Eight Maltese ‘knights’ waving colourful flags, a drummer, trumpeter and a ‘Grand Master’ bid farewell to Costa Cruises’s newest ship after it paid a brief visit to Malta on its vernissage voyage.

The Diadema – nicknamed the Queen of the Mediterranean – berthed at the Valletta waterfront on Wednesday morning.

While its passengers disembarked to spend a few hours touring Valletta, a ceremony was held on board to mark the island’s link with Italy’s biggest cruise liner.

“Costa Diadema is the best expression that Costa is giving of Italy’s interpretation of the sea,” said Captain Massimo Garbarino, who added that strong winds had threatened to create difficulties entering the port last week. Thankfully, its skilled crew managed to negotiate the choppy waters.

Diadema is so new that everything looks spotless, with not a mark on the brown patterned carpets or slab flooring.

The decor mixes warm, earthy hues with splashes of modern colour, such as the ‘bubble’ ceiling covering opposite the central lifts.

Careful decoration gives personality to individual rooms, such as touches of art deco design or using lights to provide contrasting colour, yet the ship’s overall elegant theme is brown and bronze.

There are 7,874 art works onboard, most of which were created by 38 Italian artists.

Costa intends to use the 132,500 gross tonnage vessel, which took 3,500 workers three years to build, as an “ambassador” for displaying “Italy’s finest” products, said Dario Rustico, one of the company’s sales and marketing directors.

An onboard gelateria, pizzeria and coffee bars offer the country’s famous food and drinks, while a 500-metre promenade between indoor and outdoor pools on Deck 11 tries to evoke a coastal walk.

“Italians live by the sea and many stroll around, stopping for a gelato or a coffee,” Rustico said.

Although the Diadema will be based in Savona, three Costa ships use Valletta for embarking and disembarking passengers and nine of its liners will call 77 times in 2015.