Neil Palomba Named EVP, Operations, MSC Cruises USA

Neil Palomba Named EVP, Operations, MSC Cruises USA

Neil Palomba has been named executive vice president of operations for MSC Cruises USA, while Josef Jungwirth has been named vice president of food and beverage operations, reporting to Palomba.

“As a testament to our continued growth in the U.S. and focus on providing an exceptional onboard experience, we are pleased to welcome Neil Palomba and Josef Jungwirth to our U.S. Operations Team,” the company said.

Palomba will lead the operations function for the line’s U.S.-based ships and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

He held several positions from 1996 to 2013 with MSC Cruises, including Chief Operating Officer in Fort Lauderdale for MSC Cruises USA from 2006-2010, and then relocating to Geneva, Switzerland where he led multiple corporate functions. Most recently, Palomba served as President for Costa Crociere in Genova, Italy and Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Carnival Cruise Line in Miami, FL.

Jungwirth will take on the role of vice president, of food & beverage operations, at MSC Cruises USA, reporting to Palomba. He brings more than 25 years of food & beverage operations experience to the role. Previously, Jungwirth spent 11 years as the Corporate Executive Chef at Sandals Resort International and 14 years at Royal Caribbean International where he oversaw the development of the company’s annual business objectives for culinary operations.

Costa Cruises May Be Getting Further Fleet Changes

Costa Cruises May Be Getting Further Fleet Changes

Carnival Corporation has been making strategic changes to its Italian brand, Costa Cruises, as a result of the pandemic and now more fleet moves may be coming.

In Carnival's third-quarter earnings release, the company said it was evaluating further moves for Costa.

"Given Costa Cruises' significant presence in Asia, particularly China, which remains closed to cruising, the brand continues to evaluate deployment options and fleet optimization alternatives beyond the previously announced transfers of Costa Luminosa to Carnival Cruise Line as well as Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze to the COSTA by CARNIVAL concept," the company said.

The Costa Luminosa recently transferred to Carnival Cruise Line, while the Venezia will move to the Costa by Carnival concept and sail from New York in 2023, followed by the Firenze moving to Costa by Carnival to sail from the U.S. West Coast in 2024.

The Costa Magica remains out of service, as does the Costa Serena, which had been positioned in Asia year-round.

Two other Costa ships, the Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea transferred prior to the pandemic to Carnival's joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation and remain out of service with Costa branding. 

Costa Returns to Northern Europe After Three-Year Gap

Costa Returns to Northern Europe After Three-Year Gap

Costa Cruises is sailing in Northern Europe for the first time since 2019. The brand returned to the region with the Costa Diadema, which kicked off the season on May 27.

The vessel is part of a three-ship program in the region, which will see the company offering itineraries to the Norwegian Fjords, the Baltic, the British Islands, Iceland and more.

Cruising in Northern Europe for the first time, the Costa Diadema is now sailing a series of seven-night cruises to the Norwegian Fjords.

The vessel’s itineraries depart from Kiel (Germany) and Copenhagen (Denmark) and include visits to several ports in Norway, such as Flam, Bergen, Hellesylt, Nordfjordeid, Stavanger and Haugesund.

Another ship based in Kiel for the summer, the Costa Fascinosa will offer longer cruises to the Baltic and the Cape North.

Starting on June 7, the 3,012-guest ship sails ten- to 12-night itineraries that ports including Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga, Gdynia, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Olden and more.  

Resuming service ahead of its program in Northern Europe, the Costa Fortuna completes the deployment lineup.

The 2003-built vessel will offer cruises departing from three different ports in the Netherlands and Germany: Ijmuiden, Amsterdam and Bremerhaven.

Extending from June 11 to August 28, the ship’s program features port-intensive cruises, with 11- to 14-night itineraries to the British Islands, Iceland, and the Norwegian Fjords.

A fourth ship, the Costa Favolosa, was also set to sail in the region for the company in 2022, offering itineraries at the Baltic. 

The vessel’s program, which featured visits to Saint Petersburg, was entirely cancelled by the company due to the recent developments in Russia.

After becoming one of the first mainstream cruise lines to resume service in 2020, Costa focused its European operations in the Mediterranean.

With the travel restrictions in place in Northern Europe, the company decided to cancel its entire local program in both 2020 and 2021.

Costa Marks Cruise Restart from Genoa with Firenze

Costa Marks Cruise Restart from Genoa with Firenze

The Costa Firenze has made its debut in Genoa, marking the restart of Costa’s cruises from the city.

