Been on Costa Smeralda - Ask me anything!

[Italian_Cruiser]

I did the NYE cruise on Costa Smeralda - ask me anything!

[floridagirl21]

I  just booked this ship for our family vacation in May, I am hoping by then all the "Kinks" of a new ship will be worked out. I can't find any reviews from anyone that has been on board yet. I want my kids (age 20, 24 and 25) to experience Europe in all her glory, so I thought an Italian ship would do just that. Then I read all the negative reviews of the other Costa ships, and I am getting a little nervous about my decision.

 

I am hoping we will enjoy the food enough to not go hungry, and find enough drinks in the "Brindiamo" package so I don't feel I have wasted my hard earned money.

 

Could you tell me a little about the food, and the difference between the drink packages?

I have read over and over that once on board they charge you for everything, did you find that to be true??

Did you do any of the excursions that you would recommend?

I don't expect everyone on board to speak English, but hope there will be enough English Speaking staff to help us if we need it.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Italian_Cruiser]

2 hours ago, floridagirl21 said:

I  just booked this ship for our family vacation in May, I am hoping by then all the "Kinks" of a new ship will be worked out. I can't find any reviews from anyone that has been on board yet. I want my kids (age 20, 24 and 25) to experience Europe in all her glory, so I thought an Italian ship would do just that. Then I read all the negative reviews of the other Costa ships, and I am getting a little nervous about my decision.

 

I am hoping we will enjoy the food enough to not go hungry, and find enough drinks in the "Brindiamo" package so I don't feel I have wasted my hard earned money.

 

Could you tell me a little about the food, and the difference between the drink packages?

I have read over and over that once on board they charge you for everything, did you find that to be true??

Did you do any of the excursions that you would recommend?

I don't expect everyone on board to speak English, but hope there will be enough English Speaking staff to help us if we need it.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Floridagirl,

 

it is definitely a Costa Cruise, with a much newer (and better) ship. Don't expect anything better or worse service wise. For me the value for money of Costa is fair but do not expect anything luxury (I've done a total of 5 cruises of which 3 Costa and 2 MSC - not YC). I don't know what are your expectations so YMMV.

 

There are 4 included MDRs and a buffet (plus 2 restaurants - teppanyaki and a masterchef-style 'lab restaurant' + 1 pizzeria for a fee). Breakfast is served in the buffet and one of the MDRs; lunch can be a-la-carte in 2 MDRs or buffet style in the buffet or in one other MDR; Dinner can be a-la-carte in the 4 MDRs (which one is assigned to you for the whole duration of your cruise) or in the buffet. There is a light sweet snack an tea in the buffet from 3 to 5 pm. The service is equal in all 4 MDRs - from personal taste the MDRs from best to worse are: Arlecchino, Rugantino, Meneghino and Colombina - but again the only difference is in the layout.

(There are also 2 further restaurant reserved to suite guests and top tier costa club members.)

 

I have to be honest that to date this is the cruise where I ate the least, not for the quality of the food (aligned, if not better, with the previous 4 cruises) but for the portions that were more 'human' size than usual. Buffet is also served by the chefs behind the counter so no oversize plates.

(Gained ~1kg for 1 week cruise.)

 

I went for the piu-gusto package that is basically brindiamo plus alcoholic cocktails (not included in the brindiamo) - should be ~30€/person/cruise on top of brindiamo, circa the price of 4 cocktails. If you're not interested in cocktails brindiamo should be sufficient.

 

There is a 10€/person/day mandatory service charge. I paid extra for the SPA access (105€/person/cruise for unlimited access) and for a dinner at the 'restaurant lab', WI-FI access is also for a fee everything else is included (drinks are included according to your drink package).

 

I never take excursions. Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma and La Spezia city center are reachable by walking and/or by the free shuttles provided by the port authority. 

