Costa Cruises reached a construction milestone for Costa Fascinosa with the installation of the funnel at the Fincantieri Marghera, Italy, shipyard. The 16th member of the Costa fleet is scheduled for delivery in spring 2012.

The distinctive yellow funnel with the blue “C” has graced every vessel in the Costa Cruises fleet for more than 60 years. Since the historic brand was established in the 1940s some 36 ships have sported Costa’s iconic funnel.

The 114,500-ton, 3,800-guest Costa Fascinosa is sister ship to Costa Favolosa, the next flagship of Costa’s fleet, set to be delivered at Marghera June 30, 2011, and named in Trieste, Italy, July 2. Both ships are part of Costa’s €9.6 billion fleet-expansion plan that began in 2000 and called for nine ships to be built in Italy and delivered between 2003 and 2012.