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Place the cursor over the photos to read the
descriptions; if you click on any of the thumbnail pictures,
the full-sized photo will open in a pop up screen. Please note
full sized photos may take a moment to load. |
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Page 1 of 7 |
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Page 1 of 7 |
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The saying "Never judge a book by its cover" couldn't be
more appropriate for
Costa Allegra,
one of two smaller units in the growing fleet of Costa Crociere. Originally constructed as a container vessel,
Costa Allegra
was completely reconstructed in 1992 in Italy and emerged as
a contemporary cruise ship that soon attracted a loyal
following. Externally, she and her near-sister
Costa Marina
have retained the ungainly, boxy look of their container
past. But inside, the designers have successfully managed
to create a modern and inviting shipboard environment with a
hint of Italian "dolce vita". |
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The fully
cellular container vessel Annie Johnson entered service
for Swedish Johnson Line in 1969. Built by the renowned Wärtsilä
yard in Turku, Finland, the vessel carried containers across the Seven Seas for
more than 15 years before being sold to Regency Cruises in
Piraeus, Greece. Plans to convert her into a
cruise vessel fell through and the vessel was eventually sold to Italian operator
Costa Crociere in 1990. Over the cause of two years, the
Mariotti yard in Genoa transformed Annie Johnson into
Costa Allegra.
With a new set of engines, a new 44 ft (13.4 m) midsection, a completely new superstructure and a new
lease of life, Costa Allegra could as well be called a new
ship when she re-entered service in November of 1992. |
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Despite being
one of Costa's smallest units in a fleet that includes a few
ships of over 100,000 gross tons, 28,430 ton Costa Allegra
has always been a very popular ship. In all honesty, I often
wondered why as she will not win any beauty contest with her
boxy appearance and stark upright yellow-and-white funnel. So I jumped at the chance of visiting the ship in
Amsterdam in 2004 to see what she has to offer her guests. And
I liked what I saw! Rebuilding the vessel from scratch, the
design team has had the chance to be creative with space,
resulting in highly original interior spaces with a distinct
Italian influence.
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Cruise Line: |
Costa Crociere |
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Year built: |
1969 as
container vessel Annie Johnson |
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Rebuilt: |
1992 |
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Building Yard: |
Wärtsilä,
Finland; rebuilt by T Mariotti, Genoa, Italy |
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Gross Tonnage: |
28,430 |
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Length: |
187.7 m (616.1
ft) |
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Beam: |
25.8 m (83.9
ft) |
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Passengers
(norm.): |
810 |
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Passengers
(max): |
1,066 |
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Crew: |
420 |
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Service speed: |
20.0 knots |
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Ship
Parade's in-depth look at Costa Allegra's interiors
starts on the next page. Welcome on board! |
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