 

Most of the staff is foreign and is probably more at ease to speak english than italian.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[floridagirl21]

Hi Italian Cruiser,

 

Thanks for your quick response, and Yes this does help, but I'm still confused on the drink package- I have copied this from the website:

 

"Drink Package "Brindiamo" included

Included for each guest in the cabin. The package includes wine and beer by the glass, coffee, tea, regular mixed drinks, non-alcoholic cocktails, select spirits, aperitifs, assorted juices by the glass, and soft drinks at any time."

 

So I guess my question is what is a regular mixed drink & what is meant by spirits?

 

What is not included in Brindiamo?

[alicat58]

Regular mixed drinks are Gin and tonic, Whisky cola, Vodka tonic, Vodka lemon and Cuba Libre(rum and coke I think.) This is from a very old menu but I don't think it has changed.

 

Spirits are basically the gin etc without the mixers. You can order a spirit and a separate glass of mixer if you want to. Drinks like mojito, aperol spritz etc is not included in Brindiamo. 

 

Riana

[Italian_Cruiser]

22 minutes ago, alicat58 said:

Regular mixed drinks are Gin and tonic, Whisky cola, Vodka tonic, Vodka lemon and Cuba Libre(rum and coke I think.) This is from a very old menu but I don't think it has changed.

 

Spirits are basically the gin etc without the mixers. You can order a spirit and a separate glass of mixer if you want to. Drinks like mojito, aperol spritz etc is not included in Brindiamo. 

 

Riana

 

Correct

[Bobbingbob]

Hi

Hope you enjoyed your cruise and Happy New Year to you.  We have done quite a few Costa cruises and have been very happy with them. We are booked on Smeralda later this month.

I would like to know what kind of entertainment you found onboard, please? Did you go to the theatre?  What sort of shows? Was there live  music in any of the bars and, if so, what kind? 
We are ‘older’ guests and some of the venues are too loud for us ( even though our hearing is not as good as it used to be).  
Did your Piu Gusto package cover a drink in most of the bars? We know that you pay at the Ferrari bar  (unless you are on the Intenditore package) but we were wondering about the other bars as there seem to be several different ones such as a wine bar and a Campari bar? Were all the bars open?

Thanks very much in advance for your help.

Bob

 

[Plan B]

Thank you for answering our questions - hope you had a good time?  The reviews on TripAdvisor are not too good!

 

I have read somewhere about about a Chocolate Bar or cafe or ???  Did you see or use it?

 

Thanks for any advice

 

 

[Italian_Cruiser]

17 hours ago, Bobbingbob said:

Hi

Hope you enjoyed your cruise and Happy New Year to you.  We have done quite a few Costa cruises and have been very happy with them. We are booked on Smeralda later this month.

I would like to know what kind of entertainment you found onboard, please? Did you go to the theatre?  What sort of shows? Was there live  music in any of the bars and, if so, what kind? 
We are ‘older’ guests and some of the venues are too loud for us ( even though our hearing is not as good as it used to be).  
Did your Piu Gusto package cover a drink in most of the bars? We know that you pay at the Ferrari bar  (unless you are on the Intenditore package) but we were wondering about the other bars as there seem to be several different ones such as a wine bar and a Campari bar? Were all the bars open?

Thanks very much in advance for your help.

Bob

 

 

Hi Bob,

 

unfortunately for you most of the entertainment is on the loud side - there are 3 different 'crews' for the entertainment with two on the 'acrobatic' side and one slightly more on the dancing side, plus 2 or 3 singers. The shows are repeated several times during the cruise in different time slot.

 

There are two theaters, the 'real' theater and the Colosseo, both have moving stages and double as disco by the night. The theater is very badly laid out with a lot of columns in the line of sight.

 

Live music is present in at least two bars but never enjoyed it as is not of my interest.

 

All internal bars were open (external were closed given the season), I did not go to the ferrari bar but piu gusto covered everything else (for sure aperol spritz bar and campari bar).

[Italian_Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Plan B said:

Thank you for answering our questions - hope you had a good time?  The reviews on TripAdvisor are not too good!

