Mediterranea July 2016 vs. Jan. 2015

We have cruised with Costa three times and by coincidence, each cruise has been on the Mediterranea. Our most recent was July 1-8, 2016 in the Mediterranean which was a big difference from our Jan. 2015 cruise to the Caribbean. We have been Costa fans and encouraged others to sail Costa. After this cruise, we have to rethink those recommendations. We found ourselves wondering if the changes were because of location or are fleet wide. I use Cruisecritic when planning for a cruise so I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of the differences that we noticed.

Please note . . . .some of this might not be true for suite customers. But we are a family that opts to cruise more often in a lower category cabin.

Food: Yes, it is true . . . you pay for your late night pizza (my 20 and 23 year old sons thought it was some of the best food found on board.) and supposedly pay for gelato too . . . but the only ice cream/gelato seen on our ship was in a vending machine that was never working. Considering one never saw it on board, I don’t think it was available. It might be on the children’s menu because leaving the dining room one evening, it looked like a child had had some. There was only one ice cream type dessert (it was good!) served during our 7 day cruise. Breakfast was the biggest change (and disappointment). The Lido now serves only COLD dishes for breakfast. (Some comment was made about those who prefer a “European” breakfast.) You go to the dining room if you want eggs, bacon/sausage, or pancake/waffles. There you will order that main dish at your table (where an assembly line premade dish will be delivered to you). Coffee will be brought to your table. But, you must go help yourself at a buffet line for water, juice, fruit, croissants, etc. So no longer is there a dining room option for breakfast . . . you have to fend with buffet lines in both places.

Staff: I honestly think they have simply cut numbers. Our cabin steward was great . . .but he seemed to be assigned to more cabins. Our service was not affected, but he seemed to be working non-stop. Before there was usually a time in the day that there was no cleaning activity seen in the hallways. This time, it seemed like the cart was always out. There also seemed to be fewer wait staff in the lido at lunch time which meant the tables were not cleaned as quickly. The wait staff also appeared to have received less training. It seemed like they were learning as they went (very obvious in the dining room as our assistant waiter kept struggling to open wine bottles . . . and there was no wine steward.

Kiosks: The excursion desk has fewer hours which means buying tickets through the kiosks . . . which is fine, unless you want more information about specific excursions.

Ice: It seemed that only one or two of the drink stations would actually be filled with ice at any particular meal time and so you had to guess which place might have some. Because there was no ice/water sitting in many of the trays, I don’t think those stations ever had ice . . . and the water there wasn’t chilled either. This was frustrating with as warm as the Mediterranean is in July.

Conclusion: We will think long and hard before using Costa again. The staff was still great so we aren’t faulting them. The company is choosing to cut corners in many ways that is beginning to impact the cruise experience. It is a shame . . . we always enjoyed Costa but we might be making a different choice next time.

We have cruised with Costa three times and by coincidence, each cruise has been on the Mediterranea. Our most recent was July 1-8, 2016 in the Mediterranean which was a big difference from our Jan. 2015 cruise to the Caribbean. We have been Costa fans and encouraged others to sail Costa. After this cruise, we have to rethink those recommendations. We found ourselves wondering if the changes were because of location or are fleet wide. I use Cruisecritic when planning for a cruise so I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of the differences that we noticed.

Please note . . . .some of this might not be true for suite customers. But we are a family that opts to cruise more often in a lower category cabin.

 

Food: Yes, it is true . . . you pay for your late night pizza (my 20 and 23 year old sons thought it was some of the best food found on board.) and supposedly pay for gelato too . . . but the only ice cream/gelato seen on our ship was in a vending machine that was never working. Considering one never saw it on board, I don’t think it was available. It might be on the children’s menu because leaving the dining room one evening, it looked like a child had had some. There was only one ice cream type dessert (it was good!) served during our 7 day cruise. Breakfast was the biggest change (and disappointment). The Lido now serves only COLD dishes for breakfast. (Some comment was made about those who prefer a “European” breakfast.) You go to the dining room if you want eggs, bacon/sausage, or pancake/waffles. There you will order that main dish at your table (where an assembly line premade dish will be delivered to you). Coffee will be brought to your table. But, you must go help yourself at a buffet line for water, juice, fruit, croissants, etc. So no longer is there a dining room option for breakfast . . . you have to fend with buffet lines in both places.

 

Staff: I honestly think they have simply cut numbers. Our cabin steward was great . . .but he seemed to be assigned to more cabins. Our service was not affected, but he seemed to be working non-stop. Before there was usually a time in the day that there was no cleaning activity seen in the hallways. This time, it seemed like the cart was always out. There also seemed to be fewer wait staff in the lido at lunch time which meant the tables were not cleaned as quickly. The wait staff also appeared to have received less training. It seemed like they were learning as they went (very obvious in the dining room as our assistant waiter kept struggling to open wine bottles . . . and there was no wine steward.

 

Kiosks: The excursion desk has fewer hours which means buying tickets through the kiosks . . . which is fine, unless you want more information about specific excursions.

 

Ice: It seemed that only one or two of the drink stations would actually be filled with ice at any particular meal time and so you had to guess which place might have some. Because there was no ice/water sitting in many of the trays, I don’t think those stations ever had ice . . . and the water there wasn’t chilled either. This was frustrating with as warm as the Mediterranean is in July.

 

Conclusion: We will think long and hard before using Costa again. The staff was still great so we aren’t faulting them. The company is choosing to cut corners in many ways that is beginning to impact the cruise experience. It is a shame . . . we always enjoyed Costa but we might be making a different choice next time.

Interesting read. We share your sentiments almost to a tee. We have completed 4 Costa cruises our 4th on Mediterranea and the experience on board was well below par and has prompted us to rethink our advocacy of the Costa product.

The attitude of senior staff on board was shocking and the English speaking host Mr Michael Warbrick was a most unhelpful little upstart. Attitude of customer service staff shoreside was even more shocking!

I recognise what yous say about the cabin steward always being about - It hadn't struck a chord with me until you mentioned it.

As for ice cream, it is NOT on the kids menu. Ice cream was available on our April cruise for purchase from a cart in the casino and another one on the Lido.

Reading others reviews, it appears to me that Mediterranea stands out in its own in terms of poor service.

For what it is worth, we are giving Costa a break and have two Phoenix Reisen River cruises booked for 2017.

 

It might be on the children’s menu because leaving the dining room one evening, it looked like a child had had some.

 

You saw Ice Cream???????????????? On the Mediteranea????? We were on it after Tomvet and before you.

No...its not on the kids menu despite us asking our lovely table guys. have to buy it. If you can find the cart. Or if the machine is working for an ice lolly.

Most ridiculous cost saving ever......