Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 60 – March 2022
Costa Cruises has undertaken a series of changes and new features, including a corporate rebranding, which is ambitious in itself, given that the Costa logo is one of the industry's icons. What are the main new features of Costa Cruises for this season?
We're starting this season with a new Costa, full of new leisure and culinary offerings designed to delight cruise passengers. First, we've redesigned our shore excursions with a new concept, giving them more time than ever before (thanks to longer stops) and identifying new, lesser-known locations—true hidden gems that enrich our guests' experience. The culinary offerings included in the cruise price feature creations from three new Michelin-starred chefs, including our beloved Ángel León, the Chef of the Sea. We've also added more onboard entertainment in Spanish with well-known comedians like Edu Soto, El Sevilla, and José Corbacho.
Next summer, the company's entire fleet will resume operations, with the four new ships delivered in recent months—Costa Toscana, Costa Smeralda, Costa Firenze, and Costa Venezia—deployed in the Mediterranean, several of them in Spain. Furthermore, for the summer season, hoping for favorable regulations, the company plans to resume independent shore excursions and, given the gradual easing of current restrictions, is working to be able to offer them as early as this spring.
What sets Costa Cruises apart for Spanish travelers? It's
the fact that we offer a product and service on board our ships designed exclusively for this Spanish customer profile. Schedules are more flexible, for example, with extended restaurant hours to accommodate our customs; personalized service is provided in Spanish; and even traditional Spanish dishes are featured on our menus. Meanwhile, entertainment and shows are also available in Spanish, featuring some of the biggest names in Spanish comedy.
The Costa Toscana once again places Costa at the forefront of design, but also of sustainability. Besides using the cleanest fuel, what else can passengers expect on board?
The Costa Toscana is a milestone for the company and an example of its commitment to responsible innovation. It is the second Costa Cruises ship powered by LNG, the cleanest fossil fuel available to date. Its incorporation represents another step towards achieving our goal of zero emissions. This ship incorporates numerous sustainability innovations: from processes for the selective collection and separation of 100% of waste and the elimination of single-use plastics, to technologies for transforming seawater in desalination plants that meet all of the ship's water needs, and an intelligent energy efficiency system on board (where, for example, the elevators generate energy) designed to minimize consumption.
New itineraries, new excursions, but what about the "bubble" excursions? This excursion model allowed cruises to resume during the pandemic, but how long will this model continue to operate?
The safety of passengers and crew is paramount for Costa Cruises. In accordance with our Safety Protocol, effectively implemented since September 2020 when we resumed operations, bubble groups were the safest option for enjoying both onboard and ashore experiences. We are currently in discussions with the relevant international authorities and hope to reinstate our traditional excursions before summer, possibly in spring, safely and provided circumstances allow.
You are also responsible for the Portuguese market. When it comes to booking a cruise this year, are both markets behaving similarly?
In general, global tourism has been affected again by the Omicron variant since December, which has led to a slowdown in bookings across the tourism sector, and of course, for cruises. However, Costa is maintaining its plans to continue operations for the entire fleet, both for embarkations in Portugal and Spain and for connectivity solutions, with flights to embarkations in other countries, which truly represent a very significant value proposition and make life easier for Portuguese consumers.
Most cruise lines predict they will have their entire fleet deployed this year. Is this the case for Costa? When do you think the market will have fully recovered?
Costa Cruises is continuing with its phased restart plan for 2022. Starting March 5, when the new Costa Toscana, a star of the recent Sanremo Music Festival, sets sail on its maiden voyage, a growing number of the company's ships will return to service, joining those already sailing. By next summer, the company's entire fleet will have resumed operations.