Guests will be able to disembark freely as the company will no longer require bubble-style excursions. 

Costa said it will call at Genoa every Thursday through November as part of a one-week Western Mediterranean itinerary, which also includes Marseille, Barcelona, Cagliari, Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome.

In addition to the Costa Firenze, starting in November and through the end of the year, the Costa Luminosa will also be in Genoa every Sunday, again for one-week cruises in the Western Mediterranean.

In 2022 Costa will be in Genoa for a total of 45 calls, after only a few calls in 2021 and 2020.

Numbers will continue growing in 2023 too with weekly calls on Fridays from the new Costa Toscana. 

“After a two-year pause, we are finally returning regularly with our cruises to Genoa. We are doing so with a new-generation ship, Costa Firenze, and an even richer product that will allow exploring our destinations in the best possible way," said Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises.

“Costa Firenze, as well as the other ships in the fleet, offer the opportunity to generate shared value in the territories and contribute to creating models of future development that are sustainable and able to multiply growth opportunities for the territory. I am thinking, for example, of projects such as cold ironing, i.e., the use of land-based energy for ships calling at ports," he said.

One Year Without Cruise Passengers? It Just Happened

On Jan. 25, 2020, the cruise industry saw the start of the events that left the industry with damages it’s still recovering from. Cruise lines started cancelling their sailings due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and around China.

Citing urgent guidelines from the Chinese government to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Costa Crociere, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Genting Cruise Lines all suspended their cruise operations in mainland China on Jan. 25, 2020.

Ships marking a year without passengers:

• Astro Ocean's Piano Land.
• MSC's Splendida.
• Genting's SuperStar Gemini.
• Costa's Serena, Atlantica and Venezia, plus the neoRomantica which has since been sold to Celestyal.
• Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas.

February continued as cruise lines first banned or put in restrictions for passengers from specific countries.

Then countries in Asia started to shut down to tourism and cruise lines issued non-stop itinerary changes for immediate and future sailings, and slowly relaxed booking and refund policies.

Even more, cruises were cancelled in Asia on Feb. 15, 2020, following the outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess in Japan,

Princess Cruises later reacted to the growing spread of the coronavirus in Asia and worldwide by pausing all of its ship operations for 60 days from March 12, 2020. On the same day, Celestyal Cruises also announced it was suspending operations.

AmaWaterways and Avalon Waterways (as well as its sister brands Globus, Cosmos and Monograms) said they were taking a voluntary pause in operations, too.

On March 13, 2020, the Canadian government announced it would be deterring the start of its cruise season (normally in April) to at least July. The ban was then extended twice, the last time until February 2021, which will make Canada cruise less for nearly a whole year.

Also on March 13, 2020, Windstar Cruises stated it would be suspending its sailings through April 30, 2020.

On March 14, 2020, CDC issued a No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation for cruise ships in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction; the No Sail Order was extended on April 9, 2020, July 16, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2020, as cruise lines continued announcing more and more cancelled cruises affected by the order.

July 2020 saw the start of the long-awaited cruise resumptions in Europe with TUI Cruises starting on July 24, MSC on Aug. 16 onboard the Grandiosa and on Oct. 20 onboard the Magnifica, Costa Crociere on Sept. 6, and AIDA Cruises on Oct. 17. Mystic Cruises restarted sailing in early September under its Nicko brand. And in Asia, Dream Cruises’ World Dream has been operating short cruises to nowhere since Nov. 6.

Sadly, the pandemic claimed the lives of the following brands: Pullmantur Cruceros, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, FTI, Blount Small Ship Adventures, and Jalesh Cruises, while a record-high 13 ships were reduced to scrapping in 2020.

However, new brands – such as Swan Hellenic and Tradewind Voyages – were born in 2020, too.

And while safe returns demonstrated by TUI, MSC and other cruise lines give hope already, cruise lovers around the world are still patiently waiting for other brands to join. And, with the No Sail Order being replaced with the Conditional Framework in late 2020, it looks like these times may be just around the corner.

Costa Releases More Details on Restart

Costa Cruises restart plan includes two new itineraries for Italian guests only, sailing to only Italian ports. Guests will only be allowed off the ship on organized shore excursions from Costa.

From September 6 to September 27, the Costa Deliziosa will depart every Sunday from Trieste, with calls in Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.

