Best and worse thing about Costa

[envy4u]

Interested in your thoughts. Please share 

[BrianCruiser]

Best is price. Especially longer cruises and world cruise. You cant beat it. Next best is loyalty program and upgrades and low deposit bookings. All fairly unique and generous. Most people book well in advance. Being able to pay so little upfront with generous refund policy is a plus.

Itinerary is not plus or minus. You'll find something that suits but nothing really uniquely positive or negative. Time in port also very similar to competitors. Though a lot less overnighters but that depends on duration and location.

Ship is neutral too. Some of the ships are a bit dated but they also have some very new ships with more on the way and the same class of ship is used by other companies. Smeralda with 6000pax capacity will be interesting. But it comes down to choice you can chose a smaller ship if the itinerary suits.

Food I think is a positive. I think if you like Mediterranean food its well above average. Then they have enough regional dishes based on your itinerary and the regular favourites to please everyone.

On board entertainment I find a bit lacking. But i'm not into theatre and animation and poolside activities or casino. So no cruise ship really impresses me in this department.

Cabin I don't find them any smaller than others. I do find them a bit bland though compared to some.

Excursions neutral. Book your own or use there's. All comparable to others. Though the mark-up seems higher than competitors in some cases. That's probably the biggest negative over all is they do try to charge as much as they can for excursions and pizza and any add on they can find.

Crew and ambience. The demographics of crew are same as anywhere so I don't think any different to other companies. Always served with a smile. The occasional miss communication or bad day. Ambience is nice. Not a party ship full of drunks. Not a go slow ship full of grannies. Very European but vibrant. Nice theme nights. Include yourself as much or as little as you like.

[envy4u]

Thanks  Briancruiser what a great overall review. Much appreciated. 

[fragilek]

I am just doing a review at the min of my first costa cruise.

 

Best - the cost and the side bar entertainment

worst -the food especially if you are gluten free- they will not tell you what is in anything in the buffet and tell you to only eat in the main restaurant - problem if out for day as closes at 1.30pm until dinner.  Then food at dinner was truly awful - one day my main course choice was fish fingers and mash or cheese polenta.  And for the appetizer there was no choice and 4 times was raw meet - I can't have due to chemo treatment.  Every salad was lettuce green, red and grated carrot didn't matter what it was called - Waldorf, caesar caprese and french - all the same.  Almost every meal was stone cold - the steak was the kind of ready made frozen diner nightmare.  There were a few good pasta sauces - the pesto one was fab, however, they didn't manage to cook the actual pasta in it - I could still snap it it was so bad (I know gf past is hard to get right as it quickly turns to mush if over cooked but this had hardly seen boiling water!)  The spaghetti in garlic I had for my lunch on the sea day was good.  the lasagne bland but edible. The shrimp  risotto , wasn't made with a risotto rice just plain boiled rice and  only had one small shrimp in it.  One night I had duck with orange that was OK and another day the matridee took pity on me after saying he thought my menus were really bad and got me a grilled salmon which was the only hot meal I had!.  I tried to buy the up sell stuff but was told they couldn't be made gluten free, as grilled I don't understand that.

 I think my stuff was made in a different kitchen then had to wait for my husbands stuff to be made which was why it was so cold. tried complaining got nowhere as always the same.  On saying that my husband also thought his food was pretty dire and completely flavourless most nights.  If we were to ever cruise again I would add on the cost of going to up sell resturant every night (we went once).  However, it would more or less mean me eating the same  2 dishes as that's all they had gluten free).  This is my 7th cruise and this has never been an issue on any other sailing and I have always been able to eat in the buffet for lunch and breakfast.

[fragilek]

Just to add- I had expect to love the food as we love the meditarian stuff especially Italian and Greek food - in fact our family live on lake como so we know and love the food.  Italian food is all based on good quality ingredients making simple but stunning sauces.  This line is using the cheapest of everything - most stuff has been frozen (it even says so on the menu) - I can't believe an Italian ship was serving up what we got - In Italy you would have to look hard to even find tomatoes as tasteless as on this ship.  they live and die for their tomato flavours - My family can taste and tell you which type they are lol.  As for calling boiled rice risotto - no way!

