Costa Fortuna Completes 20 Years in Service

A 20-year anniversary is being celebrated by the Costa Fortuna.

As of October 31, 2003, the 110,000-ton vessel had been delivered to Costa Cruises from the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente, Italy.

Upon launching, Nov. 25, 2003, the Fortuna sailed on its maiden voyage following inaugural festivities, including a christening ceremony with Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

A ten-night cruise departing from Savona included stops at seven ports in Italy, Spain, Morocco, and the United Kingdom, including Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Casablanca, Gibraltar, Cádiz, and Málaga.

Aside from winter cruises in the Western Mediterranean, the Costa Fortuna offered 11-night itineraries to Madeira and the Canary Islands during its inaugural season.

After sailing from Italy to Tunisia, France and Spain, the ship remained in the Western Mediterranean through the summer.

Fortuna sailed to numerous destinations around the world during its two-decade Costa career, including the Caribbean, South America, Northern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Due to the cancellation of its entire schedule in 2022, the ship is now offering new itineraries in Southern Europe.

Among the itineraries were 14-night cruises to the Greek Islands, two-week cruises to the Canary Islands and Madeira, and 14-night cruises covering both Eastern and Western Mediterranean destinations.

This will be the first time in more than a decade the Fortuna will sail in the Caribbean after crossing the Atlantic in December.

In 2023-24 winter, the ship, which can accommodate 2,720 passengers, will offer a series of fly-cruises to the islands of Martinique and the Caribbean region.

There are seven-night itinerary options that include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Tobago, all of which are located in the Southern and Eastern Caribbean.