 

I have read somewhere about about a Chocolate Bar or cafe or ???  Did you see or use it?

 

Thanks for any advice

 

 

 

Yes I enjoyed it, but again - it's a Costa cruise, no less no more, with a newer ship. If you look at the average review of Costa here on CC you'll see that reviews of Smeralda are aligned.

 

There is an Illy bar at the center of the ship (coffee) plus a gelateria on the front of the ship that also serves hot chocolate.

I got tho special coffees included in the corallo tier - nothing special to be honest.

[Bobbingbob]

Hello again Italian cruiser

Many thanks for your very helpful and comprehensive reply. It is great that you have taken the time to give us all some useful info. We are probably going to take earplugs!

 

Much as we are fans of Costa ( we usually find somewhere we can enjoy a drink in the evenings ) we have found the noise level on the bigger ships in particular to be verging on the intolerable.  There may be hearing loss issues among some of the crew in the future, I would be concerned if I was one of them.

 

Well, we know what to expect from Costa so if the Smeralda is the same standard as other Costa ships, we won’t have too many things to worry about. We are looking forward to cruising again. I will try and post a review soon after we get back.

 

Thanks very much again

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vald78]

Many thanks for the excellent responses and being available to help on Smeralda, for which there is not much information from the cruisers yet!

 

We are boarding from Civitavecchia in Feb. I have a couple of questions:

- By default, the requested MDR for us is Meneghino. You preferred Arlecchino and Rugantino. We are looking for the most "up-scale" MDR (table clots etc) with possibility for a table for 6 and not too noisy. Should we change to e.g. Arlecchino? I assume we are still able to visit the other MDRs as well during lunch/ breakfast?

- Do they have the same wines included in Piu Gusto as usually (3 reds if I remember correctly)? Is it an issue to get wines by the bottle (the one you prefer) with Piu Gusto at the dinner, or do they just pour from the bottle they happen to have in hand (we experienced this in our last cruise from Japan but newer in Mediterranea, where we always had the right bottles waiting for us at the table)?

- Do you know when it is possible to board in Civitavecchia (still in time for ala carte lunch)?

- Do you have any experience on balcony cabins in the middle part of the ship (we reserved one from deck 12 which looks a bit bigger in the deck plan, above Colosseo)?

- Which ports of call provide shuttle service that you would advise to use (last time I remember that in Marseille there was a huge queue for the shuttle)?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Italian_Cruiser]

47 minutes ago, Vald78 said:

Many thanks for the excellent responses and being available to help on Smeralda, for which there is not much information from the cruisers yet!

 

We are boarding from Civitavecchia in Feb. I have a couple of questions:

- By default, the requested MDR for us is Meneghino. You preferred Arlecchino and Rugantino. We are looking for the most "up-scale" MDR (table clots etc) with possibility for a table for 6 and not too noisy. Should we change to e.g. Arlecchino? I assume we are still able to visit the other MDRs as well during lunch/ breakfast?

- Do they have the same wines included in Piu Gusto as usually (3 reds if I remember correctly)? Is it an issue to get wines by the bottle (the one you prefer) with Piu Gusto at the dinner, or do they just pour from the bottle they happen to have in hand (we experienced this in our last cruise from Japan but newer in Mediterranea, where we always had the right bottles waiting for us at the table)?

- Do you know when it is possible to board in Civitavecchia (still in time for ala carte lunch)?

- Do you have any experience on balcony cabins in the middle part of the ship (we reserved one from deck 12 which looks a bit bigger in the deck plan, above Colosseo)?