 The exception was their mozzarella, they made there own and it was very good.  However, when I ordered my Caprese salad I only got lettuce - I had to get the waiter he then got the matridee to go find my menu (which was taken away when I ordered to prove I was not meant to have just lettuce- You think when I called the waiter over he would just have said OK i will go and get the correct salad but no it ended up causing a fuss - which I hate, so I felt compelled to not say anything when the next night my greek salad arrived and was again just lettuce - no olives, feta, etc.

[envy4u]

Thanks for the review. Sorry to have read your experience was not positive. I will also be writing a review upon our return on the Costa Luminosa in January. Hope it will be better than your cruise. 

[fragilek]

It was just the food, the rest of the cruise exceeded our expectations.  And at this point in time I am not sure if we would sail with them again.  If we do then I will at least know what to expect and plan better, booking restaurants in ports for lunch and booking into pay restaurants on the ship.  It was so much cheaper than other options that even eating off ship and paying on ship would still bring it in costing less than other options. 

[envy4u]

In my opinion one will always find something to eat that they like. No one goes hungry and how many actually lose weight while cruising. 

[fragilek]

36 minutes ago, envy4u said:

In my opinion one will always find something to eat that they like. No one goes hungry and how many actually lose weight while cruising. 

 Normally I would agree but I expect my issues were in part caused by the combination of being celiac and not being allowed certain food due to my chemo for leukemia (no raw stuff like steak tartar and salt steak. Unfortunately those were my only appetizers 4 times, there is no alternatives on the gf menu - only 1 appetizer each night). However, not being able to eat in the buffet was an issue as I was unable to get food until dinner time- so no lunch after being out in port for me.  They were quite forceful about this and when I went in the buffet with my husband for him to get food, the waiter in charge was straight over to repeat the previous days instruction that I was not to eat here and gf food was only in the main dining room.  Never came across this before.  I certainly didn't loose weight but that was down to eating gf bread and  nice cheese and consuming delicious balieys coladas - best I have ever had made with fresh bananas 

 

I suppose in the end it depends on how much the food adds to the cruise experience.  This was a very port intensive cruise ticking off places I really wanted to see so food was secondary to the itinerary, however, if I was doing a more relaxed cruise with less of a port focus then this would have been much more of an issue as the dining experience would have for us played a central role in our cruise and just finding food to not be hungry would not be ideal.

 

I will still end with saying this cruise was great value -and would be still good value even if we had booked to eat in the pay places every 2nd night.

Edited October 24, 2019 by fragilek

[envy4u]

8 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 Normally I would agree but I expect my issues were in part caused by the combination of being celiac and not being allowed certain food due to my chemo for leukemia (no raw stuff like steak tartar and salt steak. Unfortunately those were my only appetizers 4 times, there is no alternatives on the gf menu - only 1 appetizer each night). However, not being able to eat in the buffet was an issue as I was unable to get food until dinner time- so no lunch after being out in port for me.  They were quite forceful about this and when I went in the buffet with my husband for him to get food, the waiter in charge was straight over to repeat the previous days instruction that I was not to eat here and gf food was only in the main dining room.  Never came across this before.  I certainly didn't loose weight but that was down to eating gf bread and  nice cheese and consuming delicious balieys coladas - best I have ever had made with fresh bananas 

 

I suppose in the end it depends on how much the food adds to the cruise experience.  This was a very port intensive cruise ticking off places I really wanted to see so food was secondary to the itinerary, however, if I was doing a more relaxed cruise with less of a port focus then this would have been much more of an issue as the dining experience would have for us played a central role in our cruise and just finding food to not be hungry would not be ideal.

