Costa unveils expanded programme for 2009
Costa Cruises will increase capacity by 12% in 2009 with the introduction of two new ships.
Costa Luminosa, which has a guest capacity of 2,828, and Costa Pacifica (3,780) will enter service in April and May 2009 respectively.
They are currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyards in Marghera, Venice, and Genoa-Sestri Ponente.
In total, five new ships, including the Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica, will enter service by 2012,
The five new builds will enable a 50% increase in the capacity of the Costa Cruises fleet, which by 2012 will be 17 ships and total guest capacity of 46,400.
Releasing its 2009 brochure today, the Italian company has its sights set on the new target of 1,500,000 guests in 2010, a 50% increase in just three years.
In 2009, Costa’s ships will offer around 250 destinations all over the world and more than 100 different itineraries.
It will be the first to offer a transatlantic cruise from Italy to Argentina and up the Amazon River as far as Manaus, Brazil.
It will also introduce cruises in New England and Canada in the autumn, with five calls in Quebec, Boston, Newport and New York.
There are also innovations in the Mediterranean, with two new itineraries featuring two-day stopovers in Istanbul and Lisbon, and new ports of call at Capri, the Isle of Elba and St. Tropez, as well as additional cruise routes in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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