louiskam

Louis,

 

None of the cabins do have water kettles (not even suites). All cabins do have the Dolce Gusto coffee machine which can be used without a pod to heat up water. It will be hot but not boiling. I tried it out with the cappuccino provided (two pods needed milk and coffee). But the cappuccino was so sweet that I didn´t drink it. There´s also a tea pod available (something like Maroccain tea). Two pods are for free. Each additional is 1.50 Euro. I had no problem to bring on my own pods (but didn´t use them, left them in the cabin).

 

As it is open seating I don´t think they did distinguish between Classic and Premium. As we only had a bit less than 500 passengers there never was any kind of wait at all (we went to dinner at different times... 6:30 til 8 pm). The only wait we had was on the first evening when we were a group of 8 people wanting to dine together. But that wait was because they had to lay out a table for that size of group.

 

On our itinerary we were docked in all ports (Savona, La Seyne-sur-mer/Toulon, Barcelona, Porto Empedocle, Malta, Salerno, Livorno, Savona). No tendering.

 

steamboats

You're very kind to stay around sharing your experience/thoughts with us. Much appreciated.

Louis

Thanks for the menu posting, steamboats. In our previous Costa Europe sailings, we enjoyed their foods & entertainment. Most of all, we had a fond memory of the fellow passengers we met & the places we visited. Most of the staffs there treated us as their welcomed guests. If not, the English host there was always available.

Regarding your recent neoRiviera sailing...

- Did the classic cat. cabin provide kettle to boil water too?

- Did the classic cat. passenger get long wait for supper seating?

- Which of your port-of-call were tendered?

Thanks again for sharing this new "neo" experience with us here.

Louis,

 

I do have all menus (we received all lunch and dinner menus in our cabin). I have taken photos the first night (but of the German version).

 

When I´m back home, I´ll get you a sample meaning I will type one dinner menu. But all 11 nights might be a bit too much ;).

 

steamboats

A review at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=254716 mentions neoRiviera on board food experience last month. A few evening menus will get me an idea. Thanks.

hi regarding our visit

 

my dh did not like the menu in the restaurant prepared for visitors. the menu for guests looked better. we liked the buffet area...

 

looking foward for our 10 night cruise :)

Can you share the restaurant menu with us?

Costa neoRiviera's 2015 Mediterranean itineraries are out (no pricing though). Seems due to popularity, they're repeating the 2014 ones.

DH made a time lapse video of entering the Grand Harbor of Malta onboard the Costa neoRiviera. Check

. I woke up at 6 am and saw the lights on the coastline and thought I have plenty of time. So I took a shower and dressed up. 20 min later we were already in the harbor. It´s always a great experience coming into one of the most beautiful harbors of the world.

 

steamboats

That is one of the valid reasons to be in an outside room. Haha...

Louis,

 

We had a Premium Outside on deck 9 (9101) with two pullman beds. We didn´t see any of the balcony cabins on deck 10 but only an aft balcony which was slightly larger. We also could see an handicapped inside which was of course larger than a regular inside. Regular cabins (inside, outside - doesn't matter whether Classic or Premium) are basically of the same size (app. 14 sqm incl. bathroom).

 

steamboats

Thanks for the info, Steamboats.

Yes, the center staircase does end at deck 10. Use the center stairs going down to the Cetara main restaurant on deck 5 (you can´t access from the forward staircase). Use the aft staircase for the Vernazza buffet on deck 11.

 

steamboats

This is valuable info particularly to those with mobility issue. What was your cabin category & are the inside & outside ones basically all the same sizes?

louiskam,

 

There will be a full gallery including cabin photos (several cabin types) plus 10 panoramic shots. But as for now my DH is too busy to upload them.

 

If you do have any questions please go ahead!

 

steamboats

From its deck plan, it seems the center section stairs/lifts can't get to the pool/buffet deck 11. Was it the case?

We didn´t had a real rough sea. The neoRiviera has two stabilizers. But of course with a little wind and waves you can feel some movement. But it never felt bad (and I know what "bad" can be - I had 13 m high waves and heavy wind after hurricane Earl in 2010).

 

You will find lots of pix of the cruise here. Try out the US flag for a google translation (at least you might get the sense of the text - or laugh...). More are coming but my DH is off for the next four days.

