Just off the Mediterranea.. GREAT CRUISE!!

[fatcat04]

We just got back from our cruise on the Mediterranea from 3/18-3/25. It was fabulous. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Mediterranea again.

 

Ship was really amazing. At first it struck me as a bit gawdy but it really grew on me and by the end I could really appreciate it's elegance and uniqueness. It was clean beyond anything I have ever seen. Spotless is too mild a word. It was clean beyond reproach. The ship lay out makes sense after the first couple days. Like everything, you have to figure out the lay of the land. Once that is done, you could do it in your sleep. Outside, there was lots of room most of the time. Lots of places to sit and enjoy the sea going by.

 

Smoking was not an issue. Smoking areas are clearly deliniated. The casino is smoky period but hey, it's a casino. Find me a casino in Vegas that isn't smoky. All bars had both areas and you could pretty easily avoid the smoky areas. Room had no hint of smoke though I am sure someone had smoked in there at some time.

 

Food in the sit down restuarant was wonderful. Hubbie and I were shocked anyone wouldn't like the food there. A couple ho hum dishes which we traded out for something else, no big deal. But by in large I was thrilled with the food. Pasta was consistantly excellent. Risotto good. Soups were good. The entrees where usually spectacular. Salads were well salads, nothing to write home about. I saved many of the menus but must say... on the final gala night... the stuffed quail was the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life, period!! If you can get the quail, skip the crab legs. Crab legs were excellent but the quail was out of this world!! The seafood crepe for lunch was wonderful. And make sure to try the chilled fruit soups... amazing!! Desserts were good, some amazing some just good. They are European in flavor.. not overly sweet with subtle tastes. If you are looking for tooth crumbling sweet, you might not find it.

 

The buffet was equally good. Not as fancy as the restuarant but then it is a buffet. They had roast suckling pig, guinea fowl, fajitas, tandori chicken and the fresh pasta station. We were quite pleased with the variety and options. Make sure to sample the deli meats and cheeses. Some are really amazing and most are Italian.

 

Tea time wa so nice. I think they have close to 20 different varieties of tea along with finger sandwiches, cold cuts, fruit, and desserts. Nice little snack before dinnertime.

 

For us, the room matters. We spend time in our room and on our balaconies when you stay in hotels so I knew it would be no different on the ship. To our great pleasure, our suite #6175 was nice, large, and well appointed. Balcony was wonderful and spacious!! The bathroom was great, roomy tub and all. Our cabin stewardess Laura was perfect. Our room was always spotless. She really did her job well. She gave us our choice of numerous pillows from the "pillow menu" but the ones that came with the room were great. Bed was very comfy. Our butler Roberto was likewise great. Brought us our full cooked to order breakfast every morning and set it up for us and took care of all the little details like laundry, chilling our champagne, making reservations for us.

 

Our wait staff Artie and Ernie were spectacular. They were fast and got to know exactly what we and our son liked. They always made over him and he being 5 had a great time with them. Food was always perfcetly warmed and always right there when we were ready.

 

We only saw 1 show, the Russian couple. Very good. We spent the rest of our nights in the wine bar enjoying the show there. The entertainment was very good.

 

There were lots of little things that were great.

 

The midnight buffets... sometimes just snacks, sometimes all out stuff your face extravaganzas.

 

The wine list was great. Lots of Italian wines obviously.

 

The daily drink specials, most were right up my alley. Our bar tab expressed our apprecaition for the booze on the cruise. But the XL drink special... you don't get any more liquor than the regular size. Or at least that is what the bartender told hubbie. Just more ice and non alcoholic mixer. I didn't care personally though.

 

The kids club, or Squok Club as it is known, was truly wonderful. FYI Squok is apparently a friendly shark and you can take him home with you for $15 in the gift shop. Squok is now at our home. (also FYI the best little kid Costa gift is the $4.00 22" infaltable Costa Mediterranea for the bath tub, too cute. We now have 3 of them) There were only 38 little ones on board from what they said but they managed to really have a great program for them. Kiddo cried and cried when we got off the boat. He said he wanted to "live on the boat forever." I think he got quite spoiled by the Squok Club staff and midnight pizza and ice cream.

