This morning the cruise ship Costa Luminosa arrived at the port of Trieste, Italy for the final preparations ahead of the restart of cruise operations this weekend. Costa Luminosa will set sail from Trieste this Sunday (May 16), on a 7-Day Eastern Mediterranean voyage first stopping in Bari before visiting some of the most popular destinations in Greece including Corfu, Piraeus (Athens), Mykonos, and Katakolon (Olympia).  You can view all Costa Luminosa itineraries here.

As one of the procedures of the Costa Safety Protocol the area around the port where passengers will have to undergo a swab test before departure has been secured. On land, the health and safety procedures will be carried out inside the Trieste Maritime Station, while on board Costa Luminosa set of safety protocols will be implemented, such as reduction in the number of guests, swab tests for guests before boarding and during the cruise. In addition, daily temperature checks will be carried out and every time guests get off and return to the ship. The tour visits of the destinations will be only with protected excursions organized by Costa Cruises.

 "We are completing the preparations for the departure on Sunday. In particular, our focus is on our rigorous safety protocols, which we have developed together with the authorities, in order to allow a peaceful resumption of cruise activities. We can't wait to welcome our guests back on board and bring the cruises back to Trieste and the Adriatic ". - General manager of Costa Cruises Mario Zanetti said.

Costa Luminosa is the second Costa ship to restart cruises. The company resumed cruise operations on May 1st with its LNG-powered flagship Costa Smeralda. Two more ships are expected to resume cruises from Italy this summer. Costa Deliziosa will start cruising in June, visiting Venice, Mykonos, Katakolon, Corfu and Bari. And at the beginning of July Costa Firenze will set sail in the Western Mediterranean, again with an all-Italian itinerary until 12 September, when the ship is expected to expand cruise destinations including Ibiza, Barcelona and Marseille.