Costa, Europe's Number One Cruise Line, announced the name of its newest ship, the Costa Luminosa, at the cutting of the ship's first plate in Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard yesterday. This marks a new record for the innovative cruise line, as it's the first time the company has had three new builds under construction at once in Italy. The 92,700-ton Costa Luminosa will be delivered in Spring 2009, while two more Costa ships are currently under construction in the Genoa Sestri Ponente ship yard: the 112,000-ton Costa Serena is set for delivery on May 15, 2007, while a sister ship will enter service in Spring 2009. Costa has embarked upon a 4.5 billion Euro fleet expansion program with 11 new builds from 2000 to 2010, including seven orders worth 3.5 billion Euros placed with Fincantieri in Italy.

"With the arrival of the Costa Luminosa, and the other ships now under construction, not only will we have Europe?s largest fleet, but it will consist of a varied range of liners in terms of size, features and style,? said Costa Crociere?s Chairman & CEO, Pier Luigi Foschi." "This way, we will be able to further diversify our offer and continue to propose new destinations every year. The Costa Luminosa and her sister ship will be the results of a brand new design concept, where we have concentrated on combining the best aspects of our product, such as wellness, exclusive itineraries, art and top quality cuisine, which are especially popular more and more with our guests."

When completed, the Costa Luminosa will measure 292 meters in length, with a double occupancy capacity of 2,260. In addition, she will boast 772 cabins with private verandas, out of a total of 1,130 cabins, making her the Costa fleet member with the highest percentage of veranda cabins (68%) and particularly suited to cruises with spectacular itineraries and picturesque scenery. Cruisers on the Costa Luminosa will find the pick of the most recent innovations introduced on Costa's ships: the Samsara Spa, one of the largest spas at sea, a central pool area extending over two decks fitted with a retractable magrodome and a giant movie screen, as well as a Grand Prix race car driving simulator.

In addition she will feature several exclusive innovations introduced for the first time on the Costa fleet, including a golf simulator. The interiors, devised by the ingenious architect Joe Farcus, will be designed to offer maximum comfort and state-of-the-art facilities, and guests will be able to walk around all of the passenger decks from bow to stern.

Costa's expansion program, extending upon what is already Europe's largest and most advanced fleet (12 ships counting the Costa Serena, with total guest capacity of over 23,000, all flying the Italian flag), goes beyond the three new builds currently under construction. A sister ship to the Costa Luminosa is also planned with delivery from the Marghera yard scheduled for March 2010. In all, Costa Crociere has invested a total of 3.5 billion euros in Italy for the construction of 7 new ships, all commissioned from Fincantieri, within the framework of its upgrade program worth 4.5 billion euros and entailing the addition of 11 new vessels between 2000 and 2010.

By 2010, when the last of the four new orders is completed, the Costa Crociere fleet will be 15 strong and have total guest capacity of over 30,000, further consolidating its place as the largest and most advanced fleet in Europe.