The new flagship of the Italian cruise company, Costa Crociere was christened on 19 May, in Marseille. The event was marked with a spectacular light show and fireworks display entitled “Mediterranean Serenade”. In line with Costa Crociera’s commitment to advanced technology, the inaugural event was also available online.

All users who registered onto www.

secondlife.com had the opportunity to take part in the virtual ceremony with entertainment, a DJ party, a treasure hunt and a fireworks display. Sam Mifsud, Managing Director of SMS Travel & Tourism, attended this inauguration.

Costa Crociere is the number-one cruise company in Europe and South America experiencing growth in 2006, in terms of total passengers (880,000), passenger/days (6,900,000) and ship occupancy rate (107%). “2006 was a good year or us,” commented Pier Luigi Foschi, Chairman and CEO for Costa Crociere SpA. “Despite not increasing our capacity, we still enjoyed further growth. The booking trend in 2007 is very encouraging, so we can confidently expect to reach our aim of exceeding the one-million mark this year.”

The Costa Serena is the 12th member of the Costa fleet, which is Europe’s largest and most advanced. The Costa Serena is the largest vessel to fly the Italian flag, with a gross tonnage of 112,000 GRT, 290 metres in length, 1500 cabins and total guest capacity of 3,780. The Costa Serena entered service on 26 May with her maiden cruise from Venice. Every Sunday, from June through November 2007, the Costa Serena will depart from the port of the city of canals on a seven-day cruise calling at Bari, Olympia (Greece), Izmir and Istanbul (Turkey) and Dubrovnik (Croatia). Then in winter 2007/2008, the Costa Serena will offer 10- and 11-day cruise holidays to the Canary Islands. The Cost Serena has also included Malta in some of its winter itineraries namely:

Autumn Jewels (Greece and Malta)

Duration: Five days

Departure from: Venice

Itinerary: Venice, Bari, Corfu (Greece), Malta, Naples, Savona

Departure: 18 November

Spring Voyage (Malta, Greece and Croatia)

Duration: Five days

Departure from: Savona

Itinerary: Savona, Napoli, Malta,Corfu (Greece), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Venice

Departure: 15 April 2008

The Costa Serena will feature all the main innovations offered by her sister ship Costa Concordia, namely:

• Samsara Spa, among the largest wellness areas on any cruise ship (2,154 m²). The number of Samsara cabins, which offer direct access to the area, has increased to 99 (there are 67 on Costa Concordia), with 12 suites (covering a total of 2,322 m²). Following the enormous success of this innovative feature, the Samsara Restaurant is also back, offering balanced menus designed with wellness in mind;

• Four swimming pools, two of which are equipped with a retractable glass roof, one on the stern and one at the centre of the ship, one of which has an 18m² big screen;

• The largest entirely coverable outside area on board any ship (3,500 m²), allowing guests to enjoy the swimming pools even during winter cruises in the Mediterranean, the area in which the ship will operate until the end of 2008;

• A Grand Prix racing simulator, which reproduces a real GP race;

• The menus of Costa Serena’s à la carte restaurant, Club Bacco, are designed by Ettore Bocchia, Executive Chef at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio and Michelin-star chef and are inspired by Italian gastronomic tradition, with a particular focus on the use of high-quality fresh ingredients. Ettore Bocchia’s “molecular cuisine”, on the cutting edge of gastronomic research, reassesses traditional cooking methods to create new tastes and improve dishes from a gastronomic and nutritional point of view.

The interior design of the ship is in the hands of American architect Joe Farcus. The central theme is Greek and Roman mythology; immediately apparent from the numerous works of art on board. Also, the decks are appropriately named after mythological figures, divinities and heroes.

In addition to the Costa Serena, Costa Crociere has commissioned three more ships, which will enhance its fleet, Europe’s largest and most advanced, currently 11-strong with total capacity of approximately 20,500 lower berths in dual-occupancy cabins. The Sestri Ponente yard will build a third sister ship of the Costa Concordia and the Costa Serena, whose name is yet to be announced, due for delivery in summer 2009. Meanwhile, two 92,700 gross tonnage running mates will be built in Marghera, one due to enter service in spring 2009 and the other in March 2010. These four new orders amount to a total investment of almost EUR2 billion by Coste Crociere, as part of a fleet expansion and upgrading programme worth almost EUR4.5 billion, which was launched by the Italian company in 2000.

By 2010, when the last of the new buildings ordered so far is delivered, the Costa Crociere fleet will be 15 strong and have a total capacity of over 30,800 passengers (in dual-occupancy cabins).

Costa Crociere is by far the largest cruise line company calling at Malta on a regular basis. This year will be a record year, with the number of calls by Costa Crociere reaching nearly 100.

SMS Travel are the sales agents in Malta for Costa Crociere. For more information, kindly contact SMS Travel by email to: travel@

smstravel.net, tel.: 2123-2211 or log on to: www.smstravel.net.