Costa Cruises claims bookings in April and May were up by 28% over the same months last year despite the fallout from January’s Costa Concordia disaster.
The Italian line cited “marketing activities” – seen in the trade as heavy discounting – as well as the support of its customer base and partners for the bounce back.
“The latest sales figures reflect the company’s strong business fundamentals, the quality of its product and unfailing customer loyalty,” a statement said.
“On 25 May, Costa Cruises reached one million guest bookings for cruises in 2012 and was the first European company to top the million mark back in 2007, a feat it has continued to achieve every year since.”
High season summer cruises from Dover were being advertised at the weekend at £399 for eight nights with free cabin upgrades on the newly refurbished Costa neoRomantica.
The company said its guest satisfaction level has remained very high with 98% of passengers being either very satisfied or satisfied.
“The item that scores the highest in Costa’s customer comment forms is always the crew,” the line added.
The statement came as chairman and chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi addressed a public meeting in Genoa where he expressed his gratitude to local authorities, the public and “everyone who stood by Costa Cruises in the aftermath of the tragic accident at Giglio island”.
Costa confirmed that its fleet expansion programme will continue with the construction of a new 132,500-ton vessel with a capacity for 4,928 passengers due for delivery in October 2014, which will be the largest Italian cruise ship.