our Costa Diadema cruise part 2

Hello everyone, here is part 2 of our Costa diadema cruise report.

Daytime and evening entertainment.

Dress code. Casual

I'm afraid i have'nt mastered the art of attaching things for this site. I do have the weeks diario di Bordo (daily programme sheets) If anyone would like these please leave me your e mail and i'll scan and send them to you) i shall endevour to write what was happening on board for both daytime and evening for boarding day a port day and a sea day.

Embarkation day, daytime activities.

1pm-10pm. Guided spa tour

3pm-9pm. Good feet, free foot analysis.

4pm. Ping pong tournament (adults only)

4pm. Video quiz- maps of the world

4pm. unhosted card players get together

4pm-5pm. Register and win- internet access assistance

4pm. Game- crazy hockey

4.15pm. English speakers meeting about life on board.

4.30pm. 2017 super hits with the entertainment team.

5.30pm- 9.15pm. Aperitovo glamour, chefs creations, oysters and molecular cocktails, (paying)

6pm. Relaxing gym.

6.15pm. Dance class. Bachata followed by everyone on the dancefloor.

6.30pm-7.30pm. English hostess will answer your questions.

Evening entertainment.

7.45pm. Show, Kings and queens of pop and rock.

8.15pm, Spa show, tratment demonstaration.

8.30pm. Swing show, dance exhibition with latin dance group

845pm Auditions for the voice at sea (Karaoke)

9.30pm Repeat show,Kings and queens

10.30pm. Repeat swing show

10.45pm. Beer fest, music and games with entertainment team

10.45pm. Gypsy kings special with los paraguyas

10.45pm. Ballroom dancing with Jacks Band

11pm. Sound and soul special.

Midnight. The rhythm of the night (disco)

Music around the ship

Los paraguayos and Antonino (atrium)

Jacks Band (Grand bar orlov)

Dreammakers and 4 rocks Band (Country rock club)

Stefano Marcolini (Piano bar)

Curls and Pearls band (Teadora lounge)

Day at Sea. Daytime entertainment.

Dress code. elegant

9am. Morning walk

9.30am. Soft gym

10am. Arts and crafts, let's paint together

10am. Darts Tournament

10am. Dance lesson, jive

10.30am. Video quiz, Inventions

10.30am. Basketball Tournament

10.30am Pizza demonstartion

10.30am. My Costa hunt (digital treasure hunt registration)

10.45am. Prize draw-register and win

11am. Video quiz-historical figures

11am. I love watches- 2 watch sets for 36€

11am. German beer brunch

11am. Dance lesson-Salsa

11am. Party for the Men- spa secrets for the Man

11.15am. Sports- Free shots

11.15am. Seminar- Detox for health

11.30am. Big event- Men V Women

11.30am. Video quiz- Where in the world

Noon. Pasta festival

Noon. Italian style aperitif- Aperol & appetisers (pay)

12.15pm. Gastronomic demonstration

3.15pm. Digital treasure hunt begins

3.15pm. English hostess available

3.30pm. Rings Tournament

3.30pm. Sports- Football-Tennis

3.30pm. Arts and crafts- create your own jewels

3.30pm Visual quiz

4pm. Game-Master bluster

4pm. Super quiz

4.30pm. Fashion accessories for 11€

4.30pm. Group dances

5pm. Arts and crafts- Napkin folding

5pm. Game- Challenge the entertainment team

5.30pm Gym- Abs and glutes

7.45pm. Show. flying circus with donert duo

8.45pm. Squok club presents little princess ball

9pm. Invitation to dance

9.30pm. Repeat showtime.

10.45pm. Rhythm,fun and beer

11pm. Spot show- Tango and Jive

11.15pm. Costa Dance competition

11.30pm. The Masked Ball

12.30am. Disco

Port day

Suggested Dress code, Red,white and green

9am. Sports- Morning walk

9.30am. Soft gym

10am. Game- knock down the pyramid

10am. Discover the new board game,zena 1814

10.15am. Basketball

10.30am. Costa cruises quiz

11am. Game- find the joker

11.30am. Quiz-Sports

2.30pm. Spa treatment demonstration

3.30pm. Volleyball tournament

4pm. Tiles tournament

4.15pm. Table soccor tournament

4.30pm. Game- beat the entertainments team record

4.30pm. Arts and crafts- make italian accessories

5pm. Musical quiz- guess the cartoon character

5pm Dance moves from this cruise

5.30pm. Video quiz- sports team logos

6pm. English hostess available

6.15pm. Dance lesson Paso doble

7pm. Perfume sale

7.45pm. Musical show- sapori d'italia

8.30pm. Lets dance the tarantella

8.45pm. Country dance lesson and party

9.30pm show repeat

10.15pm. Ballroom dancing

10.30pm. Italian speacials with Antonino

10.45pm. Rhythm,fun and beer

11pm. Election of Mr Italy

11pm Fiesta Italiana

11.30pm. Everybody dance.

I hope this has given you a general idea of the entertainment on this cruise.

