She participated in the annual fleet maneuvers in 1888, along with the ironclads , , and "Tegetthoff", and the cruisers , , and . "Custoza" and the other three ironclads were joined by "Prinz Eugen", "Panther", and "Leopard" for a visit to Barcelona, Spain, to take part in the opening ceremonies for the Barcelona Universal Exposition. This was the largest squadron of the Austro-Hungarian Navy that had operated outside the Adriatic. There, the Spanish Queen Maria Christina and Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria inspected both "Custoza" and "Tegetthoff". The following year, the ship took part in a set of major training exercises with five other ironclads, several cruisers, and smaller vessels.