- Which ports of call provide shuttle service that you would advise to use (last time I remember that in Marseille there was a huge queue for the shuttle)?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Hi Vald,

 

in order:

- you won't find any tablecloth in the whole ship - they have eliminated all the tablecloths to be more 'green' - plates are put directly on the table. Arlecchino in my opinion is the most stylish avenue, is 'built' like a home so there are multiple rooms with different styles in the same restaurant (on costa website you can have a glimpse). Rugantino is a bit inferior in terms of furniture but has the nice perk of having direct access to the aft terrace. Meneghino and Colombina are much more packed in term of available space between tables. You can visit all MDRs during lunchtime, they have different opening hours, Meneghino and Colombina are buffet style while the other two are a-la-carte.

 

- I honestly don't know as i'm not very picky about wines at dinner time (I drink half a glass per dinner) and I always had what they offered me.

 

- I boarded in Savona, however they usually let you board before the advertised time, lunch should be doable.

 

- I had room 14216 and the balcony was more spacious the I expected. From outside all the balconies seemed to be more or less the same size, except for the balconies at the corner between the 'humps' on the side - those are also huge on the deck plan (eg. room 12099).

 

- I usually go ashore c. 1h+ after docking so I usually experience less queue than people going ashore straight away.

   * Marseille: shuttle is always in the usual place, but they have newer buses;

   * Barcelona: there's a shuttle just at the exit of the terminal for 4€ return (brings you to the end of the 'rambla' in 5 mins);

   * La spezia: no need to get shuttles, the port is in the city center, but you need to get a 1' bus trip to go out of the port provided by the port authority;

   * Palma: there's a public bus service close to the terminal, but a taxi ride to the city center is c. € 15 so I would suggest you to take a taxi (to be found just outside the terminal);

   * Savona: no need to get shuttles, the port is in the city center;

   * Civitavecchia: did not disembark, but it's your embarkation port so not really applicable.

 

[Vald78]

Many thanks for the comprehensive responses! We actually have one of the four staterooms with "hump" balconies reserved for my parents-in-law... Will change our preference for MDR to Arlecchino. How about the indoor pool area, I assume it was quite busy? Were the outdoor pools/ water slides closed during your cruise? You mentioned special coffees included in the corallo tier. How were these different to the comprehensive menu of coffees included in Piu Gusto?

Thanks again!

 

[dethman]

thanks for the info!  i'm booked for a march cruise embarking in barcelona with my wife and two kids (6 and 4).  i'm not sure if you went with any children, but do you happen to know anything about the kids' club or activities?  any decent kids' food options? 

 

we have a 16th floor balcony room, i wonder if that would be affected by the noise much? 

 

we have never cruised on costa, only princess, RC, carnival, and NCL.  we are american and hope it's not too much of a culture shock.

[Italian_Cruiser]

2 hours ago, Vald78 said:

Many thanks for the comprehensive responses! We actually have one of the four staterooms with "hump" balconies reserved for my parents-in-law... Will change our preference for MDR to Arlecchino. How about the indoor pool area, I assume it was quite busy? Were the outdoor pools/ water slides closed during your cruise? You mentioned special coffees included in the corallo tier. How were these different to the comprehensive menu of coffees included in Piu Gusto?

Thanks again!

 

 

Indoor pool area was indeed quite swarmed by kids - poolside whirlpools were better.

Outdoor pools were open, with heated water.

Water slides were closed the only time I passed by - honestly I don't know if they have been closed the whole cruise.

Special coffees: I suppose those were 'more premium' but just an educated guess. 

[Italian_Cruiser]

1 hour ago, dethman said:

thanks for the info!  i'm booked for a march cruise embarking in barcelona with my wife and two kids (6 and 4).  i'm not sure if you went with any children, but do you happen to know anything about the kids' club or activities?  any decent kids' food options? 

 

we have a 16th floor balcony room, i wonder if that would be affected by the noise much? 

 

we have never cruised on costa, only princess, RC, carnival, and NCL.  we are american and hope it's not too much of a culture shock.

 

No children - but there's is a kids' club (called squok club), no idea about the programs.

There's a dedicated buffer restaurant for families (called 'tutti a tavola' - italian for 'everyone on the table') in fron of the kids' club - I saw a dedicated kids menu in the MDR, but again cannot advise.