 

The special nights were neat.. especially toga night. Some of those men are brave folk.. nothing on but a bed sheet, even at dinner!! We did wear clothes under ours.

 

Casino had one really loose slot that we discovered... hubbie won $160 from it.

 

The spa was a real find. They have daily specials. I did a whole body ginger/lime exfoliation and full body massage AND went back later for a facial. Alessandra was my therapist and she did a very good job. One of the best massages I have had. The exfoliation was nice after days of suntan lotion and sun.

 

The crowd was at least half European but I loved it!! I had no issue with everything being in 5 languages. I actually thought it was cool. Lots of older couple on board our cruise. Very few spring breakers and the ones I saw behaved themselves just fine. Very little rumpus except on the last night. A few toga cladded 20 somethings running around hoopin and hollerin but oh well, big deal. It was a really fun night!!

 

The ports were fun.

 

Least fav was Key West.. yawn.

 

Most fav was Roatan... horse back riding on the beach, yummy meal, and the tour with Roatan Cab Tours was really great!! Beautiful island. A little shopping and back to the boat. Did rain while we were riding, poured actually, but no big deal. Next time we are doing the ziplining!!

 

Grand Cayman, we struck out on our own but went the opposite way of the crowd. Georgetown looked to much like Cancun and Daytona and Panama City to me so we got a car and drove to Rum Point. Great idea!! Lunch, playing in the sea, and sun bathing along with our driving on the other side of the road. Alot easier than you think really.

 

Cozumel... tourist junk and liquor stop. Brought back 10 bottles of Dobel, plus a play guitar and sombraro for kiddo and a sarape for me.

 

Now... on to my only complaint. And keep in mind this is just my opinion and just our experience.

 

The X1 package....

 

It was okay but not great. Probably wouldn't do it again. I am sure we got our money's worth for me and hubbie (not for kid due to stingy pool bar/buffet drink staff) but we had to really work at getting our money's worth and had to pester the buffet wait staff to get what we wanted.

 

The pool bar/buffet wait staff are NOT pleased to take your order from the X1 package as they do not get any tip off it. They bring wine and sodas in tiny little cups (they NEVER gave us the rest of the soda can though I am sure there was plenty left in there) and never ever came back to our table to offer refills. We always had to flag them down. Just plan to go deal with the pool bartenders for the X1 if you want more and believe me they aren't thrilled to serve you either. Now, beer came in a big glass and was good. Carlsberg and Bud were the choices. That I could not complain about at all. Very good and lots of it so if you are a beer drinker... it is good.

 

Next X1 gripe... you get the choice of "red" wine or "white" wine... that's it. No selection as to type of wine, nothing. I at least thought you would get to choose maybe between 2 whites and 2 reds but no. It is white and red and that is all. Just be forwarned. Now, we like wine. We are not expensive wine drinkers and have many favorites among the cheaper options and I am sure we could have picked a variety of cost effective wines had we been given any choice at all. But no such luck. Whatever the red or white is for the cruise, aka what they not you have selected, is what you get. For our cruise (and apparently it changes for every cruise) the white was good. We had one for the first 5 days and then a different one for the last days of the cruise. I think they ran out of the first wine. First wine was an Italian wine similar to a Sav Blanc/Pino Grigio blend, second one was a Chardonnay. Can not complain about that. Both were very nice and we enjoyed them very much. BUT the red was a Merlot the whole cruise... gag. Can not stand most Merlot. So we got no use of the package for reds at all. Hubbie had to buy a bottle (and several glasses) of red for dinner. The wait staff in the sit down restaurant are good about keeping your glass filled and always brought the whole can of soda to the table for kiddo. One day at lunch they even brought the whole bottle of white wine and left it on the table.. which we proceeded to handly finish off. They did an excellent job at table.

