First Timer

[COLOMBIA]

Hello, This my wife 2nd cruise and for me it will be my 1st cruise. We will be cruising through the EC....

 

Any advices about shore excursions???

What about soft drinks cards???? it is supose to be ony for kids??? Where I can buy it???

Can we come on board with any liquor bought in port???

 

Any comments, suggestions will be very helpful for us.

 

Thanks

[Cruise4Andy]

Hi Colombia!

 

Great to see you here at CC! Lots of nice people and great information, tips and hints in the multiple forums here.

 

We (my wife and I) are also going to sail the EC on Jan. 30, 05. We have not been on the Eastern route yet, but I heard is absolutely wonderful. You may want to check the forums "Ports of Call". Lots of great info there.

 

In regarding of drink (soda) cards, you can purchase those on board, at one of the bars (just ask the bar attendend). It's not only for kids, they have a booklet with 20 coupons, good for soft drinks, ice tea, non-alcoholic beverages. The current price is $ 35 + 15% service charge.

 

Costa does not allow you to bring any liquor on board, which was purchased prior to embarkation or during the cruise. Any liquor found during embarkation will be confiscated, any liquor purchase while in port (or duty free) will be held until the last night of the cruise and will then be delivered to your cabin.

If you look at the CC Community, there was just recently an article about cruise lines' liquor policy. Only very few allow you to bring your own booze.

 

Other than that... simply relax and enjoy your cruise!!! You'll love it!

Before my first cruise I could have not imagined that a cruise vacation could be so exciting and wonderful, but now I'm hooked and can't wait until the next one!

 

BTW:

Which ship are you cruisig on? Atlantica or Mediterranea?

How soon are you sailing?

 

Any questions, feel free to contact me at PPPOWER96@aol.com

 

Andy

[COLOMBIA]

Thanks Andy,

 

We will be at Atlantica.... I had "hear" many bad thing about Costa, basically regarding to the food and the crew.... Do you have any complais about it???

 

Our cruise starts on march 20.

 

I know its pretty early, but i don't want to miss anythingo to the luck.

[Cruise4Andy]

I could not complain about a thing on board of the Atlantica. If you like, I posted a detailed review of everything here at CC under Ship Reviews.

 

The ship, design, layout, staff, food all earned my 10-star rating, and that's why we go with Costa again on January 30, on the Mediterranea!

 

I love it and enjoyed it!

[Guest KateKathy]

Hello, This my wife 2nd cruise and for me it will be my 1st cruise. We will be cruising through the EC....

 

Any advices about shore excursions???

What about soft drinks cards???? it is supose to be ony for kids??? Where I can buy it???

Can we come on board with any liquor bought in port???

 

Any comments, suggestions will be very helpful for us.

 

Thanks

Shore Excursions through Costa are just OK. Next time I'll go independent again. Soft Drink "card" is a tablet of slips to use for drinks $35 (plus 15%) for 20 of them. Kids or adults can buy and use. Buy it at the Atrium Bar.

yes, you can buy and bring liquor on board but can't use it onboard. You'll get it back the last night.

Have fun! We did!

[jama05]

Can you share the drink tickets, or are they assigned to a specific person as in the soda cards on other cruise lines?

[jeb9860]

You can share the booklet of drink tickets. Just a tip If you buy them online at the costa website they are just $30 for 20. That is a great saving. Without the tickets cans of soda are $2.50 plus service fee. We did a back to back on the Atlantica in Dec, It was superb, I can't complain about anything.

 

I would also recommend investigating the various ports online and trying to arrnage shore excursions yourself. Not only will you save money you will feel, less like cattle. We booked our own excursions and in Grand Cayman, for less money than through Costa we saw the stingrays and snorkled in a provate boat which held only 40 people, we only had 9 onboard. The ship excursion ships were packed.

 

Catalina Island is a great beach day and is free !!!! and Nassau is great too. We were told my crew members to go to Paradise Island to the beach. You can get a taxi for only $6 each. There are loads of people trying to sell you beach chairs, snorkle gear, TShirts etc on the beach, don't accept their first price as they offered us beach chairs each for $20 at first and we managed to get them for $10. Also a horse ride around the town is a great trip only 30 mins long and the drivers are fun, full of local history and fun facts. We paid $42 for 2 carriages each with 2 adults and 1 child in. St Thomas is the best for shopping. We took a private taxi at $6 to Megan's Bay for 3 hours and then shopped the rest of the time - After Diamonds try Beverly's. Went to Diamonds International too, but got a better deal and less crowded in Beverly's. Just a tip, Traffic back to the cruise terminal is heavy, don't leave it too late to get back onbord..... Most importantly have fun, this is a great ship and the service and food is great.

[COLOMBIA]

So, you think is better to look for my own shore excursions????? where can I find them... I thing I'm aware of is the time to go back to the ship, its enogh time in each port???

[Cruise4Andy]

Jeb:

 

Hey, thanks for the tip about the drink coupons... Did you go directly to Costa's website to order the tickets? Couldn't find it....

