Costa Cruises

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Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises

Independent Expert Reviews by Professional Travel Journalists

Based in Italy, Costa Cruises boasts a dazzling array of exotic itineraries, stylish ships with exciting and innovative facilities, fabulous Italian cuisine and a reputation for offering something for everyone.

Using the motto ‘Cruising Italian Style’, Costa’s ships operate in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Northern Europe and transatlantic.

Fun and friendly cruising with a young, cosmopolitan feel, Costa claims to have the largest Mediterranean programme of any cruise company with its 12-strong fleet, to be expanded with further vessels in 2009 and 2010.

Costa Cruises

The ships are lively and attract many families, particularly during the Italian school holidays.

The newest additions – 3,000-passenger Costa Concordia, launched 2006, and Costa Serena, which entered service last year (2007) - are home to the Samsara Spa, one of the largest floating spas in the world.

Passengers can book a special ‘Wellness Programme’ that includes accommodation in Samsara cabins or suites with total comfort and exclusive accessories, a welcome ceremony with fitness lessons, three treatments of their choice and access to the Samsara restaurant featuring a special wellness menu.

These larger ships provide the most varied nightlife and exhaustive dining options, all with a signature Italian flavour.

Costa Cruises was the first company to market regular scheduled Indian Ocean cruises to Mauritius and the Seychelles. The Costa Marina sails from Mauritius to the Seychelles, Kenya, Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Réunion and back to Mauritius between December and March.

Costa was also the first line to offer a cruise itinerary in the Arabian Gulf from a ship based in Dubai. The Costa Romantica and the Costa Europa are sailing from Dubai to Oman, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and back to Dubai between December and March.

The company is also authorised to operate from China and has deployed the Costa Allegra in Hong Kong. The ship offers a choice of five-day, 16-day and 18-day itineraries departing from Hong Kong are sailing to destinations including The Philippines, Borneo, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, China, South Korea and Japan.