Costa Firenze, the second of two 135,500 gross ton cruise ships Costa Crociere to be launched this year, was floated out at the Marghera yard of Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilder on 6 November, the shipbuilder said in a statement.

It is sister ship of Costa Venezia that was launched at Monfalcone in March. Both ships are intended to serve the Chinese market and they have a capacity of 5,200 passengers each.

Costa Firenze and Costa Venezia are the biggest ship introduced by Costa to the Chinese market, where the Italian company was the first to start operating in 2006 and is currently the leader. They are part of an expansion plan that includes a total of 7 ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of over €6 billion.

Costa Firenze is due for delivery to Costa Crociere, which is part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group, in September 2020.