Just Back From Costa Cruise In Asia & Very Dissapointed

[B35]

Well, I'm a fairly long term cruiser and been with many companies, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Carribean. This was my first Costa cruise and whilst I expected less than the other cruise companies, I'm shocked at just how bad Costa were. The entertainment was virtually non existent, the food was the same everyday and poor(this was the first cruise I actually lost weight on!), staff were unfriendly and the ship was dated (Victoria) my cabins roof even started leaking right on top of my expensive camera which was luckily undamaged . The days at sea turned into a chore with absolutely nothing to do. I wasn't expecting much but I'm really shocked at how bad it was. Is this a one off or are all Costa cruises like this? I definitely won't be going on one again if they're all like that!

[onyx007]

Well, I'm a fairly long term cruiser and been with many companies, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Carribean. This was my first Costa cruise and whilst I expected less than the other cruise companies, I'm shocked at just how bad Costa were. The entertainment was virtually non existent, the food was the same everyday and poor(this was the first cruise I actually lost weight on!), staff were unfriendly and the ship was dated (Victoria) my cabins roof even started leaking right on top of my expensive camera which was luckily undamaged . The days at sea turned into a chore with absolutely nothing to do. I wasn't expecting much but I'm really shocked at how bad it was. Is this a one off or are all Costa cruises like this? I definitely won't be going on one again if they're all like that!

 

No, they are definitly not all like that at least in Europe it's much better. My parents

wouldn't go there twice a year (they have now over 30 Costa Cruises and had no complaints so far)

About the Caribbean I can tell in a couple of month.

 

It might be an Asian thing. Were most of the passengers from Asia?

They might not like the entertainment and animation we like on board

therefore they cut it short on this part.

Edited November 12, 2014 by onyx007

[Lard Greystoke]

I'm booking this cruise immediately. Thanks for the recommendation.

[onyx007]

I'm booking this cruise immediately. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Because of the quote; that he lost weight on the cruise ?

[B35]

No, they are definitly not all like that at least in Europe it's much better. My parents

wouldn't go there twice a year (they have now over 30 Costa Cruises and had no complaints so far)

About the Caribbean I can tell in a couple of month.

 

It might be an Asian thing. Were most of the passengers from Asia?

They might not like the entertainment and animation we like on board

therefore they cut it short on this part.

A lot of the passengers were from Asia, yes but there was also a lot from Europe. The buffet was terrible and portions tiny, I'm a tall guy and like my food and I was honestly left hungry everyday. The best food I've had was on the Celebrity Solstice.

 

The daily schedule was poorly translated into English and at times was barely readable. As I said, there was no entertainment (in English anyway) apart from the nightly show and myself and my wife were bored to tears on days at sea. We spoke to some first time cruisers who said they would never do another cruise, we tried to assure them they weren't all like that one. I'm genuinely shocked at how bad it was, it was more like a ferry service than a cruise. It may be because it was in Asia but that shouldn't be an excuse, surely?

 

One more small annoyance was that they took our passports the day we got on the ship and then wouldn't give us them back until the end. Call me paranoid but I didn't like walking around a country 7000miles from home with no identity documents.

 

I'm doing the Carnival Dream in the Carribean next month and hopefully I'll regain the weight I've lost lol :-)

Edited November 12, 2014 by B35

[lady peacock]

we have just got back from the most delightful cruise on Victoria from Shanghai to Singapore and wow what a wonderful cruise we had....

 

The staff as usual were polite and gave great service.

 

Victoria is the oldest of the Costa fleet we have travelled on and she is the best ship we have been on....

 

She took us to destinations we only dreamed about travelling to.

[Dancer Bob]

It's an Asia thing. Ships get sent there as the last stop before the breakers' yard. The Chinese market is notorious for non-stop gambling and smoking.

[lady peacock]

Bob not my experience at all.

 

The cruise we were on was mostly European and was told by a member of staff that Victoria takes more revenue than the whole of the Costa fleet!

[Wansbrough]

It's an Asia thing. Ships get sent there as the last stop before the breakers' yard. The Chinese market is notorious for non-stop gambling and smoking.

 

Aren't RCI sending Quantum of the Seas to that area in 2015 :eek::eek::eek:

[chrispb]

We sailed on Costa Victoria and she is the least attractive Costa ship that we have sailed on but we did the trip for the destinations, the ship is secondary.

