Costa Smeralda

[jakob71]

Has anyone seen reviews or reports from  passengers, TA or the media, who has sailed with Costa Smeralda ?

[Bobbingbob]

Just seen a few reviews on Tripadvisor, 2 in English and 1 in Spanish.

[jakob71]

Thanks for the information!

[Bobbingbob]

Just seen one more review on Tripadvisor........oh dear! Smeralda doesn’t seem to be doing that well so far.

[floridagirl21]

On 1/1/2020 at 3:10 PM, Bobbingbob said:

Just seen a few reviews on Tripadvisor, 2 in English and 1 in Spanish.

 

I can't find any reviews - would you be so kind as to post a link?

Sailing in May --

 

Thanks in advance!!

[Plan B]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Cruise_Review-d15691416-Reviews-Costa_Smeralda

[Bobbingbob]

Well, the reviews on trip advisor are pretty dreadful. Has anyone got anything positive to say? 

[Elrynna]

Just returned from  the sailing of 28/12-4/1, ship brand new with lots of interesting areas, bars and waiters every few meters on 3 floors, 80% italian guests, few french and spanish, all ages with 50+ being the largest age group, decor hit and miss, crew varies from indifferent to very nice, certainly not a 5* place and personnel. The tours we chose were all very good and smoothly executed, a few got cancelled due to not enough english speakers, nice guides. Got lucky with the weather too, the outside areas looked very nice, even better in summer I imagine. I found the animation team to be quite good and funny and they certainly improved the experience. For the price paid, I was very happy with the choice IF you exclude the food that was quite frankly downright terrible. MDR was half empty most of the times and most plates were sent back. On the menus, the only fresh items were fruit, dessert and fish, all the rest had the frozen sign, you could tell from eating them as well! Tried the paid restaurants and it was almost as bad. We ended up losing weight on this one 🤷‍♀️

[dethman]

On 1/6/2020 at 12:00 PM, Elrynna said:

Just returned from  the sailing of 28/12-4/1, ship brand new with lots of interesting areas, bars and waiters every few meters on 3 floors, 80% italian guests, few french and spanish, all ages with 50+ being the largest age group, decor hit and miss, crew varies from indifferent to very nice, certainly not a 5* place and personnel. The tours we chose were all very good and smoothly executed, a few got cancelled due to not enough english speakers, nice guides. Got lucky with the weather too, the outside areas looked very nice, even better in summer I imagine. I found the animation team to be quite good and funny and they certainly improved the experience. For the price paid, I was very happy with the choice IF you exclude the food that was quite frankly downright terrible. MDR was half empty most of the times and most plates were sent back. On the menus, the only fresh items were fruit, dessert and fish, all the rest had the frozen sign, you could tell from eating them as well! Tried the paid restaurants and it was almost as bad. We ended up losing weight on this one 🤷‍♀️

 

the food experience sounds awful.  i am cruising with my family in march and we are american, so wondering, when the english tours get cancelled, how far in advance do they tell you, and do they give you another option or are you just out of luck?

Edited January 8, 2020 by dethman

[Bobbingbob]

Thanks Elrynna for a more positive note in your comments. The food sounds extremely disappointing though so I hope Costa are going to get this sorted out very quickly. I think most people would agree that the dining experience on a cruise is a very important element and bad experiences will turn people away without a doubt.

 

I have just seen the first review on Smeralda on this website and it is pretty dire. I am still hoping there may be reviews from some who did have a really great cruise!

