First time Costa Cruisers...

[Tina0922]

I will be sailing 4-8-07 on the Mediterranea with my parents and need some questions answered please....

 

1) Does Costa have 'casual' dinning upsatairs(buffett) each night or do you have to go downstairs to the dinning room?

 

2) If there is 'casual' dinning upstairs, do you have to go by the dress code on the daily planner or can you go casual... (family not big on formal nights and wearing jacket & tie just for dinner each night)?

 

3) Is the entertainment going to be similar to what we expect on other cruise lines (Broadway type show, comedians, ect..) or is it going to be 'Italian'?

 

4) Exactly how small are these cabins? I keep hearing that it is extremely small compared to other cruise lines....3 adults in cat 7 cabin. Are we going to be able to move in the room at all?

 

5) Two new ports for us...what to expect in Catalina Island & La Romana?

 

6) Is the X1 truely a good deal for any recent travelers? Seems too good to be true!!

 

 

**Anything else that is 'different' for Costa would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to post a response.

 

Tina

[HiiPocket]

1. You have your choice of dining options. You can go downstairs in the main dinning room, or you can choose the buffet at your leisure and dress casual upstairs. You do have a 3rd option, that is the Medusa dinning room, which is 23/person and requires reservations and is more formal.

2. Was just on the mediterranea in Feb, and on formal nights there were people without formal attire. Some men wore golf shirts and slacks, however, they will not allow shorts, or jeans on formal nights and shorts is not allowed anytime during the dinner hours.

3. Your entertainment is similar to most ships. There was one night they had an italian singer. Great voice, but I dont speak italian, hahahahahahahahaha. They had production shows, circus acts, etcs.

4. 3 adults will be a bit crampped. But, you are not in the room alot, so I dont think it will matter that much.

5. Never been to LaRamana during the day, at night there is a great show to go to. During the day, Catalina Island is their private island that they rent. If you go to LaRomana at night, then you go to Catalina island for free during the day. If your port of call is LaRomana for the day, then it costs to go Catalina Island, it is an excursion that you can choose.

6. X1 is only available during lunch and dinner hours only. It is not good 24/7. You have to drink alot during a short time period for it to be economical.

 

Hope this helps, happy cruising

[msboo18]

Economical?? It depends - the x1 package comes out to $11.40 per day per person and that includes all tips. If 2 sodas = $5.75 (includes tip) and if you have 4 sodas a day (2 at lunch and 2 at dinner) = $11.50 or mineral water at $2/glass (plus tip) or wine ($5-$6 a glass + tip). Even if you're not on the ship to eat, you can get drinks at any of the restaurants or pool side bars between 11:30am-2:30pm and again from 7:30 - 10:00 or so (if you have the early seating, you can get drinks with your meal). DH & I each had a couple of sodas (or beer) at lunch most days (or grabbed one for the room) and a couple (sometimes more than a couple) at dinner each night along with a lot of mineral water (we like the sparkling, but you can get natural) so for us it was well worth it! See my full review for the Magica under Member Cruise Reviews.

[fatcat04]

Economical?? It depends - the x1 package comes out to $11.40 per day per person and that includes all tips. If 2 sodas = $5.75 (includes tip) and if you have 4 sodas a day (2 at lunch and 2 at dinner) = $11.50 or mineral water at $2/glass (plus tip) or wine ($5-$6 a glass + tip). Even if you're not on the ship to eat, you can get drinks at any of the restaurants or pool side bars between 11:30am-2:30pm and again from 7:30 - 10:00 or so (if you have the early seating, you can get drinks with your meal). DH & I each had a couple of sodas (or beer) at lunch most days (or grabbed one for the room) and a couple (sometimes more than a couple) at dinner each night along with a lot of mineral water (we like the sparkling, but you can get natural) so for us it was well worth it! See my full review for the Magica under Member Cruise Reviews.

 

Exactly what we thought ;)... in fact I am surprised they offer this deal it is so good. Definatly a good deal for the wine drinker!!

 

If you had 2 glasses of wine a day... which run from $4.75-$6 a glass NOT including 15% tip... then it just abt pays for itself. I KNOW I will be able to do that. Everything past that is gravy. We even got it for kidlet just for the ease. He can have cokes for lunch and dinner without us having to worry about wasting valuable coupons. His we might not get our money's worth BUT I am sure hubbie and I will more than make up for that.

 

I did a cost analysis for me and hubbie.

