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Costa Serena - Arabian Gulf - Dubai - Muscat - Abu Dhabi - Khasab - January 16th - 23


tomvet
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I was on the same cruise on January 2nd. The itinerary is very good, but the experience on the ship was below my expectations.

The food was good at dinner, but the buffet was mediocre at best and was arranged along the entire deck 9 instead of having a dedicated room, so you have to walk a lot to collect different food. Water dispencers were not available when the buffet was closed.

The entertainment was bad, I didn't even notice what they did during the day, but the magician show lasted only half an hour and one night they had a talent show with the crew members. I admit some of them where decent singers, but if you have a staff of professionals on board, why should I watch the cooks trying to sing and dance?

 

I've already book my next cruise with Royal Caribbean...

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I forgot to note that the activities for kids and teens were indeed very good. After dinner the staff organized some classic games for adults like "miss Costa" or "the perfect couple" and the teen club had their own version of the same games in a different part of the ship (the disco). Well I have to say that the teen versions of these games were so much better that many adults prefer to watch them instead of the main ones.

Edited by LeoEdre
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  • 3 weeks later...

I too was on this cruise on 23rd January and can't see what people are complaining about. We paid around £850 for the cruise in an outside cabin and direct flights with Emirates. I have previously sailed with Norwegian and twice with Celebrity. Whilst the ship and food wasn't to their standard I paid twice the price on those ships!!

 

The service on the Serena particularly in the bars and at the pool was outstanding and the waiters in the dining room despite being obviously overworked were good also.

 

The food was ok and you could always find something you liked. The buffet especially the carvery was also good if a bit busy at times.

 

Our cabin had more storage than I have experienced on any other ship

 

For value for money and some winter sun the cruise cannot be beaten.

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Got off the ship on Friday and it was absolutely fine. Didn't notice a massive decline in standards. Found the ship a bit garish yet dingy (Concordia class is not to my taste decor wise) and the lunch buffet a bit repetitive but service everywhere was good. My balcony cabin was nice and a decent size. Everything was as I'd expected from previous sailings. A nice relaxing cruise and great value for the money.

 

It was my birthday during the cruise and it was nice to get both a birthday card and a lovely cake at dinner. Wasn't expecting that. My table companions also enjoyed the cake

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Hi fellow cruisers,

I have booked a cruise on the Fortuna from 23rd-30th December this year, and have found the reviews and information posted on this thread to be very informative and helpful.

I saw a good price £799 (Sea View) with direct flights with Emirates and private transfers included with Iglu and booked (Hoping for a free upgrade to Balcony !)

I was going to wait to see if the price was lowered closer to the cruise, but thought that the Xmas flights could be popular, so the cost could actually increase the closer we get, also we have good time flights, return time of 14.45, so no earlybird transit to the airport off the ship required.

We like the attraction of some winter sunshine over Xmas, rather than the same old stuff at home, and thought that this was a good deal (especially over the Xmas period) and no need to book any time off work due to Xmas shutdown.

We have visited Dubai before, a few years back as a stopover (4 days) on the way back from a vacation in Mauritius, and enjoyed it (We stayed at The Westin Mina Seyahi Beach Resort).

Hoping that there will be some Xmas atmosphere on the ship though.

We have previously sailed on MSC for a 21 day cruise, so have some first hand knowledge of the Italian cruising experience !

I love to plan and research the ports and private excursions, and was impressed with the itinerary carried out by Tom (Tomvet), also I am sure that AmoMondo supplied me with information prior to MSC Cruise.

I have already booked the Dhoa Tour with Khasab Tours, and as documented

this makes a considerable saving on the Costa arranged Tour.

I have a few questions that you guys may be able to help with :

 

Our flights departs on the 22nd, overnight arriving at 06.55 on 23rd, I note that Tom stored his luggage at the airport before his activities in Dubai, thus meaning return to airport prior to arriving at the Cruise Terminal, is there not a facility to either check in or store luggage at the terminal, to avoid this extra trip ?

 

I can access the Costa Log in for our cruise, but unable to see where you can select table size, or seating time for the cruise, how do you set this up ?

 

Has anyone sailed on the Fortuna, thoughts/tips please

 

Tom, I note that there were "no takers" for a swim on your tour at Telegraph Island, was this because the Fjord was cold, or no appropriate changing area after ?

 

I am sure that I will have loads more queries, but cruise was only booked yesterday lol

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"Our flights departs on the 22nd, overnight arriving at 06.55 on 23rd, I note that Tom stored his luggage at the airport before his activities in Dubai, thus meaning return to airport prior to arriving at the Cruise Terminal, is there not a facility to either check in or store luggage at the terminal, to avoid this extra trip ? "

 

Last time I was in Dubai, there was no public left luggage facilties, but for our cruise we could check in our luggage very early. Best give Costa a ring to check to see if it still possible. Other alternatives airport or some shopping mails.

 

"I can access the Costa Log in for our cruise, but unable to see where you can select table size, or seating time for the cruise, how do you set this up ?"

 

There are various types of cabin categories, namely Classic and Premium. For premium you can select the dinner sitting and table size, also other perks e.g. Breakfast in the Cabin. Most packages are for the classic category of cabin (makes the offer look good). Check with Costa / TA as to what category you are booked. Here is a lionk show the cabin categories:

 

http://www.costacruises.co.uk/B2C/GB/AboutCruising/suite/Pages/suite.aspx#novita-2013

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Hi GMT,

Thanks for your response.

I will contact Costa to ask about options with luggage, I have asked TA, but he is aware of problem, but could not offer any assistance.

Our cabin is classic (£50 each less expensive), the benefits did not persuade me to upgrade, however I have not seen advertised on the Costa Web Site that this grade allows pre-booking of table/first-second seating within MDR ?

Lee

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  • 3 weeks later...
"Our flights departs on the 22nd, overnight arriving at 06.55 on 23rd, I note that Tom stored his luggage at the airport before his activities in Dubai, thus meaning return to airport prior to arriving at the Cruise Terminal, is there not a facility to either check in or store luggage at the terminal, to avoid this extra trip ? "

 

Probably too late now but we were due to arrive at this time and I thought we would be able to go directly to the ship but discovered check in was not until 1500. We changed our flight to arrive at midnight and spent the night at the Holiday inn Express at the airport £65b&B. We sightseeing next day then returned and took our cases down for checkin at the terminal. It also meant you had had a good sleep and were refreshed.

 

Don't know if you could change your flight now but worth considering.

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You cannot check in until 1500 but you can head to the port early in the morning and have your luggage taken from you but then you must get out of the port to see something or else get bored waiting. We left our luggage at the airport as it was easier to return to using the spiffy Metro and it allowed us to get underway earlier - also at the time we did not know we could deposit our luggage at the port - we were told by Costa not to checkin before 1500.

 

As regards swimming off Telegraph Island - the sea was choppy and there was a wind chill! It was actually quite cold!

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