MSC / Costa Cruises

[Ahhh]

To cut a very long story short. My partner and I sailed on the Costa Atlantica in May 2010 from New York to Copenhagan. They DID not have a FOD meeting, During the cruise we made 5 requests to speak to the Cruise Director personally to have them explain why they were completely adament about not even considering our requests. These requests for a meeting were ignored until we posted details of our horrible and very offensive experiences on Costa's Face Book page, and as if my magic within 30minutes we were granted access to the Hotel Director. And YES the Hotel Director did know about the facebook post!!! This was the most condescending and offensive meeeting we were ever at. We got absoutely nowhere except him saying that whilst Costa, was under no obligations they 'accommodated' the gay community by having FOD's whilet their ships were in the Carribean, they did not in the Mediterrean or Europe as it was 'out of season'- I kid you not. And whilst i do not want to offend anyone, i believe the real reason is that they did not want to cause offence to the Italians who make up the vast majority of their guests in the med and who are not know as being particularly gay friendly. I must be honest with you and say that nationalities other than Italians are treated like second class guests by the Italians themselves whether gay or not. They are rude, impatient, never queue and are loud. We got friendly with a few of the entertainment staff who, whilst straight themselves told us that even gay staff amongst the crew faced difficulties on a regular basis and were sometimes frightened to make their sexuality known to colleagues. They also told us that staff who were not Italian were treated very badly. Make your own minds up guys, but why support a company that treats us so badly? We will never travel Costa again. 'Out of Season'? I am gay and proud all year round. There are other cruise lines out there that will give us the respect that, as paying customers we are entltled to. My 3 expereinces with Cunard for example have always been excellent, they are incredibly gay friendly and perhaps more deserving of our business.

 

Thank you for your posting. I really cherish this site as a way of hearing others opinions about their particular sailings. I was considering a cruise in the Caribbean on them but now have re-considered.

[bobar]

what a shame

[RMS Olympic]

I guess I need to break down and try them. The iteriors of their ships are much to my liking ...cant say the same for the Farcus designs on Costa. I must admit I liked the old Costa ...pre Carnival purchase. On the old Costa I never had any problems...and the Crew was great...service had that warm Italian flair.

As for Europeans behavior...nothing could top the repositioning cruise I did once from New York to San Juan on the Horizon. There was me...the American, ten passengers from Spain and the rest were all German economy tourists. I never saw such rude people...especially the women who pushed snd shoved...even old men with canes.

Being of German decent...I was told to wear a name tag like everyone else, and with my attire they would think I was rich.....from that point on they gave me space and left me alone......

It was an experience.

So maybe MSC should be given a chance...I suspect it is on par with NCL.

[See_again]

As for Europeans behavior...nothing could top the repositioning cruise I did once from New York to San Juan on the Horizon. There was me...the American, ten passengers from Spain and the rest were all German economy tourists. I never saw such rude people...especially the women who pushed snd shoved...even old men with canes.

Being of German decent...I was told to wear a name tag like everyone else, and with my attire they would think I was rich.....from that point on they gave me space and left me alone......

It was an experience.

 

Sounds unbelievable tbh or it must be a really special cruise. At that time, when Horizon was in service, cruising was not really common in germany and def. not economic. At least not on luxury ships like Celebrity's ones, which were not really known here . And the carribean might be cheap for americans, but def. not for germans. At least you need an open jaw flight. With the exception of MS Europa or an AIDA vessel you will not fill a ship with onlys germans in the carribean.

 

:)

[RMS Olympic]

Back so long ago repositioning cruises were much less exspensive. Transfering from the New York summer schedule to the Caribbean run left a one way cruise not that popular because of the one way flight on the return.

The first night out I was sitting in the rendevous bar and a gentleman started talking to me in German. When I said I did not speak the language he seemed perplexed and asked why I was on this particular cruise. He proceded to tell me the ship had been chartered by a German tour operator and the passengers were what Americans called blue collar workers. He himself had lived in the USA for a number of years and had relatives that booked the charter so he was sailing with them. I immediately wondered how Celebrity sold me a cabin on a basically full ship charter. When we exchanged names....he said I should wear a name tag so they would see I was "German" based on my last name. Having been shoved 4 or 5 times already by people not wanting to wait for something I took the advice and put on a name tag. The crew seemed relieved when I spoke and they realized I was not with the group.

I must say that I was always taught that German folk were very orderly...but this was not the case on this sailing. But I embrace all cultures so I enjoyed the cruise, the experience and the completely different environment.

Many years later I was fortunate to sail the Deutchsland out of Kiel. As the lone American on board....I had a blast and found the German clientele very polite. On that trip I fell in love with the city of Hamburg (precruise stay) and now want to see more of Germany.

Oh, and on that Horizon cruise the entire menu was changed...German dishes...yum...and German music was played by the pool.....it was oompapa all the way to Puerto Rico.:D

[See_again]

Must be awful on a ship which only germans onboard :D. My bf and me did a cruise on AIDA Vita (only for german speaking passengers) in 2006, it was okay but we do like international ships more. never been on Deutschland, too expensive for me and not really my world.