 

Noise: cannot tell, had to say that at 14th deck the cabin was very quiet.

 

As per my understanding Costa service is more or less aligned to Carnival - never cruised with any of the companies you listed so cannot really compare.

[glorialagos]

On 1/4/2020 at 5:06 PM, Italian_Cruiser said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a 10€/person/day mandatory service charge. I paid extra for the SPA access (105€/person/cruise for unlimited access) and for a dinner at the 'restaurant lab', WI-FI access is also for a fee everything else is included (drinks are included according to your drink package).

 

I never take excursions. Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma and La Spezia city center are reachable by walking and/or by the free shuttles provided by the port authority. 

 

 

I

On 1/4/2020 at 5:06 PM, Italian_Cruiser said:

Thank you for your help!  It has been hard to plan this cruise with no reviews and the first ones I saw have not been very encouraging!!  I am interested in knowing what the spa has to offer?  I mainly like to relax in a hot tub (without kids) and love the heated stone chairs - do they have these?  Also, is there coffee available in the morning anywhere?  We do not have a drink package.  Will there be free drinks available - water?  coffee?  tea?  Or is there a charge for everything?  I don't mind paying but just need black coffee, nothing fancy, especially in the morning but would love to have it with desserts at dinner.  Thanks!

 

On 1/4/2020 at 5:06 PM, Italian_Cruiser said:

 

 

[Plan B]

On 1/6/2020 at 8:30 AM, Plan B said:

I have read somewhere about about a Chocolate Bar or cafe or ???  Did you see or use it?

 

I have taken this from Costa's website:

“Brindiamo” Beverage Package

• Apéritifs & Vermouth Tio Pepe / Aperol / Bitter Campari / Martini Rosso, Bianco, Dry / Pastis / Pernod 45 / Ricard / Campari Soda / Crodino / Flûte Asti Spumante Martini & Rossi, Prosecco DOC “Valdo”
• Beers International Draught Beer Beer (alcohol free)
• Fruit Juices Pear / Peach / Apricot Pineapple / Orange / Grapefruit
• Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Sodas / Tonic water/ Bitter Lemon Lemon Iced Tea Peach Iced Tea Syrup with water by glass Mineral Water Sparkling or Natural
• Hot Beverages Illy Espresso Decaffeinated Illy Iced Coffee Illy Caffè Shakerato Illy Cappuccino Illy “Corretto” “Dammann” Tea Selection
• From the Chocolate Bar Coconut, Mint, Meringue, Hazelnut, Strawberry, Pistachio, Orange, Cinnamon, White, Extra Milk, Extra Dark, Light, Hot or cold Chocolate
• Wines by glass DOC White Wines DOC Red Wines

Is the Chocolate Bar part of the Illy Coffee Shop or is it separate?  I'm assuming that it is chocolate to drink rather than to eat?   Thanks

[Vald78]

On 1/8/2020 at 11:39 AM, Italian_Cruiser said:

On 1/8/2020 at 9:55 AM, dethman said:

we have never cruised on costa, only princess, RC, carnival, and NCL.  we are american and hope it's not too much of a culture shock.

 

As per my understanding Costa service is more or less aligned to Carnival - never cruised with any of the companies you listed so cannot really compare.

Hi,

I have been on Costa, Carnival and NCL. Although the basic concept is the same, I would say that the biggest difference is in food. Carnival and NCL were quite comparable in that respect while Costa is completely different. Costa serves Italian menus with 4-6 courses. Do not expect beef tenderloin, lobster etc but pasta, risotto, variety of antipasti, etc. I think the quality of the food has usually been very good on Costa. It is just different. Another difference, especially to NCL, is the entertainment, where Costa does not perform very well... Where Costa is better than the other cruise lines are the drink packages. Especially Piu Gusto is of extremely good value for the money.

[glorialagos]

Still hoping to learn about the spa.  Does anyone know?

