malnik

There are many packages available for drinks.

We've cruised every year with Costa always had the AI package. This year we went native and bought soft drinks and water package.

Imagine my surprise to find that there was a wine special each night, with a nice bottle for anything from 11 euro to 18 euro, basically half price on the wine list.

No need to order a wine package, just buy the special and it will work out much better value.

That is the first week of the southern European school holidays, not the UK and northern European countries, they start later.

I expect there will be lots of children, as Costa is pushing these dates in Italy!

Don't panic though, we were on it in June, the children were there, but not noticeable.

Having cruised on the Mediterranea in June, its a beautiful ship with some bizarre decoration! Check out the pottery displays on each floor in the stairwell. The pieces are oddly beautiful!

Its a great ship, here is a pic of the reception bar area as mentioned by someone, I have scores, I did do a review! (This is a screen shot, excuse the border!)

The good thing about the ports you visit is you wont need a transfer, the ship is so close to the main centre in most, I watched the Captain buying a pay and display ticket. In most ports its a few paces!

Corfu was the furthest, we walked it in 15 minutes, you can but a transfer, but its really not far.

 

It might be on the children’s menu because leaving the dining room one evening, it looked like a child had had some.

 

You saw Ice Cream???????????????? On the Mediteranea????? We were on it after Tomvet and before you.

No...its not on the kids menu despite us asking our lovely table guys. have to buy it. If you can find the cart. Or if the machine is working for an ice lolly.

Most ridiculous cost saving ever......

We love Costa but I do think its an acquired taste!

Im sure you will enjoy it, the odd decoration, the 6 different language announcements....but we always go back, its a great way for us to see places and wake up in another place. And for us, the ships are spotlessly clean.

Have not cruised with any others in the last 20 years, so cant comment. But if you have specific....feel free to ask! There are a few oddities.....

There is no service charge on the AI package, its simple to purchase when you get on board, its added to the room account.

In the main reception area, there is a table with a guy doing just what you need. Alternatively, head to any of the bars as we do and they do it before you buy your first drink. Some bars can add the AI to your card some not. In which case you have to go to the reception.

be warned if you buy it before you get on. We ordered it one year on line, it was on our paperwork but wasn't noted on the cards in our room. Which led to us being offered different wine at dinner....at increased cost. From then on we do it on ship.

(There is a post on this somewhere, I did it after we returned explaining our difficulties!).

Give Casablanca and Tangier a miss and go to the islands instead.

 

We joined a Costa excursion in Tangier and the guide referred to me ,whilst speaking to hubby, as "your woman". Did not go down to well seeing as he told us how free women were in their society.

I'm with this. Its not pleasant. We did similar but got a taxi, the attitude to woman was terrible. We made the mistake of going to a beach (beautiful), for a swim. Its what we do everywhere...swim in the sea in all locations. Within 10 minutes of arriving, we were surrounded by men. Deserted beach except for within 10 feet of us. It felt a little intimidating, so we left in a hurry. Won't be going back, if our chosen cruise stops around here, we shall stay on board.

Just back from a pristine Mediterranea. My review is up, I am interested in any comments. Have a look, nervous cruisers look away now.......

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=536874&et_cid=2730561&et_rid=41375805&et_referrer=Boards_Million_Member_Newsub

There was a full evening buffet, but it wasn't like lunch, in all the normal buffet stations. But there seemed to be enough space for everyone. They cant use them all as some are prepared for the Burgers and Pizza bar.

If you try the Burgers, let us know how they are, are you just 2 or family?

Yes the review is done, it must be pending.

We always enjoy the travel and Im sure you will too. Costa is "organised chaos"!!! If you can smile at the things that happen you will be fine, just go with an open mind......its a holiday!!!

We did Favolosa in November last year, as all Costa ships, we have found them spotless. And way over the top.......

Ive done my review.......it must be pending! Its quite long, i wont ruin it for you, but the cruise wasnt quite what we expected.

I didnt have that particular item! Too much cheek and tail on the menu for my liking, but there were alternatives. There is a pic of the gala menu on my review.

Not sure how long you have been cruising with them but I get the impression most of the kitchens now just do warming.

Pre-cooked premium meals are being used in many 5 star restaurants now, All pre cooked, all exactly the same size. And all ordered through a wholesaler, delivered frozen and warmed in the 5 star kitchen.

