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Costa Cruises Returns to Port Everglades

Published Dec 28, 2015 6:59 PM by The Maritime Executive

Italian line Costa Cruises has announced its return to Port Everglades, Florida with the 2010-built Costa Deliziosa. The Deliziosa is the first Costa vessel to sail from the port in four years, and in her inaugural trip she toured Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman. She will make another six departures from the port this winter.

Costa has had departures from Port Everglades since the 1960s, and port and company officials welcomed the company's return.

“Thank you to everyone at Port Everglades for an incredible welcome, both to Costa Cruises and Costa Deliziosa,” said Scott Knutson, VP of sales for Costa Cruises North America. “Costa Deliziosa is the newest Costa ship to homeport in the United States, and we are excited for North American guests to see firsthand what makes Costa Europe’s most popular cruise line.”

The Deliziosa is of smaller stature than many of her competitors in the Caribbean market. The largest mega-cruise ships in the world depart Port Everglades, but the 2,300 passenger Deliziosa is built to Panamax dimensions to enable round-the-world touring. She still has large-ship amenities, though, and her layout and feel may be familiar to American cruisers: her interior designer, Joe Farcus, has done extensive work for Carnival, Costa's parent company.

On November 2, the port also added Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas to its roster. She joins Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas – the world's largest cruise ships – in Royal Caribbean's list of vessels sailing from Port Everglades. The ­2,500-passenger Serenade was previously based out of New Orleans.

Nearly 40 ships will make a call at or depart from Port Everglades in 2016. The peak winter season will include the January departures of Holland America's Amsterdam and Silversea Cruises' Whisper, both bound for four month voyages around the world. The port typically ranks among the top three busiest cruise ports in the world, and its officials expect 3.7 million multi-day passenger departures in 2016.