Carnival Corporation has deployed a third Costa Crociere brand ship to China, which along with Princess Cruises’ Sapphire Princess marks the fourth group vessel in the Chinese market.
From Apr 2015, Costa Serena will join fleet-mates Costa Victoria & Costa Atlantica in the booming Chinese market, to be operated year-round from Shanghai. The move will increase Costa’s capacity in China by 74 percent.
“We have never been more committed to China as a market of great strategic importance for our company,” Carnival Corp ceo Arnold Donald said.
The timing of the announcement is itself interesting in that it comes less than a month after Royal Caribbean opted to deploy its Quantum of the Seas vessel to the Chinese city, arriving one month after Costa.