Americans sailing Costa, you've been warned!

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

We cruised Costa in 2006 for a Caribbean cruise and would not sail them again. Food (except for the buffet pizza) was bad, service was next to non-existant. Ship was beautiful, and the toga party was a blast, but that was about it for high points.

[LSEA]

Thanks for posting about your cruise. Sounds like you had a horrible time but I can't imagine why an American would need to be warned. We (also Americans) enjoyed a Costa cruise a few years ago but haven't been back on Costa since. We did not enjoy the food, found everything to be cooked (boiled?) to mush and there wasn't the nice variety of fresh vegetables and fruit that we so enjoy on HAL and Celebrity. We enjoyed the ship (I think it was the Magica) and the crew, very nice. Hoping you enjoy your Princess cruise, we have had some wonderful cruises on that line as well.

[FrankNJ]

Thanks for the review Kate . I wasn't planning on Costa anyway but it was interesting to read .

Now , as an Italian /American I feel I can comment on and I understand the problem with Italian organizational skills in Italy ,

 

here's a good example :

They haven't discovered the take a number system yet in the bakery and everyone fights to get to the front .

 

But , they do have their charm.

[2cruiseagain]

I've sailed twice with Costa on Caribbean itineraries. We enjoyed them as much as the Princess' date=' NCL, Holland America and Royal Caribbean cruises we've taken. We found the food and service to be above average. Oh, and I'm from the USA.[/quote']

 

I think the Costa experience is much different on a Caribbean cruise than a Med cruis. I've been on 4 Med cruises and we found the differences interesting. What is fun and entertaining for Italians and Europeans didn't really match our tastes. Same with the food. When it comes down to it, Costa is the Italian version of Carnival. If you know what to expect, it makes it much easier to ignore things that might have otherwise bothered you.

[KatetheWanderer]

Here is a CC Review of a recent cruise on the Serena from a Brit who thought the food was excellent and very much enjoyed the mix of nationalities. She didn't want to be sailing with a bunch of Brits like herself. That's how I am too when I travel. I enjoy diversity in food and culture. Based on this review, I would be open to a cruise on the Serena. This review is detailed and balanced.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=91840

[sidari]

I found this little snippet interesting .... :)

 

Carnival Corp.: Bookings at brands other than Costa in first 12 days after accident down in "mid-teens" compared to a year ago.

 

Sadly regardless of type of holiday there will always be someone who can find anything to moan about!

[G.M.T.]

So go ahead and ask away ... the food ... Grade F dogfood. The excursions, they had no problem cancelling and not letting you know about it. Try to get on another excursion instead? Well that's logistically IMPOSSIBLE by their standards.

 

Everything ... I could go on for pages and pages. I'm booking a Princess cruise TODAY and sailing ASAP, just to wash away the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE experience that EVERYONE I spoke to had. They SUCK!!!!

 

Totally agree with you about the food.

 

I asked my best friend what he thought of the food. His reply:

|

|

|

|

v

Woof woof.

 

How can you say such a thing in that all people that you spoke too about the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE experience that "They SUCK!!!

 

Ron

[cruzeluver]

I would be curious what the things were that the OP asked for and was apparently always told "no".

[ijonathanc]

I sailed on the Concordia in November - had a really fun week, the staff were friendly and helpful and the food was on the whole, great. I'm a Brit and don't speak any Italian.

So sad what has happened since.

[40yearcruiser]

We've been on three Costa cruises, including a transatlantic, and very much enjoyed every one. The menus are different from what you might find on an "American" ship, but we thought the food was very good as a whole. Our only complaint in the dining room was the extremely slow service (but again, the European way). We didn't care for the buffet so seldom ate there. I can't remember being told "no" for anything we requested while on the ship. Most of the activities were very well organized. Yes, the variety of languages in the announcements was sometimes disconcerting, but we loved meeting people from many different countries. Traveling on a ship with an international clientele requires some flexibility that isn't required on an all-American cruise.

 

There has been much negativity on this board toward Costa since the Concordia accident with some of those saying they "hope the company goes out of business". Have they ever cruised with Costa? It was terrible but an entire company should not by ruined by the actions of a few employees. It will take time for Costa to get past this horrible accident, but hopefully they will survive it and improve so they can continue to serve the passengers who enjoy their style of cruising. I certainly hope to be able to cruise with Costa again.

[Germancruiser]

@the OP- this is the Costa - board. LOL, so I suppose there real Costa - Fans around here. ( And it should be- as it is great to have to many cruise options these days)

I am a die hard Celebrity Cruiser- after getting started with Royal Car.

I strayed once withe the Costa Mediteranea. So I had the Costa - Experience- I will never sail them again- but to say it was a horrible cruise experience- well that would be to much. I just did not care about the food- compared with X- well it was two steps down.

One could feel that they put 800 passenger more on the exact same size of ships than X. ( Compareing the Mediteranea with Millenium Class of ships)

Mostly filled with very " lively" Italien Families- to put it polite! ,

The decor was much to grazy- and colourfull- which a lot lot lot of people love. Very fancy atriums with aboslut lack of daylight- no sea- conection...

