Costa Cruises celebrated the much-anticipated arrival of the Costa Serena in Mumbai with a grand event on board the ship. From November 4, 2023, through January 11, 2024, the Costa Serena is all set to embark on a series of exciting cruises from Mumbai. These itineraries offer three, four, and five-night adventures, with ports of call including Kochi, Goa, and the Island of Agatti in Lakshadweep.

The event was graced by the presence of distinguished figures like Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways; Francesco Raffa, Director of the Asia Region and Growth Markets at Costa Cruises; Nalini Gupta from Lotus Aero Enterprises, GSA of Costa Cruises, and other senior officials.

Francesco Raffa shared his excitement about returning to India, “We are extremely happy to sail again in India where we’ve been operating since 2016. We are bringing to our Indian guests our authentic Italian hospitality with a local personalization in terms of food and entertainment. India is an important market for Costa, both for our established Fly&Cruise programs to Dubai and the Mediterranean and for our newly introduced local operations sailing domestically. We are grateful to the Indian government for the efforts to support domestic tourism and infrastructure development. India is working to develop the cruise industry and we are excited to sail together towards the vision of the Indian government.”

Sarbananda Sonowal added to the celebration by affirming the government’s full support, “We are offering our full support to the cruise line to home port their ships at Indian ports. We are ready to support further development of our port infrastructure to accommodate large cruise ships. It is a moment of pride for us that when the Mumbai Port completes 150 years, we have Costa coming back to offer domestic cruising options to Indian travelers”.