DIADEMA Berth Changed Sunday 22 Nov

Just got an email from Costa, on Sunday Diadema will berth at Seyne sur Mer- which I see just happens to be next door to the French naval base at Toulon. Doesn't bother me, I get a free coach tour, I've been to Marseille before, there's nothing I want to see, the cruise terminal is in the middle of nowhere. Might even have a chance to look around after reaching the ship if we're not actually at a naval dock.

A UK friend was supposed to be traveling, Costa has let her change to May from Venice with full credit, she thinks Costa has been quite reasonable. She says the trains (I assume she means Eurostar) are off-schedule, I'm in Southern France now, everything here is normal.

Have a great cruise.

Get those toes warmed up.:)

The big ship cruise port at Seyne sur Mer near Toulon has nothing to recommend it and neither does Toulon itself, in my opinion. Just a large city.

We were there 2 weeks ago and took a taxi from Toulon to the charming village of Sanary sur Mer about 12 km from Toulon and I love it there. I hope our Costa Diadema cruise in January calls at Toulon instead of Marseilles, as I will certainly go to Sanary sur Mer again.

Thanks, I figure I'll only have a couple of hours free.

Thanks, I figure I'll only have a couple of hours free.

I will be very interested if you write a review of your Diadema cruise Bob.

It's our first time on Costa and we don't really know what to expect.

I usually cruise on Azamara, Silversea and Cunard and I know this will be a very different experience, but the itinerary is nice and I know we will have fun.

Compared to Cunard. Haven't been on Azamara, was very disappointed with Silversea.

Food one star below Cunard. Lot of extra-cost menu options. Buffet is open-seating dining in the evening, will follow up with more info.

Grand Bar dance floor grossly inadequate, needs to be at least double for a ship this size. Five rooms overall, each with a different theme. Costa musicians do not disappoint, they play what the customers want to hear, when it's dance music it really is dance music. Grand bar somewhat similar to QR on QE/QV, extends into next deck, much better air circulation and very open feel..

The dance team is two couples, focusing on latin. Their show was good enough to have been first-place at a competition, not the sixth-place also-rans Cunard uses. No dance hosts per se, but the dance team does dance with passengers.

Thanks for that Bob, but I'm more into disco type dancing!

Is there a piano bar for quieter moments to have a chat and a drink?

Interested in the food and wine quality and the speciality restaurants.

Many thanks.

Lottie.

One of the rooms has had a disco theme a couple of nights. The actual disco seems to shut down around 3 AM. I'm sure you could find some quieter places if you look. Have only gone into the piano bar when there's been a theme.

Costa normally is very family-oriented but not many children on this cruise, broad age range but skews very strongly towards "retired".

There are several $$ specialty restaurants. The MDR menu has less choice than in the past and some extra cost items, but I've had some nice items. You can get a cooked breakfast in the MDR, I find the "Italian" continental breakfast just fine, everybody seems to find something they like. Very limited choice after 9 pm, that's the major reason I've given a lower rating. A lot of the bad rating were from the inaugral cruises. Anybody who gives less tha "3" now, I'm going to want to see substantiation. The open-sitting choice, Corona Blu (500 seats), has a 5 euro surcharge, but they've told me I can move there for free (I'm solo at a table for 3, so maybe they want the table), so I'm going to change. Same menu.

I don't use alcohol so can't offer an opinion on wine.

Thank you very much for that information Dancer Bob.

I hope your having good weather and enjoying yourself.

Any other Diadema insights will be appreciated. We will be boarding her on January 11th.

Finally got around to writing a review, submitted today. If you want more detail on anything just ask, I tried to keep everything short and to the point.