 

yes, Hamburg is a fantastic city.

[RMS Olympic]

I was comfy with all the Germans on board...just like sailing with the Italians on the old Carla C, and the Greeks on the Sun line ships (when they were in service).

The Deutchsland....very classy ship. Crew was fabulous...and took very good care of me...very good care of me, very very very good care of me. Guess its was all that fantastic German sausage:D:D:D

I really like sailing on ships with many cultures especially those I am not familiar with. I like to watch people, and observe to learn.

I have been looking over the refit of the ship now named Mein Schiff.....really beautiful.....Aida......not sure about that product although the ships are very interesting.

But if there is sausage........I'm ready to go;)

Did I say I like German Sausage? YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:p

[apollobeach]

As we have previously stated on the board before; one of our sets of parents used to sail on the seven day Caribbean cruise on the Carla C out of

San Juan, Puerto Rico. They did this with the same group of friends, the same week in February from the late 1960's/early 1970's to about the early

1980's (???). Remember well the stories they told of the Carla C; they loved that ship!!

[RMS Olympic]

I sailed her in 1984 when she was in bad need of a refurb. The rework they subsequently did made me want to rebook her but sadly I did not.

I did see her in Athens as the Palace Athena...she looked horrible.....and then burned...how sad.

She was an interesting ship and much a part of my life as I use to collect memorablia of the Flandre (her birth name).

Carla C........a great old Gal!

 

Now I find myself sniffing around what old ships there are still afloat...like the Daphne. I wanted to sail her while under the Costa Flag...what she is like now heaven only knows.

If its an old ship that is clean, well run with some good service I will try it.

There should be a old ship lover group to do group cruises........the older the ship, the better.

[greg_atlanta]

I'm giving Costa a try. I noticed last year the single supplements on the late fall cruises were reasonable, and the Concordia mess probably scares plenty of people away. Same pricing this year... and I've got vacation days and FF miles to burn, so booked a solo cabin on the Serena (Nov 12, W Med, 20% supplement).

 

I have no problem with most of the crew & passengers being non-english speakers, and I hear they normally have an english speaking table at dinner (not sure if I have to ask, or if they'll put me there by default).

 

Anyone know if Med weather in Nov is "beachy"? (pool, beach, etc) Or just "brisk?" Just one sea day, and I'll probably keep myself busy in the ports -- never been to Italy or Spain.

[donnatello]

We have sailed on both but only in the Caribbean. They were OK. We went last year to the Med on Costa. A gay couple (us)/our mothers/my brother and s-i-l) Biggest problem(s) appeared to be because of different attittudes and mindset and way of doing things between Europeans/Americans, and the majority of the passengers were Europeans. 1) A LOT of VERY UNDISCIPLINED children onboard. 2) NO ONE would queue up for anything! Everything was one huge free for all. At the buffet, waiting to get into the lounge for the show, tendering, purser's desk.... EVERYTHING!!!!! People would just barge right in front of you for anything! 3) Smoking policy was much more accomodating to smokers than on other lines but might as well be nonexistent, as it was NEVER enforced. People smoked any and everywhere! I would NEVER EVER sail with them in Europe, again! Attitude towards GLBT, I thought, was a non issue but the other issues were substantial enough that no matter how welcoming GLBT folks are, we would NEVER sail Costa in Europe, again! We have also sailed on Cunard, Princess and HAL in Europe and found them to be way, way way, more to our liking.

[CtheW0rld]

i've been on 2 costa cruises. once in SE asia and a dubai to savona. both of my completed cruises were on their older ships (europa and allegra), neither of which are still in the fleet. i have a thrid scheduled for the caribbean. i have also sailed with hal, carnival and princess multiple times.

 

there were no FODs - but not a big deal for me. i rarely go when then is one. food was good, but do not expect olive garden. quite a few kids, and some unruley. smokers were not 'run amok'. on both cruises, there was one lounge where smoking was allowed (and of course, the casino). everything else was non-smoking.

 

costa certainly is NOT for everyone. i like it, though.

[Doonan]

I have to stand up for Costa ... we did a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale about four ago ... it was very good.

 

Cabin and Crew great (Including the Italians). Good Food. Entertainment Excellent. Cruise Director was a great guy and they had FOD meets.

 

I have spent a lot of time in different parts of the world and one has to accept that different nationalities have different ways ... thats part of the joy of travel ... anyone not visiting Germany or Italy must be crazy they and the people are both great.

 

Neil

[AFuncruiser]

The MSC Poesia is a beautiful ship and very well cared for. At a little over two years old she still looked brand new.

 

The food was good, but not exceptional. I'd rate it at a 7 out of 10. Good tasting Italian style home cooking comfort food, but not "fancy" restaurant quality.

