Tomorrow Costa Cruere will celebrate its 75-year anniversary date back to March 31, 1948 the first departure from the port of Genoa of the Anna C , the first passenger ship of the company that was headed Buenos Aires with 768 passengers on board. A series of special initiatives in Genoa, a city that has always been home to the company's head office, is due to be celebrated in the autumn.

If the first departure of a ship occurred in 1948, the company's history even dates back to 1854 when Giacomo Costa founded in Genoa the "Giacomo Costa fu Andrea", a small company that operated on a reduced scale by buying and selling olive oil and fabrics. Since the 20 this company has also been equipped with a fleet for the transportation of goods around the world. At the end of World War II only a ship of the company, the steamer Langano , was a survivor of the conflict. The destruction of the Italian passenger fleet, the ever-increasing demand for passenger traffic, the economic crisis and the transoceanic migration flow attracted the attention of the Costa family in the area of passenger transport on routes transatlantic. In 1947 the "Giacomo Costa fu Andrea" changed its name to "Line C", a name with which it will be recognized for more than three decades in transatlantic links with Latin America. Thus, a passenger service was inaugurated with accommodations in first class and intermediate class. On March 31, 1948, the first passenger ship of the Costa fleet was departing from Genoa. Anna C As well as the first trans-Atlantic to cross the South Atlantic since the end of the conflict and the first to offer passengers cabinets with air conditioning. The ship reached Buenos Aires 16 days after the departure. To the Anna C soon followed other ships, to meet the growing demand generated by the migratory flow.

The cruises as a nacquer holiday as the evolution of the "first class" on traditional transatlantic routes. Costa learned anticipation of the transformation of the line trip, to meet the nascent tourist demand. Beginning in the 50, to exploit the alternation of the seasons between the Mediterranean and the countries of the Southern Hemisphere and thus use the ships in the periods of least traffic, the "Line C" began to employ ships in cruise service, in the Mediterranean and South America. The first step to the cruise market happened with the radical transformation of the small motonave Franca C , fully refurbished in the first few months of 1959 : its capacity was reduced to 552 seats for single class passengers accommodated in cabins with private bathroom and air conditioning. After the onset in the Mediterranean, in the winter of 1959 the Franca C began a cycle of cruises in the Caribbean with departure from Fort Lauderdale.

During the 60 and 70 the demand for line links, both because of the decrease in the flow of migration and the advent of the aircraft era, decreased in a consistent manner. The company was then ready not only to offer cruise holidays, but also to make a fleet that would respond to the new tourist demand that went affirming : first among all the Eugenio C , launched in 1964, "the ship anticipating the future", already designed for the culling of the subdivision into classrooms. In 1968 the Franca C inaugurated the "flight + ship" travel formula to the Caribbean, intended to completely change the way of conceiving the holiday.

Once again the evolution of the times gave reason to Costa. During the 70 and ' 80 it was unequivocally stated the idea of the ship as a vacation spot, and completely disappeared the division into classes. The cabins teed up to uniformly and multiplied the places of fun : bars, theatres, casinos, nightclubs. All at the disposal of all.

It is from these assumptions that Costa Shipowners prepared for the great leap of quality, represented by the birth of Costa Crociere in 1986 : the entry into the world of mass communication, combined with a modern marketing activity and a search for more appropriate itineraries to the new public established the features of another fundamental stop in the history of the company. In a handful of years the Costa cruise will go from a narrow target to an expanded, international audience with more affordable prices, new ships, programs for families and children.

The year 1997 marks another major change and the beginning of a new stage of development. With the ownership shift to the U.S. Carnival Corporation grows the company's investment capacity, while keeping the innovative spirit and the constant search for new ideas to make the holidays of its own unique. guests. In the second half of the 90 Costa was the first to propose cruises in the Mediterranean Sea of winter. Further major innovations have covered ships in the fleet, the first in Europe to be equipped with cabins with private balcony. Up to the present day, with the entry into service of the first ships capable of being supplied with liquefied natural gas, Coast Smeralda and Coast Tuscany .

Today Costa Cruere is a holding company, Costa Cruciere Spa, to which the historic Costa Crociere brand and the German brand AIDA Cruises belong. With a fleet of 22 ships, all flying the Italian flag, equal to a total capacity of around 70,000 low beds, it is the number one company in Europe.