The Costa Concordia disaster was the capsizing and subsequent sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which resulted in 32 deaths.

On 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia struck an underwater rock, capsized, and sank off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. The eight-year-old Costa Cruises vessel was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when it deviated from its planned route at Isola del Giglio, sailed closer to the island, and struck a rock formation on the sea floor. Although a six-hour rescue effort brought most of the passengers ashore, 34 people died 27 passengers, five crew, and later, two members of the salvage team.

A subsequent investigation focused on shortcomings in the procedures followed by Costa Concordia's crew and the actions of its captain, Francesco Schettino, who left the ship prematurely. He left about 300 passengers on board the sinking vessel, most of whom were rescued by helicopter or motorboats in the area. Schettino was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Despite receiving its own share of criticism, Costa Cruises and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, did not face criminal charges.

Costa Concordia was declared a "constructive total loss" by the cruise line's insurer, and its salvage was "one of the biggest maritime salvage operations." On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began, and by the early hours of 17 September, the ship was set upright on its underwater cradle. In July 2014, the ship was refloated using sponsons (flotation tanks) welded to its sides, and was towed 320 kilometres (200 mi) to its home port of Genoa for scrapping, which was completed in July 2017.

The total cost of the disaster, including victims' compensation, refloating, towing and scrapping costs, is estimated at $2 billion, more than three times the $612 million construction cost of the ship. Costa Cruises offered compensation to passengers (to a limit of 11,000 per person) to pay for all damages, including the value of the cruise; one third of the survivors took the offer.

Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "shore excursions". On "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages", cruise ships make two- to three-night round trips without visiting any ports of call.

Modern cruise ships tend to have less hull strength, speed, and agility compared to ocean liners. However, they have added amenities to cater to water tourists, with recent vessels being described as "balcony-laden floating condominiums".

As of December 2018, there were 314 cruise ships operating worldwide, with a combined capacity of 537,000 passengers. Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with an estimated market of $29.4 billion per year, and over 19 million passengers carried worldwide annually as of 2011. The industry's rapid growth saw nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, as well as others servicing European clientele until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw the entire industry all but shutdown.As of 2022, the world's largest passenger ship is Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas.