Margaritaville at Sea Islander as Costa Atlantica in the Aurlandsfjord in 2009 | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry | Bahamas, Nassau |
Builder | |
Yard number | Kvaerner Masa-Yards 498 |
Launched | 11 November 1999 |
Acquired | 30 June 2000 |
In service |
|
Identification |
|
Status | Undergoing refit in Belfast |
Notes | [1] [2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Spirit-class cruise ship |
Tonnage | |
Length | 292.56 m (959 ft 10 in) |
Beam | 32.2 m (105 ft 8 in) |
Draught | 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
|
Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
Capacity |
|
Crew | 897 |
Notes | [1] [2] |
Margaritaville at Sea Islander is a Spirit-class cruise ship previously owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. She was built in 2000 by the Kvaerner Masa-Yards Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland as Costa Atlantica for Costa Cruises.
Costa Atlantica was sold to CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping in late 2019.
The sale of Costa Atlantica was confirmed on October 16, 2023 by Carnival Corporation & plc. [3] The new owner of the vessel is Margaritaville at Sea, it is expected to enter service for the brand in 2024.
Costa Atlantica was unveiled in 2000, the ship is one of four Costa ships built during the 2000s that are designed with magrodome-covered pool areas with other features that allow for travel to a wide array of destinations. The ship also has the same platform as sister line Carnival's four Spirit-class ships like Carnival Miracle. [4] The ship is 85,619 tons with a capacity for 2,114 passengers with a length of 292.5 m (959 ft 8 in) and a 38.8 m (127 ft 4 in) maximum breadth. [5] Each passenger deck on Costa Atlantica is named after a movie by the Italian director Federico Fellini. [6] She is decorated with Carrara marble, Murano glass accents, and in-laid mosaic tile along with Costa Luminosa. [7] She also replicates Venice's Caffè Florian. [8]
CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Ltd received its ship on 12 January 2020 marking into beginning of a China-based cruise company to server for Chinese cruise travelers with its own cruise line. [9] [10] The ship never entered service for the line and was resold for further trading. Her sister ship, the former Costa Mediterranea did however enter service with Adora Cruises and was renamed to Mediterranea.
Margaritaville at Sea revealed on 4 December 2023 that the ship will receive a total makeover before entering service in June 2024. All 1,100 staterooms will be refurbished, as well as the ship's atrium, lido deck and restaurants. Familiar features that first debuted on Margaritaville at Sea Paradise will also be featured on Islander as well. [11] [12] Since January 2024, the ship is undergoing a refurbishment at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. [13] [14] [15]
Costa Atlantica sailed on 46-day voyage from Tianjin International Cruise Terminal on 30 November 2016, with more than 2,000 passengers across the two continents, and visiting 12 islands in nine countries, [16] where Costa Atlantica completed the first China's cruise ship on the South Pacific Islands. [17]
When Margaritaville at Sea Islander makes its debut in June 2024, it will sail alternating 4 and 5 night cruises to Key West, Florida, Cozumel, Mexico and Progreso, Yucatán from Tampa, Florida. [18]
In 2010 Francesco Schettino, later the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, was the captain of Costa Atlantica as it entered the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at too high a speed, allegedly causing damage to AIDAblu, also a Carnival Corporation ship. [19]
During the coronavirus pandemic, on 20 April 2020, a positive case was reported aboard Costa Atlantica when it was docked at Koyagi Factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard in Nagasaki, where it was under repairs from 20 February to 25 March. [lower-alpha 1] [21] A doctor had collected samples from four suspected cases and conducted PCR tests, with three negative results and one positive. [21] The positive case had suffered a fever beginning on 14 April. [21] About 20 other crew members had started developing fevers in the week before the first case was reported. [20]
Costa Atlantica had 623 crew members of 36 different nationalities, including a Japanese translator and no passengers at the time the first positive case was first reported. [22] [21] There were a total of 56 crew members that have had heavy contact with the positive case. [21] They have all been quarantined, and PCR tests have been planned for all of them. [20] [21] The prefecture has considered requesting assistance from the Self-Defense Forces to help manage the situation. [20]
On 22 April 2020, officials of the prefecture announced that, of the 56 additional tests conducted, an additional 33 crew members had tested positive, bringing the total number of positive cases to 34. [23] The other 23 tests returned negative. [23] On 23 April, it was announced that 48 tests in total have returned positive, with 14 of the positive cases being cooks or people serving food. [24] On 24 April, officials stated that 91 people had tested positive, with one patient being hospitalized. [25] Officials also noted that even though Costa Atlantica had been quarantined upon its arrival in Japan, with its crew ordered not to leave the quay unless they needed to visit a hospital, some crew members had left without informing the officials. [25] On 25 April, Television Nagasaki announced that 57 new cases had been discovered, bringing the total number of positive cases to 148. [26] With the latest cases count at 149, the ship left Nagasaki port on 31 May, bound for Manila. [27]
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