Wansbrough

No go from Costa regarding a cabin allocation. Also the price has dropped by £250 PP which I asked to taken into consideration....... Nothing!!!

We have now cancelled and awaiting deposit refund. We won't be rebooking either and will look for something else.

10 hours ago, BrianCruiser said:

That info is correct. My friend onbaord Foruna was told he is no longer going to Singapore. The weird part is Medi was sold to another Carnival/Costa brand. A new brand which is meant to be below Costa on pricing. So really they shouldn't be using it for this route. And they really need to spin-off a couple ships because they have so many new ships coming online. Venizia already. Smeralda in dry dock waiting launch and Firenze next year.

 

I had forgotten Mediterranea & Atlantica had been sold, maybe this is a bid to reposition her prior to handing over. Strange that cruises are been sold into April 2021 though?

 

Quote

 

CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping has announced an agreement to purchase two existing ships from Carnival Corporation’s Costa Group.

The first of these ships, the 85,861-ton, 2,210-passenger Costa Atlantica, is scheduled to be transferred to the new Chinese cruise line by the end of 2019. The new line is part of a joint venture between China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and Carnival Corporation. 

Costa Atlantica’s sister ship, the 2,114-passenger Costa Mediterranea, will be transferred at a date still to be announced, but is expected to be at the end of 2020, according to CSSC. 

The new China-based cruise company plans to operate its own fleet to serve Chinese cruise guests by the end of 2019, according to a press release.
 

 

Here is a copy of the letter. My TA has emailed Costa. Nothing to report so far. 

 

 

This one is new one for us, we received a letter from Costa informing us of ship change next year. Originally booked on the Costa Fortuna November 14, 2020  for 14 nights (B2B cruises).  It’s only been booked since July and we had real issues with available cabins to UK customers but eventually settled on one that would probably be OK.

While we have no issue with the ship change, in fact it’s probably a better option as they are changing it to the Mediterranea which has one of our favourite layouts. What we do have a problem with is we have a 10 day window to cancel or agree but with no option to select a cabin. Effectively we would be agreeing to the change but downgrading to guaranteed cabin.  No mention of OBC or any other compensatory offering.

I am not happy with the situation and am currently working with our TA to try and find a way forward. If it can’t be done we are going to cancel which is a real shame as we were looking forward to taking another longer cruise on Costa.

Nice review with lots of photos (I like lots of photos). 😁 Also lots of info about ports that we will visit next year. Not all are the same but many are so it has been useful to read.

BTW, you have just reminded me that I need to rebook Zaidee, we had to cancel our MSC cruise earlier this year so never got the chance to utilise his services. I think I still have his contact details on my phone.

 

32 minutes ago, alicat58 said:

 I did a review of the cruise if you are interested. Somewhere on CC with lots of photos. We would love to do the same thing again.

 

Riana

 

Found it. Off for a read now.

 

 

We have done B2B cruises with Celebrity down under, both turnaround days were in Sydney. Both were different, one cruise went outside their waters to Fiji and when we were back on board we weren't allowed back off again while the cruise up the east coast we were free to come and go once we had re-embarked. It all had something to do with immigration.

We will be on Fortuna next year and are doing B2B cruises from Singapore, can anyone provide any details on how Costa approach this? Obviously as both cruises visit other country's then immigration will surely come into play. 

With Celebrity they had to clear the ship so in both cases we had to get off for a couple of hours. I assume this will be the same with Costa or should I not assume anything being as its Costa. 🙄

On 7/4/2019 at 10:30 AM, tenpin said:

Any announcement that concerns passengers will be broadcast in three/five languages. Or in the language of the Country concerned.

 

Such as the BINGO!! 😂😂

Unless things have changed since 2014 then you need do nothing. We stopped at Khasab, Muscat & Salalah. (didn't get off at the latter).

If my memory is correct, the UAE visa your get on entry covers you for the enclave of Musandam. I don't remember having to go through immigration there or being checked.  I did a google search to check and managed to find this.

 

As of the 21st of March 2018, all tourist visitors will need to have a pre-obtained, 30-day tourist visit visa to enter Oman. Please note that cruise ships are exempt from this regulation. All cruise ships are given a blanket visa which is organised between the cruise ship company and the Royal Oman Police."

 

https://www.rop.gov.om/old/english/dg_pr_visas_shipcrew.asp

On 6/30/2019 at 10:55 AM, tenpin said:

Hi I have been told that cabins are held by agents in the cruise starting port, as they do not want empty cabins leaving.

However if that is the case why on earth do they have different boarding ports which would always leave empty cabins.

 

That's pretty much what Costa UK told my agent, they were even prepared to loose our booking rather than bend the rules to accommodate a former Pearl member. Never mind we have booked a balcony on deck 8 (8309) which is under the tiered sun bed section mid ship by the pool. Hopefully there will be little noise from above. The other 2 on 8 were directly under the buffet runway........

My US agent was able to offer a couple on 7 at the aft but were £150 more so we have gone the cheaper route this time.

Totally loving being Aquamarine........😣

On 6/26/2019 at 10:54 AM, tenpin said:

Once again tried to book a suite for our February cruise, balcony £599 plenty of cabins, suites £1629 sold out.

 

Yeah right, they must be saving them for these club upgrades, just lately we are finding all suite's are sold out on cruises we have always done with Costa at that time of the year, since these new club rules came out finding it harder & harder to book for anniversaries or birthdays.

