The opening of the new terminal on 28 June 2010 is a major step forward in the growth of cruising in China, particularly for Costa Cruises, which was the first international cruise company to enter the Chinese market.  With the arrival of the Costa Romantica (53,000 gwt and 1700 guest capacity), the Italian Company is further expanding its cruise capacity in China with the Costa Romantica joining her sister ship Costa Classica, already deployed in the Far East.

In all, Costa Romantica will be calling at Tianjin 10 times this year.  

More than 120,000 cruise guests are expected to be on a holiday onboard a Costa ship in Asia this year. Costa's Far Eastern cruises sail from the ports of Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Singapore and include stopovers in some of the region's most popular resorts such as Sanya (China), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Da Nang (Vietnam), Okinawa (Japan), Kagoshima (Japan), Nagasaki (Japan), Fukuoka (Japan) and Cheju (South Korea).

The Italian Company's operations in China began in July 2006 with one ship, the Costa Allegra (28,400 gwt and 1000 guests), offering cruises out of the port of Shanghai. In 2008 Costa inaugurated Shanghai's cruise terminal on the 100th cruise of Costa Allegra.

Costa was the first international cruise company to operate regular cruises in China and Asia, bringing its special brand of Cruising Italian Style to the Chinese market. The arrival of the Costa Allegra in Shanghai coincided with the celebration of the opening of the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal.

In January 2010, Costa was the first international operator in China to offer regular cruises to Taiwan for customers in China. There are 15 such cruises scheduled this year, each lasting five days and four nights, with departures from Hong Kong in January, February, May and June on the Costa Classica, and port calls at some of the island's finest resorts such as Taipei, Keelung and Taichung.