Italian line Costa Cruises has announced reimagined features and offerings on its ships and shore excursions that will freshen up the guest experience moving forward.
Now our ships are sailing again, we decided to completely renew our offer. The innovations are so significant that we can talk about a whole new way of travelling with Costa. We want everyone who holidays with us to enjoy unique, enriching experiences, discovering destinations in the most authentic, insightful, sustainable way possible,” explained Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises.
“For more than 70 years, Costa has been synonymous with cruise travel. At this very important time for the recovery of tourism we wanted to rewrite the future of cruises in a way that is more responsible and mindful of people and the planet, with the aim of steering the sector back to the constant growth it saw before 2020.”
The brand’s new concept is based on enabling passengers to explore destinations through unique experiences. To do this, Costa has focused on three key areas: cuisine, tours, and sustainability.
Cuisine
When it comes to dining, Costa has called in three world-renowned chefs: Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze, and Ángel León. The trio has explored authentic recipes from the destinations that Costa’s ships visit, reworking them with their personal know-how. Now, the cruise line has created two new features: the Archipelago restaurant and Destination Dishes.
Destination Dishes are individual recipes designed by the three chefs, interpreting the traditions and flavors of the places passengers will be visiting the following day. They’re available at all main restaurants fleet-wide.
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The new Archipelago restaurant is available on Costa Smeralda, and will be coming soon to other ships in the fleet. It features three menus to choose from — one by each chef. The menus offer 5 dishes created to explore each part of the itinerary through cuisine, with most ingredients sourced from local producers.
Archipelago features “island” tables, framed by a copper sculpture enclosing unique pieces of driftwood. This driftwood was salvaged as part of “Guardians of the Coast,” an environmental education program for the protection of the Italian coastline run by the Costa Crociere Foundation.
For every dinner eaten at the Archipelago, Costa will donate part of the proceeds to the Costa Crociere Foundation to support environmental and social projects.
Tours
Costa Cruises has rethought its range of tours to enable guests to explore hidden, less-visited gems.
Itineraries have also been redesigned to accommodate the longest-ever port calls, giving guests entire days to explore destinations and make the most of their cruise.
Visual Identity
Costa Cruises has also transformed its logo, the iconic “C” that has been accompanying Costa on seas around the world for over 70 years. The new “C” brings together two motifs in an embrace: the earth, seen in yellow on the lower part of the logo, and the sea in blue on the upper part.
The cruise line’s latest updates and changes can already be found on ships that are currently in service: Costa Smeralda and Costa Firenze in the western Mediterranean, Costa Luminosa and Deliziosa in the eastern Mediterranean, and Costa Diadema operating cruises to Spain and Portugal.
These innovations will be extended to the next ships gradually as they resume service, including the brand-new Costa Toscana which is set to begin sailing in March 2022.
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