I go Costa because.......

[Cruisin D]

I'm planning my Dec 7th cruiseon the Serena. It goes to the Holy Land. This is about the only place I haven't been. I've seen all 7continents, with almost 900 days at sea. I been on most cruise lines, just never Costa. Reading this thread, I think the cruise will be what I make of it. I checked the boards and didn't see anyone booked on this sailing.

 

 

Hi 2bout2C

 

We will be on that cruise.....really really looking forward to it. We are also on the one before it.

[Mississippian]

I also just returned on Concordia, and unlike spandance I really enjoyed it.I believe we met onboard. We were four friends in two staterooms. We liked the "fun" element on Italian night but also enjoyed the peace in the Vienna bar with the classical music. We appreciated the wine package and chilled glasses and canapes in the piano bar. We thought there was something for everyone. It appears to be quite important to choose a cruise line for what you want out of it, but of course you don't know until you try. I know that my husband would not have enjoyed the Italian antics. We four friends loved it and I would certainly go again but would not take my husband. I know his style.

This is an older thread but an interesting comment. I would love to know why this poster (or other posters) loved Costa but felt that their spouse or friends would not. What are the "Italian antics?"

[Capricruiser]

My impression was that the husband was a sullen, dour sort that would not enjoy the merriment and hilarity of Italian night when the MDR waiters entertain the guests with singing, dancing and spontaneous good fun.

[George C]

Love the food, I have been cruising Costa since early 80's ( Carla C ) and I think they have really improved sailed several times in last 10 years including back to back on the Atlantica which is a great ship, love the size. Also, do Rccl and Hal, but would love to do another Costa soon.

[suzski]

Appreciate hearing all the comments.

 

My husband and I just decided to send our mothers (who are great friends) off on a Costa cruise in the Western Med as a Christmas present. The price can absolutely NOT be beat and, since every day is a port day, if they absolutely hate the cruise (which I doubt they will), it will serve as a very inexpensive mode of transport between 7 fabulous ports as the price of the plane tix is about 2 1/2 times the price of the cruise!

[Grumpy100]

Appreciate hearing all the comments.

 

My husband and I just decided to send our mothers (who are great friends) off on a Costa cruise in the Western Med as a Christmas present. The price can absolutely NOT be beat and, since every day is a port day, if they absolutely hate the cruise (which I doubt they will), it will serve as a very inexpensive mode of transport between 7 fabulous ports as the price of the plane tix is about 2 1/2 times the price of the cruise!

 

Quick cancel the Costa cruise there is always time to get your money back.....ug.....Worst cruiseline ever.....

[suzski]

Quick cancel the Costa cruise.....ug.....Worst cruiseline ever.....

 

because?.......... sorry, I don't know you and you don't know me and just throwing "worst cruiseline ever" out there doesn't mean anything to me unless you explain what it is about Costa that you dislike.

[Grumpy100]

We have only been on one Costa cruise 5 years ago but have been on NCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess and Costa is by far the worst we have ever been on. Went to Norweigan fjords, most beautiful place we have ever been to, Costa Magica was a beautiful ship, service we good but worst food ever. Excursions in 5 different languages and they do not cater to Americans. So...we would never recommend Costa for a cruise line. Alot of people do like it but we did not. Just my opinion.

The rudest people in the world were on the cruise line. All pushing and shoving and letting the children run wild all over the dining rooms. Even the pizza was awful....

[Capricruiser]

Grumpy comes on the Costa forum every couple weeks with the same lame "worst cruise line ever" comment. Even if her distant memories of that cruise five years ago are accurate (in her opinion of course), one must always remember that "things change" and conditions today could be vastly different. Of course the passenger demographics change from cruise to cruise.

[suzski]

Grumpy comes on the Costa forum every couple weeks with the same lame "worst cruise line ever" comment. Even if her distant memories of that cruise five years ago are accurate (in her opinion of course), one must always remember that "things change" and conditions today could be vastly different. Of course the passenger demographics change from cruise to cruise.

