Costa Music

[Dancer Bob]

I am currently on Firenze. The musicians have been given very strict rules limiting what they can play. Nobody wants to talk about this, whether it's one-off for this trip, the rules seem to have come from Costa corporate. The Daily Program does say salsa, merengue, pop and rock. The result is monotonous bar music that is no better than on any other cruise line. At least they haven't ordered the volume cranked up (yet).

Anyone else encountering this? As it is, no reason to recommend Costa over anyone else.

[PhD-iva]

I am considering Costa. What are your impressions of the rest of the ship, of the food, of the ambience, and overall?

[Dancer Bob]

I submitted a review of Costa Firenze but it hasn't been published. There were only 1600 pax on a Dubai-Genoa repositioning, hard to predict future ambience. But this ship was designed for the Chinese market, huge casino surrounded by expensive shops and restaurants, nothing else that stood out from the competition. The worst Costa ship I have ever been on, even the old rust-buckets had at least one thing I could say they did better than the competition,

Most negative reviews pre-covid have come from people who booked cheapskate nothing-included cabins and are whining because it was a cheapskate experience. Really intended for European families on a budget. Most posters seem to agree paying for a premium cabin is a better deal.

Food: Comparable to 4-star resorts in Spain I have stayed at.

Language: English is the working language of the hotel staff, they should all be able to carry out their job functions, although they'll be more used to UK English. Other passengers, usually 10-20% English-speaking. Lots of Italian, especially in the Mediterranean.

Cabins. Pretty much standard. Mattresses in Europe are typically very firm.

European School vacations: Avoid!

Music: As I posted, far below Costa's previous standard, I don't know if this is the new policy fleet-wide.

My next booking is on Costa Diadema, I like that ship. A tour organiser from New York I know who has done a lot of business on Costa did a tour and also liked the ship (she had to cancel the group because of covid).

I see you have Oceania booked. I just turned down an offer from another organiser with a group on Oceania because it was so expensive, expect much more budget-conscious people on Costa.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it.

 

[Schlinger]

I'm on the Costa Firenze right now. Are you serious that the casino is "huge"? I think it's one of the smallest I have ever seen on a cruise ship. 40 or so slot machines and 4 tables and a bar.

I'm also not sure what's limited about the music? They play hits, classics, lounge music, electric violin.. the usual. People seemed to like the ABBA night.

Buffet was hit and miss (mostly hit), MDR was excellent, Teppanyaki was very good, steakhouse was good.

 

 

[Wansbrough]

1 hour ago, Schlinger said:

I'm on the Costa Firenze right now. Are you serious that the casino is "huge"? I think it's one of the smallest I have ever seen on a cruise ship. 40 or so slot machines and 4 tables and a bar.

I'm also not sure what's limited about the music? They play hits, classics, lounge music, electric violin.. the usual. People seemed to like the ABBA night.

Buffet was hit and miss (mostly hit), MDR was excellent, Teppanyaki was very good, steakhouse was good.

Totally agree with you. We thoroughly enjoyed our 7 nights in January, so much so we are joining her again in July to do the Western Med run. It won't be the same experience but interesting to compare the two cruises.