 

But IF you use the X1 at the buffet for lunch or dinner, the wait staff and pool bar bartenders are very picky about how much they serve you and when. One second past when lunch or dinner ends even if you still have food on your plate.. no dice. Plus, some just don't want to wait on you even if you need waiting on. We quite literally had a bartender check his watch everytime we walked up to his bar and if it was during lunch or dinner hours, he would always find another customer to help as he knew we were the X1 people and apparently the 1 minute it would take to fill our order just wasn't worth it to him. It was actually very upsetting as everything was so wonderful. Hubbie even tried to buy a "real" drink from him during lunch time just to see what would happen and sure enough he ran and hubbie got waited on by another bartender. So the other guy got the tip. Oh well.

 

On my comment form I told Costa that IF they are going to offer a package like this, their bar staff SHOULD treat those customers the same as other customers regardless of the tipping situation. I mean it is not like we are moochers. We paid in advance. Otherwise, they just shouldn't offer the package. Heck, we still had a $300 bar tab even with everyone having the X1 package!! Oh well.

 

 

All in all though, it was a wonderful first cruise experience for us and I will not hesitate to cruise Costa again. I would say the other cruise lines will have to really do very well to beat out Costa on value for the $$ expended. We shall see as we are now hooked on cruising!!

[lkb125]

We just got back from our cruise on the Mediterranea from 3/18-3/25. It was fabulous. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Mediterranea again.

 

Ship was really amazing. At first it struck me as a bit gawdy but it really grew on me and by the end I could really appreciate it's elegance and uniqueness. It was clean beyond anything I have ever seen. Spotless is too mild a word. It was clean beyond reproach. The ship lay out makes sense after the first couple days. Like everything, you have to figure out the lay of the land. Once that is done, you could do it in your sleep. Outside, there was lots of room most of the time. Lots of places to sit and enjoy the sea going by.

 

Smoking was not an issue. Smoking areas are clearly deliniated. The casino is smoky period but hey, it's a casino. Find me a casino in Vegas that isn't smoky. All bars had both areas and you could pretty easily avoid the smoky areas. Room had no hint of smoke though I am sure someone had smoked in there at some time.

 

Food in the sit down restuarant was wonderful. Hubbie and I were shocked anyone wouldn't like the food there. A couple ho hum dishes which we traded out for something else, no big deal. But by in large I was thrilled with the food. Pasta was consistantly excellent. Risotto good. Soups were good. The entrees where usually spectacular. Salads were well salads, nothing to write home about. I saved many of the menus but must say... on the final gala night... the stuffed quail was the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life, period!! If you can get the quail, skip the crab legs. Crab legs were excellent but the quail was out of this world!! The seafood crepe for lunch was wonderful. And make sure to try the chilled fruit soups... amazing!! Desserts were good, some amazing some just good. They are European in flavor.. not overly sweet with subtle tastes. If you are looking for tooth crumbling sweet, you might not find it.

 

The buffet was equally good. Not as fancy as the restuarant but then it is a buffet. They had roast suckling pig, guinea fowl, fajitas, tandori chicken and the fresh pasta station. We were quite pleased with the variety and options. Make sure to sample the deli meats and cheeses. Some are really amazing and most are Italian.

 

Tea time wa so nice. I think they have close to 20 different varieties of tea along with finger sandwiches, cold cuts, fruit, and desserts. Nice little snack before dinnertime.

 

For us, the room matters. We spend time in our room and on our balaconies when you stay in hotels so I knew it would be no different on the ship. To our great pleasure, our suite #6175 was nice, large, and well appointed. Balcony was wonderful and spacious!! The bathroom was great, roomy tub and all. Our cabin stewardess Laura was perfect. Our room was always spotless. She really did her job well. She gave us our choice of numerous pillows from the "pillow menu" but the ones that came with the room were great. Bed was very comfy. Our butler Roberto was likewise great. Brought us our full cooked to order breakfast every morning and set it up for us and took care of all the little details like laundry, chilling our champagne, making reservations for us.

