costa cruise News

Encouraged by the excellent response to its Asian itineraries, Costa Cruises now plans to place another cruise liner in the area from May next year. Up to now, the company has operated the 1,680-passenger Costa Classica in Asia, and the additional ship will mean that the company’s capacity in the region is increased to 5,074.

Travel agents were the lucky first guests to board Costa Cruises brand new flagship, the Fascinosa, when she embarked on a mini-cruise on Sunday.

Costa Fascinosa, the latest pride and joy of Costa Cruises, was presented to the cruise line on Saturday by the Fincantieri shipyard in Venice, Italy. Formally presented at the Venice Passenger Terminal, Costa Fascinosa – with sister liner Costa Favolosa – is the biggest Italian-flagged cruise ship to date.

Since the Costa Concordia debacle many cruise news writers seem to have become obsessed with bad news. Perhaps it is simply a matter of bad news selling better than good news, but suddenly cruise journals are filled with bad news about the cruise industry.

The new flagship of Costa Cruises, and, in fact, the whole of the Italian passenger fleet, the Costa Fascinosa, will be formally presented to the cruise line at the Venice Passenger Terminal on the 5th May 2012.

People who can appreciate the finer things in life would no doubt revel in the following bit of news: Costa Cruises has commissioned Italian glass specialists Venini to develop three vases that will be showcased onboard Costa Fascinosa’s private cruise embarking on the 6th May this year.

Costa Cruises has released information showing that reservations for its 2012 Easter cruises over the last two weeks have surpassed figures registered over the same period last year – showing that cruising continues to be among the most popular kinds of holiday during Easter.

Costa cruises has launched a one-of-a-kind onboard designer boutique programme on their cruise liner Costa Victoria.

Savvy cruisers are said to be comparing cruise prices this week in an attempt to find bargains after the Costa Concordia incident. On the other hand, the leading cruise lines in the UK have suspended all their marketing activities for now.

In reaction to the Concordia incident and as part of continuous efforts by the cruise industry to improve its safety measures, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), who speaks on behalf of cruise lines worldwide, has announced that the industry is to embark on a Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review.

Costa Cruises issued a press release on the 24th January 2012 to clarify the issue of discounts and promotional offers for passengers who were on board Costa Concordia on Friday the 13th January 2012.

Following a recent unfortunate incident involving Costa Concordia of which we are sure all readers are aware of by now, Costa Cruises’ parent company, Carnival Corporation, which also manages eight other cruise lines around the world, is to comprehensively investigate all emergency and safety procedures across its entire operation.

Abu Dhabi might still be able to achieve its target of welcoming 77 cruise liners during the current season. Two cruise ships made inaugural visits to the port recently, bringing the port a little bit closer to that total. The World Travel Awards recently voted the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) as the World’s Leading Tourist Board.

MTN Satellite Communications announced on the 5th December 2011 that it has been appointed to provide Costa Fascinosa, the new flagship of the Costa Cruises group, with VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) services. The company will leverage its worldwide network of satellites on which many cruise liners have come to rely for timely delivery of passenger and crew data anywhere on the planet.

Costa Favolosa, the undisputed flagship of Costa Cruises, will head for the United Arab Emirates this coming winter – a destination first introduced by Costa five years ago.

Costa Cruises this week announced that Costa Voyager has joined its fleet and that the ship will be off to the Red Sea soon.

Regardless of the economic slowdown the cruise industry is still doing remarkably well – some cruise lines more so than others. One of the more successful seems to be Costa Cruises. The company has recently announced that its cruise ships brought close to four million passengers to Italian shores in 2011, which is double the number of the previous year.

Costa Cruises has always been the choice of the discerning cruise lover and Costa Romantica in particular has been very popular among those in the know ever since its launch.

The management of Costa Cruises have confirmed that the company’s pride, Costa Favolosa, will be heading for the United Arab Emirates during the winter of 2011/12.

