Costa Returns To Japan

Costa Cruises has announced it is resuming its Japan itineraries and introducing new destinations, following the terrible earthquake that hit the country earlier this year.

On August 26, Costa Classica will be leaving Shanghai for a four-day cruise calling at Fukuoka (Japan) and Cheju (South Korea) before returning to Shanghai.

This decision demonstrates Costa’s confidence in Japan’s tourism market and its support of the revitalisation of the local tourism industry. As the first international cruise company to enter the Chinese market, Costa has been operating cruise itineraries from China to Japan for more than five years.

From August to October this year, Costa Classica - home-ported in Shanghai - will operate a total of 12 cruises to Japan and South Korea.

The wide selection of itineraries includes three Japanese destinations: Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima: four-day cruises to Fukuoka and Cheju (South Korea); a six-day cruise to Pusan (South Korea), Fukuoka and Kagoshima and a five-day cruise to Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Cheju (South Korea).

In 2012, Costa will further expand its operations in Asia and the Far East , with the deployment for the first time of the Costa Victoria (75,200 gross tonnage and 2,394 total guests), which will replace the Classica (53,000 gross tonnage and 1,680 total guests).

For the first time on these cruises, the Victoria will offer guests the chance to book 246 veranda cabins to enjoy the splendid scenery of the Far East, including Japan, from the privacy of their own cabins. Costa Cruises will increase its offer in the area by about 40%.

Victoria will also sail to an array of new destinations in Japan including the tropical paradise of Hososhima/Miyazaki; Wakayama, which boasts the largest hot spring resort; Osaka, Japan’s second largest city; the popular sightseeing cities in the Kanto Area; Yokohama and Tokyo, the capital city.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (www.jnto.go.jp), a joint statement from the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization has reaffirmed that operations can continue normally into and out of Japan's major airports and sea ports.

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