of the passengers were disembarked on 23 March, many of them sick.[25] After the disembarkation at Marseille, French authorities confirmed 36 people with COVID-19 infection.[26] On 21 March local news in Puerto Rico reported the death of the quarantined Italian woman.[27] On 7 April, a Miami lawyer filed a lawsuit against Costa Cruises over mishandling and allowing passengers to sail aboard Costa Luminosa despite having flu-like symptoms.[28]