GUEST080219

It depends a bit on where and how you travel as well. Back packing alone through south east Asia common sight. Going solo to a typical honeymoon Ressort probably not so much. I felt the longer the cruises and the more interesting the itinerary the less stupid questions you get. Probably one of the worst is the typical cheap transatlantic repositioning westwards. Eastwards I often had backpackers using it as a cheaper than flying way to get to Europe (when the cruise prices were lower a couple of years). My first cruise was such a transatlantic when I was 26 I think. Same with the countries to visit. I am in Norway post cruise at the moment and no one in a restaurant ever wonders if you go here by yourself.

There is just one risk most completely underestimate and that is injuries and accidents. Had it a couple of days ago, just a 45 minute port stop, dark night, walking fast to cover some ground and using google maps to get some orientation. Out of nowhere there was a stone block in my way and I bruised both my legs pretty severely. No fun when being on your own.

The saga continues for those unable to fly back..an estimated 90-100 folks. NCL secured 10 cabins on a Royal Caribbean ship schedule to dock in Barbados on Monday Nov 13, 2017 and will arrive in Ft. Laud Nov 16, 2017. Amtrak back to NYC from there. All rooms now filled, with NCL looking for additional passage for remaining passengers.

 

 

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How did people qualify as unable to fly? I guess if they knew the options all people not having a strict time schedule would opt for another short cruise.

It always depends on the itinerary but for a standard 7 day done week after week and by all mainstream cruise lines I think it is to much for a sailaway rate without any promotions. But the responses explain why the prices have increased like they did.

$5700 seems to be a lot at first but I guess it is still just 20% of the cruise fare. Seems totally normal to me.

I just checked it their T&C page online and it has a last edited date directly below the heading. A change history would be nice but it is still pretty consumer friendly and easy to read.

[...] or other European capitals like Instanbul or Cairo.

Really?

You shouldn't travel

It doesn't have to be a complete blog, just putting the structure with the links into something like ******** and link to that from the signature.

Breakaway because of howl at the moon. That simple.

I wonder how much time in those less than 24hours have been put into researching train travel in Germany, regarding the time of the year, climate, air conditioning, luggage space in different types of trains, time of the day and direction and how commuters might affect it.

I think there are only two reasons for english speakers why to chose Costa over Royal and that is price and different itineraries / placement of the fleet.

I really wasn't a fan of my three cruises with Royal and got a x% off next booking as an apology for them messing up every single time. But I can only think of one part that Costa does better.

All those little touches like dinner in the buffet and the lighting and drink service in there so much better on Royal.

By far better drinks and bar scene, serious entertainment as well.

What Costa can do though is parties and disco. Their white night or whatever they call it has been the best party I ever encountered on a ship and they have a serious nightclub with a proper space and a real DJ.

On Costa you pretty much get what you pay for and especially with so much cruising experience I would absolutely recommend doing the Costa trip for the itinerary. One of Costa's biggest weakness crowd management and information is not such a big influence when you know from other trips when approximately a ship is cleared by the authorities, what is included and how to spot and avoid extra charges and so on.

Question is how new privilleges will work in real life.

 

Unfortunately (as Perla Diamond) must say that have very bad experience with one of privileges which is existing for some time called "superupgrade".

 

I requested about it more than 2 months before cruise after checking that suites are available.

I had no answer for approx. next 2 weeks and finally asked my TA do contact Costa to receive any answer. Only then they answered that cannot upgrade me althought hey have free suites because...I am travelling solo and suites are dedicated for 2 persons.

They proposed upgrade to balcony cabin - of course without any suite perks.

Important information, thanks for that. As I am cruising solo all the time I would be extremely pissed if they did that to me.

Me on the Diadema:

Sneakers, chino and long sleeve shirt pulled up. Didn't feel out of place.

I have done 31 and 42 days on NCL and the only reason to do it is to make the flight pre/post cruise costs when broken down to cost per day more affordable.

It might be more of a specific NCL problem but especially when it is for example a back to back with both legs being a repositioning cruise they just don't care to make it special. I asked one of the senior officers why there was no visible effort to make the days more diverse and interesting instead of the same schedule with similar events everyday and the honest answer was because they know the guest structure. Most of the guests don't expect more than free food, a trivia schedule and they will be in bed at 9 latest 10pm anyway. So the staff and officers just don't care as well and the popularity with the guests make it a correct decision.

So for me worth when the ports are special and the fare is super low but the onboard life pretty much s**** and you need to be able to cope with that.

Seriously that is neither a war zone nor a failed state.

There are 3 things to be aware of

1) petty crime

2) anti tourism activism

3) independence movement.

None of those are a threat to the physical integrity of visitors.

To be honest if someone is interested in recent European social movements and politics there is probably no better way than to join an event of the independence movement. Or act as a tourist not a traveller and take a cab staying in the touristy places.

October 2015 Costa put out a press release about having a vegan menu for breakfast/lunch/dinner. I wasn't able to find any pictures of the menu or further information so far.Has anyone experienced it on board so far. I am curious if:

- it is a changing dinner menu each day

- if they clearly mark vegan options in the buffet as well

- do they offer vegan pizza and burgers in the for pay restaurants

Thank you for the nice review. I love those with pictures.