On September 19, the Costa Diadema will leave from Genoa and call at Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

"With the aim to allow guests to better enjoy their holidays while respecting the safety of guests, crew and local communities, the company has developed the Costa Safety Protocol for its fleet," the company announced. "The Costa Safety protocol is a comprehensive set of measures and procedures in response to the COVID-19 situation, relating to all aspects of the cruise experience, both onboard and ashore. Supported by a panel of independent scientific experts in Public Health, the Costa Safety Protocol is consistent with the health protocols defined by the Italian Government and European (EU Healthy Gateways) authorities. The protocol will be constantly updated based on the evolution of the scenario and medical knowledge."

Costa Prepares Gradual Restart Plan

 

Following the authorization to cruise by the Italian Government, Costa Crociere prepares to gradually restart its operations in light of the new protocols that will be officialised soon, the company said.

Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia said: “We are extremely excited that we will be able to cruise again soon and we want to thank the Italian Government and all the authorities for their constant availability and support.

"The cruise industry and Costa specifically, as the only Italian cruise company, create significant value to the economy and to the destinations we visit. The gradual restart of our operations will give relief to the local economies in port communities and to the whole ecosystem of almost 5,000 suppliers and business partners, and over 7,500 travel agents, in Italy, who have been suffering from the pause of our activities.

"The resumption of our operations in this phase is also a great responsibility towards our guests, our crew members and the residents of the communities we visit. In the next days, we will be working closely with national and local authorities, ports and terminals, RINA and internally onboard our ships, for the full implementation of the protocols issued by the Italian Government so we can all together guarantee a smooth, well organized and safe restart of our cruises, both onboard and ashore. We look forward to announcing shortly the full program of our itineraries so that thousands of loyal Costa Guests can have the opportunity to sail again with us for the holiday they missed so much."

Costa Readying Two Ships to Start Mediterranean Cruising

Costa Crociere may be readying two ships to start cruising in the Mediterranean as soon as August, according to crew aboard the line's ships who attended a recent town hall-style meeting.

The ships that would be put into operation will reportedly be the newest vessels in the Italian brand's fleet, the 2014-built Diadema, and the 2019-built Smeralda. 

In a letter sent to the crew, Costa said it has been working with various institutions to restart operations with a limited number of vessels, as soon as August. However, any restart would be linked to a certain number of conditions, according to the company.

The new challenge is for Costa to crew its ships, with Costa noting that many countries are restricting the movement of the crew, presenting challenges in getting crew to the ships.

Thus, Costa is asking that crew near the end of their contracts consider extending their contracts aboard.

"We official inform all crew members under a valid contract that they will be requested to fulfil their contract commitment, continuing the regular schedule of operation," a company letter read.

Carnival Corporation Announces Offering of Common Stock

Carnival Corporation today announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $1.25 billion of shares of common stock of the Corporation, according to a statement. 

The Corporation intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to $187.5 million of additional shares. The Corporation expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

The Corporation also announced by a separate press release that it has commenced private offerings to eligible purchasers of $3 billion aggregate principal amount of first-priority senior secured notes due 2023 and $1.75 billion aggregate principal amount of senior convertible notes due 2023 (or up to $2.0125 billion aggregate principal amount if the initial purchasers exercise in full their option to purchase additional convertible notes). Nothing contained herein shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the senior secured notes or the convertible notes. None of the closings of the offerings of shares of common stock, senior secured notes or convertible notes is conditioned upon the closing of any of the other offerings or vice versa.

Costa Smeralda Passes Propulsion Tests

Costa Smeralda Passes Propulsion Tests

The Costa Smeralda has successfully passed her sea trials carried out with liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to a statement. 

During the sea trials, which began on Nov. 16, the ship carried out a series of tests to verify the correct operation of systems, equipment and engines with LNG propulsion.

“The fueling of cruise ships with LNG is an innovation in which we were the first to believe five years ago, when we ordered the Costa Smeralda, setting an example for the sector which has since been followed by other companies. It is a safe and reliable technology, which is currently the most effective and feasible solution to ensure a significant reduction in the environmental impact of cruise ships in port and at sea," said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.

Once the sea trials were finished, the ship returned to Meyer Turku for her final interior outfitting.

The first cruise will depart from Savona on Dec. 21. The itinerary, which will be repeated until May 16, 2020, will include Savona (Saturday), Marseilles (Sunday), Barcelona (Monday), Palma de Mallorca (Tuesday), Civitavecchia (Thursday) and La Spezia (Friday).

