COSTA Cruises has reported a recovery in its Mediterranean bookings following the decision to sail its ships out of Genoa over Venice this summer.
The cruiseline switched the home port of its ships Costa Victoria and Costa Classica about six weeks ago because bookings were being hit by the war in Kosovo.
“The decision we made was based on the fact that passengers were getting worried,” said Costa’s UK managing director Peter Richardson. “No new bookings were coming in. Since then, the flow of bookings has been much better in UK and Europe.”
He admitted around 8% of Costa’s customers had cancelled their cruises in the Mediterranean due to the war, but added that many had left their deposits with Costa because they intended to book a holiday with the company next summer instead.
Richardson maintained that none of Costa’s cruises would be cancelled outright because of low demand, but admitted it was having to discount prices more heavily than usual in order to fill its ships.
“On-board spend is also important to us,” he said. “It’s better to fill the cabin.”
At present, about 70%-75% of Costa’s Mediterranean capacity has been sold, according to Richardson.
The cruise line is offering 50% reductions on six Mediterranean cruises in July. Seven-night cruises to the Greek islands on Costa Victoria, departing Genoa on July 4, 11 and 18, now start from £550 per person.
Meanwhile, a seven-night cruise on Costa Classica in the western Mediterranean now starts from £535 per person. The cruises depart on July 5, 12 and 19.
“We are going to finish with high load- factors this year, but with lower revenues than expected,” said Richardson.
However, he denied Costa would make a financial loss this year, pointing out that Costa’s Mediterranean business represented 70,000 bookings a year out of a worldwide total of 350,000 bookings.