For Tequila the only one on the menu included in the Piu Gusto earlier this year was Jose Cuervo.

During the first week we had two formal nights and during the Transatlantic three. Women much more followed the dress code than men did, I even saw a women with a very pompous ballroom-type robe accompanied by a man with a T-shirt. Even men in shorts were not hindered getting into the MDR, although this is according to Costa during all evenings a no-go. But by most the Gala “advice” (Costa describes it as an advice) was followed-up in some way. Mainly among the Italians, but also a lot of the other Europeans, you won’t find that many men in a typical American style tux, but presenting themselves in something different - but surely not less elegant. Yes, some kind of jacket was a very common sight.

Thank you. Always good to hear some first hand experience.

1. How many formal nights do Costa 14N transatlantic cruise or 21N repositioning cruise usually have? For some cruise companies, it is common to have 2 formal nights over a 7-day cruise.

 

2. Do most or perhaps 50/50 of the Costa male passengers wear suit or at least suit jacket for formal nights in repositioning or transatlantic cruises?

 

3. Are there any theme nights? such as white, black, red, topical, etc...

 

Thanks.

Intersting question. On my 7 days Diadema cruise I actually enjoyed the wide range of styles from some men in tux to some in Tshirt and Hoody. I fear on my 20 day repo cruise it will be more on the conservative side.

1. The Costa agent in Europe told me that I have no choice of dinner seating (i.e. 1st or 2nd) and bed configuration (i.e. twin bed convertible to queen) as I travel alone. Is it true? or it depends on the cabin category being booked?

 

 

2. I travel alone. Does Costa adopt fixed dining table/time or free style dining on these ships? How does Costa organize the dining table for the singles if fixed seating is adopted? i.e. language and nationality mix?

If you get a regular cabin you can just tell your room steward the first day that he/she should put the beds together or separate them as you prefer if the configuration you find is not to your liking.

If you have booked a classic fare you can not chose your dining preference. If you booked a premium fare you can do that under mycosta.com

My last cruise on the Diadema I could just walk up to the MDR for their variation of freestyle dining and I got a table for myself. Always located near english/german speakers so they probably get this info from your room number and/or your choice of menu language.

For my next two cruises I there is no freestyle dining available so I chose 1 guest at the table which I hope will result in a table for myself again.

Most cost efficient would be either taking the free port shuttle bus to the parking lot and walk from there to the train station. Or when you dock close to the Forte Michelangelo like I did with the Diadema just walk directly from the ship. Walking in the port area was supposed to be prohibited but on the Diadema there were lots of people doing it without a problem. On the way to the train station you should see small shops having signs outside that they sell the BIRG public transport ticket valid for regional trains to rome and public transport in rome. The day ticket was 12€ but might be slightly raised by now.

Hop on the next train to rome and take an earlier than the last train back just in case of a delay. In general that is pretty safe as hundreds of cruise ship guests do the same every day.

We have yet to cruise with Costa (over 20) without meeting at least six new friends mainly English but some Americans.

Depending on the ship and the English host they will hold a English speakers meeting before boat drill on the first day. If not look in daily news for her/his time and go to see them ( sometimes this is not practical as the time is during first sitting at dinner. But you can always contact them via reception. During the winter months more English speakers go with Costa, we always cruise late Sept to February with them. If you have a sea day ask host to arrange a small get together with other guests, they often do this when there are small numbers of English speakers on board.

IMHO that only covers guest who are booked from an english language country. Last time I booked through the UK and was invited to the english speakers meeting. Won't happen my next cruise I guess.

We are thinking of costa out of Italy in October. Will we be isolated from most due to only speaking english. Did anyone find there was a decent enough amount of english speakers?

I wouldn't call it isolated though as it sounds too negative.

From my 7 day Diadema round trip BCN experience I would say I have never been on a cruise where I had as little conversations as that time. There were probably a lot of factors to it. Big ship so lots of people I did never see again, embarkation/disembarkation ports nearly every day and most people do not speak english as their first language.

I am still not sure if so many people were actually unable to speak english or just had no interest and pretended not to.

But it is a noticeable difference to an english speaking cruise ship where even in Europe where the english speaking percentage had been less than 50% nearly everyone was prepared to communicate in a common language.

On Costa for Italian, French, Spanish and Germans that is not necessary but as long as you expect that it will be fine.

What virgin drinks are delicious (on behalf of my 20 year old son who just misses the 21 year old mark)? The thought of multiple daily sodas does not appeal. TIA

The correct answer is being nice to the bartender and forget about the "virgin" part.

Hi everybody,

we have never been on a Costa cruise before, love the freestyle cruising with NCL. Now we are thinking about the TA on Costa Deliziosa next March because we really like the itinarary.

I planned to go on that cruise as well but for some reason I can't even remember any more the plans changed. Probably because my ESTA won't be valid anymore.

After lots of cruises with NCL I was quite happy with my first Costa cruise earlier this year. I am sure you will be doing fine as long as you have an open mind. I will try a transatlantic on Costa this November to see how that compares to their 7 day regular European itinerary on the Diadema. Probably with a trip report on here.