 

It costs $79.80 for a 7 days cruise. For me assuming, I drink 1 coke for lunch and 2 wines for dinner on ship days and then 2 wines for dinner on excursion days and that is a minimum. At minimum wine prices with 15% tip it worked out to $86.41. Not a huge discount but that again is the bare bones minimum I will drink. For hubbie I assumed a minimum of 1 wine with lunch and 3 with dinner on ship days and 3 wines with dinner for excursion days and came up with $131.10 including tip. Hard to argue with that!!

[msboo18]

hmmm - cost analysis - well, we had at least 2 drinks each (either soda or wine/beer) at lunch even on some port days we went back to the ship, then got a before dinner drink then several at dinner - trust me, we saved a ton. There were 8 of us at our table (all unknown before cruise) and 6 of us had the x1 so they just kept pouring both wine and sparkling water (which ain't cheap either!):) Wonder how long they'll offer this once everyone knows about it.....

[fatcat04]

hmmm - cost analysis -

 

LOL!! :D I know.. hubbie makes fun of my "cost analysis" too.

 

Hey... I'm insane. Simply insane about planning our vacations and all the little details. Half the fun of the vacation for me is planning and dreaming and dreaming and planning. :p

[joetrizeo]

the size of the cabin is not restricted to the cruise line. it's dependant on the class of ship. carnival uses the spirit class which what the Med is based from. Like the Magica is the triumph/destiny class, same cabins as 10 or so other ships.

 

160sq ft, pretty much similar to other ships.

[cruisernh]

cost analysis I like it. If i were to have 3 glasses of wine at lunch 3 beers in the afternoon 4 wine at dinner. that would pay for it. Do they have an aspirin card too? lol

[fatcat04]

lol cruisernh,

 

I think the code for the package you are refering to is "LUSH" :D :p

 

;) ~~Kari

[kits]

hmmm - cost analysis - well, we had at least 2 drinks each (either soda or wine/beer) at lunch even on some port days we went back to the ship, then got a before dinner drink then several at dinner - trust me, we saved a ton. There were 8 of us at our table (all unknown before cruise) and 6 of us had the x1 so they just kept pouring both wine and sparkling water (which ain't cheap either!):) Wonder how long they'll offer this once everyone knows about it.....

 

Hi all....how do you sign up for this x1 plan? Sounds like a deal to me. We leave in 10 days for a cruise on Majica...but were on the Mediterranea last year...never heard of it before.:confused: :) :)

[fatcat04]

Hi all....how do you sign up for this x1 plan? Sounds like a deal to me. We leave in 10 days for a cruise on Majica...but were on the Mediterranea last year...never heard of it before.:confused: :) :)

 

I would call Costa direct (contact #'s on website) and see if you can buy from them. Make sure to have your booking # handy. Just ask for the X1 drink package. I have heard you have to buy it 14 days in advance but I don't know if they still have the policy or if they adhere to it very strickly. If Costa says no... might call your TA if you used one. Sometimes they can do what others can't. ;)

[kits]

I would call Costa direct (contact #'s on website) and see if you can buy from them. Make sure to have your booking # handy. Just ask for the X1 drink package. I have heard you have to buy it 14 days in advance but I don't know if they still have the policy or if they adhere to it very strickly. If Costa says no... might call your TA if you used one. Sometimes they can do what others can't. ;)

I will try caling Costa...we have yet to get our documents though...so will be less than a wek before departure. I will try though. Does anyone have the number to call?:D

[fatcat04]

I will try caling Costa...we have yet to get our documents though...so will be less than a wek before departure. I will try though. Does anyone have the number to call?:D

 

The number I have called in the past is 1-800-445-8020.

 

:) Kari

[tedwin3]

do you get cola (coke) options all day with x1 card or only for lunch and dinner????

[Jdleong]

only at lunch and dinner...

 

 

Originally Posted by msboo18

Economical?? It depends - the x1 package comes out to $11.40 per day per person and that includes all tips. If 2 sodas = $5.75 (includes tip) and if you have 4 sodas a day (2 at lunch and 2 at dinner) = $11.50 or mineral water at $2/glass (plus tip) or wine ($5-$6 a glass + tip). Even if you're not on the ship to eat, you can get drinks at any of the restaurants or pool side bars between 11:30am-2:30pm and again from 7:30 - 10:00 or so (if you have the early seating, you can get drinks with your meal). DH & I each had a couple of sodas (or beer) at lunch most days (or grabbed one for the room) and a couple (sometimes more than a couple) at dinner each night along with a lot of mineral water (we like the sparkling, but you can get natural) so for us it was well worth it! See my full review for the Magica under Member Cruise Reviews.