Readjustment Over as Chinese Cruise Market Returns to Growth

Readjustment Over as Chinese Cruise Market Returns to Growth

The readjustment period for the Chinese cruise market is coming to an abrupt end as capacity will be up for the first time in two years in 2020, according to the 2020 China Cruise Market Report by Cruise Industry News.

Annualized capacity with new ships from Costa Crociere and Royal Caribbean International are pushing market capacity, while full-year operations from the Piano Land will also contribute as will the 4,500-guest MSC Bellissima.

Following year-after-year of rapid growth, China saw its cruise supply drop due to an ongoing price war in 2018, as ships and operators left the market. This self-described readjustment period continued into 2019 and is now subsiding with more ships, more berths and more capacity in the market for 2020.

Cruise Companies Pursue Different Brand Growth Strategies

The multi-brand cruise companies will continue to grow their largest and most popular brands, but individual brand growth may surprise, according to the 2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

While Carnival Cruise Line brand will continue to be the dominant brand for Carnival Corporation over the next decade, carrying twice as many passengers as the second-largest brand, Costa Crociere will see the most capacity growth over the same time period, driven partially by its short cruises in China.

AIDA will be third in terms of capacity growth, followed by Princess Cruises.

Altogether the Carnival brands will grow their passenger capacity from an estimated 12 million (double occupancy) in 2019 to some 16 million in 2027, barring any ship withdrawals and deployment changes.

At Royal Caribbean Cruises, the Royal Caribbean brand will also continue to dominate and could be the single largest brand in the world by 2027, growing by an estimated 1.2 million passengers, twice the projected capacity growth for the Carnival brand over the same time period. TUI Cruises, which is 50 per cent owned by Royal Caribbean, will also see significant growth. However, Celebrity, which will see less growth over the same time period, will remain the second-largest brand at Royal Caribbean. The total capacity for the Royal Caribbean brands is forecast to grow to about 9 million.

MSC Cruises will move up to become the third-largest cruise company with the most capacity growth of any brand, from an estimated 2.4 million in 2019 to nearly 5 million by 2027.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings moves to fourth place, however, the Norwegian Cruise Line brand will see the second largest passenger capacity increase. Total capacity for the three Norwegian brands is estimated at 3.7 million in the nine-year forecast.

Genting will also see significant relative growth and remains the fifth largest cruise operator.

Costa Atlantica to Homeport in Shenzhen for 2018

Costa Crociere is making a big deployment move in China and announced earlier this week the Costa Atlantica will now homeport in Shenzhen starting in late January and continuing for the rest of 2018.

The move will help strengthen the company's position in Southern China, according to a press release. 

"The Southern China market is an important part of Costa's strategic plan in China," said Mario Zanetti, president of Carnival China. "In recent years, Costa has opened several routes, including sailing from Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Xiamen"

Starting on Jan. 28, the ship will launch its new program, offering a variety of itineraries, with six-day cruises to Japan, six-day cruises to Vietnam and six-day cruises to the Philippines.

Compared to other companies offering cruises in China, this Costa deployment features slightly longer itineraries. Most cruises offered in the Chinese market are four to five days.

Japan itineraries include two port calls, either Okinawa and the Yaeyama Islands or Okinawa and Miyako Island.

Shenzhen opened its new Prince Bay homeport facility last July and has since seen 118 cruise ships and 159,000 passengers, according to a statement. 

MSC Cruises North America's Roberto Fusaro

MSC Meraviglia

MSC Cruises recently named Roberto Fusaro, long-time manager of its South America division, to be president of MSC Cruises North America after naming the current head, Rick Sasso, as chairman of the division. Fusaro spoke to senior editor Tom Stieghorst about his new position.

Q: Where were you born? Where did you go to school?

A: I was born and raised in Argentina, in Buenos Aires. I majored in accounting and I worked on what in the U.S. would be a CPA. I worked at an accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, for a while. And then I transferred to Chicago with that firm and at the same time ... I did my MBA at the University of Chicago.

Q: After Arthur Andersen, did you join the cruise industry?

A: Actually, after I left Chicago, I was working for a holding company in Milan. And Costa Crociere was looking for a CFO for a joint venture they were doing in South Florida [in 1993]. The company was called American Family Cruises. ... This was my first experience with the cruise industry. I didn't know about the industry then; I was just a finance guy. Unfortunately, the execution was very poor, so Costa decided to wind down the company after a few months, and they offered for me to go to Genoa [in Italy] to run the revenue-management department. So that's the way I started my career in the cruise industry.

