Ciao, Serena! Cruising Italian style

By Anita Dunham-Potter

Travel columnist

updated 11:11 a.m. ET June 12, 2007

Anita Dunham-Potter Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

In the world of cruising, Costa Cruises is known for its extravagant and costly inaugurals. Indeed, Costa's newest ship, Costa Serena, the largest Italian cruise ship ever built, was recently christened amid much pomp and circumstance, with the whole city of Marseille, France, participating. The ship was launched with a nonstop half-hour fireworks-and-laser-lights extravaganza illuminating Marseille's five famous monuments: the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, Lighthouse Cove and Residence, Sainte Marie Majeure Cathedral, Entrecasteaux Castle and Fort Saint-Jean. In the words of one French guest, it was a "C'est wow!" moment.

More wow
Costa Cruises is a member of the Carnival Corporation family, and the Costa Serena has the same design as Carnival's Conquest-class vessels. But the similarities end there. There's something about the interior of a Costa ship that gives it a totally European ambiance. It is extravagantly furnished and decorated, it has many pampering amenities, and it provides more venues for guests to see and been seen. You could say it's la dolce vita at sea.

Among the ship's amenities are: Samsara Spa, the largest spa-and-fitness center at sea; three swimming pools, two with their own retractable glass dome roofs; a giant movie screen; five Jacuzzis; a Grand Prix race-car driving simulator; a chocolate bar that offers nine kinds of fruit dipped in a chocolate fountain; and menus created by the Italian culinary innovator Ettore Bocchia. As on other Costa ships, you'll find a towering atrium and theater, Internet café and library, shopping promenade, kids club and pool and 13 bars that are always thronged with guests. Accommodations include 1,500 well-appointed staterooms, including 70 suites and 99 Samsara Spa cabins and suites, which have private spa access.

Unlike my Caribbean cruise in January aboard the Costa Mediterranea, Costa's European cruises offer no toga parties or Roman Bacchanal. In Europe, the onboard pursuits have a more cosmopolitan flair. Carnival Chairman Micky Arison tells me, "You come onboard Costa in Europe for an Italian and French experience, not an Italian-American experience. If you love to dance and hear good music, this is for you."

Myth ship
The ship was designed with the winter Mediterranean season in mind - hence the two covered pools and the spa solarium, which allow guests to enjoy sunny skies on days that can get chilly. But it was also styled to capture the region's ancient past. Like its sister ship, the 112,000-ton Costa Concordia, Serena was designed by Joe Farcus, the Miami-based architect who for many years has designed Carnival Cruise Lines' "Fun Ships," which show off his distinctive style of glitz and glamour. For Serena's theme, Farcus plays tribute to Roman and Greek mythology with a surprisingly elegant flair, giving ancient gods and demigods new roles in modern venues.

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For example, Farcus designed the Giove Theater around the Roman god Jove, also called Jupiter, whose trademark lightning bolts were incorporated around the theater in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. "I thought since the shows would be high-energy productions, Jupiter was appropriate for this venue," Farcus says. Similarly, Farcus casts the two-headed god Janus as guardian of the Giano Casino, representing the two sides of luck -- good and bad. The theme continues to play out in 6,000 original pieces of art created by 34 international artists, making Serena a veritable floating gallery.

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