 

Our wait staff Artie and Ernie were spectacular. They were fast and got to know exactly what we and our son liked. They always made over him and he being 5 had a great time with them. Food was always perfcetly warmed and always right there when we were ready.

 

We only saw 1 show, the Russian couple. Very good. We spent the rest of our nights in the wine bar enjoying the show there. The entertainment was very good.

 

There were lots of little things that were great.

 

The midnight buffets... sometimes just snacks, sometimes all out stuff your face extravaganzas.

 

The wine list was great. Lots of Italian wines obviously.

 

The daily drink specials, most were right up my alley. Our bar tab expressed our apprecaition for the booze on the cruise. But the XL drink special... you don't get any more liquor than the regular size. Or at least that is what the bartender told hubbie. Just more ice and non alcoholic mixer. I didn't care personally though.

 

The kids club, or Squok Club as it is known, was truly wonderful. FYI Squok is apparently a friendly shark and you can take him home with you for $15 in the gift shop. Squok is now at our home. (also FYI the best little kid Costa gift is the $4.00 22" infaltable Costa Mediterranea for the bath tub, too cute. We now have 3 of them) There were only 38 little ones on board from what they said but they managed to really have a great program for them. Kiddo cried and cried when we got off the boat. He said he wanted to "live on the boat forever." I think he got quite spoiled by the Squok Club staff and midnight pizza and ice cream.

 

The special nights were neat.. especially toga night. Some of those men are brave folk.. nothing on but a bed sheet, even at dinner!! We did wear clothes under ours.

 

Casino had one really loose slot that we discovered... hubbie won $160 from it.

 

The spa was a real find. They have daily specials. I did a whole body ginger/lime exfoliation and full body massage AND went back later for a facial. Alessandra was my therapist and she did a very good job. One of the best massages I have had. The exfoliation was nice after days of suntan lotion and sun.

 

The crowd was at least half European but I loved it!! I had no issue with everything being in 5 languages. I actually thought it was cool. Lots of older couple on board our cruise. Very few spring breakers and the ones I saw behaved themselves just fine. Very little rumpus except on the last night. A few toga cladded 20 somethings running around hoopin and hollerin but oh well, big deal. It was a really fun night!!

 

The ports were fun.

 

Least fav was Key West.. yawn.

 

Most fav was Roatan... horse back riding on the beach, yummy meal, and the tour with Roatan Cab Tours was really great!! Beautiful island. A little shopping and back to the boat. Did rain while we were riding, poured actually, but no big deal. Next time we are doing the ziplining!!

 

Grand Cayman, we struck out on our own but went the opposite way of the crowd. Georgetown looked to much like Cancun and Daytona and Panama City to me so we got a car and drove to Rum Point. Great idea!! Lunch, playing in the sea, and sun bathing along with our driving on the other side of the road. Alot easier than you think really.

 

Cozumel... tourist junk and liquor stop. Brought back 10 bottles of Dobel, plus a play guitar and sombraro for kiddo and a sarape for me.

 

Now... on to my only complaint. And keep in mind this is just my opinion and just our experience.

 

The X1 package....

 

It was okay but not great. Probably wouldn't do it again. I am sure we got our money's worth for me and hubbie (not for kid due to stingy pool bar/buffet drink staff) but we had to really work at getting our money's worth and had to pester the buffet wait staff to get what we wanted.

 

The pool bar/buffet wait staff are NOT pleased to take your order from the X1 package as they do not get any tip off it. They bring wine and sodas in tiny little cups (they NEVER gave us the rest of the soda can though I am sure there was plenty left in there) and never ever came back to our table to offer refills. We always had to flag them down. Just plan to go deal with the pool bartenders for the X1 if you want more and believe me they aren't thrilled to serve you either. Now, beer came in a big glass and was good. Carlsberg and Bud were the choices. That I could not complain about at all. Very good and lots of it so if you are a beer drinker... it is good.

