Costa Cruises was awarded “Best Mediterranean Itineraries” and “Best Africa/Middle East Itineraries” in the tenth annual Porthole Cruise Magazine’s readers’ choice awards. The awards are published in the December 2008 issue of the publication.

“We’re honored that the readers of Porthole chose us for these two awards, one that reflects our strong heritage in Europe and the other that represents our industry innovation in the Middle East and Africa,” said Maurice Zarmati, President and CEO of Costa Cruise Lines—North America. “Our leadership in the Mediterranean has been solid for more than 60 years now and our growth in these other two regions continues to grow, particularly in Dubai where our capacity has increased by 50% each year.”

For over 60 years, we have sailed the Mediterranean and today offer the biggest and best selection of cruises from the region with more ships, more ports and more seven-night itineraries than any other cruise line. Costa sails the region year-round and all but one of our 12 ships are positioned there at one point in the year. In 2006, we became the first cruise line to home port from Dubai and have increased our capacity in the region by 50% every year since. In the 2008-2009 winter season, the Costa Victoria and Costa Classica will operate seven-night sailings departing on Saturdays and Sundays. In 2007, we became the first cruise line to offer sailings from Mauritius with destinations including the Seychelles, Kenya and Madagascar. In the 2008-2009 season, our Costa Europa will offer 14-itineraries throughout the region.

“Costa Cruises offers some of the best and most unique itineraries in the industry,” said Bill Panoff, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Porthole Cruise Magazine. “Our readers recognized these offerings by awarding them not one, but two awards for their worldwide sailings. I congratulate them on their much-deserved wins.”