With emails to travel agents, specialist press and partners, as well as posts on social media, the Italian brand teased the local markets last week.

The Brazilian material features the silhouette of the Costa Smeralda, currently the largest and newest vessel in the fleet, in addition to the date and time of the announcement. The Argentine version of the letter of invitation, meanwhile, has the outline of a Concordia-class vessel.

Although no further details have been made public, the announcement could be linked to the 2021-2022 local season.

Costa announced its schedule for the following season on September 7, after canceling all the cruises scheduled for 2020-2021 in Brazil and Argentina.

However, a couple of weeks later, the latest cruises vanished from the booking engine of the cruise line.

The Costa Pacifica, one of the ships originally scheduled for the area, began to appear on itineraries departing from Dubai.

In 2020-2021, Costa has been planning the largest local deployment in years in South America. The Italian brand has been preparing a three-ship season in the area for the first time since 2013.

The Costa Luminosa, expected to serve the market for the first time, was the highlight, adding a homeport in Brazil.

In 2012-2013, the Costa service in South America peaked. The Italian cruise line deployed seven ships in the region during that season, along with its sister brand, Ibero Cruceros.

Maritime Business World