My Review, Costa Atlantica, Western Caribbean, Jan. 14 - Jan. 21 (Cut and Pasted)

[EJKorvette]

Thoroughly Pleased with Costa's Italian Flair! My girlfriend loves cruising. She had been on nine Costa cruises before, but with a former coworker. My last cruise (aside from my time on my ship in the Navy of course) was on The Greek Line back during Nixon's second administration. Although we have been to Vegas several times together and up to Disney World more times than we can count, this would be our very first cruise together.

 

 

I am tired from filling out all the other stuff for this review, so I am just going to hit the high points.

 

 

 

I loved the food. I am somewhat of a foodie and loved having authentic Italian food and service available. I loved having Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar available all the time. Although the ribeye I had in the tenth deck restaurant could have been cooked more (I asked for it medium rare and it came out very rare, but I was too hungry to send it back).

 

 

 

I enjoyed being pampered by our waitress Natalya and beverage guy Naveen in the main dining room (even though it took a little while to get the coffee sometimes).

 

 

 

I liked the corny way they kept playing the march from Aida, the "O Solo Mio" song, and the Goodbye Song all the time. Especially hearing Dean Martin's "That's Amore" on Italian Night! Though I was right under a speaker in the overhead and it distorted the music at the loudness they played it at.

 

 

 

I liked the international flavor of hearing everything announced in five languages, and how Europeans all know how to ballroom dance and love playing Roulette, and how familiar they are with songs from over a hundred years ago.

 

In fact one of our favorite things to do was watching all the skilled dancers in the lounge with the Trio Tringali.

 

 

 

I didn't like the way Europeans like to smoke though. Walking through the Paparazzi Lounge before or after dinner was rough. And their lack of manners is another issue; see my Port reviews.

 

 

 

Someone in a review said they saw a lot of topless women on the pool decks; on my whole trip I saw only one, and on the deck way aft where the jogging track is. Also I saw a lot of children roaming around without adults even though the rules say they can't use the elevators by themselves, so parents might be concerned about their kids' supervision.

 

 

 

I enjoyed drinking Campari and soda, and espresso almost anytime of the day or night. I discovered I love the flavor of orzata in the Costa Atlantica, the Drink of the Day on the first night!

 

 

 

Even though my girlfriend didn't like the shows, I did. Even the schmaltzy overwrought slow "love songs". Again, a lot of the entertainment was different from what we Americans are used to. This made everything (for the most part) a little unexpected but more enjoyable as I got to see new things. I appreciated all the entertainment, especially the dancing and acrobatics on a deck that wasn't completely still.

 

 

 

One thing I enjoyed (but not many other people) were the Fellini movies they showed on board (La Strada is one of Judy's and my favorite films). Unfortunately they only had two, and most of the dates were on shore days. Costa, if you are reading this, please show more Fellini movies more often!

 

 

 

My girlfriend could have used a wider selection of stuff to buy on the ship. She hardly did any shopping at all. And there was no place to buy sundries.

 

 

 

Two minor complaints: I don't think the Service Desk has enough staff that truly understand English. Also Costa Cruises, you didn't have an English-language catalogue available. I took the one in German, and will have to convert Euro to dollars. Again these are minor complaints.

 

 

 

I am sure that as soon as I hit the "submit" button I will think of other stuff I wanted to mention. Let me close by saying that this wasn't just a cruise to the Western Caribbean. On Costa, this was also a cruise to Italy and the rest of Western Europe, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. On any other line the cruise would not have been as special or as memorable.

[40yearcruiser]

Thanks for your review. It's nice to hear from someone with an open mind for things that are different from other cruise lines. We will be on the Atlantica in March. My only concern is the smoking issue. We were on the Magica 5 years ago and did not notice this problem at all then. Hopefully the smoking will be confined to a few areas and not permeate the whole ship.

 

A couple questions: Did they have a midnight buffet on one night? When we were on the Magica they had a fanatastic buffet with the ice sculptures and beautiful presentation of the food.

 

Did the passengers participate in "toga night"? On our last Costa cruise that was a highlight and nearly everyone on the ship was dressed in a toga. That was the night of the passenger talent show. Did they have a talent show on your cruise?

 

Were there more Europeans or Americans on the ship? I don't remember the multi-language announcements on our last Costa cruise.

 

Glad to hear you had a good time!

[NancyJewel92]

EJKorvette -- Thanks for taking the time to write your review. Your words summed up my Costa experience to a "T". :D I love the international flair in decor, staff, customs and languages.

 

I love that Costa is understated -for example general public announcements are very few. Their approach seems to be that they provide the information on the Today sheet and that should be enough. (And the Today sheets are packed with info that one must really read. Sometimes the activity that is described with just a few words is really the best.)

 

Another example is in ports. In the Today the boarding time is stated and it's also posted on the sign when you leave the ship. It's up to each person to be responsible to get back in time.

 

Thanks again for your review. I'll be sailing tomorrow and will post after returning home.

[EJKorvette]

40YearCruiser, the smoking is only an issue when the Papparazzi Lounge is packed, and also the sitting area in the atrium that's nearest to that, and when the casino is packed. Of course you will be walking by there to get to dinner and to get to the show, but that was the only time I noticed the smoking.

 

They don't have the midnight buffet anymore. Now it's just a tray of pastries or fruits.

 

They do have the Toga Night, but it's now the second last night. My girlfriend didn't want to put one on (she is used to Toga Night being the last night) so we didn't, and we didn't go to the Roman (passenger talent) show (too late for her).

 

Announcements were in five languages, and never in the same order. I didn't mind hearing them all. Andrea (cruise director) and the other staff are amazing that they can rattle them all off so quickly.

 

The passengers were mostly European. It was rare to hear English (both the Queen's English and whatever it is that we Americans and Canadians speak). But we did have non-English speakers on two of the excursions who got upset that they couldn't understand the guide, even though that trip was clearly marked as English-speaking. And the guide on the Key West trolley only gave his spiel in English.

 

Was interesting reading "football" (soccer), cricket, and rugby scores in the daily news recap, along with the real football and hockey scores.

 

NancyJewel92, let me say "Bon Voyage" and will be looking forward to your review when you get back.

 

EJKorvette on the boards

[Dan bo]

Good review and sounds like an enjoyable cruise!

 

I agree with your food comments, and had a similar experience with the ribeye (ordered well done and was medium well), however still very tasty. I thought everything else food wise was superb (except the plastic coffee mugs in the buffet, but I can understand why they have them).

 

cheers

Dan