Q: When you went back to South America, what did you learn when you went to work for MSC?

A: In South America I learned a lot of things. The power of offering a good value to the market. The difficulty of dealing with some government bureaucracies. Perhaps the most instructive thing I learned in South America was the value of a private company. The difference in working for a company like MSC is having the cellphone [number] of the CEO and being able to call him at any time with a proposal, and after two or three questions he'll give me the green light to go ahead. That was invaluable. I don't think that MSC would have grown as it did in South America if we had to do a 10-page report to deploy more capacity. The decisions were made very quickly, and the company was very responsive to the needs of the market, and I think that's what makes MSC different.

Q: What do you think is your strength as a manager?

A: I think my strength is in developing people and helping them to try to get to their full potential. I like to think of myself as a facilitator and company coach. One of my proudest achievements is that any time I left an executive position, my second-in-command took over. 

Q: What will be the division of roles between you and Sasso as MSC grows?

A: There will be the usual division of chairman and president. Rick will look after government issues, and I will run the company on a day-to-day basis. I will have the luxury of having such a legend of the industry as a privileged adviser on major issues, but the decisions, good or bad, will be my responsibility.

Q: In the past, MSC has had some favorable terms for travel agents. What can they expect in this area?

A: We're always going to do what's best for the business, the company and the partners. We live by our travel agent partners and recognize that they are critical to our success. We won't be able to get to 5 million passengers without their help. So we will continue to prioritize our partners and make it as easy as possible to work with us
.

Costa Concordia - Four Years After The Tragedy

Costa Concordia - Four Years After The Tragedy

Story by; http://www.cruisediscuss.com/

January 13 marks the fourth year of the tragedy that took the life of 32 innocent cruise passengers after the Costa Concordia sunk off the coast of Italy.

The gigantic wreck of the that had been lying on a rock off the island of Giglio is gone now. For the past seven months, the remains of the ship have been gradually dismantled and sent for recycling in a shipyard and a few days ago the huge support to keep the ship afloat were removed.

But the image of Concordia will remain for a long time in the history of the Tuscan island and the Italian Navy.  The disaster that tore thirty-two lives, injured 157 will possibly stay forever in the mind of the survivors and the families that lost their loved ones.

As for the ship's captain - Francesco Schettino, also known as Captain Coward - he was sentenced on 11 February 2015 to 16 years in prison, however, the sentence is not yet in effect and the 'brave' captain is giving interviews and cashing income from world-famous magazines such as GQ.

Even today many cruise ship passengers that survived the tragedy await for compensation for property left on board and lost when the ship sunk. Money in no way can reduce the grief but it was something that the cruise line owed to the people.

"Four years later Costa Crociere has yet to compensate the huge damage " shared Mara Parmegiani, a journalist, writer and fashion expert that was on board the Concordia during the disaster. "The legal department had assured me that by the end of 2015 I would be notified how the refund will be processed but then no one contacted me further on. Besides my case, there are other outstanding of important value, like that of a jeweler. " 

The fashion expert was on board with his precious collection of vintage clothes, as part of an Ambassodor of Fashion Made in Italy display. Glamorous dresses made ​​by the founders of high fashion - the sisters Fontana Valentino, by Antonelli to Ferré, to Gattinoni, Egon Furstenberg and Gay Mattiolo were showcased. 

A huge loss,but just from an economic standpoint, which in no case comparable to the psychological and emotional hardships that still disrupt the daily life with frequent panic attacks of the survivors. Among the most moving memories was the one of the small Daiani, the five-year old child whose little body was fished out a few days later by the rescuers.

"The memory comes back constantly before my eyes, I met her just before she died, she was in the arms of her dad on the deck packed with people; she looked at me, recognized me and gave me a pat. I was initially surprised, then I pulled out a little key ring with a teddy bear filled with rhinestones and I gave it to the girl who smiled at me and kissed me. I think Iit was her last smile ", one of the survivors shared. 

Costa creates Italian regional menus

Costa Cruises has overhauled the menus on its ships, creating 14 regional Italian lunch and dinner menus and 252 new dishes. 

Examples include Gricia-style rigatoni pasta with jowl bacon and Pecorino Romano cheese cream (from the Lazio region) and golden fried breaded pork cordon bleu with potato croquettes and grilled tomato (from the Friuli region). 

