Costa Cruises presents what’s new in 2008
Cruises to Mauritius, the Seychelles and the Indian Ocean, Costa’s brand new brochure offers this and a lot more in 2008. With Costa Cruises it’s becoming easier and easier to keep one step ahead of the future.
Today marks the formal presentation of the new 2008 brochure: the totally user friendly tool to plan your vacation far in advance. As you glance through the new brochure you’ll discover everything you want to know about new destinations and itineraries and the Costa ships sailing where they’ve never been before.
MAURITIUS, SEYCHELLES AND THE INDIAN OCEAN
A real novelty this year will be the cruises available in the Indian Ocean. The Costa Marina will be setting sail between Christmas and Easter to undiscovered paradises and distant and mysterious lands like Kenya, Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion, Mauritius and the Seychelles. These 16-day itineraries will depart from Mauritius.
MEDITERRANEAN
The Mediterranean has some important new items in store for you: starting in March, the Costa Magica will make its debut in Naples, with an itinerary in the western Mediterranean that promises sun, beaches and history with calls at Palermo, Tunis, Palma, Barcelona, Marseilles and Savona.
More and more cruises to Turkey, Greece and the Aegean Islands are on offer, onboard the new flagship, the Costa Serena and the Costa Fortuna, departing from Venice, as well an onboard the Costa Classica departing from Trieste.
Lisbon will be another headliner in the “Beyond the Columns of Hercules” itineraries. The Costa Mediterranea, the Costa Europa, the Costa Victoria and the Costa Classica will travel to Portugal’s capital, offering fascinating itineraries in the Atlantic Ocean.
Costa Concordia will confirm her seven-day cruises to the western Mediterranean with the following ports of call: Rome (Civitavecchia), Savona, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Tunis, Malta and Palermo. Costa Romantica will be positioned in the port of Rome (Civitavecchia), offering alternate seven-day cruises, one to the eastern Mediterranean (Greece and Turkey) and the other to the western Mediterranean (Tunisia and Libya), both calling at Catania. Costa Europa will be deployed on 10 and 11 day cruises with various destinations (Spain and Portugal, Egypt and Libya, the Black Sea).
There will be no shortage of Mediterranean cruises during the 2007/2008 winter season either. The two flagships will be deployed in the Mediterranean, all of them operating out of the Savona PalaCruises. The Costa Concordia will offer 11 day cruises to Egypt, also calling at Rome (Civitavecchia); the Costa Serena will head for Spain, Morocco and the Canary Islands.
DUBAI AND THE ARAB EMIRATES
In the wake of the Costa Classica’s success in 2007, Costa Cruises is doubling the number of ships setting sail to discover lands rich in contrasts with all the charm of the nearby Orient: Dubai, Al Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman. Between 2007 and March 2008 the Costa Romantica and the Costa Europa will depart from Dubai to discover these dream destinations.
ORIENT
Now, there’s something absolutely new even in the Far East: the Costa Allegra, completely renovated for its debut in this area, will offer cruises to China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, South Korea and Japan, with itineraries of varying duration to visit far off and fascinating places while guaranteeing Costa’s excellent quality.
- a 16 day itinerary (including flight from Italy) with departure from Hong Kong and calls to Manila (Philippines), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo), Brunei, Singapore, Ho Chi Min City (Saigon), Da Nang (Vietnam) and Sanya (China);
- an 18 day itinerary (including flight from Italy) with departure from Hong Kong and calls to Manila (Philippines), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo), Brunei, Singapore, Ho Chi Min City (Saigon), Da Nang and Halong Bay (Vietnam), and Sanya (China);
- 5 different five day itineraries, with departures from Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tianjin, on which our guests can visit Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.
CARIBBEAN
This year, for the first time, the Costa Fortuna, with its 1300 cabins, will join the fleet in the legendary winter destination for the Caribbean, departing from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale for seven day cruises to the destination’s most beautiful islands. A ship with incredible comfort and elegance that’s ready to welcome guests and offer them the opportunity to discover a different island every day.
Costa Fortuna will be joined by Costa Atlantica, departing from Guadalupe on seven day cruises to Antilles, Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic, and Costa Mediterranea, departing from Fort Lauderdale on seven day cruises to Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic.
SOUTH AMERICA
This the first time that three ships will be sailing in South America during the winter season: the Costa Magica, the Costa Victoria and the Costa Classica will offer guests the chance to discover all the pleasure and joy of the Brazilian lifestyle and the most beautiful coastal spots in Latin America up to Tierra del Fuego.
NORTH EUROPE
There is now even more choice in North Europe with four Costa ships taking guests from the unusual landscapes of the very North to the Norwegian fjords and Baltic capitals. The Costa Mediterranea, the Costa Atlantica, the Costa Victoria and the Costa Marina will now offer lots of itineraries to enjoy in the summer of 2008.
CRUISES - WELLNESS.
After the Samsara Spa’s incredible success on the Costa Concordia and the Costa Serena, starting in May 2007 you’ll also be able to book a special Wellness Programme on board the Costa Atlantica and the Costa Mediterranea that includes accommodation in Wellness Cabins or Suites with total comfort and exclusive accessories, a Welcome Ceremony with fitness lessons, three treatments of your choice and access to the Wellness Restaurant featuring a special wellness menu.
To help you choose your cruise more quickly and easily, Costa Cruises’ new 2008 catalogue is now also available on-line in an e-brochure version thanks to an innovative, interactive and totally integrated application.
- INNOVATIVE because it lets you choose today cruises for 2008, with all the benefits that an early reservation can offer.
- INTERACTIVE since it is an e-brochure, i.e. a real on-line brochure that you can use to choose your cruise by “leafing” through it just like a paper version… but with the added advantage of interactivity! Thanks to the e-brochure, you can also go to the sections within the site that you like best.
- TOTALLY INTEGRATED because the on-line catalogue is fully integrated with the information available in Costa Cruises’ portal. This means that you are just a click away from immediately accessing the institutional site or, for travel agents, to the CostaClick site.
Costa Cruises SpA is an Italian cruise company and the market leader in Europe and South America. In 2006 Costa carried a total of 880,000 cruise guests and this figure is expected to hit the one million mark in 2007. Its fleet, Europe’s largest and most advanced, has a total of 11 ships in service and 4 under construction. By 2010 the Costa fleet will be 15 strong with total guest capacity of over 30,800.
All of the vessels fly the Italian flag and are deployed in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, South America, the United Arab Emirates, the Arabian Gulf and the Far East. Costa Cruises has been certified by RINA (Italian Shipping Register) with the BEST4, an integrated system of voluntary certification of corporate compliance with the highest standards governing social accountability (SA 8000, issued in 2001), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, 1996), safety (OHSAS 18001, 1999) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, 2000). Costa Cruises is also an official partner of the WWF for the protection of the marine ecoregions of the Mediterranean, the Greater Antilles and Brazil.
Costa Cruises SpA also operates the brand AIDA Cruises, which is the number one cruise company for the German market with 4 ships in service and 4 under construction. Costa Cruises SpA is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise operator.
For more information or to book go to costacruises.co.uk.
