Carnival Cruise Line is working with Costa Cruises to develop a new cruise concept.

Two ships, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze, will transfer to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The transfer of Costa Venezia – which will sail from New York – will see the launch of the Costa by Carnival concept.

Carnival said this will “marry the great service, food and entertainment that Carnival’s guests enjoy with Costa’s Italian design features”.

The ships will continue to operate their regular Costa itineraries until they are assigned to Carnival for dry dock work and deployment.

Itinerary plans are currently being finalised, with an announcement regarding Costa Venezia’s voyages expected shortly. Costa will be speaking to clients whose cruises are affected by the update.

An ‘exciting opportunity’ for Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said: “We’re going to invite our guests to choose fun with Carnival, Italian style.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to operate two additional beautiful Vista-class ships in the US and bring a unique experience to those who love the culture, food and vibe of Italy.

“There are lots of ways we plan to create an immersive fun experience for our guests who choose to sail on these ships, which have beautiful Italian-design elements, dining and retail that will deliver Carnival fun leveraging the spirit of Italy from our sister line Costa Cruises.”

Costa Cruises president Mario Zanetti added: “We are excited to see these iconic ships make their debut in the US under the leadership and operation of our sister brand.”

Earlier in June, it was also revealed that Costa Luminosa will join the Carnival fleet in September and start guest operations as Carnival Luminosa in November 2022.