At last some good news for Costa Cruises. After the loss of its chief executive and one of its ships, the cruise line has confirmed its latest flagship Costa Fascinosa, will be officially delivered to Costa on May 5th 2012 at the Venice Passenger Terminal.

The ship is set to make her debut just two months after the delivery of the Costa neoRomantica and will be followed by a new 132,500 gross tonnage Costa ship in October 2014, also to be built in Marghera.

The Costa Fascinosa will depart for her vernissage cruise on May 6th 2012 from Venice bound for Slovenia, Trieste and Croatia on a cruise hosting the 19th edition of the ‘Champions of the Sea’, an annual event celebrating the best travel agents partnering with Costa Cruises across five continents.

Following this, the Costa Fascinosa will depart from Venice once again on her inaugural cruise – a ten day itinerary taking in Greece, Israel and Turkey.

For the remainder of the 2012 summer season until late November, the Costa Fascinosa will be offering seven-day cruises from Venice and Bari to Greece and Croatia.

The cruise ship which was built at the Marghera yard has successfully completed her sea trials, passing a series of running tests on her systems, machinery and engines, and will be officially handed over to Costa Cruises by the builder Fincantieri the day before her vernissage cruise.

The total investment made by Costa Cruises for the Costa Fascinosa is worth 510 million euros. 

The construction of the ship in Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard involved the labor of around 3,000 yard workers plus a further 7,000 people employed by about 500 contracted suppliers, most of which are Italian firms.

The Costa Fascinosa will be the largest cruise ship flying the Italian flag.