Costa Cruises has confirmed its latest flagship, Costa Favolosa, will be arriving in the United Arab Emirates in winter 2011/12.

Costa plans to make 22 port calls with a total of 233,000 passenger movements in the UAE.

The announcement came at the Seatrade Middle East Cruise Convention in Dubai, the biggest event of the year for cruise operators in the Middle East.

President of Costa Cruises, Gianni Onorato, confirmed the company will be reinforcing their presence in the UAE with the Costa Favolosa’s debut deployment in the region.

Costa Favolosa will be the biggest and most advanced cruise ship operating in the UAE, a cruise destination which Costa first introduced in 2006.

The latest flagship of the Costa fleet was built by Fincantieri at its Marghera yard and named in Trieste on July 2nd 2011.

“Costa Favolosa will be the largest and most advanced ship ever deployed in the region,” announced Onorato.

“She will offer our guests a truly unique opportunity to visit the most intriguing destinations in the UAE and Oman, on board an Italian cruise ship providing superb comfort, exclusive services and state-of-the-art hi-tech entertainment.”

From December 16th 2011 to April 6th 2012, Costa Favolosa will be sailing in the exotic seas of the Arabian Gulf on seven-night cruises with two days in Dubai, one-day stopovers in Muscat (Oman), Fujairah (UAE), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Khasab (Oman) and ending with a further overnight stay in Dubai.