Costa Voyager to Replace Damaged Costa Allegra

Costa Cruises is replacing the 28,500-ton, 1,000-passenger Costa Allegra with the 24,400-ton, 927-guest Costa Voyager, starting March 18. Following the generator room fire aboard Costa Allegra Feb. 27, the company has not determined how long it will take to repair and bring the ship back into service.

Costa continues to conduct inspections and technical evaluations to ascertain what caused the generator-room fire. After the fire, the ship lost propulsion for three days and was towed back to a dock in the Seychelles Islands.

Costa Voyager entered service in 2000 and was renovated in November 2011. From March 18 to July 1, Costa Voyager will sail itineraries in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, dedicated to guests from the French market. On July 13, Costa Voyager will depart on a nine-day cruise from Amsterdam to Savona. From July 23 to Aug. 20, the ship will sail one-week Mediterranean cruises with calls at Barcelona, Spain; Villefranche, France; Livorno and Capri, Italy; Malta; Cagliari, Italy; and Minorca, Spain. Beginning Aug. 28 Costa Voyager offers additional cruises of different durations in the Mediterranean for the French market.

Costa Cruises is temporarily suspending Costa Voyager’s “Corals and Ancient Treasures” Red Sea itinerary. Guests who have booked this itinerary will be re-protected on equivalent cruises. Among the options offered are the seven-day “Jewels of the Emirates” cruise on Costa Favolosa round-trip from Dubai; seven days in the Caribbean on the “Pearls of the Caribbean” itinerary on Costa Luminosa, boarding at Guadalupe; and any of the seven-day itineraries in the Western or Eastern Mediterranean on Costa Atlantica, Costa Classica, Costa Fascinosa, Costa Favolosa, Costa Magica, Costa neoRomantica or Costa Serena.

Alternatively, guests booked on a Costa Allegra cruise may cancel without penalty and receive a full refund and a voucher equal to 30 percent of the rate paid toward the purchase of a future cruise.