Costa Cruises has unveiled 10 exciting themed vacation packages for 2016 featuring immersive overland explorations paired with a cruise on one of four Costa ships. Costa Cruise Tours, the line’s partnership with leading tour operator Central Holidays, will offer the themed 10-night tours from April through November 2016. The themed packages include roundtrip flights to three iconic Italian cities, first-class hotel accommodations and weeklong Mediterranean cruises.
From Art and History Lovers to Nature and Wine Lovers themed cruise tours, the packages appeal to many fun interests. Each package includes unique activities like exploring Milan, Italy, the fashion capital of the world on the Shopping Lovers tour; or touring Cinque Terre, Pisa and Lucca on the Art Lovers tour. Some vacation packages include chocolate tastings or wine tastings, and on the Food Lovers tour guests will visit a market in Orvieto, Italy, to gather ingredients for an Umbrian cooking class.
“Our themed cruise tours are perfect for travelers who have specific interests and want an immersive landside experience followed by an exceptional weeklong cruise,” said Scott Knutson, vice president sales and marketing for Costa Cruises North America. “Italy is a country that excels in romance, history, culture and cuisine, and Costa Cruise Tours offer carefully selected destinations and activities that showcase the best of each theme.”
Additional themes include Food and Chocolate Lovers, Food and Wine Lovers, Music Lovers and Romantic.
Depending on the theme, guests will fly into Venice, Milan or Rome, Italy. After three nights on land, including two full-day excursions, they will embark on a western Mediterranean Costa cruise departing from Savona or Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy, on Costa Diadema, Costa Fascinosa or Costa Pacifica, or an eastern Med cruise from Venice on Costa Deliziosa.
Guests flying into Venice will spend three nights in the Veneto-area capital. Guests who fly into Milan will transfer to a hotel in Piemonte, a region known for its cheeses, truffles, fruit and wine; or Liguria, a crescent-shaped strip of land stretching from the French border on the Mediterranean coastline to the tip of Tuscany. Guests who fly into Rome will stay at Orvieto or Montepulciano.
The second and third day of each tour features a full-day excursion to a different Italian city or region.
Example agendas on the Romantic Cruise Tour include a walking tour of Venice with visits to Saint Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace, a traditional gondola ride on the Grand Canal and motorboat rides to Murano, Torcello and Burano. Guests also will visit Verona, the UNESCO World Heritage Site made famous as the setting for Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet.”
On the Music Lovers cruise tour guests spend one day exploring Cinque Terre and the second at Parma, where Giuseppe Verdi spent 80 of his 88 years. They will visit Verdi’s birthplace, the church where he was baptized and learned to sing and play the organ, and Casa Barezzi Museum that houses his piano, original letters and portraits. Afterward, they will go to Villa Verdi, where he composed some of his most important works including “Aida,” “Il Trovatore,” “La Traviata” and his last masterpiece, “Falstaff.”
In addition to wine, Asti Spumante and chocolate tastings or authentic cooking classes - depending on the itinerary - all tours include four meals, three buffet breakfasts and one lunch, and all transfers.
Below is a list of the themed tour departures.
Romantic, Venice, April 14
Tours: Venice and Verona
Cruise: Costa Deliziosa from Venice, April 17
Food and Wine Lovers, April 28
Tours: Langhe Hills, Desana and Asti
Cruise: Costa Pacifica from Savona, May 1
Shopping Lovers, April 28
Tours: Cinque Terre and Milan
Cruise: Costa Pacifica from Savona, May 1
Art and History Lovers, June 1
Tours: Langhe Hills, Turin
Cruise: Costa Diadema from Savona, June 4
Music Lovers, June 1
Tours: Cinque Terre and Parma
Cruise: Costa Diadema from Savona, June 4
Food and Chocolate Lovers, Sept. 21
Tours: Langhe Hills and Turin
Cruise: Costa Fascinosa from Savona, Sept. 24
Art Lovers, Sept. 21
Tours: Cinque Terre, Pisa and Lucca
Cruise: Costa Fascinosa from Savona, Sept. 24
Food Lovers, Oct. 19
Tours: Orvieto and Norcia
Cruise: Costa Pacifica from Civitavecchia, Oct. 22
Nature and Wine Lovers, Oct. 19
Tours: Montalcino and Pienza, Lake Trasimeno
Cruise: Costa Pacifica from Civitavecchia, Oct. 22
Art and History Lovers, Nov. 3
Tours: Venice and Ravenna
Cruise: Costa Deliziosa from Venice, Nov. 6
About Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises is the Italian cruising company of Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise company in the world. For 67 years, the ships of Costa have plied the seas of the world being the ambassador of the pleasant mood of Italian hospitality and the true Italian holiday, with delicious food, selected wines, unique shopping experience, completed by a vast selection of Italian famous brands. Currently the Costa fleet, the largest in Europe, has 15 ships in service, all flying the Italian flag. Two next-generation cruise ships will be delivered in 2019 and 2020 featuring a revolutionary "green design" and powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel. Costa embodies Italian excellence, surprising its guests everyday with unique holiday experiences and unforgettable memories thanks to 19,000 Costa associates worldwide who passionately work everyday to offer "Italy's finest" cruise vacations from 60 embarkation ports on 137 different itineraries to 261 destinations.
