Costa Concordia is a Concordia-class

Concordia class cruise ship

The Concordia class is a class of cruise ships that are operated by Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines, subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation & plc....

 cruise ship

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

 owned and operated by Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises is a British-American owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy.Founded in 1924, the company originally operated cargo ships, until the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between Italy and South America...

. She was built at Fincantieris

Fincantieri

Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. It was formed in 1959 and is the largest shipbuilder in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest in Europe...

 Sestri Ponente

Sestri Ponente

Sestri Ponente is an industrial suburb of Genoa in northwest Italy. It is part of the Medio Ponente municipio of Genoa.-Geography:It is situated on the Ligurian Sea to the west of the city, between Cornigliano and Pegli...

 yards in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The name Concordia was intended to express the wish for continuing harmony, unity and peace between European nations.

She is the namesake of Concordia-class, with sisters, Costa Serena

Costa Serena

Costa Serena is a Concordia-class cruise ship for the Italian cruise line, Costa Cruises. The name Serena was intended to symbolize harmony and serenity....

, Carnival Splendor

Carnival Splendor

Carnival Splendor is the sole ship of the Splendor class cruise ship, a smaller, modified version of the Concordia class cruise ship, operated by Costa, and is one of the latest of the Carnival Cruise ships to enter the fleet. She entered service on July 2, 2008. At , she was the largest ship in...

which was built for Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Pacifica

Costa Pacifica

Costa Pacifica is a Concordia-class cruise ship for Costa Cruises. She was handed over to Costa Cruises in 29 May 2009. Her sister ships, Costa Concordia and Costa Serena, were launched in 2006 and in 2007, and another two sister ships, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa will be launched in 2011...

, Costa Favolosa

Costa Favolosa

Costa Favolosa is a cruise ship ordered for Costa Cruises in October 2007. Based on the Concordia class design, Costa Favolosa was laid down by Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard on 5 November 2009 and launched on 6 August 2010...

, and Costa Fascinosa

Costa Fascinosa

Costa Fascinosa is a Concordia-class cruise ship that was ordered in October 2007 for Costa Cruises. Based on the Concordia class design, Costa Fascinosa will be constructed by Fincantieris Marghera shipyard in Venice...

. Costa Concordia entered service in July 2006 and was the largest ship to be built in Italy, at 114,500 tons.

Concept and construction

The then unnamed Costa Concordia was ordered in 19 January 2004 in Fincantieri and will be built in their Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

. Costa Concordia was then launched at Sestri Ponente in 2 September 2005. At the time of her construction, she was the largest Italian cruise ship ever built in history. She was then delivered to Costa on June 30, 2006.

Amenities

Costa Concordia has 1,500 staterooms; 505 have private balconies and 55 with direct access to Samsara Spa; 58 suites with private balconies and 12 with direct access to spa. Costa Concordia has one of the world's largest wellness centers at sea, the Samsara Spa, a two-level, 6000 m (19,685 ft) wellness area, with gym, a thalassotherapy

Thalassotherapy

Thalassotherapy is the unproven medical use of seawater as a form of therapy. The properties of seawater are believed to have beneficial effects upon the pores of the skin. Thalassotherapy was developed in seaside towns in Brittany, France during the 19th century...

 pool, sauna

Sauna

A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....

, Turkish bath and a solarium. The ship also has four swimming pools, two with retractable covers, five spa

Spa

The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...

s and a poolside screen on the Pool deck.

There are five on-board restaurants, with Club Concordia and Samsara taking reservations-only dining. There are thirteen bars including a cigar and cognac

Cognac

Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...

 bar and a coffee and chocolate bar.

Entertainment options are a three-level Theater, casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 and a discotheque. There is also a children's area equipped with PlayStation

PlayStation

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...

 products. There is also the Grand Prix motor racing

Grand Prix motor racing

Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...

simulator and an internet cafe.

External links

• Costa Cruises