kremerlorraine

5 hours ago, Costa cruizie said:

I got a call last night from Pietro in Italy for Costa Cruises cancelling my cruise.  It's now Monday morning and I will need to leave to go to the airport to catch my scheduled flight to Singapore. My problem is that I have not received any formal notification of the cancellation and the website says nothing about it. I feel that I need an sms message, email, travel agent input, or something to corroborate the phone call in case it was a hoax call. Where do I stand if I miss my flight and then find that things have not been formally cancelled?

If it's the Costa Fortuna from Singapore, it's definitely cancelled. They just called me and I have received the e-mail. Don't fly! The e-mail will come.

6 hours ago, drsel said:

I think the only changes are that you get double points and triple points if you book 90 days and 360 days in advance

 

 

That's not a change. It doesn't look as though there are major alterations - except Perla members will no longer get 20 euros OBC.

On 12/1/2019 at 10:11 AM, DrT33th said:

I notice that the last post here is 2013... However... I also note that someone has had a Costa shuttle between Savona and Nice Airport...  

 

Does anyone know if they still do that?  ..and where I would look to find it?  [We arrive in Savona on Costa in April and need to get to Nice Airport.]

Costa still have those shuttles (call them to add it to your booking). It costs 26 euros pp at the moment. We are using it on 9 April when Fortuna arrives in Savona. We expect the shuttle to arrive at Nice airport at about 1pm.  Flixbus (www.flixbus.com) are cheaper but you have to take a taxi to Savona railway station to catch them.

There is usually a bar near the buffet and there are bartenders at the end of each buffet line who serve wine, beer and soft drinks. At the moment their draft beer is Heineken.

We drink only white wine and I can confirm that with both the P&C and Brindiamo packages the choice is limited to pinot grigio or chardonnay (at least on the last couple and current cruises). If you develop a strong preference for one wine I'm sure the waiter will do his best to ensure you get it. We usually have second sitting dinner, and get ourselves a couple of glasses of wine from the buffet beforehand and find a nice spot to consume it (or take a glass into the theatre).

You can have as many courses as you like at dinner. The portions tend to be on the small side (especially if you are used to American cruise lines).

The service charge is explicitly excluded from the OBC that we receive as Costa Club members.

We always bring a few large bottles of water on board, including at each port. Yesterday we lugged four 1.5 litre bottles from a supermarket in Argostoli! They have no problem with it.

The mini bar items are.not included in the package. There is usually a bit of space for your own items.

The evening turn down service is available only to suite and perla diamante passengers. You could ask your cabin steward for extra towels in the morning, but you'll have to smooth your own covers!

There is an MSC shuttle from the main train station for 5 euros per person each way (charged to the cabin) to the Steinwerder terminal. Although we didn't want to take the shuttle that early, we saw them there from 10 am. It costs 3.30 euro per person for the S bahn from the airport to the train station (Hamburg Hauptbahnhof).

We have spent two Christmases on board, one at the end of a transatlantic crossing and the other in the Caribbean. As in most of continental Europe, the main emphasis is on Christmas Eve, which is usually a gala night with special menus and some free fizz from the Captain.

We really enjoyed the run-up to Xmas with the ship being decorated - there seemed to be something new appearing every day. On Xmas eve there was a Xmas themed.show in the theatre, the tenor sang some carols in the atrium, and we had a sweet song from the Squok Club children as well. There was also a midnight mass in the theatre. And everyone gets  a present of a small panettone in their cabin.

I can't remember anything special on the day itself.

Thanks, all. We've been through the Indian visa process several times and we have a multiple entry paper visa still valid for our Victoria trip in October/November. My query related to another cruise next March which has a stop in New Mangalore.

You're so right about the confusing and contradictory advice, including from the cruise lines. As I said, last year on MSC many people didn't bother with a visa and they were allowed on without a problem. I'm not so sure what Costa's approach would be, so I guess we are resigned to getting the marginally cheaper e-visas. The official Indian government website says they are accepted at New Mangalore.

Does anyone have recent experience with Costa of not requiring a visa if you do not plan to exit the ship at Indian ports of call? On a recent MSC cruise that included a stop in Cochin, we did get off the ship and had our visas, but we came across many passengers without visas because they had no intention of getting off the ship, and all they had to do was sign a waiver form at check-in.

