By
Rebecca Gibson |
Costa Cruises 53,000 gt Costa Classica is to sail as one of the line’s new Costa neoCollection ships after undergoing an extensive refit in December 2014.
Renamed Costa neoClassica, the 654-cabin ship will join Costa neoRomantica and Costa neoRiviera to offer longer, destination-focused ‘slow cruising’ itineraries to a range of destinations in the Mediterranean and other regions.
Sailing a 26-day inaugural ‘From Egypt to the Spice Islands’ voyage as Costa neoClassica, the ship will depart Savona, Italy, on 18 December and transit the Suez Canal. Guests will be able to visit Jerusalem on 25 December during a call at Eilat, Israel, as well as a visit to the city of Petra in Aqaba, Jordan, and the historic sites of Safaga, Egypt.
The vessel’s 2015 season will start with four 16-day ‘Indian Ocean, Paradise on Earth’ cruises from its homeport of Port Louis, Mauritius. Guests will visit the Seychelles as part of a three-day call at Mahé, which will be followed by calls in Madagascar, Réunion Islands and Mauritius.
Costa neoClassica will then return to the Mediterranean on a 32-day ‘From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean of Antiquity’ voyage, which calls at Madagascar, the Seychelles, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Greece, Croatia and Italy.
Following the ship’s return to the Mediterranean, passengers can also enjoy 11-day ‘Venice and Italy’s Treasures’ cruises from Venice and Ancona between April and June, and again from September to November. Ports of call include Calabria, Italy, and Sicily with calls at Corigliano Calabro, Italy; Syracuse, Sicily; Ionian Greece; Malta; Kotor, Montenegro; and Split, Croatia. Between April and September, the vessel will sail 16-day ‘Voyage from Venice to the Black Sea’ itineraries from Venice and Ancona.
In addition, from the end of June until 15 August, Costa neoClassica will offer weekly roundtrip departures from Istanbul to Rhodes, Kos and Samos, Greece; and Izmir, Turkey. Passengers can spend a full day and stay onboard the ship overnight when the ship returns to Istanbul, enabling them to visit attractions such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum, Topkapi Palace and Spice Market.