 

Next X1 gripe... you get the choice of "red" wine or "white" wine... that's it. No selection as to type of wine, nothing. I at least thought you would get to choose maybe between 2 whites and 2 reds but no. It is white and red and that is all. Just be forwarned. Now, we like wine. We are not expensive wine drinkers and have many favorites among the cheaper options and I am sure we could have picked a variety of cost effective wines had we been given any choice at all. But no such luck. Whatever the red or white is for the cruise, aka what they not you have selected, is what you get. For our cruise (and apparently it changes for every cruise) the white was good. We had one for the first 5 days and then a different one for the last days of the cruise. I think they ran out of the first wine. First wine was an Italian wine similar to a Sav Blanc/Pino Grigio blend, second one was a Chardonnay. Can not complain about that. Both were very nice and we enjoyed them very much. BUT the red was a Merlot the whole cruise... gag. Can not stand most Merlot. So we got no use of the package for reds at all. Hubbie had to buy a bottle (and several glasses) of red for dinner. The wait staff in the sit down restaurant are good about keeping your glass filled and always brought the whole can of soda to the table for kiddo. One day at lunch they even brought the whole bottle of white wine and left it on the table.. which we proceeded to handly finish off. They did an excellent job at table.

 

But IF you use the X1 at the buffet for lunch or dinner, the wait staff and pool bar bartenders are very picky about how much they serve you and when. One second past when lunch or dinner ends even if you still have food on your plate.. no dice. Plus, some just don't want to wait on you even if you need waiting on. We quite literally had a bartender check his watch everytime we walked up to his bar and if it was during lunch or dinner hours, he would always find another customer to help as he knew we were the X1 people and apparently the 1 minute it would take to fill our order just wasn't worth it to him. It was actually very upsetting as everything was so wonderful. Hubbie even tried to buy a "real" drink from him during lunch time just to see what would happen and sure enough he ran and hubbie got waited on by another bartender. So the other guy got the tip. Oh well.

 

On my comment form I told Costa that IF they are going to offer a package like this, their bar staff SHOULD treat those customers the same as other customers regardless of the tipping situation. I mean it is not like we are moochers. We paid in advance. Otherwise, they just shouldn't offer the package. Heck, we still had a $300 bar tab even with everyone having the X1 package!! Oh well.

 

 

All in all though, it was a wonderful first cruise experience for us and I will not hesitate to cruise Costa again. I would say the other cruise lines will have to really do very well to beat out Costa on value for the $$ expended. We shall see as we are now hooked on cruising!!

I really enjoyed your review, we are going on this ship for the tranatlantic cruise April 15. Lorelle

[fatcat04]

I would also like to reiterate that even though this cruise was listed as a Grad Cruise on http://www.studenttrip.com I saw NO spring break rowdies on this cruise. We heard a couple of troops of youngins (I assumed 20 somethings) running around on toga night but that was it. No vandalism, no theft, no nothing. Everyone seemed to be dressed well at dinner though there were some middle aged folks in shorts on occassion. The ports were rocking but we just stayed away form that. We were careful about all that since we had the little one. If there were crowds and crowds of Canadian young people on board, they hid themselves well cause we didn't see them.

[fatcat04]

I really enjoyed your review, we are going on this ship for the tranatlantic cruise April 15. Lorelle

 

Oh that will be so nice.

 

I will say hubbie and I would love to do that but worry more abt the motion sickness on the high sea than anything else. Though neither or us had any big issues, just some minor woozies on occassion) and the boat was chugging along at 22 knots with a 45 km/h wind but then we also took out bonine religiously. :D

[njs]

Thanks so much for such a good review. Just today I booked the Mediterranea for the Dec 22 Eastern Carib. Christmas cruise. So it's really good to hear a great review. Also it sounds like you were in the same cabin area as we will be - panorama suite - we have booked 6152 and 6154. You mentioned the butler and I'm just wondering what all they do - I see you have a room steward as well.