 

steamboats

Thanks for the photos & write-up, particularly about the ship. Hope to know more of the stateroom, entertainment & services, among others.

booked :) can't wait to see some pics for the interiors and feedback :)

 

Med departing from malta & visiting Salerno Trapani Touloun Livorno Savona Olbia & Propriano

 

if you have any info kindly post

 

thanks

When to start sailing? Ours will be Sept.1, 2014.

August 2015 is 16 months away & many things may change.... itinerary, price, ship & even the cruise line. HAL is a safe bet & Costa is very European, particularly Italian, from passengers, entertainment, menu, excursion to overall services.

Our Sept.1 neoRiviera 11-nights sailing will start & finish in Savona, Italy. Is it still possible to pay 1 night extra to disembark in the next port Toulon, France the next day then? That way, we can fly home from Toulon airport instead.

:( oh no - why do they go and mend something that wasnt broken.

Have taken two cruises on NeoRomantica - last one being sept 13-

I loved the elegance of NeoR and it was MUCH MUCH more dressy than other costa cruises. SO now - they take away gala nights . There were four formal nights on our last cruise - and everyone dressed up - the ship is made for elegant nights -

I am sure this will please many - I am not one of them.

I think by taking out the Gala nights, Costa could "fine-tune" its daily dinner menu without much complaints from those that expect the "Gala" dishes there. Just my 2 cents.

I was in a category EP. Hope that helps! Standard outside on Copenhagen Deck. It's designated as "Premium" so that gets you a few extra perks over a "Classic" cabin, which is any category ending with the letter "C".

 

Hope that helps.

It seems the "Classic" cabin guests will pay (€5,00 per order?) for his/her morning room-service breakfast, among others. Was it just the basic continental breakfast menu?

I am currently on neoRomatica. My impressions so far- much inferior to Luminosa/Deliziosa. I am very unhappy with the "dance floor" in the Grand Bar, not at all the standard that I would expect from Costa. It is most definitely NOT a ballroom lounge. I am pleased to report that the two groups that play here are everything I would expect from Costa, also the keyboard player in the Tango disco (which isn't a disco). I am very disappointed in how the Cabaret Vienna (which does have a small but decent floor) is scheduled- they use it as the disco.

The restaurant menu allowing for local availability, seems the same as on Luminosa in February. Yes, they charge E7.50 per person for pizza which is free on other ships. Nor is there any attempt at midnight snacks.

I have been assigned a handicapped cabin- I haven't seen anything so awkward and badly arranged since the studios on Epic. However, this may not apply to other cabins, still researching.

I was on MSC Divina in January. I'll stick with Costa, but not neoR.

We're thinking of neoRiviera (not neoRomantica)'s western Med. Sept. sailing to some interesting ports. Would like to get more of its past passengers comments first. Enjoy both "Victoria" & " Luminosa" Europe sailings though.

louiskam,

 

It´s not better here in Germany. It´s pretty hard to find any information (even deckplans are hard to find). I´ll be leaving next week. So I can report back. It´s my understanding that it´s generally open seating for dinner starting at 6:30 pm.

 

steamboats

Thanks for the look-up on this.

Louis

We're interesting in neoRiviera's similar Sept. 1 sailing. What category are you in? And are you in open seating?

we've been on Costa's Europe sailings twice before & enjoyed both. This "new" ship however doesn't seem to have as much info/photos/review from Costa nor anywhere so far. Not to mention Costa has stopped printing its North America brochure. As such, please consider sharing your insight with us.

Jackie, did the ship's public area/stateroom feels "up-to-date"... more modern decor/furnishing, stage/sound, faster WI-FI connection, etc. Are they still feel spacious overall?

Agree with Philip. Most all itineraries with port calls at Civitavecchia continue on the same evening to arrive at Savona the following morning. Arrange with Costa to let you stay on board for a night. I've done this several times and you can also make the arrangements when you're already cruising. Costa headquarters will have to approve it and it will cost you a supplement (€120 a person the last time I did it) but you'll save yourself a load of hastle.

Good suggestion. Have plan "B" ready in case new passengers embark at Civitavecchia to take the available cabins in the last minutes.

We love souffle but found the chocolate souffle a bit sweet. Fortunately we had them for only two nights out of twelve.

I don't know if this is just on our 05/19/2004 Westerdam Europe sailing or not...... but we had the 30-min. flaming dessert free servings at the Explorer lounge nightly before the show times. And we can find out more ahead from our dining room waiter. Quite impressed.