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Costa Smeralda

Costa Cruises · Cruise · In service · built by Meyer Turku

Costa Smeralda is the Italian expression of the Carnival group's LNG platform — the largest ship ever to sail for Italy's biggest cruise line.

Length overall337 m

Beam42 m

Gross tonnage185,010 GT

Passengers5,224

Speed21 kn

Delivered2019

Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by ships.fyi from the core specification — see how we calculate these.

Passengers per metre#4 of 19

15.5 pax/m passengers (double occupancy) ÷ length overall

Length-to-beam ratio#9 of 45

8.02 length overall ÷ beam

Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The Costa Smeralda's length overall, against things you already know the size of.

Costa Smeralda337 m

Eiffel Tower (height)330 m

Titanic269.06 m

Football pitch105 m

Boeing 747-876.3 m

Blue whale25 m

You (probably)1.75 m

The 747-8 bar is the longest airliner ever built — our sibling site aircraft.fyi measures everything that flies the same way.

One Costa Smeralda = 1.25 Titanics · 3.2 football pitches · 13 blue whales · 4.4 Boeing 747-8s laid end to end.

#38 of 45 by length → #21 by gross tonnage → #10 by passengers → Run the Canal-Fit Checker → Sailing on her? Get cruise-ready →

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Specification

The numbers

Length overall	≈337 m
Beam	42 m
Gross tonnage	185,010 GT
Passengers	≈5,224 (double) / ≈6,554 (max)
Crew	≈1,678
Propulsion	LNG dual-fuel
Delivered	December 2019
Maiden voyage	December 2019, Western Mediterranean

Compare it

Put the Costa Smeralda next to something

vs AIDA Nova →vs MSC World Europa →

vs AIDA Nova vs MSC World Europa vs Carnival Jubilee Compare with anything →

Last verified: 2026-07-15 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

Costa Smeralda is the second act of Carnival Corporation's LNG gamble: the AIDA Nova platform re-costumed for the Italian market and delivered by Meyer Turku in December 2019 as the largest ship in Costa's century of history.

Named for Sardinia's Emerald Coast, she was designed as a floating tour of Italy — her decks named for Italian cities and her interiors built around Italian design brands, with the Solemio spa and a private-terrace ship-within-a-ship zone at the top.

Her early career collided with history: she was among the first ships caught in the January 2020 COVID scare in Civitavecchia, weeks before the industry shut down entirely. She has since settled into the workhorse role she was built for, looping the Western Mediterranean year-round.

The class

The Costa Smeralda line

Excellence platform

Sister to AIDA Nova and AIDA Cosma; Costa Toscana (2021) is her direct fleetmate. Interiors by Adam Tihany, themed as a tour of Italy.

Operators

Who operates the Costa Smeralda

All 1 operator of record, verified 2026-07-15. Figures marked ≈ are approximate.

CSTCosta CruisesYear-round Western Mediterranean loops — Italy, France and Spain.1✓→

Quick answers

Costa Smeralda, asked and answered

How long is the Costa Smeralda?

337 m (1,106 ft) length overall — the #38 longest of the 45 ships on ships.fyi, and 3.2 football pitches end to end.

How big is the Costa Smeralda compared to the Titanic?

The Costa Smeralda is 1.25× the Titanic's length — 337 m against her 269.06 m. By volume the gap is starker still: 185,010 GT against Titanic's 46,328 GRT — roughly 4.0 times the tonnage, measured across two different rule eras.

Who operates the Costa Smeralda?

Costa Cruises. Current status: in service.

Does the Costa Smeralda fit through the Panama Canal?

Not the original locks — but yes through the 2016 Neopanamax locks: at 337 m by 42 m on a 8.8 m draft she clears the 366 × 51.25 × 15.2 m expanded gauge.

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