Costa Cruises is to feature a number of new, unique itineraries next year. With the strongly growing Mediterranean and Northern European cruise markets in mind, the company will offer several new itineraries in these regions.

Great news for fans of Costa Cruise’s ship the Romantica: it is going to receive a major overhaul, get an extra 111 cabins and two new decks and be re-launched as the Costa neoRomantica in January next year.

Sailing somewhat against the current trend in the cruise industry, Costa Cruises has announced it will not visit ports in Egypt and Tunisia next year.

In support of the revitalisation of the Japanese tourism industry Costa Cruises will not only be resuming its Japanese itineraries in the near future, but will also introduce new destinations.

Costa Cruises has plans to give its cruise liner Romantica such a major overhaul that even its name will be changed in the process. When the 1,697-passenger ship comes out of the dry dock she will be known as the Costa neoRomantica.

Over the years Costa Cruises has acquired a loyal following of cruise lovers who like the top quality service, world class amenities and specialised itineraries that the cruise line has to offer its passengers. The company’s latest ship, the Fascinosa, will no doubt continue with this grand tradition.

The easternmost port in Italy, Trieste, was treated to a spectacular midnight ceremony on Saturday when Costa Cruises’ latest ship, the Costa Favolosa was named at the local waterfront.

The Italian actress Margareth Madè who became famous for the lead role in Baaria, the film that was nominated for the Golden Globe, has been appointed as the godmother of Costa Favolosa. The christening ceremony will take place on the 2nd July in the beautiful Piazza Unità d’Italia in the Italian port city of Trieste.

Italian Cruise Company Costa experienced strong growth in the 2010/11 financial year, with revenues up by 12% to nearly €3 billion.

We recently reported about Costa Favolosa successfully completing her sea trials. After the trials she returned to the shipyard in Marghera where her interior is currently being fitted out.

The biggest cruise company in Europe, Costa Cruises, has launched the “Play and Win with Costa Favolosa” competition to celebrate the pending arrival of its brand new flagship the Favolosa on the 2nd July 2011.

As can be expected from the number one cruise company in Europe, Costa Cruises’ latest flagship the Costa Favolosa passed its official sea trials with flying colours.

The relatively cold, cloudy weather did little to dampen the enthusiasm of Cobh residents as they welcomed the Costa Deliziosa to their town. The ship docked there on Tuesday after it sailed from Vigo in Spain. It is the second cruise ship in a week to dock at Cobh.

U Magazine is the most prestigious travel magazine in Hong Kong. Costa Cruises is the biggest Italian travel company and also the number one cruise company in Europe. Recently the two companies’ paths crossed once again when Costa Cruises was recognised for its leadership role in protecting the environment. This is the second year in a row that Costa receives the “U Green Award” for its commitment to environmental protection.

Have you ever seen (or smelt) a rat on a cruise ship? Probably not many of us have, but if that is the one fear that keeps you from cruising, you will no doubt appreciate the following news: the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) inspected Costa Cruises’ ship the Costa Atlantica on the 25th March this year and gave the company its 5th Perfect Sanitation Score.

According to a press release by the company, Costa Cruises will call 2,800 times at 92 Mediterranean ports during the course of 2011. The total number of passengers involved will be just over nine million – a number that clearly underlines the fact that Costa is the undisputed leader in this region.

Following recent events in the Middle East, Costa Cruises has taken the decision to replace all visits to Egypt, Tunisia and Israel for the rest of this year with alternative destinations.

A year ago Costa Cruises decided to discontinue its weekly visit to Valetta in Malta. After protracted negotiations between the cruise line and local company Orange Cruises Ltd, a decision has now been reached to resume this weekly visit.

Costa Cruises has put together an exciting range of cruise holidays for 2012. The company now offers more than 250 cruise destinations. There are a minimum of 130 itineraries and, believe it or not, every port of call comes with at least 7 shore excursions.

The 16th ship in the Costa fleet, and part of a major expansion program the company launched in 2000, is currently under construction at the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard. The Costa Fascinosa will be a sister ship to the Costa Favolosa.