Costa Magica is a Destiny-class cruise ship that was operated by Costa Crociere. She debuted in 2004 as a sister ship to Costa Fortuna, and is thus also referred to a Fortuna-class ship. Costa Magica pays homage to some of the most famous destinations in Italy including Positano, Portofino, Bellagio, and Sicily which are all incorporated into her public rooms and restaurants. At 102,784 gross tonnage (GT), she is one of the largest in the Costa Crociere fleet.

On June 2021, Carnival Cruise Line announced that Costa Magica will be transferred to its own fleet, and will be converted to match the rest of its ships. The ship's conversion and her new name have yet to be announced.

Design and description

The vessel was designed by the American architect Joe Farcus and is the sister ship to Costa Fortuna. As built Costa Magica had a gross tonnage (GT) of 102,857 and 8,200 tons deadweight (DWT). This later increased to 102,784 GT and 9,859 DWT. The cruise ship measures 272 metres (892 ft 5 in) long overall and 230 metres (754 ft 7 in) between perpendiculars with a beam of 35.5 metres (116 ft 6 in).

The ship is powered by two diesel engines turning two fixed pitch propellers creating 34,000 kilowatts (46,000 hp). Ward states the ship has two azimuth thruster pods. This gives Costa Magica a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). The vessel is also equipped with seven electric generating sets creating 64,610 kilowatts (86,640 hp).

Costa Magica has 1,359 cabins total ranging in size from 16.7–44.8 m² (180–482 sq ft). 522 have a balcony. The cruise ship has capacity for 2,718 passengers and has a crew of 1,068. There is a nine-deck atrium with a bar on the lowest level, a 1,300 m² (14,000 sq ft) spa and a three-deck theatre.

Construction and career

The ship was constructed by Fincantieri in Genoa, Italy with the yard number 6087. The vessel's keel was laid down on 1 September 2002 and launched in November 2003. The vessel was completed on 26 October 2004 and entered service in November of that year. The vessel is owned and operated by Costa Crociere and is registered in Genoa.

Transfer to Carnival Cruise Line

On 23 June 2021, it was announced that Costa Magica would be rebranded and transferred over into the Carnival fleet sometime mid-2022, and will most likely join the Sunshine class. Similar moves were made in 2007 and 2017 when Carnival transferred, then under construction, Carnival Splendor and Carnival Panorama respectively to their fleet from Costa and P&O Australia respectively.