I think this is the way Costa (and probably others) have gone now, the menu states all the frozen items, the only thing not frozen was salad! Funny, the little frozen motive next to everything! Nothing cooked fresh. Having said that, if its good enough for city eateries, why not cruise ships. And with 5000 plus people on the next generation, the size of the kitchens would need to be huge.....its a natural development, kitchen space is used for people.

Overall we enjoyed the food! Except no ice cream......

Another odd thing.......thought i would treat the wife to a nice dinner in the speciality restaurant. Only the menu was exactly the same as the main dining room. We went up to book next evening, I started to drool over a sumptuous special menu.....and saw the same food we just ate! I took pics of it in case no one believed me!!! No need to pay extra......

Just got back from a rather odd mediterranea experience, I have reviewed ir, so wont dwell on it.

But as we are not big drinkers, we decided to go for a soft drinks package and water package. My wifes idea, I was sceptical. But our cruise had a port each day, we were off and about so we wouldn't be ordering drinks except in the evening.

Cost of the all inclusive for 4 of us would have been 574 euro.

The 40 soft drinks, including non alcoholic cocktails was 110 euro for us. The water 35 euros for 15 large bottles.

I was worried about missing out on wine with dinner. But I went with it, we dont drink beer at all.

On the first night at dinner we received a special for wine!!! And every other night after. It was a bottle at half price, so anything from 12 euro. I purchased a bottle of wine every other night, drank half, the balance was on our table next night. So wine cost about 50 euro, and nice wine it was too.

We had plenty of water, if we needed more, we topped up bottles from the fountains (which was not cold), and had ice delivered to the room from room service.

We did have a couple of extra cocktails for me and my wife.If we wanted hot drinks, we got it from the machines, it was only after 9pm that those machines went off. So I had a cocktail instead....terrible option but I survived!

Our bill was far less. We drank when we wanted to, no one went thirsty. Children started to enjoy cold water!

So, 574 Euro for all inclusive. 248 Euro for drinks.

However, at the beginning you do wonder.....perhaps for the first day we were saying to the children to share a can, (remember we got cans and bottles, not glasses as all inc.), but then we decided to just go for it. If they wanted an Ice Tea or Coke, we ordered it. The saving grace was the time off the ship. No sea days to eat up our drinks value.

Would I do it again, probably....but not guaranteed, depends on the cruise.

When you consider MSC are matching the loyalty status with other travel brands

Is this on their site? How do we find out about this?

Not many things annoy me!!!

But no Ice Cream for dessert on an Italian ship is annoying! Especially not on the kids menu. Kids dont want some exotic dessert......they want ice cream!

Just got back, its not there, asked and they said its gone. Have to buy it from a man with a trolley sat near the pool. But he isnt there at night.

I have no objection if they did what MSC do and have a proper Ice Cream shop......even though its included in the all inclusive. But it seems this is not very well thought out. I cant imagine the cost they save is very much......

Costa 2017 policies are changing many things.....lets hope they see sense with this.

Share price seems to be around £34? So £3,400 for 75 euro credit....... Not sure its worth it although I guess its better than bank interest.

Like Tomvet, the only people we saw eating either burgers of Pizza was the crew.

If after the rather large dinner you still feel hungry, there are offers available for the Burgers....its in the newsletter. It was in everyday.

I did look at the menu, they do sound rather yummy....not the standard burger, there was from memory, 5 different, they were filled with swiss cheese, mushrooms.....all kinds of different filling. So to be fair, I guess most people think of a burger being a thin meat patty between a bread roll, thats not whats on offer. Think Burger King premium Whopper and some.

I would have had one....if I was hungry!!! But I never was.

Got back a week ago off Mediterranea. The magic bag was available everyday and a new one left on our bed at night with the newsletter.

There is no specific "ticket". The boarding form then comes with case labels and is all printed at home.

If you have filled in all your details, ages, passport number or identity document number, ages and all this, that will then allow you to print the full pack of papers. There are lots!

If not, I would be on to Costa, they are usually early with all this.

We were last cruise on a sister ship, outside cabin, interconnect, the only ones are in the bilge or close to it!!! Deck 1 or 2. Right at the back, slept like a log, no vibration at all, often woke already tied up in port.