 

I will still end with saying this cruise was great value -and would be still good value even if we had booked to eat in the pay places every 2nd night.

Truly sorry for your illnesses. Hope all goes well for you in the future. God bless!

[CasinoJeff]

On 10/16/2019 at 10:23 PM, envy4u said:

Interested in your thoughts. Please share 

Our favorite thing about Costa is the value for your money.  We always find their prices for suites reasonable compared to other cruise lines balconies or mini-suites.  Booking the lowest price suite includes the private restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It also includes the premium drink package.  However, Costa is European and that means many different languages.  Announcements and Shows are repeated in the standard Italian, French, German, English and Spanish.   But when the shows are musicals that is not a problem.  On a final note, the first few rows of the theater are reserved for suites and elite members.

[tenpin]

I do not agree with fragilek, my wife has dietary problems. but we always  inform Costa well before we sail, we have never had a problem. The Maître 'd brings her a menu to choose from the evening before.

While I agree the buffet could be a problem at times, we rarely eat there so it may be different for other users.

 

I think you must enquire about diet and inform any cruise line before booking, otherwise that could lead to the mentioned problems fragilek had.

[fragilek]

5 hours ago, tenpin said:

I do not agree with fragilek, my wife has dietary problems. but we always  inform Costa well before we sail, we have never had a problem. The Maître 'd brings her a menu to choose from the evening before.

While I agree the buffet could be a problem at times, we rarely eat there so it may be different for other users.

 

I think you must enquire about diet and inform any cruise line before booking, otherwise that could lead to the mentioned problems fragilek had.

They are not doing this now ( I asked so definitely not on the favolosa ). On here they have a menu for Gulten free given to you the night of the actual dinner not the day before.  The even had it ready for embarkation night with my room number on it (once nice touch of telling advance was a nice selection of gluten free goodies in the cabin on arival- never had this before so a nice surprise)

 You can no longer order from the main menu the day before waiter said this was stopped a few months ago (this includes the up sell stuff as I wanted to pre order the lamb and was told no.).  Here is a picture of the my menu on gala night.

[tenpin]

We were on the Pacifica beginning of this month, okay we eat in the club restaurant, but they cooked my wife's main course lunch time & evening they even gave us a sheet of dietary allergies and one of the chefs came out each time to explain what was in sauces & food.

Certainly not the best food she had eaten, but suitable.

 

If they are changing then it will be time for another line for us. 

[BrianCruiser]

Each ship has a gluten free chef. In Luminosa it was Hermane and she was very knowledgeable.

 

[fragilek]

As you can see in my menu the one on Favolosa obviously thinks frozen fish fingers is an appropriate adult meal lol

[MrCoachRentz]

It's been 12 years since we cruised Costa, but, so not sure how relevant still today.  However, we loved the fact that it's Italian.  The entertainment, dancing, food, everything, is like being in Italy.  Not the Americanised version either.  I think that's what most American cruisers who sign up for Costa because of price don't understand, it isn't an American based cruise.  Things are just done different.  I love craps but craps on Costa cruises if so funny, because they don't understand the game.

 

 

[Plan B]

On 10/28/2019 at 11:52 AM, fragilek said:

As you can see in my menu the one on Favolosa obviously thinks frozen fish fingers is an appropriate adult meal lol

Did you see or try the fish fingers?   Sometimes when translating to English some of the nuance is lost and sometimes the meal is completely different to what you would think.  Maybe it was Sea Bream Tempura or Goujons 🤔 

[fragilek]

3 hours ago, Plan B said:

Did you see or try the fish fingers?   Sometimes when translating to English some of the nuance is lost and sometimes the meal is completely different to what you would think.  Maybe it was Sea Bream Tempura or Goujons 🤔 

If only !- It was fish fingers lol the maitr'd  apologized as he gave me them and said this should only be for bambinos lol.