Quizes and competitions were all conducted in several languages. Music around the ship,we felt was of a very good standard. Our favourites were Los Paraguayas and Antonino. We saw lots of couples dancing and generally the atmosphere around the ship was fun. The production shows were good to excellent, some with Live music. Because of my Illness last year, i do get very tired and was usually ready to go to bed between 10.30 and 11pm. This was a shame as a lot of the party people didn¡t start till after 11pm. If we had one negative it would be that parents let their children play around the dance floor when people are trying to dance. There's lots of places for the children to play around the ship so we can't understand why parents let this happen.

Drinks

Several drink packages are available but neither of us are big alcohol drinkers so we just purchased the 40 alcohol free beverage package for 110€, we used this mainly for the virgin cocktails and it offered fantistic value for money. If we had bought the non alco drinks we consumed individually, it would have cost us a little over 250€.

We did buy a few glasses of sparkling wine and after dinner drinks. I'll post some prices below.

Branded premium drinks such as Bombay/tonic, Jack/coke. 7.95€ to 10.95€

House branded spirits. 6.45€

Bellini and Rossini, sparkling cocktails,4.95€

classic cocktails. Sidecar, black russian, between the sheets etc. 7.45€

alcohol free cocktails. 5.45 to 6.45€

tropical cocktails. Mai tai, planters punch,long island etc 7.45€

premium spirits. Range from 6 to 11.50€

house spirits. Courvoisier, ballantines, gordons,smirnoff etc 5.50€

liquours. Grand marnier, tia maria sambuca etc.4.95€

sherry and port. 4.95€

wine by the glass. 5€

beers 4.95€ 33cl

soft drinks. 2.95€

espresso. 1.55€

cappuccino. 2.55€

ALL drinks carry a 15% service charge.

Excursions.

We can't comment on excursions for this cruise as we did not do any this time

Dress code

Predominantly most people were just dressed smart casual. We like to dress up on an evening as did a FEW others. The daily programme did state that people who dressed inappropriately would be turmed away from dining rooms. No shorts, sleeveless tops, slippers and flip flops.

General thoughts.

We enjoyed the cruise very much. The biggest complaints that we heard from native english speakers was no english food (sorry, but it is aimed at the Italian Market)

I have to pay for water with meals (this is what most Med countries do)

Mandatory service charge of 10€ pppd (stated very clearly in terms and conditions and FAQ'S. Service we received from waiters,barstaff,cleaners etc was always excellent)

Hardly anyone speaks english. (most of the staff have some to good english. Most passengers will have a little or with gestures will make themselves understood.) We had a great time with a french and german family we met,who had very limited english. It is an I talian ship where english speakers are in the minority, just go with the flow.

I did have 1 negative downside to the cruise and this was with the magic bag laundry service. 1 of my special shirts was ruined, all of the silver came off my dress shirt. It was partly my fault as i should not have included this in the Laundry. Please be aware that IF your laundry item is lost or damaged you will only receive 7 times the value of the cost of the laundered item, in the case of my shirt,it cost 3€ to have laundered, so i only received back 21 €. This nowhere near covered the cost of the shirt and it can never be replaced. It quite clearly does state this on the bag and you have to tick the box saying you understand this, which i did.

I now know to never send anything but plain clothing away to be laundered.

Disembarkation.

Because of our new perla diamente level, we could pack our cases and telephone reception when ready and they sent somebody to collect our cases from the cabin wher it would be delivered to our home address.

We had no luggage to search for and we could manage busses,metro etc so much easier because of this.

We were also told that we could stay onboard and use our card for drinks etc until we left the ship, as long as we were off before 3pm. This we did and had a very leisurly lunch with our new found friends in the club Restaurant.

To be honest,when the time came to disembark, we didn't want to get off.

Apart from that 1 incident with the laundry it had been a near perfect cruise.

Thank you for taking the time to post. I also appreciated your positive attitude and comments about it being an Italian cruise line not an English cruise line.

Bazboy, thank you for another well balanced review. I have mostly found that at least one member of a family speaks English, but as soon as they find out found one is English then their tend to clam up being afraid of makingmistakes with their English. After a couple of meeting things tend to lighten up.

Thank you for asking if the dear MIL is doing well (in the other thread), the answer is yes, she is alive and kicking (I'll have to tighten those knots).

The dear MIL once said to me (it was heaven when she stopped) that I speak 3 languages, English, German and my mother tongue Rubbish.:mad:

Thank you for taking the time to post. I also appreciated your positive attitude and comments about it being an Italian cruise line not an English cruise line.

Thank you for your kind comments. Happy cruising. :)

Bazboy, thank you for another well balanced review. I have mostly found that at least one member of a family speaks English, but as soon as they find out found one is English then their tend to clam up being afraid of makingmistakes with their English. After a couple of meeting things tend to lighten up.

 

Thank you for asking if the dear MIL is doing well (in the other thread), the answer is yes, she is alive and kicking (I'll have to tighten those knots).

 

The dear MIL once said to me (it was heaven when she stopped) that I speak 3 languages, English, German and my mother tongue Rubbish.:mad:

Lol G.M.T. Glad that she's well, I bet she's got you wrapped around her little finger,so those knots are useless anyway. :D