Interesting thought about the adult drink card. One thing I like about costa drink cards for our kids - they were able to buy frozen drinks (non-alcoholic of course) with them. Carnival's kid drink card is for soda.

Any helpful tips you remember would be greatly appreciated:)

[mom and wife]

When was tea time? Is it in the newsletter you get everynight? I think my 7 year old would love this.

 

You said they have kids club shark now do they have a person you can hug and take a photo with ? I know a weird ? but kids would love it.

 

What did you do in Key west we are planning on going to the aquarium did you go there?

 

Thank you for the aswers to my spa questions on other thread!

[fatcat04]

Thanks so much for such a good review. Just today I booked the Mediterranea for the Dec 22 Eastern Carib. Christmas cruise. So it's really good to hear a great review. Also it sounds like you were in the same cabin area as we will be - panorama suite - we have booked 6152 and 6154. You mentioned the butler and I'm just wondering what all they do - I see you have a room steward as well.

Interesting thought about the adult drink card. One thing I like about costa drink cards for our kids - they were able to buy frozen drinks (non-alcoholic of course) with them. Carnival's kid drink card is for soda.

Any helpful tips you remember would be greatly appreciated:)

 

Our table mates had a 5 year old with them as well and they got the drink booklet for her. It does include any virgin frozen drink and cokes. She used it every night at dinner. To be honest, they had quite a few little drink tickets left over at the end of the cruise. I would be hesitant to buy it unless I knew that my kid would drink the frozen drinks just because I know my kid and he would drink about 1/4 of one and then spill the rest all over the table. It is tough though as Sprite was really his only option. I eventually learned how to make "sweet" iced tea at the buffet. I mixed 3 packs of sugar (the sugar packs on board are twice the size of normal ones) with a little bit of hot water making a syurp (sp.) and then mixing that into iced tea with lemon. Kid could drink that too. Tea wasn't bad that way.

 

Our butler Roberto... he was our go to guy. If we needed anything, he brought it. He also picked up and personally delivered all our laundry. I highly reccomend the deal in the final couple days.. any 25 pieces washed, dried, pressed, and folded ready for your suitcase for $19.99. He also made sure we had our special requests like extra water and ice in our room, brought all room service to us and set it up. And with the suite you can have a full cooked to order breakfast from the main restaurant if you want no extra charge. You just have to time delivery AFTER the main restuarnt has opened for the day. Roberto remembered our son loved blueberries and made sure we always had extra blueberrries in our daily complimentary fruit basket. He also got us a nice vase for my bon voyage bouquet and set it up for me. Just lots of little things. :)

 

The suite was great.. lots of room for storing your bags under the bed, in the numerous closest and even storage under the sofabed. Jacuzzi tub was nice. I used it a couple times after our excursion days. The balcony was our favorite though. Nice and big... views of the stars were amazing. Hubbie fell asleep outside several nights. Hated to wake him :)

 

I felt kinda bad for the NCL passengers who parked right next to us in Cozumel. Their ship was nice but I just didn't see that it was as nice as our ship. Our suite balcony was twice the size of their balconies and our deck furniture and deck floor was heavy teak and nicely padded. Plus, the Med is just a beautiful ship inside and out.

 

You will enjoy it. I know we really did!! :D

[fatcat04]

When was tea time? Is it in the newsletter you get everynight? I think my 7 year old would love this.

 

You said they have kids club shark now do they have a person you can hug and take a photo with ? I know a weird ? but kids would love it.

 

What did you do in Key west we are planning on going to the aquarium did you go there?

 

Thank you for the aswers to my spa questions on other thread!

 

Tea time I think was generally between 3:45 and 4:45. Might have been a little earlier or later depending on the port schedule. It is listed everyday in "Today." We loved it. On some days they have it in 2 different areas... one is listed as Tea and the other as Oriental Tea but I think both are pretty much the same just one is in the Roero Bar which is the wine bar and is a more formal area than the other on the upper deck buffet.

 

We added it up and one could quite easily eat straight from 6am until 1 am everyday with only a few breaks if one timed it right... I have never seen so much food in all my life!!!