 

Saying that, we had a great cruise and staff were as attentive and friendly as any other cruise line. Food was fine (the OP probably didn't notice the always available menu).

 

Asian passengers certainly didn't outnumber other nationalities and I don't see why it would bother anyone if they did. There was a good mix, I thought.

 

We have sailed Costa a number of times and find they are the equal of other mass cruise lines but usually have more interesting itineraries than the bog-standard Caribbean.

Edited November 13, 2014 by chrispb

[B35]

we have just got back from the most delightful cruise on Victoria from Shanghai to Singapore and wow what a wonderful cruise we had....

 

The staff as usual were polite and gave great service.

 

Victoria is the oldest of the Costa fleet we have travelled on and she is the best ship we have been on....

 

She took us to destinations we only dreamed about travelling to.

I was on the same cruise.

We had a great time and the ports were wonderful but the cruise part was one of the worst ive experienced. Starting with the shambles of the giant queue in Shanghai to board, easily the worst I've experienced for any cruise.

As someone who doesn't drink or sunbathe, on days at sea I had nothing to do,I ended up watching the dance classes in the main foyer for some entertainment. On other ships I've been on ,NCL Breakway, Celebrity Solstice,Oasis of the Seas even P&O ,there was always some sort of activity at the pool or show,or something but on Costa there was literally nothing.

I personally thought the food was awful,the portion plates were tiny and I was sick of the same things everynight ,either a choice of pasta or thinly sliced pizza and tiny deserts. I couldn't help but compare the "selected times" buffet on Costa to the 24hr buffet feast of the Solstice! Then there was my leaking cabin roof!

As I said, we spoke to a few couples and they were dissapointed with the cruise and ship. Perhaps I've just been spoiled in the past with ships and to be fair, it was fairly cheap so maybe I shouldn't complain.

I'm looking forward to comparing it next month to the Carnival Dream,I expect much more from Carnival.

[lady peacock]

I was on the same cruise.

We had a great time and the ports were wonderful but the cruise part was one of the worst ive experienced. Starting with the shambles of the giant queue in Shanghai to board, easily the worst I've experienced for any cruise.

As someone who doesn't drink or sunbathe, on days at sea I had nothing to do,I ended up watching the dance classes in the main foyer for some entertainment. On other ships I've been on ,NCL Breakway, Celebrity Solstice,Oasis of the Seas even P&O ,there was always some sort of activity at the pool or show,or something but on Costa there was literally nothing.

I personally thought the food was awful,the portion plates were tiny and I was sick of the same things everynight ,either a choice of pasta or thinly sliced pizza and tiny deserts. I couldn't help but compare the "selected times" buffet on Costa to the 24hr buffet feast of the Solstice! Then there was my leaking cabin roof!

As I said, we spoke to a few couples and they were dissapointed with the cruise and ship. Perhaps I've just been spoiled in the past with ships and to be fair, it was fairly cheap so maybe I shouldn't complain.

I'm looking forward to comparing it next month to the Carnival Dream,I expect much more from Carnival.

 

The queue at Shanghai was long but we boarded very quickly, and when we reach the cabin our cases were waiting, that's a first for us,

 

Each to their own we had a great time and loved every moment... Apart from morning we should have been in Sanya.... Another reason to enjoy every moment and think how lucky we are ....

 

We have travelled on a lot of cruises the worst being Princess... We love Costa it fits us well, we have travelled to places I could have only dreamed about.

We had a great time met lots of wonderful people.

 

The staff as usual were great, nothing too much trouble.

 

The only down side was the lack of an atrum bar, but I can live with that, sat just thinking I wish I was on that balcony with a pink lady in my hand.

 

Have great time on your Carnival crise.

 

 

 

 

 

Have great time on you carnival cruise.

 

:D

[B35]

The queue at Shanghai was long but we boarded very quickly, and when we reach the cabin our cases were waiting, that's a first for us,

 

Each to their own we had a great time and loved every moment... Apart from morning we should have been in Sanya.... Another reason to enjoy every moment and think how lucky we are ....

 

We have travelled on a lot of cruises the worst being Princess... We love Costa it fits us well, we have travelled to places I could have only dreamed about.

We had a great time met lots of wonderful people.

