Overview
Costa Cruises is the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation, headquartered in Genoa, Italy. Operates 9 ships focused on the European, Mediterranean, and Northern European markets, plus a smaller Asia-Pacific deployment. Italian-language operation, with French and Spanish on some vessels. The Costa fleet is largely built at Fincantieri's Italian yards.
For seafarers
Crew contracts run 6-9 months with mid-tier pay. The fleet is European-leaning with Italian-language operations onboard — speaking Italian (or Spanish/French) is useful but not strictly required. Costa hires heavily from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Eastern Europe in the hotel department; Italian officers dominate senior marine and engineering positions.
Watch for
Costa is recovering from the 2012 Concordia incident and continues to operate under enhanced safety procedures — onboard safety culture is comparatively strong. The Italian operational language can be a barrier for non-Italian-speaking senior staff; check the working language of your specific role before accepting.