 

My wife and I did the same thing as well and went out by ourselves and booked excursions independently from the cruise excursions. In Grand Cayman we also booked a private charter to Stingray City and had about 20 on board, where the cruise excursions were packed. We also went our way in Cozumel and Ocho Rios. Was great!

 

We are planning to do the same again this year...

 

We don't like to be packed like cattle and enjoy the freedom and our own pace.

[Chaparral97]

Andy.....If you go to the Costa website and log on, there is a link where you can customize your cruise.

 

A screen will pop up where you can enter your booking number. from there you can book excursions and ammenities for your suite such as wine, flowers, etc. This is also where you buy the coupons.

[Cruise4Andy]

Chaparral...

 

Thanks so much for the info. I'll check that out again. Last time I wanted to "customize" my cruise the link would not work, but I contacted Costa with the problem. Maybe they fixed it now. Got to check it out.

 

So if you pay and book the coupons, how do you get them? Are they mailing you the coupons or are you redeeming a voucher while on board?

 

Thanks again...

 

 

Andy

[jama05]

Thanks for the info about the drink tickets.

 

Maybe I can get some help about the Catalina Island/Dominican stop. I know the boat anchors outside of Catalina Island, but my itenary says Catalina Island from 0800-1700 and Casa De Campo from 1800-2400. I called Costa to find out if in the AM we could go to Casa De Campo (We want to play Teeth of the Dog golf course), and the lady said no. But then I looked at excursions offered and Costa shows some that must be daytime excursions in Casa De Campo. Can we get a tender to Casa De Campo in the morning?

 

You're right about excursions being cheaper on your own, but just research who you are booking with. On our first cruise we booked everything through the Cruise Line (HAL) and found out that there were people at every dock offering the same thing we were doing for much cheaper. Then on our next cruise with RCL we booked everything on our own. All went well except for our Cabo stop, that was one scary excursion. We pre arranged to go snorkeling aboard the El Guapo. We complained to the booking agency that we booked that through and they no longer carry them on their website.

 

You can try to book those on your own when you get into port, but the best ones get filled up quick. I know of two sites that I have booked excursions on and have had success. You can go to SHORETRIPS.COM or to PORTPROMOTIOINS.COM. Sometimes if you just look up the city you are going to, they may have some outfits to recommend.

 

Sorry for rambling, but someone please answer about the Casa De Campo.

 

Thanks.

[Chaparral97]

"So if you pay and book the coupons, how do you get them? Are they mailing you the coupons or are you redeeming a voucher while on board?"

That I don't know yet. We're still 5 weeks away.

 

Re. site access....I sent a note to the site webmaster a few weeks ago because my number didn't work either. They said they needed my birthday to complete. It was fixed and I was on within 24 hours.

 

 

 

[Cruise4Andy]

Jama:

 

The itinerary looks confusing to me as well. Can't really figure out where they anchor and then traveling 1 hour to anchor again? Does not make any sense to me, unless it's just around the corner?

 

Would be great if anyone travelled to this port of call lately on Costa.

 

Thanks

[Cruise4Andy]

Chaparral:

 

Thanks again... it's working now and I am registered... Looking through the items as we speak (or type)... could not locate the Drink Coupons yet... found the Excursion and Spa Packages and Wines though... LOL

 

 

?????

[Cruise4Andy]

FOUND IT!!!

 

It's under the Sparkling Wine/Wine selection... *yeah, that makes sense!*

 

Anyway... If I select to purchase... how do I get the coupons??

[jama05]

The boat anchors off the Catalina Island and doesn't move until its departure at midnight. You have to tender into either place, but the rep at Costa couldn't answer if we could go to Casa De Campo in the morning. The way it looks to me is that you can only tender to Catalina in until 1700 then they start doing tenders to Casa De Campo at 1800 until midnight. They say it is a 45 minute tender to the mainland Dominica.

 

I just read that there is still a 15% tip added to any drink purchase (wine or drink tickets) even if you pre order a package. The tip will be automatically added onto your onboard account.

[jeb9860]

The ship does go to the 2 places. Catalina Island and Casa De Campo. You will tender to Catalina Island. I think but am not sure that you can book the golf onboard and there are excursions that you can take via Costa. In the evening you dock in Casa de Campo. We took a taxi to the Marina which was recommended by Costa to be great, unfortunately all the stores were closed, so a bit of a waste of time.

 

As for the drink tickets, they will deliver them to the restaurant on the first eveing and your onboard account will be charged. Yes they do charge 15 % on all bar services and drink orders, this I presume covers tips to the bar staff.

[COLOMBIA]

I have some friends in Casa de Campo and we want to spend the day with them, Is there any way that I can just go from Catalina to Casa de Campo without having to pay for an excursion... I mean like water taxi or something like that???

[gfmoore68]

Colombia

 

I am told you can go right over to Casa De Campo from Catalina Island. I was told that you have to book that excersion you can then reboard the ship at the mainland.

 

There is more info in a thread title eastern caribbean.

[Guest KateKathy]

So, you think is better to look for my own shore excursions????? where can I find them... I thing I'm aware of is the time to go back to the ship, its enogh time in each port???

YES!!! I would recommend. Just be VERY careful about times. One very good supplier is http://www.shoretrips.com