Unwanted Cruise Holiday? Ship For 4,000 Asian Games Athletes Arrives In Japan

Last Updated:September 15, 2026, 17:14 IST

A cruise ship, Costa Serena, arrived in Nagoya to house 4,000 Asian Games athletes amid accommodation concerns.

The Costa Serena cruise ship docks at the Port of Nagoya ahead of the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Fred Mery / AFP)

A cruise ship that will accommodate around 4,000 athletes and officials during the Asian Games arrived in Nagoya on Tuesday, as concerns over accommodation at the multi-sport event continued to grow.

The Italian cruise liner Costa Serena, which is nearly 300 metres long, weighs more than 100,000 tonnes and has around 1,500 cabins, docked in Nagoya ahead of the Games, which officially begin on Saturday and run until October 4.

More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected to participate, making the Asian Games larger than the Olympics in terms of the number of participants. Organisers are using a combination of cruise-ship cabins, conventional hotel rooms and temporary wooden container-style huts to accommodate the visitors while keeping costs under control.

However, the temporary huts have drawn sharp criticism from several delegations. South Korean officials described the accommodation as the “worst ever” earlier this week, while a South Korean Sports and Olympic Committee official said on Tuesday that concerns had been raised by representatives of all 45 participating nations.

“Every country involved is now working together to resolve the issue,” the official told AFP.

Jung Jae-yong, vice president of the Korea Basketball Association, also expressed dissatisfaction with the accommodation provided to the men’s basketball team, saying the beds were too small for athletes. One player shared a video on social media showing a leaking sink and a soaked floor inside his hut, accompanied by the caption: “Please help us”.

A Taiwanese sports official also pointed to a “general shortage of beds”, while Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino said all of his country’s athletes had rooms, although some coaches and officials had been shifted to hotels and Airbnb properties.

Organisers hope the Costa Serena will ease some of the accommodation pressure. Local organising committee president Hideaki Omura said the use of a cruise ship could offer a model for financially sustainable sporting events.

“This is the first time in Japan that a cruise ship is being used as accommodation for a big international sporting event,” Omura said.

The vessel has been chartered for around 4.5 billion yen ($28 million). It is a sister ship of the Costa Concordia, which sank off the Italian coast in 2012, killing 32 people.

The arrival also comes after hundreds of athletes were briefly evacuated last week when record rainfall caused flooding in Nagoya. With the Games taking place during Japan’s typhoon season, organisers will be hoping the ship provides a safe and comfortable alternative.

(With AFP Inputs)

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