Royal Diamond Tries Costa Victoria and it wasn't up to mark

[Iluvcruising2]

My parents went for a cruise on the Costa Victoria out of Singapore. It was a 4N cruise, with ports of call in Phuket, Thailand and Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia.

 

My Dad passed me some of his photos and videos, so I am using them to do some reviews and videos. I have no first hand experience on this ship, so I would have to rely on my Dad's views. By way of background, my parents are avid cruisers too. They have sailed more times than us and they are Diamond on Royal. They also sailed with us on our recent Norwegian Jade cruise out of Rome to Greece and Turkey.

 

Overall, my parents didn't think much about this cruise. In particular, the food was very lacklustre, compared to what they were used to on Royal and more recently on NCL.

 

Taken on the ship.

 

Not sure what was happening here. Maybe the spa was doing a public show?

 

In this video, you see the snippets of the Costa Victoria cruise ship, including her atrium and theatre.

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Edited January 10, 2015 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

Deck 6 - I think this was where most of the action was.

 

The food wasn't good at all. My Dad complained about it. He also heard any other passengers making similar comments. This photo of a rice dish sums it up.

 

On the positive side, my Dad said the ship had pretty good parties. There was a Venetian Night and Venetian masks were left in the cabins for all passengers. Everybody put on their masks and started dancing. It was quite happening, as you will see in this video.

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[Iluvcruising2]

The ports that the ship visited were interesting. Only 2 ports on this 4N cruise. The first was Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is actually an island, with her own international airport. Famous for her beaches, seafood and nightlife. I think it is a favourite place to visit for many Caucasians. You will see in the video that most people on the beaches were not locals. Phuket was also hit by the 2004 Tsunami.

 

Phuket was a tender port. The ship employed local tenders, pretty big boats. The boats brought the passengers right up to Patong Beach, which I think is the most famous of Phuket beaches. The tender ride was about 20 minutes. Be warned though, it is not certain where the cruise ship would tender or dock at Phuket. A lot depends on the weather and the cruise line. Sometimes the ship docks far away.

 

Two videos of their experience in the port.

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This second video is on para-sailing from Patong beach. I think it looked rather dangerous. I wouldn't try this.

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Edited January 10, 2015 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

The second port was Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia. They call this the Jewel of Kedah. Langkawi is also a touristy, resort-type island. This place was certainly not as busy as Phuket. The port of call was rather short, 7:30am to 12:30pm. The scenery was pretty nice though, because it is actually an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman sea.

 

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