Does Costa have an evening buffet or not? Hours?

Wow! I am from the Netherlands and am planning a cruise with Costa. I am definitely going to ask for the sticker for 'free' water in de MDR. Quite ridiculous that Europeans should pay for tap water.

Technically, I never got tap water when I ordered water in the MDR. I got bottled water (sparkling or still).

We did not get FREE water as an American on Costa Fortuna last April :(

It was NOT worth it for us to do the All-inclusive package for a few reasons:

1. Everyone in our cabin had to get all-inclusive (kids)

2. Did not include ice cream (MSC- includes unlimited gelato) on the Costa Fortuna there was no option free or purchase anywhere for real ice cream- they sold pre-packaged ice cream cones from a vending machine.

3. Hot chocolate, expresso- NOT included in package either

4. Ready for this one... BOTTLED WATER was served in a GLASS, you would never get the bottle with the package. So for excursions or to bring back to your room- no bottle!!

We ended up buying the soft drink package, and a beer package and a water package... all provided discounts to out right buying it. And we used every one before the end of our cruise.

We did not get FREE water as an American on Costa Fortuna last April :(

 

It was NOT worth it for us to do the All-inclusive package for a few reasons:

1. Everyone in our cabin had to get all-inclusive (kids)

2. Did not include ice cream (MSC- includes unlimited gelato) on the Costa Fortuna there was no option free or purchase anywhere for real ice cream- they sold pre-packaged ice cream cones from a vending machine.

3. Hot chocolate, expresso- NOT included in package either

4. Ready for this one... BOTTLED WATER was served in a GLASS, you would never get the bottle with the package. So for excursions or to bring back to your room- no bottle!!

 

We ended up buying the soft drink package, and a beer package and a water package... all provided discounts to out right buying it. And we used every one before the end of our cruise.

Should have "Water USA" printed on the back of your cruise cards.

Costa is getting cheaper and cheaper. In the past, there used to be the (entire and free of course) buffet option for diner, then it remained only the pizza thing and now you have to pay for it... Bottled water used to be 1 liter, becoming 75 cl a couple of years ago (the price remaining the same, of course). I have cruised 4 times with them between 2004 and 2014 and I have seen the service in all aspects dropping continuously.

Hi All

Just off the Pacifica. Had water USA imprinted on the back of my card. I had checked with Costa before I left and was told bottled water by the glass at dinner. This is correct had a choice of mineral or still but it was bottled and poured by the glass. By the way if you are like me and enjoy ice in your water get some ice from the buffet area dispensers and bring it to dinner with you since it took forever to get ice for my water at the table.

Loved the ship but the dinners and dining room left a lot to be desired.

pat

murrells inlet, sc

We almost went hungry one day when we chose to go to buffet at night and at exactly 8:30 pm they cleared all food stations.

Going on the NeoRomantica in december, a little confused regarding the restaurants. Still buffet on the Neo ships for dinner?? If I understood my travel agent correct there are open dining on the Neo ships, no early/ late dining, we can as premium guests just order a table for whatever time that suits us that day. Could anyone confirm it works this way?

Are the breakfast buffet could food Only? no chance for pancakes, croissants and bacon?

I have been onboard neoRiviera at the beginning of October 2015 so I have quite fresh news. First of all I confirm that onboard the neo ships you can choose between the main dining room with no assigned table or time to go and the buffet. If you go to the restaurant they will provide you a table and, if the dining room is full in that moment, they give you a pager that will advise you when the table is avilable.

In the buffet at the moment onborad the neo ships there is both cold and hot breakfast with both sweet (Europeans usually prefer the sweet breakfast) end salty food but onboard the others Costa ships there is a new policy according to whom the buffet has only the sweet breakfast such as croissants and cakes while the restaurant only has the continental breakfast but I don't know if they will extend this threatment also to neocollection.

In those days Costa has announced that they will open the buffet also for dinner onboard every ship of the fleet from spring 2016. The first ship that will have this implementation of the service will be Diadema from the beginning of December 2015

Thanks for great information ItCruiser94, just the information I was hoping for :-)

When I book with Costa USA "waterusa" is included. Not included in my booking with Costa France this fall, but when I added the cost of a water package, it was still really cheap.

Forgot to mention- Costa's pizza is pretty good by European standards. But if you want really good pizza, stay home- US pizza is way better than anything I've had in Europe.

I was on the Costa Magica last august.

When we booked we knew that there was no evening or midnight buffet and only the fixed seating.

I booked a guarantee stateroom but was given what Carnival would call a 1A stateroom at the very front of the ship on deck 2. Carnival Triumph, sister ship of the Costa Magica actually sells these as 1A... After some phone calls to their office in Belgium they changed the room. I had the impression that the people I spoke to do not know the layout of the ship or staterooms.

Not being able to grab a snack from the buffet at night or simply drink a cup of coffee/tea of just have some water did bother us though.

The water and coffee machines at the buffet were not always filled, also often no ice available. When we woke up a little later one day we really had to walk though the lido over to at least 4 machines just to get some coffee, juice and some milk for my coffee.

