Tour the New Carnival Venezia

Recently we had the chance to tour the newly introduced Carnival Venezia. I took this opportunity to document her public areas for you all to see.

The Carnival Venezia started life out as the Costa Venezia for Carnival Corp.’s Italian-themed line Costa Cruises which caters primarily to the Italian cruise market but also the larger European market as well. The ship was originally ordered as part of a larger much larger deal between Carnival Corp and Fincantieri which contained ships for Carnival, Costa, and Princess. The design of the Venezia is based on sister brand, Carnival Cruise Line’s, Vista(2016)-class ships. These include the Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Panorama. There’s also a fifth ship built after the Costa Venezia called the Costa Firenze.

The 135,225gt ship, launched in March 2019, is technically slightly larger than her aforementioned Carnival siblings due in large part to the enclosed main pool area. This is a common theme amongst Costa ships as they routinely sail the Mediterranean, as well as other regions, year-round.

What’s unique about the Venezia was that originally, she was in fact intended to cruise year-round in China. This was back in the mid-2010s when the next up-and-coming cruise market was going to be China. One part of Carnival Corp.’s strategy was starting a dedicated expansion to the region by utilizing Costa’s ships and starting up Costa Cruises’ Asia. This was to be a sub-brand within the larger Costa Crociere S.p.A. with operations specifically for Asian-based guests sailing on dedicated ships year-round.

As you may have noted above, she debuted just in time for the 2019-20 Covid-19 Pandemic and the subsequent global temporary shutdown of the cruise industry. Having sailed in the region for less than a year, she was brought back home to Italy and when the industry slowly started back up, she sailed a few Mediterranean routes before going back into layup. The decision was made to transfer her and her sister, Costa Firenze, as well as fleetmate Costa Luminosa, to the Carnival Cruise Line brand as the regions and markets that those supported would be more popular than Asia or the Med.

And that’s how the Venezia joined the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet.

VIEW CARNIVAL VENEZIA DECK PLANS

As with all our reviews, we start out with the obligatory photos. These usually give us the general vibe around the vessel. It’s a good indicator of the décor and motif throughout.

Elevator lobby.

Stairwell artwork.

Random hallway.

Deck 01

Deck 01 is all cabins.

Deck 02

Deck 02 is all cabins.

Deck 03

Deck 03 starts the public areas. At the very front of the deck are the dedicated teen and tweens area, Circle C and Club Carnival.

This forward area is accessible via this double sided staircase.

Aft of the forward cabins and hallway, you are at the bottom floor of the Piazza San Marco. The stunning three story main plaza on the ship is inspired heavily by the real thing in Venice. Around the area is the Guest services on starboard and the shore excursion desk on port. At the center of the Piazza is the atrium bar.

Aft of the piazza is the first of two main restaurants, Marco Polo Restaurant.

This single deck restaurant is designed with many smaller intimate table areas.

Deck 3 is one of those split decks on Carnival Ships. This is the unique layout whereby in order to reach the aft area, you need to go a deck above or below and then head aft to go back to this deck. The reason for this is that the galley is in the center part and is not accessible to passengers.

At the very aft of the deck is the Canal Grande Restaurant. Inspired by the canals of Venice, it features an actual gondola in the center of the restaurant. As with the other restaurant, it features many secluded, intimate tables throughout.

Deck 04

Deck 04 is where the lifeboats are located. This means there are not many rooms with views throughout it. At the very front is the bottom level of the main theater Theatro Rosso. This multipurpose venue changes through the cruise from the main lounge, to comedy club, to night club.

Aft of the lounge is the second deck of Piazza San Marco. Surrounding the atrium are several Fun Shops as well as the Cherry on Top candy store.

Walking though that is the Venezia Casino. As with the Vista-class vessels there is an enclosed atrium here to the deck above. This way the smell of smoke from the casino is vented straight out. As she was originally intended for Asia, on the port side there is a casino annex that was intended to the a VIP/high rollers private casino.

