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Florida based cruises questions


RMS Olympic
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I use to sail Costa way back and really enjoyed the difference as compared to North American cruise products. Sailed the Carla, the Riviera, Classica, Romantica , Victoria and Atlantica.

I stopped sailing with Costa after the Atlantica (the first Carnival idea of what is Italian). It was a big disappointment.

Now many years later I would like to try the Deliziosa out of Ft Lauderdale.

Many of the negative reviews of the current Costa line appear to be about European based cruises.....bad service, extremely low quality food, over worked crew that complain, rude passengers ,smoking everywhere and children left to run around without parent control.

I realize opinions and tastes differ so reviews per ship or particular cruise can be different from one passenger to another. So I am on the fence about booking.

I am looking for comments and observations on a Florida based cruise.

What percentage of passengers are North American.

Are there a large number of young children on board.....do they impact the cruise (left to their own while parents do their own thing)?

Crew......good, bad or indifferent?

Have the cutbacks on food become really noticeable?

In reviews of European cruises I continually read negatives but for the price....suggesting discount prices. The pricing I see for the Deliziosa are equal to other lines, so there is no bargain.......is the experience worth it?

I long for the old Costa I enjoyed.......would booking a Caribbean cruise out of Ft Lauderdale be a mistake or just a gamble?

Thanks

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I was on Holland America and Princess last fall, Luminosa (sister to Deliziosa) in February and just finished Mediterranea (sister to Atlantica) TA to Italy. I've also done a few Mediterranean-Adriatic, including Deliziosa, but a few years ago. I'll try to keep this short, if you want more detail, just ask. Most travel agents don't know the product and shouldn't be selling it, at the very least “if it's important I'll find out before I take the booking”. I know of one instance where the agent flat-out lied in order to get the credit card number (telephone agency, not local, they had no practical recourse).

Yes, a European vacation time, kids-travel-free cruise is vastly different from a longer, off-season Caribbean. I'm suspicious of any review of any line that doesn't give some background and makes blanket statements based on one trip. There weren't many bambini in February and only a half-dozen just now. English-speakers maybe 20% in the Caribbean.

D/L have smoking lounges, no smoking anywhere else. I saw more smoking at the place I stayed in Florida than I've seen in France or Italy, Italy has “Vietato Fumare” everywhere.

If you want 24-hour feeding troughs and 2,000-calorie portions of bland American comfort food that's just like the local truck stop, then Costa is not for you, menus are much more European. (OK, I admit to some sarcasm due to the fat slobs I saw on HAL and Princess). Waitstaff efficiency, professionalism and staffing levels seemed comparable to what I saw on Princess (I felt the service on HAL was OK, but “basic banquet, with little attempt at sophistication”). Costa used to have pizza/salad til midnight, now its $8 (“you get the whole pizza”. “I don't WANT the whole pizza.”) That I'm really unhappy about because many nights I'm not hungry enough for a full MDR meal.

The Grand Bars on D/L are more garish but almost as nice as the Queens Rooms on Queen Victoria/Elizabeth. Costa has two groups with continuous music from 18.00 to 01.30, with a Cruise staff show that's a lot more entertaining than Cunard's pathetic “balls”. The Trio Tingali/Duo Contatto on Lum were the best I've heard on a cruise ship for a decade. On Med, Alexa&Riz were OK but Coco Band was poor, hardly better than a Cunard orchestra. There are six dance floors on Med, with a choice of music, only 3 on D/L.

The bar staff were quite friendly but more in the European tradition. I'm suspicious of any reviewer who no one will talk to except bar staff. I've heard Americans who were downright xenophobic, “them there furriners cain't speke no Anglish”.

Bottled water on a cruise ship is a scam, but Europeans do it, Costa is happy to take their money. Costa USA includes a “waterusa” package, any travel agent who can't explain it isn't providing more value than an Internet agency.

Costa's cabin stewards are excellent, the cabins are just like any other Fincantieri build.

I suspect the old Costa is gone forever, so it will be a gamble for you, but Costa is the only line I travel on as an individual now.

Edited by Dancer Bob
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Forgot to mention I'm interested in HAL Koningsdam, there seems to be a family resemblance to Queen Elizabeth, but due to the late delivery I won't make it this year. I wonder if the hull was originally ordered for Cunard, or whether somebody from HAL saw the Queens Room, said Wow!, and is trying to produce an American competitor for Cunard. So I'm curious what the actual implementation turns out to be.

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