Costa Magica cabin warning 1006

[Florida1947]

Cruise: 12/17 to 12/23/06

 

Costa Magica - we loved the ship and had a wonderful time. We would go again.

 

Problem: Our cabin/stateroom #1006 was more or less directly under the treadmills in the gym on the deck above. When one or two heavy runners were pounding away up on deck 11 it was like being inside a drum in our room. With over 3000 passengers, we accepted this during the day but somehow passengers would get in the gym before they opened at 6 am. As early as 5:30 am they would be pounding away, so we reluctantly complained and the hard working Costa Magica staff would try to prevent treadmill use before 6 am. But if you like to sleep late, avoid this cabin.

[Debi_D]

Thanks for your short but positive review. How was the food and service, there has been a lot of negative talk on the boards regarding this issue. How was the embarkation? Which nights were the formal nights and were people really dressed up during the cruise? Thanks again....

[joetrizeo]

Cruise: 12/17 to 12/23/06

 

Costa Magica - we loved the ship and had a wonderful time. We would go again.

 

Problem: Our cabin/stateroom #1006 was more or less directly under the treadmills in the gym on the deck above. When one or two heavy runners were pounding away up on deck 11 it was like being inside a drum in our room. With over 3000 passengers, we accepted this during the day but somehow passengers would get in the gym before they opened at 6 am. As early as 5:30 am they would be pounding away, so we reluctantly complained and the hard working Costa Magica staff would try to prevent treadmill use before 6 am. But if you like to sleep late, avoid this cabin.

 

Thanks for the warning. Being under the workout facilities on these destiny/conquest class ships is always a problem. There are signs that read "Do not drop weights on floor, there are cabins below".

 

I was on deck 8, right below the sun deck of deck 9 right in the center where all the activities happen when i was on Victory, a very similar ship. I know its a steel ship but 50 people jumping in time to the 'casper slide' (line dance) turns your cabin into a bass drum!

 

Another well known fact is to avoid the rooms on deck 6 that are right above the lounges/disco's on deck 5. Unless you like to stay up till 3am that is :)

[joetrizeo]

Thanks for your short but positive review. How was the food and service, there has been a lot of negative talk on the boards regarding this issue. How was the embarkation? Which nights were the formal nights and were people really dressed up during the cruise? Thanks again....

 

debi_d i would not worry. from your sig i see you have been on many classy cruises. costa is no exception. much like other cruise lines, for every 1 person who reports a bad time there are 2000 that have a great time. negative reviews are often the anomaly, but should be taken in consideration as it pertains to the aspects of cruising that YOU look for. As you already know, if you go in with a negative additude you are more likely to come out with a negative cruise.

 

Since most cruise companies pool workers from the same staffing resources, the service should be top knotch as it is across many lines.

 

I'm with a lot of cruisers who say the food was excellent, and by italian standards it is. Now if you do not like italian/european food, you may think otherwise. But thats the great best thing about life, we're all different :)

 

if you are on a 7day carib cruise, formal nights should be 2nd and 6th.

[Florida1947]

>>>Thanks for your short but positive review. How was the food and service, there has been a lot of negative talk on the boards regarding this issue. How was the embarkation? Which nights were the formal nights and were people really dressed up during the cruise? Thanks again....<<<

 

Hi Debi_D

 

I am actually working on a long travelogue tonight of the trip for friends but will try to give you a cliff notes version.

 

Embarkation: We live in SoFla so we could pick our time to arrive at Port Everglades. We picked about 12:45 pm as our ETA and there was no crowd. We parked in the garage and left our big suitcases at the curb with the porters. The Costa lady behind the counter said we missed a big crowd when they first opened the doors. There was a brief line on the covered loading ramp up to the ship. Once inside they cheerfully steered us to the buffet. After a brief lunch we went to our cabin and our suitcases were waiting for us outside. Everyone was very nice and made us feel very welcome. Our large suitcases fit nicely under the bed.

 

Service in general: The crew or service employees were very nice and usually went out of their way to be nice. Guys who were moping up or stacking deck chairs would smile and make a kind remark when a passenger walked by. People behind counters were always eager to help. When we complained on Tuesday about the pounding at 5:30 am, someone called us on Thursday to see if our complaint had been handled correctly. At least the pounding didn't start until 6 am so they did the best they could.

 

Food: The buffet: The breakfast was good. There were two or three omlette stations and the eggs, bacon and corned beef hash were good. There were tons of fattening carbs if you wanted them. For lunch and dinner, we usually skipped the buffet in favor of the dining room. The hamburgers were not that good IMHO and the pizza was well below what we expect at home. But it was always there if you were hungry. The dining room: We usualy ate in one of the two dining rooms. It was nice to have 7 pieces of flatware and crystal glasses and all the removes. We were assigned to the Costa Smeralda restaurant at the stern but discovered if we wanted to eat lunch at the mid-ship one, the Portofino Restaurant, we were cheerfully accepted. The food at the Smeralda was good considering they had to prepare 15,000 meals a day. I was determined not to gain weight so I tried to always leave half the meal on the plate and keep the carbs to a minimum. I succeeded. Also it is a good chance to experiment on dishes you would never normally order and have to pay for. One morning I ordered both Eggs Benedict and Scottish Kippers. And I learned for free that I really hate Scottish Kippers. The point is, they will bring you whatever you want on the menu, you just have to ask.

 

Breakfast in room: This was a free option we usually elected just to get our morning coffee and a bowl of raisin bran or corn flakes. We passed on the sweet rolls. 7 am was the earliest this was available.

 

Formal nights: There were two, Tuesday and Thursday nights. All the men at our table for 10 wore coats and ties. But on other nights, some people wore T-shirts. It really didn't matter how you dressed. On Friday night 8 out of 10 wore togas (bed sheets) to dinner.

 

I read all the negative remarks before we left and I am sorry some passengers did not have a good cruise, but I decided if I go with a negative attitude, I will be sure to find things that make me unhappy. So I went with the attitude that I was going to have a really good time and I did. And I hope you have a great time on the Costa Magica.

 

Feel free to ask more questions if you wish.

[Florida1947]

>>>Thanks for the warning. Being under the workout facilities on these destiny/conquest class ships is always a problem. There are signs that read "Do not drop weights on floor, there are cabins below".<<<

 

We waited until about 3 weeks before departure to book and this was one of the last balcony rooms available and at the time I asked myself "what is wrong with this room?" Actually it was a wonderful room except for the bass drum effect at 5:40 am and during afternoon naps.

[Debi_D]

Thanks for the update on your cruise. As you both (Joe) said there is a lot of negative reviews out there and I believe your cruise is what you make of it. One of our Princess cruise though the Panama Canal had a real problem with the service and food but we still had a good time! One great thing we did not gain any weight:D

 

We are really looking forward to this cruise as we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary. Joe I have another question because we have that aft cabin 7422 and it is considered a mini-suite do we too get a butler:p We had one on the Mercury and he was fabulous!

 

Deb