I have phoned Costa and got the "company" line about needing a visa whether one exits the ship or not. It isn't a problem to get an e-visa, but it is an expense one could do without!

There is no acknowledgment of the initial request. I followed up with an e-mail and it took about two weeks in total. As a Costa Perla Oro I got matched to Gold, which was a bit disappointing, but perhaps what  Emma’s Gran heard is right.

No self-service laundries on Costa.

Hi TNCruzer56

As Jeanette said, you can take advantage of the Magic Bag at any time. We have never had a problem with the service. You give the bag (25 items max) to your cabin steward one day and it is returned the following evening.

Lorraine

We joined in Marseille and will stay on board until the 26th. I understand that most of the passengers will be disembarking at our first call into Port Everglades next Wednesday - presumably to be replaced by American families on their Xmas break. We enjoyed a very smooth crossing and today visited the British Virgin Islands - a first for us. The ship is not at all full - maybe 1800 or so instead of the maximum 2800. There is no rush for the sun beds in the mornings! And because the second sitting for dinner isn’t popular, we have a table for eight all to ourselves.

unfortunately we aren’t diamanté yet - got another four cruises to go before we reach that, and hoping that Costa don’t move the goalposts in the mean time!

Max the cruise director has gone to the Pacifica. The new guy is called Alejandro and is fine. The evening entertainment has been good, in our opinion.

We are on Deliziosa en route to Port Everglades. Somewhat disappointed in the food offerings having been spoiled with great choices and menus on the Victoria in the Indian Ocean.

The big cost-cutting change is that the evening cabin service has been removed except for suite and diamante guests. Now the stewards have additional cabins to clean during the morning. Our steward said this new policy had begun on Diadema and Deliziosa was the second ship to roll it out.

On 11/2/2018 at 11:35 PM, Spambo2 said:

I'm going on this one over Christmas. 

 

I love the itinerary - my expectations are very low of the ship and the weather so hopefully things can only be better 🙂

 

Please let let me know how you get on, I'm especially interested in the shore excursions. 

Hi Spambo. We didn't take any Costa excursions because we thought they didn't represent good value. In the Seychelles you can get a minibus or taxi, or even the public bus (22 or 21) to beautiful Beau Vallon beach for a fraction of the Costa price.

In Reunion we rented a car from Avis which is about 10 minutes walk from the port exit. You can also get a shuttle from the port exit to the bus station in the nearest town, Le Port, from where you can get another bus to St Denis, St Paul or St Gilles (where there is a good beach).

In Diego Suarez we used a local agency called Madabest (they have a website) for a whole day tour to Amber Mountain national park and Three Bays around the city. They provided a good 4x4 with driver and knowledgeable and friendly guide - again for a fraction of the Costa price.

In Nosy Be we used another local agency to do a tour to Nosy Komba where there is a park with lemurs and then on to another island for swimming and lunch. There are lots of operators waiting on the quayside when the tenders arrive.

Don't worry about the ship. Yes, it's old and the classic inside cabins are tiny, but the crew are wonderful and the food is good.

Just been on her for six weeks. Very few people went as far as black tie on gala nights. There is also always a white night. We had a great time and especially enjoyed the food in the Fantasia main dining room. All the crew with whom we interacted were friendly and dedicated.

Hi

We bought the 3GB package on a 22-day crossing on the Pacifica earlier this year, and it was enough for our needs, but we do tend to surf a lot (looking for cruises to book!) I would buy the 250 MB and see how you go. You can always buy more if you need it. You have your own account, so can use their computers as well as your iPad or phone. Just remember to clear all background programmes every time you log off.

Hi Jonad and everyone.

Nice to hear from you, and to hear the reassurances about the Victoria. We're bringing her down for you from Savona and then staying on for two weeks from 28 October. We're not seasoned cruisers by any means, but have been on the Pacifica a couple of times this year and really enjoyed the food and entertainment (although some of the shows were becoming, shall we say, a little familiar by the end of the second cruise)! The Victoria did get a bit of a refit when it came back from Asia in April, so perhaps it isn't looking too bad. As Caryl said, as long as it's clean...

Thank you all - I am planning to travel with hand luggage only, so not having to pack a dinner suit will help. But fear not -- we won't let the side down by being under-dressed!

I hadn’t spotted that - thank you. It does say Smart Attire for the three nights, so that will inform my packing!