 

Yes, when you first get on the boat, they are ready for the kids. Squok the Shark is there for pictures so have your camera ready. Plus I know they had all kiddos info sheets in the room for us. Details on when the kids club is open and exactly what they would be doing... they had Pirate Night, pizza parties, snack time, movie time, a talent show with prizes. It was great fun!! On the 2 gala nights they have all sort of special activities for the kids so mom and dad can have a special evening out. It was from 6-11pm straight. Early seating starts at 5:45pm so we were late those 2 nights but Franz our MaitreD said it was fine. He was great with the kids too. He was from Austria, jolly man and he had such a lovely accent!! Loved it!!

 

On Key West.. we did the Hemingway House and petted the 6 toed cats, we walked down to the southernmost point, did the Chicken Store and mainly walked around. We had thought of eating but everything is on Duval and I just didn't want to go there anymore. It was terrible.

 

WORD OF CAUTION abt Key West... Duval Street is a tourist nightmare. It is covered up with t-shirt shops with nasty t-shirts in the window for any child to read. Our 5 year old can read and write so he knew perfectly well what those shirts said. I have never seen such language so publically flaunted. Maybe in a bathroom stall but not on a public street. Between that and the underwear in the window with nasty stuff abt ladies private parts written all over it... ugh. And I am no prude. But we just told 5 yo kiddo to look at his shoes as we walked down Duval and led him by the hand. It was terrible. After the Hemingway House we just walked along side streets to avoid Duval Street. The side streets were fine... no shops there. I for one will NEVER go back to Key West. I had been there 25 years ago and it was lovely but now, not my kind of place. If I ever go on another boat that goes there, I will take a boat day before I will do Key West again.

 

We had far more fun in Grand Cayman and Roatan and would go back to both of those in a heartbeat. :)

 

Oh and don't miss the BIG midnight buffet... and take your camera. It was amazing!!

[Geoshar]

Hello Fat cat! We were on the cruise with you, and found your review excellent...especially with the X1 package.We found the same reaction to our card..even to the minute.(That didn't happen last spring on our Costa cruise) We did not appreciate the treatment this time.

 

The cruise director was very difficult to understand.Last spring the director wasn't multilingual so I expect a reason he was replaced.

 

Other that those two minor problems..it was a great cruise!!The staff is friendly and helpful, the ship is gorgeous and SPOTLESS.

I have uploaded a few photos of our cruise here

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/558391502gCXSAk

 

Our shore excursions were mostly on our own, and snorkel related..but we really enjoyed the Butterfly and Aquarium exibits on key West.

[JSandage]

We were in 6175 on our cruise in January 2007, loved the room !! Plenty of storage, we didn't use half of it. I didn't use the laundry service at the end but probably will next trip. We'll be in the same cabin next January for our next Concerts at Sea cruise. I was very pleased with Costa, we had a great time.

[fatcat04]

Hello Fat cat! We were on the cruise with you, and found your review excellent...especially with the X1 package.We found the same reaction to our card..even to the minute.(That didn't happen last spring on our Costa cruise) We did not appreciate the treatment this time.

 

The cruise director was very difficult to understand.Last spring the director wasn't multilingual so I expect a reason he was replaced.

 

Other that those two minor problems..it was a great cruise!!The staff is friendly and helpful, the ship is gorgeous and SPOTLESS.

I have uploaded a few photos of our cruise here

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/558391502gCXSAk

 

Our shore excursions were mostly on our own, and snorkel related..but we really enjoyed the Butterfly and Aquarium exibits on key West.

 

I never paid attention to any of the cruise directing staff and never went to any of the info sessions. I know I am a bad bunny but if there was anything I thought we might need to go and see, we just watched on the TV at night when we went back to the room. Since I had read up here before we left I felt pretty prepared for everything.

