BEYONDSHIPS.COM NOVEMBER2OO9

INS'DEY'EW: TALKING COSTACRUISES A Conversotionwith MouriceZormoli, Presidenfond CEOof Coslo CruisesNorth Americo

by RichordH. Wogner

n October 2009, inaugurateda Over the years,Costa developeda reputa- series of cluises in the New YorkNew tion for luxury. Indeed,in interviewing Italian om- England/Camdaregion on the CostaAtlantica. cerswho work for otherlines, Costa is ftequently "This fall is just the beginning of much morc to usedas a benchmarkagainst which they measure come,with additional cruisesnext spring and fall their own performance.Given this reputationand throughthe region on the ship," explainedMaurice the fact that Costahas such a long history, should Zamati, Presidenl and CEO of Costa Cruise guestsexpect a very traditional approachto cruis- Lines-NorthAmerica. ing suchas on CuoardLine or HollandAmerica? I Costa Cluises has a long history It can askedMr. Zarmati,how he would you describethe trace its ancestry back tn 1924 when the Costa lifestyle that passengerswill encou[ter on a Costa brothers bought rheir frs , However, ship? the company emphasizEsthat it has been in the "Our productstyle is intemationaland con- passengerbusiness since 1948and thus has more tamporary,Cuests sailing with us will enjoy a true than 60 yearsofcruising experience.At fust, the European experience created by our authentic Costa shipswere focusedon tansporting passen- Italian hospitality and from the cosmopolitan, gers betweenEuope and . Over idemational guestswe welcome.All ofthis, com- time, the scopeofthe itine.ades grew and the line binedwith the savoirfaire that comeswith being in did more and more ple€sue cmising. By 1986, the businessfor over 60 years. createsa unique thecompany was involved exclusively in cruising. experienceunlike any of the contgmporaryprod- ucts in the market." Still. Costaadheres to traditionalwhere it is what the guestswant, For example,in dining: "We offer the traditional two-seating approach - our guestsseem to be most coDfortable with this. In addition, we offer flexible dining options with our lido buffes and specialtydining with our 6la carte restaurants and wellness restaurants on select ships." Costa is the largest cruise operatorin Europe,serving over I million passengersa year and has the largestfleet ofany Euop€an operator. Still, a substantialnumb€r ofNorth Americanssail with Costa. "We naturally atuact manyEuopeans given tbe fact that we're basedin ltaly and have beenfor 60 years.I always say, most cruise lines own the Cadbbeanand visit Europe and Costa owns Europe and visits the .Travelers who prefer to stay in Euopean-brandedhotels when they travel to the continenta.nd are enamorcd by the charmsof Europeantravel will enjoy sailing with us. In fact, thosewho love sailing with us tend lo continue doing so - we have a very high per- centageof rcpeatguests." Differ€nt nationalitiesoften meandifferent languages, However, tlavelers who only speak English should not be intimidated by the fact that therewill be passengersfrom a numberof differ- entcountries on a Costacruise. "lt's a muchmore fluid processthan you'd think. On any given cruise, we'll haye more than five main languages spokenby our guestsonboard - usuallyltalian, English, Spanish,French and German.However, English has become a universal language. Travelerswho have been to Europe know this is Maurice Zarnati the case- so many Euopeans speakEnglish. This (Photo couftesyol Costa Cruhes) is the sarnecase for us on our ships,especially as it pertainsto ou. officers and crew. We also have 'concierge' intemational hostesseswho serve as a As Mr. Zarmati noted,North Americalr t!av- and information sourcefor gueststhroughout the elers are quite familiar with this class of ship. week in their native language." CostaAtlantica is a sistership to the popularSpirit- The Costa fleet is quite vaded with rela- class ships (, Pride, Legend and tively small ships and quite larye ships. For the Milacle) operated by Costa's affiliate Camival new Canada/NewEngland itineraries, Costa has Cruise Lines. "While the layout is the same,the selectedthe CostaAtlantic4 which at 85,6| 9 gross designis very different. The ship is inspired by the tons is a large ship but not the largest in Costa's art and cultue of ltaly which is reflected through- fleet. It is a designthat is known for its speedand out the design - everything ftom Murano glass good seakeepingabilities. However,nautical con- chandeliers,Italiao mosaic tiles, eveo papanzzi sideratiotrsdo not appearto havebeen the reasonit prints from the 'La Dolce Vita' era in . The ship was chosen for this run. "Our Nonh Amedcan also has an incredible replica of the famous Caftb guests love the design and are Florian in . Beyond design, our onboard quite familiar with her layout. This, along with ambience is different as well - we exemplifi ship's capacity, made her the right fit for thes€ 'Cruising Italian Style' and it shows. Dirurer hours routes." are slighdy later, dancefloors are larget our selec-

BEYONDSHIPS.COM/NOVEMBER 2q)9 tion of culinary offedngs is very lta.lisn aod major lines including PrincessCruis€s, Cunsrd, Euopean.The list couldgo andon." Holland Am€rica, NCL, Royal CaribbeaD,and The cruiseexperience is also likely to be Celebrityto namebut a few,have ships in thismar- more intemationalbecause in additionto North ket. I askedMr. Zamati what he would sayto a Americanguests, Costa exp€cts guests to beflying prosp€ctiveguest who wasconsidering all the var- in ftom Euopeto join the ship."We find thatmany iousofferings to makehim or her selectCosta for Europ€aDsare attracted to thefall foliagecruises as their CanadaNewEngland vacation? are manyNorth Americanguests. There's only a "I would askthem a few simplequestions. short window of time to seethe fotage change, Do you love Italy? Do you enjoy the continental whichmakes the routesthat much more special." channof Europe?Do you valueexcellent s€rvice, Costais not the only cruiseline offering deliciouscuisine, superb amenities and stunning Canada/l.lewEngland cruis€s. lod€€d, most of the sunoundings?If so,we're the brandfor you."

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