The for a fee pizza at night wasn´t an option for us on this ship because the lack of atmosphere (they serve the pizza in the buffet area).

In september I did a ship visit in Hamburg and was on the Coste neoRomantica for a couple of hours. Over there the pizza restaurant was a separate venue and looked very nice. The pizza there was great and so was the wine and dessert :).

Back to the Magica: We had to go through a lot of trouble to change our fixed dining time to late seating. The first reaction from the Maitre was quote: "Not possible¨

Compared to other lines I the staff in the dining room was quite unfriendly, even asking for butter with my dinner rolls was too much.

I can confirm that the breakfast in the Lido has no eggs, waffles, bacon and so on. There is a buffet setup at the MDR and there you can order eggs etc.

The dining room almost only has tables for 6 or more people, if you want dinner for two or a breakfast for two your only options are room service or the paid steak restaurant for dinner.

About the open seating: If your Costa ship has an open seating, it is wise to look where the open seating is held. For example on the Costa Diadema the open seating is where the lido buffet is during the day... Not what I would call a nice and romantic dinner.

For a quick and very cheap getaway I would cruise with Costa again. If there are other options (and mostly there are other options), I would choose an other cruise line.

Wow! I am from the Netherlands and am planning a cruise with Costa. I am definitely going to ask for the sticker for 'free' water in de MDR. Quite ridiculous that Europeans should pay for tap water.

If you booked through a US agent you will automatically get it. If you haven't then don't waste your breath - you won't get it! While I don't agree with the policy, you are not entitled to it and they were the T&Cs you booked under! Suck it up!

Going on the NeoRomantica in december, a little confused regarding the restaurants. Still buffet on the Neo ships for dinner?? If I understood my travel agent correct there are open dining on the Neo ships, no early/ late dining, we can as premium guests just order a table for whatever time that suits us that day. Could anyone confirm it works this way?

 

Are the breakfast buffet could food Only? no chance for pancakes, croissants and bacon?

having never sailed on a Neo ship I cannot answer that part.

This is how breakfast is on their none ships!

The breakfast buffet is now dubbed 'Italian Breakfast' essentially continental - you will get croissants but cold but no pancakes or bacon! :(

If you want hot breakfast head to the MDR and you can have American pancakes, Belgian waffles, Mexican Huevos, Spanish omelette, Full English etc etc - dubbed International Breakfast :rolleyes:

How does the European McDonald's, Kentucky and Subway compare with the American product?

Exactly the same! Even the Big Mac in New Delhi tastes the same and they don't eat beef in India! :eek:

We did not get FREE water as an American on Costa Fortuna last April :(

 

It was NOT worth it for us to do the All-inclusive package for a few reasons:

1. Everyone in our cabin had to get all-inclusive (kids)

2. Did not include ice cream (MSC- includes unlimited gelato) on the Costa Fortuna there was no option free or purchase anywhere for real ice cream- they sold pre-packaged ice cream cones from a vending machine.

3. Hot chocolate, expresso- NOT included in package either

4. Ready for this one... BOTTLED WATER was served in a GLASS, you would never get the bottle with the package. So for excursions or to bring back to your room- no bottle!!

 

We ended up buying the soft drink package, and a beer package and a water package... all provided discounts to out right buying it. And we used every one before the end of our cruise.

That is really strange, the all inclusive package DOES cover hot chocolate and espresso. Maybe the Fortuna didn't have it? But this is from Costa's USA website:

http://www.costacruise.com/usa/all-inclusive-cruise.html

This was our first Costa cruise ever and we loved it. This was cruise # 72 for us so we have lots of ships and ports to compare this cruise to.

First the breakfast in MDR was amazing, between the Italian buffet that was set up and then the hot items that could be ordered along with coffee one of the best breakfast set ups anywhere.

The bottled water at our table everynight as we had US water on the back of our key card. There were 3 couples American and Canadian and our waiter just brought large bottles as we needed them. We were told that if we took the left over water from the table after dinner we would be charged for bottle. We were all water drinkers and never ran out of large bottles of water that we poured ourselves. Great way to have water on the table better than waiting for a waiter to come and refill the glasses.

This also applied in MDR at lunch time.

The food was good and it was great to try all the different pasta dishes. We did however all miss the coffee after dinner.

The entertainment was great.

We would go again on a Costa cruise. The ship was the same layout as the Carnival Glory.

I have been on two Costa cruises and have enjoyed the meals. On the most recent on those evenings when excursions were scheduled for a late return, the buffet line was open in the evenings.. as well as the first evening on board. On a prior cruise this was not the case and we ate pizza or room service on evenings we were on board after our early main dinning room time. Perhaps Costa can confirm one way or another in advance I don't know.

We were on Magica for the Transatlantic to Guadeloupe. No dinner buffet. As soon as we got to Guadeloupe the buffet started at 7pm until 9pm. It's all about demand.

will post a full review when I recover......buffet in the evening for 1 1/2 hours finally opened halfway through the voyage -- food bizarre - some menu items from restaurant menu but also the odd hot dog/burger - no buns which was just as well as they were awful at lunch!:D