ITCruiser94

Coffee (some don't call it that ) is available free in the MDR and buffet during breakfast and lunch, but not during dinner.

 

Alternatives is either an AI drinks package or the Coffee cards.

The regular coffee is also avilable in the buffet in the afternoon during the tea time and it is always avilable for free in the room service menu if you are in a Premium cabin or in a suite

The cruise has been moved to 3/3/2018 with a different itinerary that will end in Savona and not in Trieste anymore. You can see the details here

http://www.costacruises.co.uk/gb/cruise_details/201803-GBP_RN_24_MRU_S_B0H0_MRU_VIC_SLL_AQJ_EIL_HER_KLX_KAT_REG_CIV_LSP_SVN-RN24180303.html

Only on the neo ships.

It is also avilable on the other ships only in the suites

Onboard neoRiviera every cabin is fitted with an Illy Iperespresso capsules coffee machine (like this http://shop.illy.com/online/store/product_iperespresso-serving-machines-us_francis-francis-y5-espresso-machine_us)

The capsules can be seen here http://shop.illy.com/online/store/products_iperespresso-capsules-us_us

According to my experience, it depends on what ship you are going to.

In October 2015 onboard neoRiviera pizza was not free both for lunch and dinner

In February 2016 onboard Mediterranea there were slices of pizza for free until 4pm or 5 pm; and after that time you had to pay for an entire pizza because slices were not avilable

In May 2016 onboard Favolosa pizza was only avilable in the evening and it wasn't free. During lunch time and the afternoon tea there were focaccia slices for free instead of pizza

On an Italian Forum a person who was onboard Luminosa in May stated that the buffet was already open in the evening. According to a Costa statement departing from this month it will be open across the whole fleet

I am now looking at a Costa bill where we stayed in an premium cabin where we were charged €3,50 for cake and coffee plus €2 tray charge.

This is really strange. I have used several times the room service in a premium cabin and it was included in the cruise fare. Look at this page http://www.costacruises.co.uk/gb/cruise-price-included.html

it says: "In-room service and breakfast (included in the price of the cruise for guests in the Premium, Suite and Samsara Cabins)"

Are you sure that you have booked a premum cabin? Because things like that are possible only if you have booked a classic or a guarantee cabin and you have been upgraded to a premium cabin

Costa Fortuna in June 2004 in the classical western Mediterranean itinerary

In a premium cabin the tray charge is gratis but the food you purchase carries a charge.

I have often used the room service in a premium cabin and it is totally complimentary, both the service and the food.

What you have described is onboard MSC in the Fantastica experience

I confirm that pizza is not complimentary in the evening. I don't know about Magica, but some Costa ships have a fee of 4,50€ (I have been in May onboard Costa Favolosa and the price was that) per person while other ones have a fee of 6,50€ (for sure onboard Diadema according to people who sailed on her) for an entire pizza, salad and a dessert. Slices of pizza are not avilable in the evening

Magica is a ship with plenty of dance floors, the main one is in the grand bar Salento, but in the grand bar take also place the animation activities in the evening.

The itinerary and the period in which you are interested in cruising onboard Magica are not the most requested from families with children because it is a longer itinerary and during the school period so there won't be as many children as you can find in a 7 night cruise in June or July

I have been upgraded from a classic cabin to a premium one 2 times and I have never received the premium perks so I think you will only have a premium cabin with classic only amenities.

I agree with G.M.T about the fact that this is not a Costa Club upgrade

According to several blogs Pacifica will be moved to Buenos Aires and Mediterranea to Brasil. neoClassica cruises will be changed with those ones http://www.costacrociere.it/it/dettagli_crociera/201612-EUR_NC_14_MLE_S_B0H0_MLE_COL_MRM_BOM_NML_COK_MLE-NC14161216.html with the possibility to board in Male or Mumbai

Still nothing has been said about which ship will de in Dubai replacing Pacifica

neoRomantica is now confirmed as a fifth Chinese dedicated Costa ship in 2017 http://www.themeditelegraph.com/en/shipping/cruise-and-ferries/2016/04/15/the-costa-group-continues-grow-china-and-asia-xtnLQ8jLH9xO9WvQNGIh0I/index.html

MSC is sending Lirica to Asia but she will be reserved to the Asian market and can't be booked from Europe or USA. In Italy MSC's chairman has said that the second Meraviglia ship will be designed for the Asian market so I think that MSC will grow in that area in the future, but will be Asian only cruises (exactly as Costa does)

I have travelled in a suite onboard Mediterranea and Atlantica (her sistership) but I haven't tried the new Deluxe Experience because it will be avilable from June. The Deluxe experience will have the Intenditore All Inclusive package which allows you to take any kind of beverage in the bar that has a cost of maximum 9€; those beverages can also be ordered in your cabin and will be taken there with no charge. The beverages of the mini bar will also be avilable with no extra charge.