 

I tried to book a Premium Balcony cabin today on Fortuna for November 2020, only 3 available on deck 8 and none on deck 7.  As I don't want to be directly under the buffet and hear the trolleys going up and down all day and night we have held off. My agent is going to investigate why there are none available on 7 this far out. The ludicrous thing is you can't even buy a Classic cabin and pay for a Premium package. We want 2nd sitting which is not guaranteed under the Classic package and are not willing to take the chance.

If they are holding back for block bookings who are they holding them for?

 

Recently back from a Nile cruise on Jaz Royale. I used to be able to automatically cross post here but since the change in forum software then it is no longer possible.

 

http://www.wansbroughs-cruise-blog.me.uk/2019/02/jaz-royale-nile-river-cruise-preamble/

 

 

 

Lots of photos from our trip with a day to day journal which was done while we were away.

On 1/17/2019 at 6:18 PM, gingerspike said:

Thank you. I'm excited for you, too!

I'm really looking forward to reading your trip report when you get back.

Have a wonderful trip!

Hello gingerspike, just noticed in your signature that you were on Infinity last year on the same Antarctica cruise. I thought your name sounded familiar. Still getting over missing the Falklands.

Thanks for the link, we are off to do a Nile cruise in 8 weeks time so it was interesting to follow your experience. I also intend to do a blog and researching the acquisition of a MiFi device of some sort with a PATG Data sim. Our TA has said the boat WiFi is a little on the unreliable side.

I have found a thread on Cruise Critic for the same cabins on Carnival Victory.

 

Carnival Triumph/Victory cabin 6451/6459/6424/6432

 

Its back from 2009 but there are still a few photos. Our TA said she had asked around her colleagues and the big white rectangle is a crew staircase. Not sure how much noise you would get from that.

 

2 hours ago, alicat58 said:

Hi

Not been in one of those but the upgrade fairy gave us one of the aft suites last year on the Fascinosa(slightly similar to the pink ones on the deckplan). The balcony was huge but it was November and pretty cold.

 

I think the ones you are looking at might also be suites or mini-suites. Not sure. The cabins look a very odd shape.

 

Riana

 

They came up as a Premium Balcony during a dummy booking run and also the colour code suggests the same. Perhaps I should try a search for the Carnival equivalent?

I have been doing a bit of cabin research and some of the following cabins on Fortuna/Destiny class (Fortuna & Magica) have come up as available. They at the aft on deck 6 - 6451, 6459, 6424 & 6432

Can anyone shed any light on them?  The appeal is they seem to have a rather long balcony.

 

Just wondering if this has gone fleetwide yet? The Costa website still has lots of photos of the old version and a google search only throws up the same few ships. 

I quite like the new look. 👍

I have just remembered that I said that I would let you know how we got on and I have to say the whole experience was very positive. So much so we are considering another later this year.  For us, the prices are the big draw and despite a few cutbacks here and there it is essentially the same product on offer.  The dining experience was as good as we have had anywhere and my wife who is a vegan had her own menu which choices!!!! I don't know of any other line that does that.

We have cruised Celebrity for a few years but they have priced themselves out of our market for the time being. Really loved MSC Seaview and would consider that ship if the itineraries were a bit more varied.

We have just had to cancel a MSC Grand voyage Dubai to Yokohama due to a medical crisis so currently, have a blank year. We will certainly be looking at Costa for some deals later on.

 

On 11/24/2018 at 7:57 AM, Orator said:

It was San Giorgio. By the way, the cruise has been wonderful. Great crew on Constellation and the best behaved passengers in a long time. 

1

 

We stopped there in 2014 and had read about the same thing occurring prior to our stay. It seems this thing still happens.

I made the point of contacting them to raise the issue and fortunately for us everything worked out okay. We had a really great stay there but I do admit to feeling apprehensive until we had actually checked in. 

If we sail from Civitavecchia again I will look elsewhere. 

I have seen this question raised many times and I don't think there as a definitive answer. There are so many things to take into consideration and most specifically peoples expectations. We have sailed both lines and in the main, they have all been great, a couple not so great but I'd still rather be on a ship than trudging off to work. 

The Chinese cruise market must be massive considering the ships being based or transferred to the region.  I just hope they fully appreciate the clingy shower curtains.

Does anyone have any experience of the MSC Houseboat Cruise excursion in Cochin? The listing is as follows

 

Quote

About a 1-hour coach ride to the south of Cochin lies the town of Alleppey (also known as Alappuzha) and the wonderful Kerala backwaters, a chain of brackish lagoons

that flank the Arabian Sea. This tour gives you an opportunity to enjoy this beautiful area on a traditional thatched kettuvallam houseboat. Also dubbed the Venice of the
East by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, the network of canals and backwaters feeds the coconut plantations and paddy fields that fuel the local
economy. After reaching the town of Alleppey and boarding the kettuvallam, you ll head for the town of Kumarakom on the eastern shores of Lake Vembanad, the longest
in India. Next to giving you time to relax and simply savour the lush surroundings, the kettuvallam cruise will also give you a chance to see how people live and attend to
their daily chores on the banks of the waterways. A final treat awaits you on your return to Cochin, where you will get to have a look at the town s famous Chinese fishing
nets before you get back to the port and your ship. Please note: all sites will be viewed from the boat during the cruise. This tour is considered to be unsuitable for guests
with walking difficulties or using a wheelchair.

Thanks for all the information, I have just done a Youtube search and found more details and see what you mean about the sunbeds.