Walking though that area is a smaller promenade featuring the Heroes sports bar. Instead of being themed after a particular sport or individual team, this area is dedicated to members that served in the armed forces. More service men and women cruise Carnival than any other line.

Past that is the art gallery.

The last stop on the lower promenade is the Limelight Lounge. This venue is the traditional alternate lounge that usually is found at the very aft of some older classed vessels.

At the very back is the top level of the Canal Grande Restaurant. This gives us a wider view of what the main restaurant looks like.

Deck 05

All of deck 05 is surrounded by an outdoor promenade called the Lanai. Even the very front is accessible and provides an amazing view looking over the bow. Throughout the deck several venues feature inside seating as well as outside seating on the Lanai. Throughout this tour, I’ll include photos of those unique areas as we enter each room.

As an overview of the Lanai, it protrudes out over the side of the vessel and is not covered by any of the above superstructure. What this area actually is, is the overhang for the lifeboats which are mounted underneath. As the ship features larger than the normal 150-person lifeboats found on almost every other vessel, they must be mounted with no obstruction underneath so they drop right down, into the water. We’ve seen this feature on other ships of the AIDA brand, NCL, and MSC. Carnival debuted this feature with the Carnival Dream in 2008.

Inside at the very front of the deck is the top level of the Theatro Rosso.

Past that area is the top level of the Piazza as well as additional Fun Shops surrounding it.

Past that is a collection of restaurants and a bar. This is where the Piano bar is.

The Asian Teppanyaki restaurant and Sushi restaurant, Bonsai, are found here. As is Carnival’s signature steakhouse Fahrenheit 555.

At the center is Amari bar that starts the upper promenade.

Past there is the Frizzante Bar and entrance to the new Italian restaurant Il Viaggio.

Past that is the pixels photo gallery.

The promenade ends at the Gondola Lounge which features one of the main entrances to the Lanai and is intended to be a multipurpose style venue with bar and café in the area. As well as an outdoor grill.

The aft end of the deck is the Carnevale Bar and Lounge. On either side are the new Terrazza-style cabins which are similar to the Havana cabins found on the other Vista(2016)-class vessels.

At the very aft of the deck is the Terazza Carnevale outdoor lounge.

Deck 06

All of deck 06 is cabins. Both inside, and balcony cabins are on this deck.

Deck 07

All of deck 07 is cabins. Both inside, outside, and balcony cabins are on this deck.

Deck 08

All of deck 08 is cabins. Both inside, and balcony cabins are on this deck. The navigational bridge is forward.

Deck 09

All of deck 09 is cabins. Both inside, outside, and balcony cabins are on this deck. At the very front is the famed secret which is an outdoor deck, right above the bridge. If you’ve seen any of my other tours of Carnival vessels, they all have this to varying degrees.

Deck 10

Deck 10 forward is all cabins. There’s inside, outside, and balcony cabins on this deck. After the forward section, you arrive at the retractable glass covered main pool. Arguably the most striking area on the ship.

Surrounding the Lido Pool are four different venues, two bars, and two food areas. At the forward end of the Lido is the Rococo Bar, and the Java Blue Cafe for coffee and gelato.

Then on the opposite side is the famous Guys Burger Joint, and the new Tomodoro (similar to the Blue Iguana on other vessels).

Past the pool area is the main buffet called Lido Marketplace.

Walking through the buffet you’re back outside at the aft pool. On the port side is the pizza place, Pizzeria del Capitano. On the starboard side is the New England themed Seafood Shack.

The rest of the deck is the pool and pool bar looking out over the aft of the ship.

Deck 11

Deck 11 is also cabins in the forward area with the same mix of inside, outside, and balcony cabins. Past that forward area is the deck that encircles that main pool area. Also here is the Pergola Bar.

After walking around the pool area, there’s the camp ocean kids area. (the highlight of my visit here was definite this bear in the third photo)

Strolling past Camp Ocean you are at the sports court.

And after that is the a small sun deck that overlooks the aft pool.

Deck 12

Desk 12 features the Cloud 9 Spa at the forward section. A bit smaller on the Venezia than on her other siblings, but still has a large fitness area at the very front.