COSTA Cruises, the largest Italian travel group and Europe’s premier cruise company, has begun its fifth consecutive season in the Arabian Gulf.  Until March 2011, the Costa Luminosa and Costa Deliziosa will be offering seven-day cruises which covers two nights in Dubai, one-day calls in Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, with an additional overnight stay in Dubai at the end.

In Abu Dhabi, the cruise liner will offer new excursions in the emirate, allowing guests the opportunity to visit the newly opened Ferrari World on Yas Island.

In the 2010/11 winter season Costa expects approximately 150,000 passenger movements in Dubai, an increase of seven per cent compared to the previous year, with a total of 31 port calls, while there will be 30 calls at Abu Dhabi with a total of 75,000 transit passengers, an increase of 15 per cent compared to 2009/10.

The two Costa ships deployed in the region, the Costa Luminosa and Costa Deliziosa, offer a wide variety of on-board activities including 4D cinemas, roller skating track, golf simulator, Grand Prix driving simulator, a 3,500-sq-m Samsara Spa wellness centre with the Technogym Kinesis circuit and PlayStation World. Facilities catering to regional guests include prayer rooms as well as Middle Eastern cuisine, Arabic signage, Arab-speaking shipboard staff and Arabic TV and radio.

The cruise liner’s 2011 brochure also features the return of the historic ‘round-the-world’ cruise, on the Costa Deliziosa. This 100-day trip will begin in December 2011 where the Costa Deliziosa will depart from Savona. The cruise can also be purchased in three stand-alone legs:  from Savona to Los Angeles; from Los Angeles to Singapore and from Singapore to Savona.