Costa growth boosted by new ships and itineraries

 HONG KONG –  Costa Cruises recently announced a major 2011 programme featuring more than 250 destinations and in excess of130 cruise itineraries.

Dario Rustico, (left) sales and marketing director of Costa Cruises Pacific Asia operation,  says the cruise line is shaping its onboard products to meet the demands of a younger cruise market.

“We now have facilities such as a Formula One simulator and roller skating on board some of our ships, and certainly these are aimed at a younger demographic,” he said.

 With more ships positioned in more parts of the world, Costa Cruises believes it can match its itineraries and products to attract a wider variety of  clients.

“Our families and couples segments, which are our primary targets,  have grown very strongly. Now more than 50 percent of our business are families and couples,” said Rustico.

 As an example of matching product to passenger demand, innovations on Costa Favolosa, which  will leave from Venice on her maiden cruise on July 7, include six new veranda suites with their own Jacuzzis; a new entertainment area called Club Cavallo Bianco, with a 4D Cinema, PlayStation World, a bar with ice-cream, kids’ dance floor, children’s game room, and a new Aqua Park water playground.

 Although there are no plans to base a ship in Australia, Rustico believes that the Costa itineraries based out of Singapore have growing appeal for the Australian market.

 In an itinerary tailored specifically for Australian cruisers, between December 2010 and April 2011 the Costa Classica will be offering a 14-day itinerary, which can be broken down into two seven-day segments, sailing from Singapore to Thailand and Malaysia.

 Costa Cruises is increasing  passenger capacity in Asia with the arrival of Costa Romantica in Hong Kong on April 24.

The 53,000 gross-tonnage ship with a guest capacity of 1,697, will operate 30 cruises that depart from Singapore, Tianjin and Shanghai with itineraries spanning Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

In a return to the company’s roots, Costa Deliziosa will be the first Costa liner for 15 years to offer “round-the-world” cruises when on December 28, 2011 she will depart from Savona on a 100-day world voyage in the wake of famous navigators.

“We don’t want to forget our traditions at Costa Cruises which is why we are coming back with a world cruise,” said Rustico.

“We’ve spent two million euros on onboard product and produced a unique itinerary for Costa Deliziosa with a view to attracting premium clients and long-time repeat cruisers.

“The response has been  outstanding. We sold 85 percent of the ship for this cruise in just six weeks.”

Rustico said the challenge is to build one new unique cruise programme each year to attract the company’s extensive portfolio of past clients and then to build a regular  programme from the unique programme.

Food and wine will again be a strong theme of cruises this year with a tie-up with Michelin Guides allowing guests on these programmes to eat at some of the best restaurants in the world.

Costa is also offering discounted excursion and drinks packages on its Mediterranean and Caribbean programmes.

“On a seven-night Mediterranean cruise, a guest can buy upfront three excursions with a 15-20 per cent discount.

“As well, a drinks package of four bottles of wine and four bottles of water is available for 55 euros.

“So for about 150 euros, a guest has drinks and excursions taken care of for a week,” Rustico said.