Costa Cruise, Behind the Scenes on a TV shoot - Cruise - Inspiration

Costa Cruise Lines recently invited Sky Travel to film aboard and we leapt at the chance as this is steadily becoming one of our most popular cruise lines. Armed with regular presenter Claire Smith we had 6 days to film as much as we could, and on a large cruise ship that's a lot!

So much to film, so little time

Faced with the mammoth task of covering all that the Costa Serena had to offer, as well as filming some of the destinations we were visiting, the team was glad to get on board and start filming from the word 'go'.

The Samsara Spa is a major component of a Costa Cruise, and we started the trip by filming Claire having treatments here. Perhaps we should have filmed here at the end of the trip, as the Spa area was truly relaxing and Claire seemed to enjoy her brief pampering. This was the 'calm before the storm' though.

The pace soon picked up, as we still had the different cabins, the different restaurants (including a chocolate bar complete with chocolate fountain!), the bars, the sun decks, the Grand Prix race simulator, the atrium and the swimming pools to tick off. On a large ship this is no mean feat - just to walk from one end to the other and find where we were meant to be seemed to take about ten minutes!

Claire Smith and the crew filming at the Chocolate Bar

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The 'Demanding Sky Travel Crew' meets the 'Ever-so-obliging Costa Cruise Crew'

With such a demanding schedule it was a relief to encounter a really friendly and agreeable crew on board. No demand it seemed was too much - we had music turned off so that we could hear Claire presenting, we had tables reserved to get the best shots during dinner, we had bar tenders whipping us up their favourite cocktails (for the camera of course!) and we even had the English host on board finding us interview candidates!

And this seems to be the norm on cruise holidays. The whole point is to make passengers feel totally relaxed and pampered, and Costa Cruise pride themselves on having a crew to ensure that this is exactly what happens.

The passengers continued to feel totally relaxed
We had bartenders whipping up cocktails

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Is Costa Cruise for me?

OK, we weren't exactly on holiday, but what a place to do a shoot.

There was something to film in every direction, and it all looked great on camera because the interiors are so decadent. Everybody we met seemed to have something positive to say about Costa Cruises, and passengers were definitely enjoying themselves.

This is a cruise holiday that'll suit those wanting plenty to do, the ship is large, so large you may even lose yourself (but when you're on holiday what could be better than losing yourself and discovering yet more fun things to do?) It's not a formal cruise, in the evenings casual clothes are fine (something the scruffy camera crew were pleased about!), and it's definitely not stuffy, there was a light hearted, enjoyable atmosphere about the ship.

Think of the upmarket end of Las Vegas, add a lot more Europeans, put it to sea, and throw in lots of destinations to explore and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Costa Cruises.

Even the elevators in the lobby were very glitzy
Stylish elevators in the lobby

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Costa Serena Top 5

Samsara Spa - a large & indulgent spa
Chocolate Bar - complete with appetising chocolate fountain
Outside balcony cabins - a private place to view changing landscapes
Ercole Cigar Bar - a small & intimate bar with amazing cocktails
Grand Prix race simulator - the real McCoy, perfect for adrenaline junkies

Getting there

Costa Cruise holidays can be booked thorugh Sky Travel with cruise specialists FastTrack Cruises. Many itineraries are available on our web site and sailings can be booked year-round. FastTrack cruises also have exclusive offers for Sky Travel readers.

→ Visit the Sky Travel Cruise website from Virgin Holidays Cruises

→ View current Sky Travel offers with Costa Cruises

→ Learn more about the Costa Serena