 They knew I was not happy with the food, even got a call to go to customer services, they noted my frustration there and said they would pass on to management.  No help to me though lol

 

 

[fragilek]

17 hours ago, MrCoachRentz said:

It's been 12 years since we cruised Costa, but, so not sure how relevant still today.  However, we loved the fact that it's Italian.  The entertainment, dancing, food, everything, is like being in Italy.  Not the Americanised version either.  I think that's what most American cruisers who sign up for Costa because of price don't understand, it isn't an American based cruise.  Things are just done different.  I love craps but craps on Costa cruises if so funny, because they don't understand the game.

 

 

 loved the fact the ship had that Italian vibe especially the Latin music and dancing - unfortunately the food was not Italian or even Mediterranean.  My Greek salad had no olives, no feta and  no onion, only salad leaves and carrots and was the same as served as my caprese salad lol - caprese no tomatoes or mozzarella- come on!!  Fish fingers would be laughed at in an Italian house never mind a restaurant, as would pasta served up that still snapped (al dente yes but not snapping and crunchy I gave up shame as that had the best sauce of the cruise - pesto Genovese) .  By the way my family live ,niece and nephew born and raised,  in Lake Como so I am there a lot so know and love Italian food.   PS I am not American lol

Edited October 30, 2019 by fragilek
sp

[Plan B]

20 hours ago, fragilek said:

If only !- It was fish fingers lol the maitr'd  apologized as he gave me them and said this should only be for bambinos lol.

 They knew I was not happy with the food, even got a call to go to customer services, they noted my frustration there and said they would pass on to management.  No help to me though lol

 

 

Oh no!  How awful.  Customer service on Italian lines leaves a lot to be desired

[tenpin]

Talking of fish, the worst fish I had on Costa Diadema was the Sea Bass stuffed with potato & Parsnip mash, all I could taste was potato the following night after my forceful complaint, the chef brought out a wonderful Bass all alone on the plate.

 

I also had the so called fish fingers, at least that is what the waiter called them, coated in bread crumbs and tasted like Captain's Birds Eye. Never have guessed it from the menu which sounded very Italian.

[fragilek]

2 minutes ago, tenpin said:

Talking of fish, the worst fish I had on Costa Diadema was the Sea Bass stuffed with potato & Parsnip mash, all I could taste was potato the following night after my forceful complaint, the chef brought out a wonderful Bass all alone on the plate.

 

I also had the so called fish fingers, at least that is what the waiter called them, coated in bread crumbs and tasted like Captain's Birds Eye. Never have guessed it from the menu which sounded very Italian.

 lol at least I knew what I was getting, but I had tried the beef twice and it was cold and tasteless didn't fancy beans in olive oil so all that was left was the fish fingers.  We live and learn, not sure if I would try cruise again with them, would have to be doing ports on my bucket list and we would make other arrangements for food, restaurants on shore and up-sell restaurants more (it was good on the cruise but only has 2 gf main dishes available, and only 1 appetizer so couldn't go often.)

[cruisingnewtoit]

In the MDR could I alter a entree to make it vegan?

 

On X I choose a vegetarian entree the night before and the chef will make it vegan for me.

 

HAL has a separate vegan menu.

[fragilek]

I was not allowed to order the night before off the main menu for gluten free.  I even asked if I could see the gluten free menu in the morning at breakfast (to see if it was better to eat on shore that day) but was told its not available until dinner time.  I was also not allowed to eat in the buffet - they refused to tell me the ingredients of the dishes.  And when I sneaked into to the grill for a piece of grilled meat and salad I was chased by the matri'd in a 'Manuel' aka  Fawltey Towers way shouting YOU NO EAT HERE, YOU NO EAT HERE- YOU MUST EAT IN DINING ROOM.  I was so embarrassed!! Also as these were long port days in citys I was never back on board in time for lunch in the dining room - so I either had to waste site seeing time eating a meal, go hungry  or have my husband smuggle salad and fruit out to me while I positioned my self outside and out of view of the staff lol. 

Edited October 31, 2019 by fragilek