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Margaritaville at Sea Islander

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Margaritaville at Sea Islander as Costa Atlantica in the Aurlandsfjord in 2009
History
Name
  • Costa Atlantica (2000-2023)
  • Margaritaville at Sea Islander (2023-present)
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
Builder
Yard numberKvaerner Masa-Yards 498
Launched11 November 1999
Sponsored bySavannah Buffett (Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
Christened10 June 2024 (Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
Acquired30 June 2000
Maiden voyage
  • 17 July 2000 (Costa Atlantica)
  • 14 June 2024 (Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
In service
  • 17 July 2000 (Costa Cruises)
  • 14 June 2024 (Margaritaville at Sea)
Identification
StatusIn service
Notes[1][2]
General characteristics
Class and typeSpirit-class cruise ship
Tonnage
Length292.56 m (959 ft 10 in)
Beam32.2 m (105 ft 8 in)
Draught7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Installed power
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity
  • 2,114 passengers
  • (2,680 at full occupancy)
Crew897
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 2019. After four years she was sold to Margaritaville at Sea, re-entering service in June 2024.

Design and construction

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Costa Atlantica at Hakata port in July 2014

Costa Atlantica, unveiled in 2000, was one of four Costa ships built during the 2000s that were designed with magrodome-covered pool areas and other features that would allow travel to a wide array of destinations. The ship also had the same platform as sister line Carnival's four Spirit-class ships.[3] 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.[4] Each passenger deck on Costa Atlantica was named after a movie by the Italian director Federico Fellini.[5] She was decorated with Carrara marble, Murano glass accents, and in-laid mosaic tiling, as with Costa Luminosa.[6] She also replicated Venice's Caffè Florian.[7]

Costa Cruises

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The ship entered service with Costa in 2000, with Caribbean itineraries during the northern winter, European cruises in the summer, and in the East Coast United States and Canada area during spring and fall.[8] 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, the first cruise from China to the South Pacific Islands.[9][10]

In November 2018 the intention to sell Costa Atlantica in late 2019 to CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping was announced, a new joint venture to provide Chinese cruise travelers with their own cruise line.[11] The transfer to the new company was on 12 January 2020 but the ship never entered service and was resold in 2023.[12][13] Her sister ship Costa Mediterranea did, however, enter service as Mediterranea for the new company, by then named Adora Cruises.

Margaritaville at Sea

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The sale of Costa Atlantica to Margaritaville at Sea was confirmed on 16 October 2023 by Carnival Corporation. On 4 December, Margaritaville at Sea revealed that the ship would receive a total makeover before entering service in June 2024. All 1,100 staterooms would be refurbished, as well as the ship's atrium, lido deck and restaurants. Familiar features that debuted on Margaritaville at Sea Paradise would also be featured.[14][15] Renamed Margaritaville at Sea Islander, the ship began a four-month refit in January 2024 at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, Belfast.[16]

Margaritaville at Sea Islander left Belfast on 19 May 2024 for Tampa, Florida, and commenced her first cruise on 14 June,[17] starting her programme of alternating 4- and 5-night cruises from Tampa, Florida to Key West, Florida, then Cozumel and Progreso, Yucatán in Mexico.[18] The ship's godmother is Savannah Buffett, daughter of Margaritaville founder Jimmy Buffett.[19]

Incidents

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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.[20]

Coronavirus pandemic

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Further information: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships § Costa Atlantica

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 [ja] in Nagasaki, where it was under repairs from 20 February to 25 March.[a][22] A doctor had collected samples from four suspected cases and conducted PCR tests, with three negative results and one positive.[22] The positive case had suffered a fever beginning on 14 April.[22] About 20 other crew members had started developing fevers in the week before the first case was reported.[21]

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.[23][22] There were a total of 56 crew members that have had heavy contact with the positive case.[22] They have all been quarantined, and PCR tests have been planned for all of them.[21][22] The prefecture has considered requesting assistance from the Self-Defense Forces to help manage the situation.[21]

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.[24] The other 23 tests returned negative.[24] 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.[25] On 24 April, officials stated that 91 people had tested positive, with one patient being hospitalized.[26] 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.[26] On 25 April, Television Nagasaki announced that 57 new cases had been discovered, bringing the total number of positive cases to 148.[27] With the latest cases count at 149, the ship left Nagasaki port on 31 May, bound for Manila.[28]

Notes

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  1. ^ The ship was originally scheduled for repairs in China, but the repair order was transferred to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries after the pandemic began in China.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Asklander, Micke. "M/S Costa Atlantica (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Costa Atlantica". VesselTracker. 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  3. ^ Sloan, Gene. "Photo tour: The Italian style of a Costa Cruises ship". USA TODAY.
  4. ^ "Costa Atlantica". Ship Technology.
  5. ^ "News". Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. ^ "COSTA LUMINOSA, A Long Cruise And A Brief Tour – Maritime Matters". Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  7. ^ "COSTA ATLANTICA Operates First World Cruise From China – Maritime Matters". Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ^ Stern, Steven B. (2011). Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation (22nd ed.). Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing. p. 288. ISBN 9781455615001.
  9. ^ "Costa Atlantica Completes 46-Day South Pacific Islands Cruise from China". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. 17 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Costa Atlantica completes China's first cruise to the South Pacific Islands". seatrade-cruise.com. 17 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Costa Atlantica and Mediterranea sold to new Chinese brand". Cruise Industry News. Charlotte, NC. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  12. ^ "China-US cruise JV welcomes first ship - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Carnival and CSSC joint venture Adora Cruises sells 2000-built ship". 16 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Margaritaville at Sea Adds Second Ship, To Sail From Tampa". Cruise Industry News. Charlotte, NC. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Margaritaville at Sea Islander".
  16. ^ Scott, Sarah (19 January 2024). "The cruise ship undergoing glamorous makeover in Belfast and how it will look after". BelfastLive. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Margaritaville at Sea Islander Sets Sail to Florida". Cruise Industry News. Charlotte, NC. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Margaritaville at Sea Islander Ready For Maiden Voyage". Cruise Industry News. Charlotte, NC. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  19. ^ Kalosh, Anne (15 May 2024). "Margaritaville at Sea Islander godmother is Jimmy Buffett's daughter Savannah". Seatrade Cruise News. Colchester. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Italy shipwreck captain crashed before in 2010: report". ABC News. Sydney NSW. AFP. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  21. ^ a b c d "| ABS-CBN News". news.abs-cbn.com.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "長崎造船所香焼工場停泊客船の乗船者がコロナ感染（長崎文化放送）". Yahoo!ニュース. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  23. ^ "48 Costa Atlantica cruise crew members have coronavirus; Ruby Princess departs Australia". USA TODAY. 23 April 2020.
  24. ^ a b "33 more crew on cruise ship docked in Japan test positive for virus". Kyodo News. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Italian cruise ship in Japan has 48 coronavirus cases". Reuters. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Ninety-one crew have virus on Italian liner in Nagasaki". Reuters. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  27. ^ "【速報】長崎での客船クラスター 乗組員全員の検査実施 新たに57人感染確認 計148人に". Fnn.jp. 25 April 2020. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  28. ^ "Virus-hit Italian cruise ship leaves Nagasaki". The Japan Times. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
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