Costa Cruises

Embrace rich cultural heritage and generous hospitality when you go Cruising Italian Style with Costa. Linger over a freshly brewed cappuccino or learn how to prepare the perfect pesto in an Italian cooking class. At night, have a ball behind Venetian masks or don a toga and party like the Romans. Or, just linger on deck and savor la dolce vita.

Having begun in the mid-19th century as a fleet of freighters carrying fabrics and olive oil between Sardinia and the Italian mainland, Genoa based Costa Crociere S.p.A. started carrying passengers some 60 years ago. Today, including the AIDA Cruises brand for a total of 15 ships in active service and five more ships on order, the company has grown into the biggest and most modern fleet in Europe. Acquired by industry giant Carnival Corporation in 2000, the itineraries and onboard experience of the Costa Cruises' fleet have remained largely unchanged, but the way they look inside and out is a completely different story, beginning with the Costa Atlantica introduced in July 2000 and characteristically decorated by Carnival's fanciful interior designer Joe Farcus.

Costa Atlantica was the first in what is now known as the Carnival Spirit-class vessels, an upside-down deck-plan that put all the public rooms on the lower decks making way for an abundance of balcony cabins on the upper decks like the cruise industry had never seen before. In November 2003, Costa Fortuna, then the biggest Italian passenger ship ever, entered service followed closely by sister ship Costa Magica in fall 2004. Those ships are basically sister ships to the Carnival Destiny class. The new flagship; Costa Concordia (a sister ship to the Carnival Conquest-class); entered service in July of 2006 and is now the largest in the fleet carrying over 3,000 passengers year-round in the Mediterranean. Costa Serena and another yet to be named ship to be launched in 2009 will follow.



Though it is indisputable that Costa is blazing the trail towards state-of-the-art cruising in Europe, if you are American you might want to temper your enthusiasm if you see a Costa cruise steeply discounted, especially in Europe. The fact is, these ships are operated for the European market, which means they do many things in a manner that is familiar to denizens of that continent, but "ain't the way we do it back home," as Americans are known to say.

Costa Cruises, or Costa (pronounced long-'o') Crociere, as it is known in its native Italy, is the European version of Carnival Cruise Lines, and not by accident. The company is owned by Carnival Corp. and the parent company is shrewdly using the Costa brand to introduce U.S. style cruise vacations to the rapidly growing European cruising market. That fact is, cruising is now catching fire as a vacation option in Europe, just like it did in the U.S. ten years ago, but because Europeans in general take three to five times as much vacation time every year as Americans do, the potential is huge.

So, what is the downside? If you have ever seen the pan-continental European television networks where everything that happens gets translated into German, Italian, Spanish and French as you stare at faces as blank as your own waiting for all the translation to finish, then you understand how Costa works. The primary language onboard is Italian, with other European languages following. English may come in at third, fourth or even fifth when it comes to announcements and to the linguistic abilities of the staff and crew. Hence, not only will you not understand the announcements being made in four foreign languages, there is a good chance your waiter or room steward will not understand you very well, either. Europeans are quite used to this sort of behavior, but the linguistically isolated Americans are not.

Now, Costa staff does a great job of organizing the various nationalities into groups, keeping track of which dining room tables and cabins receive written material in what language. But on shore excursions, expect guides to say everything in at least two languages (and if in Europe, you will be lucky if English is one of them). On board announcements will be repeated thoroughly in up to four languages. In addition, to seasoned Europeans who are not on the ship to "see Europe" as most Americans would be, the time spent in port will likely be frustratingly short.


Some onboard entertainment simply will not be translated. One notable exception, however, are the Moulin Rouge-style stage shows, which because they are largely comprised of hit songs (the vast majority of which are sung in English no matter where in the world you happen to be), are fun and so cleverly produced they can be enjoyed by any nationality.

And, what is the upside? How about sailing on what is essentially a Carnival ship at a hugely discounted price? Since there are not many places for European cruise ships to go in the winter, many Costa ships are repositioned to the Caribbean every year. If you are adventurous, like exotic food, and don't mind cigarette smoke, you will find simply great bargains on modern cruise ships that are basically identical in floorplan and decor to the modern Carnival Cruise Lines fleet. The truth is, Costa is a bargain in the Caribbean. So, if you can go with the flow and want to save some money, a Costa cruise is worth a try.

In the Caribbean, English becomes the primary language, and announcements are not repeated in several languages (though they might be repeated in one or two depending on the passenger mix). Your fellow passengers will be mostly Canadians, Americans, South Americans, and a few Europeans. However, the crew communication is still difficult at best, with crew members greeting you with "Buon giorno!" in the morning. The food will still be somewhat unpalatable to Americans, unless you regularly eat beans for breakfast and squid for lunch. Add to this that the line's food has been somewhat inconsistent since Costa replaced its all-Italian crew mostly with South Americans. (The line has opened a facility in the Dominican Republic to train service personnel).

Another matter is the smoking policy. Especially in Europe, but in the Caribbean as well, the policy is much more open that U.S. marketed cruise lines, meaning smoking will be allowed if not almost everywhere, then basically just everywhere. In Europe, there will be a persistent smoke cloud hanging through the entire ship.