 

[Stadleter]

3 hours ago, glorialagos said:

Still hoping to learn about the spa.  Does anyone know?

 

 

 

+1, i also would like to know is the spa good. 

Italian cruiser, which line is better for you, MSC or Costa? 

 

[Italian_Cruiser]

On 1/9/2020 at 1:48 PM, glorialagos said:

Thank you for your help!  It has been hard to plan this cruise with no reviews and the first ones I saw have not been very encouraging!!  I am interested in knowing what the spa has to offer?  I mainly like to relax in a hot tub (without kids) and love the heated stone chairs - do they have these?  Also, is there coffee available in the morning anywhere?  We do not have a drink package.  Will there be free drinks available - water?  coffee?  tea?  Or is there a charge for everything?  I don't mind paying but just need black coffee, nothing fancy, especially in the morning but would love to have it with desserts at dinner.  Thanks!

 

Hi Gloria,

 

there's indeed a very large hot tub, heated stone chairs, a salt room, a dry and wet 'hammam' sauna, a snow room and a relaxation lounge. The SPA is not huge compared to the ship but I never felt it crowded even sailing with all staterooms occupied, but not at full capacity.

The coffee should be available in the morning in both the buffet and restaurants.

Free drinks are generally not available anywhere except during breakfast, I understand that free water is offered to bookings made in certain jurisdictions.

As far as I know coffee is not served at dinner (but can be bought for a fee at bars I imagine).

 

On 1/9/2020 at 9:58 PM, Plan B said:

 

I have taken this from Costa's website:

“Brindiamo” Beverage Package

• Apéritifs & Vermouth Tio Pepe / Aperol / Bitter Campari / Martini Rosso, Bianco, Dry / Pastis / Pernod 45 / Ricard / Campari Soda / Crodino / Flûte Asti Spumante Martini & Rossi, Prosecco DOC “Valdo”
• Beers International Draught Beer Beer (alcohol free)
• Fruit Juices Pear / Peach / Apricot Pineapple / Orange / Grapefruit
• Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Sodas / Tonic water/ Bitter Lemon Lemon Iced Tea Peach Iced Tea Syrup with water by glass Mineral Water Sparkling or Natural
• Hot Beverages Illy Espresso Decaffeinated Illy Iced Coffee Illy Caffè Shakerato Illy Cappuccino Illy “Corretto” “Dammann” Tea Selection
• From the Chocolate Bar Coconut, Mint, Meringue, Hazelnut, Strawberry, Pistachio, Orange, Cinnamon, White, Extra Milk, Extra Dark, Light, Hot or cold Chocolate
• Wines by glass DOC White Wines DOC Red Wines

Is the Chocolate Bar part of the Illy Coffee Shop or is it separate?  I'm assuming that it is chocolate to drink rather than to eat?   Thanks

 

Hi Plan B,

There's a gelateria that doubles as chocolate bar. Chocolate to drink.

 

18 hours ago, Stadleter said:

 

 

+1, i also would like to know is the spa good. 

Italian cruiser, which line is better for you, MSC or Costa? 

 

 

Hi Stadleter,

for the SPA see above.

I have a slight preference towards MSC, but I would say that in the end both are comparable products. I would say MSC is more 'classy' while costa is more 'young'.

 

[neutrino78x]

Italian_Cruiser, how about dress code? Can one get by with a t-shirt and jeans? (my uniform in my civilian life lol.)

Are there onboard activities like Rock Walls, zip lines, laser tag anything like that?

Any single women? :)

[neutrino78x]

14 hours ago, Italian_Cruiser said:

 

I have a slight preference towards MSC, but I would say that in the end both are comparable products. I would say MSC is more 'classy' while costa is more 'young'.

 

oh ok. Sounds like I would prefer Costa then. I'm turning 42 this month, but I don't drink, and don't enjoy dressing formally. I like the fact that their ships are Italian flag and not Flag of Convenience as well. 🙂

Edited January 12, 2020 by neutrino78x