Thinking about it, the sleep may have had something to do with the excellent bottle of wine each night with dinner, the numerous cocktails and the fact that when on holiday we seem to walk for miles in each port to make sure we "get the benefit".......!!!

We are on Costa and only have 08:00 to 13:00 in port. I really hate these short stays...especially as we have to get up early to see anything!

Can anyone suggest what we can do for this time? We are 2 adults and 2 children who are happy to walk all day or take a taxi.....as long as we get an ice cream! The cable car? Beach?

I note another ship is in port as well, will it be busy?

With 4 of you, taxi will definitely be better value and quicker!!

Cagliari, the company is called, Culture Sardinia, email: info@culturesardinia.com

His name is Alesandro, tell him we recommend him!

Not sure if this will stay here, I will try and find a PM for you.

I should have added, the Marseilles bikes were very easy to ride, we even cycled up the hill to the Church, the electric motor makes it easy.

We have done all the ports except Palma.

Seriously consider looking yourself, we have had some great times, not in a cruise ship tour.

Marseilles, we did an electric bicycle tour. We had our own guide, all day, saw places you will never see on a ship tour. We asked them to take us to a beach and so he did, added it on to our tour. Want ice cream, just ask, want coffee, just ask....etc etc. We set some parameters what we wanted and they were ready for us. Got a taxi off the ship, yes you can get a free bus but time is precious. Taxi for 2 is similar to the cost of the ship transfer. (It was in most ports).

Barcelona we got a taxi into town, to the cable car at the beach side, its furthest. Take cable car ride, stop for coffee at top where you get off, walk down into town centre. Its a great waterfront. Then walk up through the town to the Gothic quarter and marvel at the buildings, sights, food, market....just about everything. Eat/drink where you want. End up back at water front and get cab back. If your energetic as we are, we walked through the water front centre back to the beach and had a swim for a couple of hours. Depends on how long you are in, last time we only had 5 hours so just did city, no swim.....

If you are in town, a taxi is easy, if yu are out by the beach, make sure you give yourself time to get back as taxi isn't so easy to find.

Cagliari was the Gem in the crown for us! We hired a local guide for a foodie tour. Again, set out what we wanted, he met us off the ship, in his car, did some history tour, Cathederal, showed us some WW2 bomb damage....which I said strange, why would the Germans bomb Cagliari, he pointed it out it wasn't the Germans, it was us! That gives you a different perspective! He showed us much of the town we would never see in a bus. The roads are too small.

Then market where he had arranged tasting of local food and wine. We could eat as much as wanted, very jovial shop keeper, no pressure to buy. But I did.... Then to the beach, we always like a swim, kids went off and I sat in a beach side cafe with the guide chatting. Then he dropped us back at the ship. Best day on any cruise.

I'm not sure if I can promote him here....

Savona, we boarded, like someone else we stayed at NH Savona, perfect, the ship will be at your balcony! You can walk over and drop your cases and return after having a walk around if you want.

There is a great castle here, nice walk along the promenade complete with a statue of Garibaldi. Nothing commercialised here.

If you can send me a message somehow I can point you in the right direction to book. The costs are similar to ship cruises, often cheaper. We are a family so for us it makes huge sense, big saving.

Hope this hasnt bored you....

We always have 2 cabins, the way we book them its not a family booking, its 2 separate cabins (works out cheaper if you plan!!!). Usually have premium cabins but last year could only get classic cabins.

They were linked, we were booked on the same table. Trouble was it was late sitting and we like early....but we swapped the next day.

It may be because we book with Italian travel agent, not here in UK, they do seem to be able to do more and cheaper! First time this year we have 200 euro cabin credit! Never saw it on the UK booking sites.

We normally go for 2 interconnecting cabins, one for the kids and one for us parents.

If you want the bed split, just ask, its quite simple. There are a few cabins where it doesn't fit but in a balcony on the newer generation, all the cabins are the same and there is plenty of room.

I am sure - Costa Deliziosa from FLL to

 

You don't have to believe me. I am sharing my experience as is. Take it or leave it. Yes, I am taking this up with Carnival Corporate - I am a shareholder, and this risks my investment.

 

 

 

Judy

Thanks for the clarification. Best sell those shares, it looks like its all down hill from here......and all those new ships ordered, with no one going on them. I guessed you would be seeking compensation.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to contribute to your share dividend each year, I know a good thing when I see it!