Service was okay, but not more. The X service is famous- and they diserve it. So would I warn americans to cruise Costa- well they have their own Costa- called Carnival Cruises- and according to their succes they are doing and admirably job- just not for everyone! I rarely found cruise deals Costa is offering with X.

Michael

[mickey_d_mouse]

Just sailed Serena, Med cruise Civi - Malaga via Italy, Spain, Morocco, Canary Islands. It was the first Costa ship to leave Civi after Concordia.

 

 

Any believe me when I say this ... nothing has changed since Concordia, the disorganization is beyond belief. And as an American who speaks almost fluent Italian, the translation was not the barrier, it was the utter and complete lack organization and respect for their passengers. It was like a horrible horrible nightmare.

 

So go ahead and ask away ... the food ... Grade F dogfood. The excursions, they had no problem cancelling and not letting you know about it. Try to get on another excursion instead? Well that's logistically IMPOSSIBLE by their standards.

 

When leaving the ship with an empty coffee cup asking where I can put this with dozens of stewards around, please put that in your room. I asked if he was joking ... his answer no. Please put in room or you can't leave the ship. The word "NO" is the only word they know how to respond. No to EVERYTHING!

 

Everything ... I could go on for pages and pages. I'm booking a Princess cruise TODAY and sailing ASAP, just to wash away the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE experience that EVERYONE I spoke to had. They SUCK!!!!

 

Whilst I have every reason to detest Costa after what happened, I was on the same cruise on the Serena which you descibe from the 27th of Dec till the 7th of January, which would be the exact same staff as what you had, and had no issues at all and had a wonderful cruise, and the americans and canadians who were there with us had no complaints

 

PS the captain when we were there and probbaly still is was Paolo Bennini ( not sure on the spelling) his penchant was for ice-cream ( not blondes) my 12 yr old was regularly chatting to him when he came down for his afternoon bowl.

[CruisingMouse]

Whilst I have every reason to detest Costa after what happened, I was on the same cruise on the Serena which you descibe from the 27th of Dec till the 7th of January, which would be the exact same staff as what you had, and had no issues at all and had a wonderful cruise, and the americans and canadians who were there with us had no complaints

 

PS the captain when we were there and probbaly still is was Paolo Bennini ( not sure on the spelling) his penchant was for ice-cream ( not blondes) my 12 yr old was regularly chatting to him when he came down for his afternoon bowl.

 

I hope you are keeping well now that you are both back home safely. So you were doing a B2B when you had that disaster stirke on the 13th?

LOL to the ice cream v blondes comment.

[Gingee]

Mickey were you on the Concordia when it sank? (reading the bottom of your page)

[CruisingMouse]

Mickey were you on the Concordia when it sank? (reading the bottom of your page)

 

 

Yes she was with her daughter (I believe). She was one of the first ones to post from Rome waiting to get home. Actually I haven't seen any other postings from guest of that dreadful sailing.

[KatetheWanderer]

Whilst I have every reason to detest Costa after what happened, I was on the same cruise on the Serena which you descibe from the 27th of Dec till the 7th of January, which would be the exact same staff as what you had, and had no issues at all and had a wonderful cruise, and the americans and canadians who were there with us had no complaints

 

PS the captain when we were there and probbaly still is was Paolo Bennini ( not sure on the spelling) his penchant was for ice-cream ( not blondes) my 12 yr old was regularly chatting to him when he came down for his afternoon bowl.

 

Thanks for reporting your experience on the exact same Serena cruise. Wow. With all that you went through on the Concordia and the aftermath, your opinion carries a lot of weight. I don't know how people can have such drastically different experiences on the same ship but they can because these boards are filled with conflicting reports on many of the various cruise lines.

 

The chorus of Costa haters who suddenly appeared on the Costa board after the Concordia to rail against the line even though they have no experience with Costa are even more difficult to understand. I can't imagine heading over to the Princess line board to offer my conjecture. I've never sailed Princess. How would I know if they offer a good cruise. Why would I care whether other people thought they did if I had not cruised Princess and had no interest in cruising it. Why would it be so important to me to slam its reputation and dissuade others from trying it.

[BCOS]

We sailed Costa out of Miami a few years ago - the Mediterrania (sp?).

 

The food was really my only complaint (well, that and a few other passengers...!) And the food was... well...

 

Breakfasts were fabulous.

 

Mid-afternoon tea and pastries were fabulous.

 

Generally the buffet had food we enjoyed.

 

The main dining room food was not suited to our American palettes.

 

When I think 'seafood', I think of broiled or steamed things served with butter. Not squid in marinara sauce. When I have a steak, I prefer that it is generally unadulterated and not smothered in anchovy butter - yeeks! It's honestly the only ship I've ever been on where we'd sit down to supper and not be able to find a single thing on the menu that sounded like something we wanted. Someone in our family ordered the octopus, and it came looking like octo-spam... a slice tentacles and suckers in a gelatinous spam loaf. Yeeks.

 

I'm sure if we were European it would've all seemed fabulous... but we're not European, so we had a hard time finding anything to eat.

 

The ship was beautiful and spotless. The activities were great. The shows were family-friendly.

