11 JUN 2012: Costa Cruises plans to increase capacity in the Mediterranean and in the United Arab Emirates later this year.  Costa said “significant positive booking trends in Europe,” mean it will replace the 1,680-passenger Costa Classica with the 3,470-passenger Costa Magica in mid-November.

The larger ship will operate 12-day cruises in the eastern Mediterranean, calling at Greece, Israel and Turkey, and 11-day cruises to Portugal and Morocco in the western Mediterranean.

The Costa Magica had been scheduled to deploy with four other Costa ships to South America.

Costa will position the Favolosa, Fascinosa, Serena and Fortuna in South America. Those four vessels will represent a capacity increase of 13% in the destination.

Passengers booked on South America itineraries aboard the Magica will be accommodated on a similar itinerary on one of the other ships, said Costa.

The Classica will be deployed to UAE, joining the 2,112-passenger Atlantica. The ships will operate weeklong cruises from Dubai to ports in the Emirates and Oman.