Costa Cruises’ first season in Taranto has started, marking a new Italian port for the company’s program.

The inaugural call took place on June 3, when the Costa Pacifica, arrived in Taranto for the first time, carrying more than 5,000 guests among embarkations, disembarkations and transits.

Today, another call took place and the start of the season was officially celebrated with the typical maritime tradition crest exchange ceremony, attended by Rinaldo Melucci, Mayor of Taranto, Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises, Sergio Prete, President of the Ionian Sea Port System Authority and Raffaella Del Prete, General Manager of Italian Cruise Ports of Global Ports Holding.

The ship is scheduled to call in Taranto every Saturday through early October, meaning 19 calls and 80,000 guests for the port.

The Pacifica is sailing a week-long itinerary that includes, in addition to Taranto, Catania, Valletta (Malta), Mykonos (Greece), and Santorini (Greece).

In this itinerary, Taranto is both port of embarkation and disembarkation and port of transit for guests embarking at other ports, particularly Catania.

“We are pleased to have brought Taranto onto the map of the valuable tourism we offer in Italy and in all the world destinations visited by our ships. The debut, a week ago, was a success. We want to continue working together with local institutions and operators to promote the excellence of the area and offer ever better experiences to our guests, most of whom come from abroad and discover Taranto, in many cases, for the first time. As further confirmation of our commitment, we have already planned the 2024 summer season, in which we will position Costa Fascinosa in Taranto,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Cruises.

In 2024 the Costa Fascinosa will arrive in move to Taranto, calling every Sunday from June 9 to September 22, visiting the same destinations offered by Costa Pacifica in 2023.