Costa doubles up in Dubai
December 28, 2007 - Costa Cruises has continued with Dubai as its regional cruise hub in 2008, but has doubled its presence by adding a second ship.
Costa Romantica and Costa Europa are offering a total of six weekly packages to destinations in the UAE, Gulf and the Middle East.
Romantica is offering weekly regional trips until the end of March while Europa will continue until February 25.

Costa Four get facelifts
December 20, 2007 - Four Costa ships have been upgraded over the past two months during multi-million pound refits.
Costa Victoria and Costa Marina went in to dry-dock in in Genoa while Costa Concordia and Costa Classica were at the Fincantieri yards in Palermo.
Public areas and cabins have been restyled, with new furnishings, carpeting, curtains, fabrics and wall linings. New LCD televisions have been installed and the flooring of the outer outer decks has been replaced with teak.

Two new ships in 2010 and 2011
October 22, 2007 - Costa has announced an order for two new 114,200-ton ships for delivery in 2011 and 2012.
The Italian subsidiary of Carnival Corporation signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of the two new vessels, each costing about £355 million.
The ships will be built at the Marghera shipyard and be sisters to the Costa Concordia, Costa Serena and Costa Pacifica, the latter of which is currently being built at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente shipyard. They will each be able to accommodate 3,780 passengers in total (including all upper berths) or 3,012 guests based on double occupancy.
More about Costa's new ships

Japan added to Far East cruise menu
August 6, 2007 - Costa has extended its Far East programme to introduce Japan with 14 and 15-night sailings for 2008.
It will offer two sailings on Costa Allegra. A 15-night itinerary from June 21 starts from Hong Kong and then calls at Keelung, Naha Okinawa, Kobe, Tokyo, Nagasaki and Cheju before ending in Tianjin.
More about Japan cruises

Costa hits the million mark
July 21, 2007 - Costa Cruises has passed the one million mark for guests booked on 2007 departures since the beginning of the year.
This is the first time in history that a European cruise company has achieved this significant landmark.
In ten years Costa has boosted guest numbers from 350,000 to the million martk, and the company is now targetinmg 1.5 million passengers by 2010.

Serena joins the fleet
May 16, 2007 - Costa Serena has been delivered by Fincantieri at their Sestri Ponente shipyard to become the 12th vessel in Costa fleet. The 114,000-ton sister to Costa Concordia has a passenger capacity of 3,780, with 1,500 cabins.
Costa chairman Pier Luigi Foschi said Costa Serena boosts the compan'y ambition to hit one million bookings this year and, with three more ships due for delivery by 2010, the new target is 1.5 million guest reservations in 2010.
Costa paid approximately Euros450m for its newest ship, which includes a 2,154sq m Samsara Spa, 99 Samsara cabins (up from 67 on Costa Concordia) and a Samsara Restaurant with a special wellness menu. Other amenities include four pools - two of them covered with a sliding glass roof - a poolside movie screen and an a la carte restaurant.
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Costa's new offerings in 2008
February 19, 2007 - Costa will be offering 16-day cruises in Mauritius and the Seychelles in 2008, along with new wellness programs on Costa Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea.
The new Mauritius - Seychelles itineraries will operate between Christmas and Easter on Costa Marina to destinations that also include Kenya, Madagascar, Mayotte and Reunion.
More about Costa cruises in 2008