 

Yes, I asked those questions because we all have our personal reasons for liking and disliking a cruiseline. I don't think my moms are gonna have a problem with a bunch of kids on a cruise in January since they'll all be in school and I doubt they'll be limiting themselves to pizza (for the record, my hubby doesn't care for Italian pizza either...but he loves Italian food otherwise so that's not a problem). As for the announcements in 5 languages....as long as one of them is in English....that's perfect!:)

 

I am NOT canceling the cruise and actually can't wait for Christmas to get here to let them in on the big secret!

[George C]

I have been on 53 cruises, and have taken most of the major lines, rccl/carnaval/celeberity/princess/msc and Hal to name some, Costa has great food, could not even compare to ncl and some other lines, it helps if you like Itilian but there are many other choices. I was on celeberity Solictice a couple of years ago and a table mate said he wished it was on the Atlantica and I said I agreed 100 percent. I did see Costa tell children and there parents that they could not be in the adult pool which is something other lines should do more often.

[In Retirement]

An excellent discussion, folks. Once we reached our mid-60s, we have planned longer vacations (3 or 4 weeks). These trips often include a cruise and up to a week in various cities to just get a feel for what that city is really like. For example, in Barcelona we rented an apartment with a lovely balcony that looked over the major city park. We enjoyed our hours just sitting there as much as our visits to major landmarks and museums. For myself, I have enjoyed the grocery shopping trips. I don't kid myself that we have the real experience, at least I feel that we haven't been wrapped in a tourism blanket and have some sense of being in the culture rather than looking at it.

 

We are considering a Costa cruise (round-trip Venice) that ends a couple of days before a Princess cruise we want to take (also from Venice) as the replacement for a week in Europe before this cruise. Quite honestly, our turn to this possibility has to do with considerable frustration over trying to negotiate a British vacation experience (on the Continent) following a British Isles cruise, as surprisingly, I haven't been able to locate folks willing to use email to provide necessary information (who wants to make long distance calls with a 9 hour time difference?).

 

A Costa cruise (if I can arrange the air) is clearly cost effective when you factor in the room and board. The cruise we have selected gets us back to Turkey and expands our port experience with only Dubrovnik being duplicated between these two cruises. Our concerns are the likelihood of having a cabin/balcony for a week that is intolerable because of the smell of cigarette smoke. We are also concerned about the availability of English language tours. This latter issue is especially important if I find that Costa Roll Calls are not active, although the two new ships that sail this summer out of Venice are enormous. Anyone have experience with tours using English that were organized through a Costa Roll Call?

 

Much thanks,

DJ:)

[Capricruiser]

Retirement, I've read your previous post on the Favolosa thread and now this one. Regarding your concern about cigarette smoke, I can honestly say that in all my Costa cruises we were only bothered on one by a couple next to us who both smoked cigars out on their balcony. Thankfully, we did not smell it inside our own cabin, but our use of the balcony was curtailed when they were puffing it out. For your info smoking is prohibited in all public places I believe in all European nations now and that's why you almost have to run a gauntlet of smokers to enter a restaurant nowadays.

As to your proposed cruise from Venice, that is a standard itinerary and all of the ports can be done on your own, including Istanbul. If you feel uneasy about this, I'd suggest taking one of the ship's excursions which are usually pretty good even though you'll be in a larger group and maybe more expensive than a private tour. On the positive side all you have to do is fill out a form to get on one, as opposed to trying to find other participants, or trusting someone to arrange it for you. Remember that 90% of your fellow passengers will be Europeans who have never heard of Cruise Critic; thus the non-active roll calls. In any case I'd recommend reading the CC member reviews for your ship as well as the ports of call forums.

[In Retirement]

Of course, the problem with a new ship anyway is the limited opportunity to find reviews, but I will continue the search. Obviously this opportunity will be a good one for us. We enjoy adding an extended land vacation to get a feel of life in different cities. Costa will give us an opportunity to see how Europeans cruise? Also, we would request an English dinning table and hope for British/Irish guests as part of this experience. Certainly would appreciate any other suggestions from this group?

DJ:)

[Capricruiser]

Costa will automatically place you at an English speaking dining table but whether your table mates will be British, Irish, Australian or American will be the luck of the draw so to speak. You can always see the maitre d' before or after your first dinner to change tables if you like.