[Vald78]

On 1/6/2020 at 10:00 PM, Elrynna said:

Just returned from  the sailing of 28/12-4/1, ship brand new with lots of interesting areas, bars and waiters every few meters on 3 floors, 80% italian guests, few french and spanish, all ages with 50+ being the largest age group, decor hit and miss, crew varies from indifferent to very nice, certainly not a 5* place and personnel. The tours we chose were all very good and smoothly executed, a few got cancelled due to not enough english speakers, nice guides. Got lucky with the weather too, the outside areas looked very nice, even better in summer I imagine. I found the animation team to be quite good and funny and they certainly improved the experience. For the price paid, I was very happy with the choice IF you exclude the food that was quite frankly downright terrible. MDR was half empty most of the times and most plates were sent back. On the menus, the only fresh items were fruit, dessert and fish, all the rest had the frozen sign, you could tell from eating them as well! Tried the paid restaurants and it was almost as bad. We ended up losing weight on this one 🤷‍♀️

 

Thanks for the review! Concerning the food, have you cruised with Costa before? If yes, was Smeralda worse than the other Costa ships? We have always enjoyed the food on Costa MDRs. It is very different to other cruise lines we have been because it is almost entirely Italian and not typical international ala carte. 

[jigsaw101]

We are booked  for a March cruise on this vessel.   It will be the first Costa (and from what we have read so far the last) cruise.  As all "US" cruise lines have ice tea and some punch type drinks available at dining time is this the case with Costa or is it, like the water and you have to purchase it?  

Thanks

Al

[G.M.T.]

It's an Italian cruise line not American.

 

Best advice is too cancel.

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[jigsaw101]

1 hour ago, ronbe65 said:

Still enough time to cancel and book a different ship.

Just my friendly advice.

 

Happy cruising!

That bad huh?

 

1 hour ago, ronbe65 said:

Still enough time to cancel and book a different ship.

Just my friendly advice.

 

Happy cruising!

 

[ighten]

No its not  bad - its  a different  European experience not a US one - you dont tend to find Italians sat in restaurants and bars ordering Ice Teas  🙄.  You will be making up about 1% or in some cases the only US passengers on board.. The irony though is the staff will speak ENglish as well as any other cruise line.

 

 

[alicat58]

I don't get this "Ice tea" thing? Do people in the US drink the stuff at home or when they go out or just when they are cruising. I have been to the US on land based trips and was never offered Ice tea. Did I miss something? I like my tea hot with milk and I dislike herbal teas.

 

I hope I don't come across aggressive it is not intended however this is cropping up the whole time and I am intrigued.

 

Riana

 

Ps. Ron no sarcey comments from you thanks.

[tenpin]

Hi jigsaw,

              While there are certainly very poor reviews being posted about this 'new ship' just go with the thought that it will be different to your previous cruises on American lines.

Enjoy the multi-culture & embrace something different, you may or may not enjoy the cruise but until you have tried, I am sure you can get though this European adventure without 'iced tea ' if you have to.

 

I do understand I can't get my PG tips English tea on board Costa, but have managed to survive 31 cruises with them.

[heatherb1958]

We got off Smeralda today , our first cruise with Costa . I had read the dismal reviews on Trip before we left but as we had paid such a cheap price including the Brindiamo drinks package we just went with the flow , how bad could it be ? , we had 7 nights with no cooking or cleaning to do . 
We are seasoned cruisers with other lines mainly RCI but most recently have done all current  Meraviglia class with MSC in 2019 plus their Seaview , Splendida, Magnifica and Preziosa so do know about the Italian experience .We are in a hotel for a few days before retuning home and have been going through the photos, I am going to do a review on the main board as there was little info out there in English. 

[Lunenburg]

On 1/8/2020 at 4:58 AM, dethman said:

 

the food experience sounds awful.  i am cruising with my family in march and we are american, so wondering, when the english tours get cancelled, how far in advance do they tell you, and do they give you another option or are you just out of luck?

I was on a transatlantic cruise and every English tour was cancelled in Spain and France. I was only notified the night before with a message left in my cabin. One night it was already after  9.00pm when we went back to the cabin.

I went to the blue machines onboard - I forget the name of them but there was one beside the office where you  book future cruises,  checked on all the tours available in every language and was able to switch to  the same tours in Spanish.