"We chose the recipes that truly represent the tastes and aromas of Italian history and culture, creating a real culinary voyage through 14 different regions that's based on the itinerary of each ship," said Filippo Bertuzzi, Costa's corporate director, food and beverage operations.

The new menus are part of Costa's "Italy's Finest" campaign — an effort to focus more on Italian cuisine by partnering with food and beverage brands such as Barilla, Illy Caffé and Ferrari wines. 

Costa has unique ability to present Italy’s many faces

by Tom Stieghorst

Costa Cruises’ new promotional slogan, “Italy’s Finest,” seeks to associate the line with both quality and the home country where it has done business for the past 66 years.

That’s all well and good.  I wonder if it could do more, however, to exploit American curiosity about the many regions of Italy and the different experiences they offer.

Americans sophisticated enough to want to see Italy on Costa are also hungry to know more about the country’s regions and what distinguishes one from another. Costa could attract more U.S. guests by feeding that appetite with enrichment courses, excursions and tastings on its Mediterranean ships.Italy was only unified as a country in the 1860s. It comprises distinct regions, with cities that played important roles in the history of the Mediterranean, from Rome and Florence down to lesser-known but rewarding destinations such as Pisa, Lucca and Positano.

Cruises are uniquely positioned to jump from region to region. One night they can depart Campania and the next morning pull into port in Liguria. Each is Italian but has its own set of traditions.

The idea was suggested to me on a six-day trip on the Costa Diadema, the newest and largest Costa vessel ever at 3,724 passengers and 153,000 gross tons.

One morning we were in the agricultural south of Italy, departing from Naples. Two days later we were visiting the industrial north at a snow-covered vineyard in the Piedmont region. Each had its own distinct wines, cheeses and spices as well as terrain and climate differences.

It may be enough to sell Americans on the culture and food of Italy with the “Italy’s Finest” slogan. But Costa has been marketing Italy as its identity for a long time. When I started reporting on cruises in the 1980s, Costa had branded itself under the “Cruising Italian Style” banner.

Ruben Perez, general manager of Costa North America, said the line could probably be doing more to play up the regions of Italy, which include Tuscany, the Veneto area around Venice, the romantic Amalfi Coast and the rugged terrain of Sicily.

But, Perez said the line’s limited marketing budget for North America is probably best focused on the “Italy’s Finest” campaign.

Costa doesn’t have the easiest job convincing Americans to come to Europe on a ship that will immerse them in a different culture and language. The passenger sophisticated enough to do that is ripe for knowledge about the distinctive regions of this popular destination.

Costa Concordia almost Ready for Final Voyage

Costa Concordia

The massive hulk of the Costa Concordia is nearly ready to be towed away from the Italian island where it struck a rock and capsized two-and-a-half years ago, killing 32 people, officials said on Sunday.

The rusting prow of the once-gleaming white luxury liner was due to emerge fully from the water for the first time on Sunday, and the ship should be ready to tow on Monday, but the departure has been pushed back a day due to forecasts of rough seas.

The 114,500-tonne Concordia has been slowly lifted from the sea floor since Monday, when salvagers began pumping air into 30 large metal boxes, or sponsons, attached around the hull.

The air has forced water out of the sponsons, lifting the cruise liner 7.5 metres off the undersea platform where it had been resting, Franco Porcellacchia, the engineer in charge of the salvage, said. There are 6.3 metres to go, he added.

A convoy of 14 vessels, led by the tug boat Blizzard, will then tow the Concordia to a port near Genoa, where it will be broken up for scrap, completing one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history.

The president of the French Concordia survivors group Anne Decre, who is on the island of Giglio, told Reuters on Sunday that the departure of the ship will be an important symbolic moment for those who were aboard the night of the shipwreck.

"It gives us the opportunity to try and collect ourselves and move forward," she said, adding that the liner will take the same route to Genoa it should have taken more than two years ago to complete its ill-fated cruise.

"We hope that we will also be able to return to our route."

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial on charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck as he sailed too close to shore to "salute" the port, and abandoning ship. He is fighting the charges.

Paying for the disaster, including breaking up the vessel and repairing the damage to Giglio, is likely to cost the ship's owner and operator Costa Crociere, a unit of Carnival Corp , more than 1.5 billion euros ($20.30 billion), the company's chief executive has said.

The cruise liner will be demolished and scrapped in a port near Genoa a consortium including oil services company Saipem and Genoa-based companies Mariotti and San Giorgio. ($1 = 0.7391 Euros)