With the deluxe experience you will also have a one day free access to the thermal area of the ship and you can also choose the kind of pillow that you prefer (this is also avilable now but I don't remember what kind of pillows are avilable)

You will also have the butler and, as you have said, a restaurant (or an area of the main restaurant depending from the ships) will be exclusively for suite guests and the upper level of the Costa Club. Suite guest and Perla Diamante guests will also have the first 3 rows in the theatre reserved up to 5 minutes before the beginning of the show

Tried to find info on this in other threads but couldn't find it, apologies if it is somewhere.

 

We arrive back into Venice at 9.00am with a flight departing at 12.15pm, have booked a private transfer to avoid any delay but have seen some reviews saying allow a minimum of 4 hours and ideally 5 hours

 

Never cruised Costa or been to Venice before so just wondering if we will be able to disembark at 9.00am if we make it known we have a transfer booked for a flight.

 

Thanks in advance

Costa allows you to be the first one to disembrak as the ship receives the permission to proceed from the authority of the port . If you choose this option you have to tell this to the information office some days before the disembarking. The only problem is that you have to take your luggage ashore with you because you will not have the coloured luggage tags in the cabin and you will not be able to use the porting service of the ship. You are also requested to wait the disembarkment in the atrium of the ship in order to be the first.

This option was avilable in Savona onboard the Costa Mediterranea at the beginning of march so I think it is an option that can be used across the whole Costa fleet

According to the website of the Port Authority of Copenhagen Vision of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas will call the Danish port.

In particular in May, June and August 2017 Serenade will be homeported in Copenhagen.

Vision will be homeported there only in August and there are other calls in May, June and July that are not listed as Copenhagen homeported

Navigator will do only a few calls

http://www1.cmport.com/ships-in-port/cruise-ships/cruise-list-2017

I have tried the F1 simulator onboard MSC Splendida and I hadn't enjoyed it. Both the graphics and physics weren't particulary good and the guy who was responsible for the simulator hadn't explained me anything about the controls (for example he didn't explained me how to start and he setted the automatic gear change and I spent half of my time to understand that because the simulator wasn't responding to the paddles of the steering wheel).

The graphic of the game of Codemaster's F1 2011 or newer games for PC or consoles was way better than the one of the ship's simulator. It was also quite expensive (I think 15€ for 3 laps)

If you look at MSC UK' s website you will be able to see that in the med during the summer 2017 there will be Meraviglia, Splendida, Orchestra, Armonia, Sinfonia, Poesia and Musica

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/en-gb/Homepage.aspx

I agree with G.M.T.

I consider neoCollection ships quieter ships than the other ones in the fleet (which is a good thing for me) but not luxury ships

If you look at Costa's Italian website you will see that from november 2015 there are only Diadema, Deliziosa, Magica, Favolosa and neoRomantica scheduled. I think that they are changing several things about the winter 2016/17 and they will release the new ships and itineraries deployment in one or two weeks

There is a good sized dance floor in the Saint Paul de Vence lounge on deck 7. It is the main venue for evening activities and dancing

If you are in a premium cabin, pick up the phone and ask for coffee?

It depends on what kind of coffee you want to drink because the Illy coffee machine in the cabin makes only the espresso, while the room service has american coffee or decaf for free if you have a premium cabin, but it doesn't have the espresso

I agree with what Captain-John has said. I only want to add that there can be some differences between the Costa ships, because in March Diadema will have the open buffet for dinner and the avialbility of the open sitting dinner in the Corona Blu Restaurant (the open sitting is avilable only if you book a premium category or a suite category cabin), while the other ships that will sail the Mediterranean in March (Mediterranea, Magica, Fascinosa and Deliziosa) don't have the open sitting for sure and we don't know if they will have the dinner buffet option because Costa will open it during a range of time that goes from March to May 2016 and I don't know the exact date when every single ship will have it avilable (exept Diadema that will have it from the beginning of December 2015). If you have a 13 years old child with you I will exclude the neocollection ships because there isn't much to do for boys and girls.

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