Where should Costa Mediterranea go?

In one of the odder press releases we've received here at Cruise Critic, Costa has announced that it will redeploy Costa Mediterranean from the Caribbean for the 2008/2009 winter season -- but apparently doesn't know yet where it will send the ship.

An official statement from the cruise line simply says, "The Costa Mediterranea will be redeployed to a different key core market, allowing Costa to reinforce its strategic global positions. Specific details will be forthcoming." Read the whole news item.

In the meantime, where do you think Costa Mediterranea should go? We've listed some major regions where Costa has a wintertime presence ... but feel free to post any out-of-the-box ideas you have!

My guess is the Great Lakes!

I think the Canary Islands will be the new Caribbean--especially for European cruisers because the home ports will be easier to get to.

Maybe it is going to Asia to help support the activities of Costa Allegra? The Costa Med was the first ship we cruised on and thanks to it's staff and cleanliness, we got hooked on cruising.:)

I think Costa should position a ship departing from the NY area.

The Mediterranea is a nice ship and would love to see her stay in Florida over the winter months. But if Costa redeploys the Mediterranea, I just hope that they send some of the newer ships over for the 2008/09 Caribbean sailings.

Serena? Concorida?

And hopefully the Magica will come back as well...

Andy

I also would love to see Costa come to NYC. I have not traveled on Costa, but I was recently checking into it. I received great feed back from other cruisecritic cruisers on Costa........so come to NYC

Dorene

I would love to see Costa offer shorter trips in the Caribbean. Sometimes all I need is a little 4 or 5 day shortie cruise to hold me over until my next "real" trip!

Longer cruises would be nice too - maybe have the Med be the ship in the Caribbean that does 10 and 11 day itineraries that goes deeper south or a Panama Canal trip.

I have cruised from my "home" port (Baltimore) before and I can say I am not really a fan of cruising from so far north which is why we don't cruise out of NY now.

I think the Costa Mediterranea will be repositioned to the Indian Ocean for 2008/2009 winter season. The Costa Marina will be in the Indian Ocean for the 2007/2008 winter season.

Costa Cruises have put the Costa Marina up for sale (by November 2008):

http://www.galbraiths.co.uk/content_manager/page.php?ID=7515&dbc=4cc43dd12cf759cefe95245a1518199a

So putting 2 and 2 together outcomes a great cruise in a great ship (hopefully).

Ron

So the question remains: Which ships will Costa use for the 2008/2009 Caribbean Season? Fortuna? Magica? Atlantica? Serena?

Andy

For the 2008/2009 Winter Caribbean, as most Cruise Lines are a bit on the conservaive side and did not like to change much with regards to their fleet positioning, I would guess (not educated) the folllowing:

Costa Atlantica out of Guadaloupe

Costa Fortuna out of Ft Lauderdale

Costa Serena out of Ft Lauderdale

Why the Serena?. This winter she is doing the milk run to the Atlantic Islands and that as the Costa Flagship. Last winter this run was covered by the Costa Europa (it hurts just to type the name - worst ship I have ever been on). The Caribbean is still the major winter cruising area.

Ron

Thanks Ron... good info! Maybe somebody from CC will confirm this as information will become available....

Where will the Magica go?

Andy

Magica - back to South America!!!

Can't wait for the 2009 Catalog. Costa here in Germany is like a black hole, everything goes in and nothing comes out. :rolleyes: Seriously CC in Germany are very tight lipped when it some to giving out information - they give the standard IT answer "It's (required info) in the next release (catalog)" :cool:

Ron

South America is a good idea. Perhaps Costa should combine south american itinerary with new route such as the Antarctica.

The Costa Mediterannea is going to South America for the 2008/2009 winter season together with Costa Magica and Costa Marina.

This opens up more questions:

a) Which ship will replace the Marina on the Indian Ocean run?

b) What happens to the Victoria and Classica?

Here is the Press Release from Seatrade Insider News:

http://www.cruise-community.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=12882

Costa Mediterranea to join S. America lineup

24/10/2007

Costa Mediterranea will sail from Brazil for the first time in the 2008/09 austral summer season, joining Costa Magica on voyages from Santos. Completing Costa Crociere’s three-ship lineup will be Costa Marina, sailing regularly from Buenos Aires.

Costa Mediterranea originally had been scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale for the Caribbean season, but the company said it would redeploy the ship to meet demand in a new growing source market.

The 3,500-passenger Costa Magica will return to Santos to operate weekly trips to Bahia and mini-cruises along Brazil’s southeastern coast. Costa Mediterranea will offer diverse itineraries. And, aimed exclusively at Argentine customers, Costa Marina will sail from Buenos Aires on varied routes, including two 14-night trips to Tierra del Fuego and one to Valparaíso (Chile) plus several voyages with stops on the Brazilian coast. The 2008/09 season marks the 15th anniversary of Costa’s theme cruises in Brazil, including the 15th edition of a fitness-themed sailing.

Ron