[Keel Haul]

Whilst I have every reason to detest Costa after what happened, I was on the same cruise on the Serena which you descibe from the 27th of Dec till the 7th of January, which would be the exact same staff as what you had, and had no issues at all and had a wonderful cruise, and the americans and canadians who were there with us had no complaints

 

PS the captain when we were there and probbaly still is was Paolo Bennini ( not sure on the spelling) his penchant was for ice-cream ( not blondes) my 12 yr old was regularly chatting to him when he came down for his afternoon bowl.

Brave Lady if I may be so bold as to inquire, do you find it cathartic to post?:)

[fayruz]

 

leaving the ship with an empty coffee cup

 

why on earth should you go around, specially when leaving the ship, with an empty coffee cup?

Couldn't you just give it back to the person who filled it, before starting the disembarkation procedure?

 

As for the food, unfortunately american/any other palate is different from mediterraneans : I've had a terrible food experience on Celebrity Millenium, even lost 3 kilos on a Panama Passage, but that does not mean I will never again travel Celebrity.

Next time I will choose X cruises when I need a "remise en forme"

[strathnaver]

I don't know how people can have such drastically different experiences on the same ship but they can because these boards are filled with conflicting reports on many of the various cruise lines.

 

This

 

Between booking and embarking on Costa Allegra in 2010, I was horrified to read on CC numerous awful reports of the ship. Sure she is the older, diminuitive ugly-duckling of the fleet and although I'm of the mind that any cruise is a good cruise, was petrified. You can guess - we had a ball!

 

Not sure about the oily spinach mush which seemed to occur every day but the food was fine, just nor 5-star and let's say somewhat below Disney, which I've also seen rubbished on these boards. (Being a fan of Dumb and Dumber ;)...) I got quite excited when Sea Bass was on the menu...

 

I'd say I had another Costa cruise on my wish list - maybe on one of their big newer ships (like Concordia :()

 

I'll always take other's opinions with a grain of salt.

[KC Traveler]

We cruised with Louis Majesty in September 2010 and the ship

was horrible! Dirty, rundown, low quality food, incredibly expensive

and the itinerary was changed with little to no notice. I was sick

the entire cruise (would later find out I was preg with twins) but

still, we had a great time.

 

Louis Cruiselines mainly caters to Europeans like Costa and while I

found the Europeans to be a little brusque with me, I just learned

to ignore them. I think your vacation is what you make of it. Sorry

you didn't have a good time.

 

I don't know why but I really enjoy reading negative reviews of

the cruiselines. It helps me identify problem areas so I go in with

lower expectations - that way I'm not disappointed.

 

 

I too cruised with Louis Majesty in September 2011, departing on the 5th. While I agree the ship needed renovations, I didn't find it to be "horrible". Actually, it was far better than what I was expecting. After reading reviews calling it "dumpster on water", I did not board the ship with the highest of expectation. However, the ship sailed the itinerary I was looking for, around the Greek Islands, so I was certainly glad to be able to sail on her.

 

My cabin was fair, the upper decks and pool areas were needing attention, but the food in the restaurants was fairy good. Really no complaints on the food, although the herds of people pushing through the buffets was unsettling. At first, we didn't enjoy being put at tables with strangers, but I must say that we did meet some nice people and have a few laughs. Sometimes we got lucky with our table mates, other times we did not, but overall, really no complaints there...just had to go with the flow. Many more English speakers than expected, in fact, almost all the crew was speaking English.

 

Louis Cruise lines had a similar clientel like Costa, mostly European with a few Americans throw in. If you are not an experienced traveler, I would NOT recommend Louis, or Costa, but to stick with ships like Carnival or RC where you will not be a minority. But, it you enjoy an international flavor, and you have an understanding and an acceptance that not all people are like Americans, by all means, go with Costa, or Louis if you are looking to cruise the Greek Island.

 

Just to clarify, I am comparing Costa to Louis only in terms of clientel; there is NO comparison with the quality of the ship. Costa has modern, state of the art ships that are painstakeningly maintained. Having been on four Costa ships, I know.

[nellydean]

Best stay with Princess and leave Costa for us. Thank you.

 

Your'e welcome to it, by all accounts

[George C]

I've sailed twice with Costa on Caribbean itineraries. We enjoyed them as much as the Princess' date=' NCL, Holland America and Royal Caribbean cruises we've taken. We found the food and service to be above average. Oh, and I'm from the USA.[/quote']

 

i agree with this 100 percent have been 54 cruises on HAL/Carnival/NCL/MSC/Princess and RCCL and really enjoy Costa, the Atlantica is one of our favorite ships. Love the real Itialian food, some people expect pizza hut or some other chain resturant'

[Cuizer2]

why on earth should you go around, specially when leaving the ship, with an empty coffee cup?

Couldn't you just give it back to the person who filled it, before starting the disembarkation procedure?

 

After all STLPilot had to say, that is the one that caught your eye?

[Cuizer2]

Whoa. I'm as cynical as the next man but that crosses the

line. Perhaps you wouldn't think it so thrilling if you were

still on the boat... like the other 17 passengers. :mad:

 

Excellent point.