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| COSTA CRUISES DOUBLES CRUISES IN THE FAR EAST WITH THE DEBUT OF THE COSTA CLASSICA |
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Costa Cruises, Italy’s largest tourism group and Europe’s number one cruise company has now doubled its cruise offering in the Far East. Costa Classica (53,000dwt and 1,680 guests) is the second Costa Cruises ship operating on a permanent basis in the Far East.
Costa Classica operates alongside the Costa Allegra (28,400 dwt and 1,000 guests), the ship that began the Italian company’s operations in the area in July 2006. Costa Cruises was in fact the first international cruise company to open the cruise market in Asia and in China, also selling its Italian cruises on local markets. From the start of operations in the Orient to the present, about 100,000 guests have taken cruises with Costa Cruises in Asia, half of them Chinese.
Costa Classica was positioned in Asia after operating in Dubai for the 2008-2009 winter season, offering seven-day cruises in the Arabian Gulf, another worldwide Costa exclusive. Costa Classica’s first cruise in the Far East, a 14-day itinerary, includes calls to Thailand, Vietnam, China and Hong Kong. For 2009, the Costa Classica will set sail from Singapore and from the Chinese ports of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tianjin, with alternating extended and short cruises.
The longer 14 and 15-day itineraries, preferred by international guests, will include calls to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, China and Vietnam. The shorter four to six-day cruises, more popular with local guests, will call on some of the most coveted destinations in those markets, such as Okinawa (Japan), Kagoshima (Japan), Nagasaki (Japan), Fukuoka (Japan) and Cheju (South Korea). The various cruises offered by Costa Classica in China will include three between China and Taiwan during April and May 2009, the first cruise linking these two countries. Passengers will include the employees of Amway (China) Co., Limited, one of the leading manufacturing and distributors operating in China.
In the wake of the great success of its Far East cruises, in 2010 Costa Cruises will increase its activities in the area. Starting in March 2010, the Costa Allegra will be replaced by an even bigger ship, Costa Romantica (53,000 dwt and 1,697 guests), to operate alongside the Costa Classica.
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Costa Cruises:
Costa Cruises has Europe’s largest fleet: 12 ships currently in service, all flying the Italian flag, plus another five new ships due to enter service by 2012, for a total investment worth around 2.4 billion Euros. Three of the 5 new fleet members will be delivered in the next twelve months: the Costa Luminosa (end of April 2009), Costa Pacifica (end of May 2009) and Costa Deliziosa (January 2010). Together, Costa’s ships offer the chance to visit some 250 separate destinations – with departures from almost 50 ports located worldwide – in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea, the Caribbean, South America, the United Arab Emirates, the Far East and the Indian Ocean. In particular, Costa Cruises is the only operator in the world to offer regular cruises departing from Dubai, Mauritius, China and Singapore. Costa’s ships offer exclusive amenities: a multipurpose area on two decks with a swimming pool, a big screen and a sliding glass roof; a wellness area of over 6000 m² with a gym, treatment rooms, thalassotherapy pool, sauna, Turkish bath, cabins with direct access to the spa and a dedicated restaurant; a Grand Prix driving simulator with the most accurate representation ever of Grand Prix driving on the world’s best racing circuits; a 4D cinema; an 18-hole professional golf simulator based on the world’s 37 most famous courses plus an outdoor putting green; PlayStation World, an area totally dedicated to latest generation PS3-exclusive video gaming; and Club restaurants with menus devised by Michelin-Star Italian chef Ettore Bocchia. 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), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001), safety (OHSAS 18001) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001). Costa Cruises is an official partner of WWF for the protection of the marine ecoregions of the Mediterranean, the Greater Antilles and Brazil.
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