 

Nightly shows were 30 minutes in length, compared to the normal hour of most cruise lines. The one "Cirque du Soleil" style show was was exceptional, the second show was canceled due to rough seas. All the entertainment was provided by entertainment staff and there were no guest entertainers. The majority of the shows were singing and lots of opera music, no comedy or magic shows. If you like opera, you should love the entertainment. If you are not an opera fan the nightly shows could be torture.

 

There are quite a few smokers on the ship. It was reminiscent of the American branded cruise lines of 9-10 years ago. If you are sensitive to smoke that may be a huge consideration.

 

Our passengers were divided between Europeans (French, German, Italian) and North Americans (US, Canadian). The two groups didn't intermingle and it was like there were two different simultaneous cruises.

 

MSC imposes a $12 per passenger, per day service charge to cover gratuities. The reception desk would not give a breakdown of how it was distributed, only that it was divided amongst the cabin attendants, cooks, laundry personnel. waiters and their assistants. My experience has been there is no motivation to provide good service when gratuities are pooled.

 

I would rate MSC well below NCL. If you are looking for bargain transportation to ports of call along with room and board you will do fine. Just don't have high expectations of service.

 

Having been on several MSC cruises I agree with your observations.. right on point..

Dennis

Jacksonville, Fl

 

499 days at sea

43 cruises

12 cruise lines

T/P, T/A, Hawaii, Central & South America, New Zealand & South Pacific, Rio/ Amazon

[greg_atlanta]

Just got back from Costa Serena 7 day cruise from Rome and it was a good experience. Very few english speakers on board (which I don't mind). No FOD meetings (in the english program, at least... different programs published for each language). There were obviously a few gay couples on board but never had the chance to interact with them. But this was a more touristy cruise for me, and with the jet lag and busy days in port I was pretty useless after 11 pm.

 

I did go to the nightclub one night and it was pretty hoppin' after 1 am. There were dancers dressed up for "sexy night" and it was a fun scene.

 

Big selling point: Costa offers an unlimited beverage package for 19.50 euro per day. It includes coffee at the bars (good if you like espresso/cappucino), bottled water (even big bottles to take back to your room), fresh orange juice form the bars, draft beer (only Carlsberg on this ship), house wines (either red or white, no other choices), prosecco (italian bubbly), and most mixed drinks (excluding premium stuff). Tip is included and you'll get a bunch of receipts with a 0.00 balance. And the menu easily points out what's include and what's not.

 

So if the price is right, don't want to spend a fortune on your bar tab, can deal with a little smoking, can deal with italians being a little pushy and getting in your way... then Costa ain't so bad.

[jim98122x]

I did a 7-day Costa from Venice to the Greek Isles a few years ago. It was right around Easter time. and it was the worst cruise I'd ever been on. Out of ~2000 passengers (I think) there were at least 400 kids, no lie, and "run amok" describes them perfectly. Rampaging, everywhere. Most of the passengers were Italians and Spaniards, maybe 25% northern Europeans and North Americans. In the show one night, there was even a little kid who (twice) ran down from the theater seating, across in front of the stage, and up the other side, in the middle of the singer's number. She was a very good black American girl, the look on her face was priceless...I almost expected her to stop mid-song and go off on him (I think she would have, if he did it again). Another cultural oddity, which really started to bug me (and seemingly also the other N. European and N. American passengers), was the habit of the Italians and Spaniards to always simultaneously push both up & down elevator buttons. This obviously slowed the elevators down to a crawl. The food was mediocre at best. One redeeming thing was the very good (Italian style) pizza bar which served free pizza in the afternoons. I did really enjoy the itinerary, but the time we went (April) wasn't optimal for this area. Horrible rain most of the time. Later in the Spring or Summer would be better-- as would another cruise line, based on my experience, anyway.

[greg_atlanta]

Another cultural oddity, which really started to bug me (and seemingly also the other N. European and N. American passengers), was the habit of the Italians and Spaniards to always simultaneously push both up & down elevator buttons. This obviously slowed the elevators down to a crawl.

 

Ha-ha... I noticed that people would get on the elevator going the wrong direction and press a button go to the other direction and didn't seem to find anything wrong with that... just go along for the ride.

[canny_cruiser]

I, too, would welcome any additional reviews on MSC.

 

The complaints I see in the MSC forum probably would not be a problem for us (we're not particularly fussy, are well-traveled, and know that we are on a bargain cruise). I'd be interested, however, in any particulars related to the winter Mediterranean cruises, and how they differ from the mass market American lines. I guess what I am hearing is that we should not expect much of a gay presence, much less FOD meetings?

Two of my MSC cruises (the Sinfonia to Cape Town and the Fantasia to Santos) have had FoD meetings listed in the daily programme. I think on both ships, it was something organised by passengers themselves rather than company-organised - they just asked MSC to publicise in the programme.

[Mrgoodguy]

Hi Greg, I see you are sailing on NCL Pearl 12/09/2012. I am traveling alone and would like to know if you are aware of FOD on board? Would love to meet you and others for a cocktail or dinner. Thanks Mike