 

The staff as usual were great, nothing too much trouble.

 

The only down side was the lack of an atrum bar, but I can live with that, sat just thinking I wish I was on that balcony with a pink lady in my hand.

 

Have great time on your Carnival crise.

 

 

 

 

 

Have great time on you carnival cruise.

 

:D

Its all subjective I suppose. For the cost as I said, I maybe shouldn't complain. Sanya was a nuisance but can't complain about rescuing people at sea. We ended up not getting off as our number for the coach was up around 39 and it was 8.30 by then, not much point at that time.

Loved Hong Kong, not enough time to see it all though,would've happily swapped Okinawa or Sanya for an overnight in HK. Definitely worth a return. Vietnam was great also but my favourite place was Singapore, really lovely city with a great vibe :-)

 

Really love Asia in general,hope to be back again soon.

[lady peacock]

I agree with you Hong Kong would have been good overnight, we did get off at Sanya and that was a day I will never forget, we had a balcony on deck 9 port side I think it was a little more than a sea rescue, but luckily some of the fishermen were returned to their families.

 

I would do this cruise again, great ports of call, a great table, and good friends in bars of a night, it wasn't cheep it was GREAT VALUE for money.

 

Costa isn't for everyone it's not perfect, but it is what I enjoy.

 

;)

[MTIndiana]

There are so many negative reviews about the Costa Victoria, maybe I shouldn't even go. I paid for my 1/2-15/15 cruise, but haven't bought my air from the US yet. Maybe I should forget about the $1800 I paid before wasting a similar amount for the airline ticket. Is it really that awful? I am a single woman traveling alone, but don't want to be miserable for 2 weeks.

What do you think?

[Bill B]

I think you'd be crazy to not to go.

[AmoMondo]

There are so many negative reviews about the Costa Victoria, maybe I shouldn't even go. I paid for my 1/2-15/15 cruise, but haven't bought my air from the US yet. Maybe I should forget about the $1800 I paid before wasting a similar amount for the airline ticket. Is it really that awful? I am a single woman traveling alone, but don't want to be miserable for 2 weeks.

What do you think?

 

I think you'd be crazy to let other reviewers influence you after you'd paid in full. I don't know about you but I've often been on a cruise or hotel or restaurant that I've really enjoyed yet they had negative reviews, so much so that it made me doubt we'd even been in the same place.

 

You must have had a reason to book this cruise in the first place. I'm assuming for the itinerary? You will get that and will be spending a lot of time ashore on a cruise like that. How truly awful could it be to throw away the money you've already paid and miss out on seeing those great places?

[PathfinderEss]

Sorry OP that your cruise was not what you expected.

[Member]

There are so many negative reviews about the Costa Victoria, maybe I shouldn't even go. I paid for my 1/2-15/15 cruise, but haven't bought my air from the US yet. Maybe I should forget about the $1800 I paid before wasting a similar amount for the airline ticket. Is it really that awful? I am a single woman traveling alone, but don't want to be miserable for 2 weeks.

What do you think?

 

Our first Costa sailing were on "Victoria" to the Baltic Sea in summer 2008. We enjoyed the ship & others so much that we sailed on "Luminosa" around the middle-east region in 2009 & "neo-Riviera" in Mediterranean this summer again. We speaks no other foreign language except Chinese but have been to the majority of the cruise lines. There is always something not to our satisfaction here & there. We just go with the flow & we're happy.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Member

[OCruisers]

I wasn't expecting much but I'm really shocked at how bad it was. Is this a one off or are all Costa cruises like this? I definitely won't be going on one again if they're all like that!

 

Thanks for your report. It's been quite a while since we've been on a Costa cruise and wondering what to expect from a Costa cruise now.....

LuLu

[Member]

Thanks for your report. It's been quite a while since we've been on a Costa cruise and wondering what to expect from a Costa cruise now.....

LuLu

 

In our neoRiviera 10-nights Mediterranean sailing 4 months ago, it's totally European... from passengers to staffs (except in the food/bar sections & room care) to entertainment to foods to programs.

Easy going to us.

[MTIndiana]

Thank you folks for replying to my post. I decided to go ahead and buy the plane ticket and go. After reviewing Trip Advisor for the attractions at the various ports, I got excited about it all over again.

 

Is anyone else on this site going to be on the same cruise?