COSTA Group will be deploying its 1,800-guest Costa neoRomantica year-round in Asia come April 2017. This will be the fifth Costa ship to be based in Asia.
The Costa neoRomantica will reach Shanghai on April 10 after a 23-day positioning cruise departing from Mauritius. She will then be dry-docked in Shanghai to undergo customisation to better suit Asian guests before embarking on its first cruise itinerary on April 24.
At present, there are three Costa ships deployed in Asia, while a fourth, the Costa Fortuna, will arrive in Shanghai on April 22 this year.
Commenting on the deployment, Michael Thamm, CEO, Costa Group, said: “(This) will allow us to continue to significantly grow the Asian cruise market – in particular China, which is set to become the second largest in the world by the end of the decade.”
Costa also recently placed an order for two new ships for Costa Asia, to be built by Fincantieri in Italy, with delivery scheduled in 2019 and 2020.
