Costa vs. RCI for Asia cruise

[mikeerdas]

I'm looking at Asia cruises for April of 2011 and RCI. For whatever reason, RCI has nothing or very little on offer then. Thought it was because RCI is redoing its itineraries as someone had mentioned in another thread; but now it's about only 9 months to sailing time for April 2011, so I imagine no cruises will be offered for that time period (again, there may be one or two, but the itineraries didn't excite me).

 

I see that Costa has two port-intensive Asia cruises then, one focused on Malaysia and Thailand (Costa Classica) and another focused around Vietnam (Costa Romantica). Fabulous itineraries for me and my wife (very few sea days and we're there to see the ports) made even more fab by overnights (one of the cruises has 4 overnights--amazing).

 

I know that Costa is an Italian line where English speakers probably aren't well served.

 

I've mostly cruised RCI and loved it. But itinerary is my #1 consideration here.

 

Can anyone comment on Costa vs. RCI regarding:

 

* Cleanliness of the ships

* Upkeep of the ship in general

* Formality (I'm on vacation, so lack of formality might be a plus)

* Fellow passengers

* Food

* Ability to function as an English-speaking only passenger (not proud of being a uniglot, but it's a reality)

* Noise level for inside cabins on Costa vs. RCI. (Balcony and suites aren't in budget).

 

Things that don't much interest me:

 

* On-ship entertainment

* Ship decor. I do not care if a ship is elegant; only that it is well-maintained.

[mikeerdas]

Anyone? Thought I'd ask here first because RCI is what I know best. Would rather go with RCI, but I'm seeing hardly anything for Southeast Asia cruises with them for March, April, and May of 2011. Is it likely what I see now is all I'll ever see? e.g. are they expecting to add sailings with less than a year to sailing? Seems odd to me.

[melbur]

Have you looked at Princess? When we did our research for the China cruise, we found Princess to have the best selection of itineraries. They do a Beijing to Bangkok one which includes Vietnam. We thought this was spectacular.

Legend, IMHO, doesn't do a great itinerary. And although we have enjoyed Costa, I think you may prefer Princess if RCI is what you are comfortable with.

[henry hound]

with regards to your enquiry, you may wish to consider rccl. costa is a more cosmopolitan clientele where english may not be widely spoken by other guests. i have cruised many times with costa ( gold pearl level) and thoroughly enjoy the "cruising italian style" the ship in the far east i believe is the costa classica, which is costa pre carnivalisation, so may appear a little dated.

 

good luck

[mikeerdas]

Thanks Henry and Melbur. I've not considered Princess as it may be out of budget. I wasn't looking to pay more than USD $1300 per person for an inside cabin. I believe the Princess cruises began at USD $2000 per person for an inside cabin.

 

Henry, are the Costa ships clean and safe? That's my chief concern. Not really so much concerned with the language barrier, as I consider a ship a floating hotel. The Costa itineraries seem hard to beat as they are port intensive and contain several overnights. My best cruise experiences have been where I've had overnights in port, where I don't feel so terribly rushed all the time. Since I do enjoy exploring in port more than any ship activities, I sometimes feel like my cruises are too hectic with short port stops.

 

I wish RCI had more overnight port stops on its itineraries around the world. Sea days are not for me.

[jancy]

All our cruising has been in Asia. We have done Costa and Star and just got back from Legend yesterday 14 days back to back out of Shanghai.

 

COSTA- We did 14 days fron Singapore through Vietnam, Malaysia, Phillipines, Borneo etc. Had an inside stateroom- very quiet and good value as only 2 days at sea for entire trip.

 

About 1600 Europeans on board and all announcements, bingo, trivia etc is in 6 languages with the main staff speaking all 6 languages. We had no problems with communication at all and many of the Italians, french german etc also spoke good English. It is a very Italian experience which we loved but be prepeared for lots of loud talking, topless sunbathing, the most impressives formal night we have experienced, most men in tuxedos and the gowns were gorgeous. The shore excursions were excellent and very well organised all seperated into different languages. The tenders were also well organised. Staff very friendly and not at all reserved. Love the whole experience.

 

RC - 2000 guests. 1900 Chinese and Koreans with the rest Aussies, Americans, Germans and British. 3 languages on Board- English, Chinese and Korean. 2 days at sea each 7 day leg. The crew made this trip superb for us and thoroughly spolit us . I guess we stood out as very tall aussies doing back to back cruise. Would not recommend this trip to any first time cruisers. The culture dynamics on board are a bit overwhelming. First leg did are own thing on shore and then shore excursions 2nd leg.

 

Any specific questions fire away!

 

Jancy

[drrich2]

The culture dynamics on board are a bit overwhelming.

 

Care to elaborate? I find Sociology/cultural matters interesting, and you've piqued my curiosity.

 

Richard.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks for the great response Jancy.

 

All our cruising has been in Asia. We have done Costa and Star and just got back from Legend yesterday 14 days back to back out of Shanghai.

 

COSTA- We did 14 days fron Singapore through Vietnam, Malaysia, Phillipines, Borneo etc. Had an inside stateroom- very quiet and good value as only 2 days at sea for entire trip.

 

About 1600 Europeans on board and all announcements, bingo, trivia etc is in 6 languages with the main staff speaking all 6 languages. We had no problems with communication at all and many of the Italians, french german etc also spoke good English. It is a very Italian experience which we loved but be prepeared for lots of loud talking, topless sunbathing, the most impressives formal night we have experienced, most men in tuxedos and the gowns were gorgeous. The shore excursions were excellent and very well organised all seperated into different languages. The tenders were also well organised. Staff very friendly and not at all reserved. Love the whole experience.

 

RC - 2000 guests. 1900 Chinese and Koreans with the rest Aussies, Americans, Germans and British. 3 languages on Board- English, Chinese and Korean. 2 days at sea each 7 day leg. The crew made this trip superb for us and thoroughly spolit us . I guess we stood out as very tall aussies doing back to back cruise. Would not recommend this trip to any first time cruisers. The culture dynamics on board are a bit overwhelming. First leg did are own thing on shore and then shore excursions 2nd leg.

 

Any specific questions fire away!

 

Jancy

[8dimsum]

All our cruising has been in Asia. We have done Costa and Star and just got back from Legend yesterday 14 days back to back out of Shanghai.

 

... First leg did are own thing on shore and then shore excursions 2nd leg.

 

Any specific questions fire away!

 

Jancy

 

Thank you for posting your observations about the cruiselines in Asia.

 

Did you go to the Expo? Any feedback as to how RCL handled their tour of Expo?

 

Any preference re meals-- windjammer vs MDR?

 

I have been away (Med cruise) and just catching up with the CC boards. I will be on 10/7 cruise with RCL.

 

Thank you for your responses.