Even if you do not speak the language you pick, it is better than nothing in my view. You insert your ship card and it is billed to your account and prints out the tickets - much better than waiting in a long line at the Tour desk or finding the Tour Desk closed.

You also need to look for the daily guide they leave in your cabin in the language of your new tour to find out the location and time for the tour. It is online if you log in to the Costa app and change the language or you can ask at the Customer Service Desk. 

 

[kathy49]

Costa has always been hit and miss (mostly) for US travelers. The current itinerary in Europe is also gaining extreme popularity with Chinese tourists.  Right now they are sitting in Rome with one Chinese woman presenting with symptoms of the Corona virus and the ship under quarantine pending results.  Photos show people walking around with masks and frankly no where to go.  I just mention this as this will be an issue for some months to come and on this sailing with 6000 passengers there were over 700 Chinese.  

[fragilek]

 We sailed our first Costa cruise in Oct and sadly it will also be our last solely due to the food on board.  By the way we love Italian food as our family live in Como we are there often - In fact we have been in Italy 4 trips this year alone.  The food on the Costa ship was tasteless reheated stuff - Italians would never serve this at home or in any restaurant I have ever eaten in. Apart from the food it was a great cruise and fantastic itinerary.

 link to my review

 

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by fragilek

[DerryPete]

So, it seems that Costa just needs to get its act together overall....😕 

[G.M.T.]

1 hour ago, DerryPete said:

So, it seems that Costa just needs to get its act together overall....😕 

 

Maybe Costa could take this "flogging a dead horse" theme and turn it into a meat dish onboard.

[heatherb1958]

On 1/27/2020 at 9:58 PM, heatherb1958 said:

We got off Smeralda today , our first cruise with Costa . I had read the dismal reviews on Trip before we left but as we had paid such a cheap price including the Brindiamo drinks package we just went with the flow , how bad could it be ? , we had 7 nights with no cooking or cleaning to do . 
We are seasoned cruisers with other lines mainly RCI but most recently have done all current  Meraviglia class with MSC in 2019 plus their Seaview , Splendida, Magnifica and Preziosa so do know about the Italian experience .We are in a hotel for a few days before retuning home and have been going through the photos, I am going to do a review on the main board as there was little info out there in English. 

 

In case you missed it here is my honest review . I will agree the food in the MDR ranged from lovely, just OK to absolutely dire . 
I recommend eating early so if you are still hungry you have time to go to the buffet to fill up !

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2729209-back-from-our-first-costa-cruise-on-smeralda-my-thoughts-with-pics/

 

 

[Bertie Doe]

We've done 2 cruises with Costa and haven't tried Smerelda ...... yet. I'd like to do 2 weeks sometime but I'll wait till they get out of the current Savona, Rome, Mallorca, Barc, Marseilles weekly loop.

 

We were on Fortuna in Dec 2015, Rome to Dubai and on Fascinosa in Nov 2019, Marseilles (relocation) to Rio De Janeiro. We did the waiter-served breakfast and the 1st sitting for evening dinner. The first course arrived within minutes, it was beautifully cooked, piping hot and loads of variety. The waiters were friendly, super slick and everything from kitchen to table seemed like clockwork.

 

The bar staff knew exactly what to mix, without having to resort to a crib sheet. The cabins were lovely and clean, the stewards happy and attentive. I got the impression that all the staff were very experienced. There was a large % of staff in their 40s and 50s who were quite adept and organizing things.

 

It seems clear from the recent Reviews both here and on Trip Adviser, that MOST of the crew were transferred straight from training school. When a new ship is launched I guess the old Hotel side managers are reluctant to break up the team and transfer their more experienced staff.

 

Launching a new ship must be a nightmare. Apart from catering and staff, there's always the possibility  of major technical breakdowns. They will, with practice get Team Smeralda working smoothly and these early trials will be forgotten. However, before we book, I'll def look at CC Reviews around mid-Summer - but NOT before then. Regards Paul