 

Some other stuff I forgot to add:

 

Disembarkation was a breeze for us so we must have done everything right and without any help from the cruise direction staff. Plus, our butler and cabin stewardess answered any questions we had about getting off the boat which was the most difficult part.. still a breeze though compared to what it could have been. Customs was easy.

 

Embarkation was easy too though we did have our own seperate lines due to being in a suite... a VERY NICE perk. The regular embarkation lines were pretty long due to a staff shortage. Apparently they had to take some of the Med emabarktion staff over to the Magica for the day. The Magica had a serious staff shortage that day and took like half the embarkation staff from the Med. Hence, the long lines. The person that checked us in did say the long lines were unusual.

 

Also of note... we were able to register our credit card when we checked in at the pier.. no need to do it later on the boat. That was nice since I had heard people complain about that.

 

We did all self guided tours on the excursions too and saved quite a bit of $$ and still had a great time.

 

Key West was just walking tour.

 

Grand Cayman we rented the car and went to Rum Point... that was lovely but beach shoes are necessary as there are rocks in the water. Lunch was pricey but oh well.. still cheaper than boat booked excursions.

 

Roatan... did Roatan Cab Tours with Mr. Patrick as our driver (he was wonderful btw), horse back riding with Mr. Shirkie (all the way to Gumbalimba Park and back which btw looked very nice), lunch at Half Moon Cay, more island touring, and then shopping at Yabba Ding Ding... no haggling necessary and the prices are very reasonable.

 

Cozumel... we were totally exhausted by this point so all we did was shop and spend time on the ship that day. We had informal plans to go to Chankanaab but we were too lazy.

[fatcat04]

We were in 6175 on our cruise in January 2007, loved the room !! Plenty of storage, we didn't use half of it. I didn't use the laundry service at the end but probably will next trip. We'll be in the same cabin next January for our next Concerts at Sea cruise. I was very pleased with Costa, we had a great time.

 

LOL, that is so funny you had the same room but hey, it is a great room.

 

Hubbie is sold on Costa suites. I had no idea you could get that much room on a cruise ship for such a good price. :)

[fatcat04]

Oh and the "Mr. Sexy Legs" and "Best Belly Flop" contests... what a hoot!! I told hubbie he needed to enter the sexy legs competition but no dice.

 

Had some seriously wacky stuff and that was very fun!! Toga night is an absolute blast. Please... please.. when you go, take a sassy belt or scarf for your waist, maybe a festive necklace or brooch, some strappy cute sandals and wear your toga. You will not regret it. Yes, some people will lok at you like you are nuts but hey, you are in good company. about 1000 other toga clad people will greet you. Might take some big safety pins though. That would have come in handy.

 

FYI, they do offer a toga tying demonstrations in the info session for that day though. That actually came in handy. We just watched it on the TV in our room before we headed off to dinner.

[mom and wife]

Tea time I think was generally between 3:45 and 4:45. Might have been a little earlier or later depending on the port schedule. It is listed everyday in "Today." We loved it. On some days they have it in 2 different areas... one is listed as Tea and the other as Oriental Tea but I think both are pretty much the same just one is in the Roero Bar which is the wine bar and is a more formal area than the other on the upper deck buffet.

 

We added it up and one could quite easily eat straight from 6am until 1 am everyday with only a few breaks if one timed it right... I have never seen so much food in all my life!!!

 

Yes, when you first get on the boat, they are ready for the kids. Squok the Shark is there for pictures so have your camera ready. Plus I know they had all kiddos info sheets in the room for us. Details on when the kids club is open and exactly what they would be doing... they had Pirate Night, pizza parties, snack time, movie time, a talent show with prizes. It was great fun!! On the 2 gala nights they have all sort of special activities for the kids so mom and dad can have a special evening out. It was from 6-11pm straight. Early seating starts at 5:45pm so we were late those 2 nights but Franz our MaitreD said it was fine. He was great with the kids too. He was from Austria, jolly man and he had such a lovely accent!! Loved it!!

 

On Key West.. we did the Hemingway House and petted the 6 toed cats, we walked down to the southernmost point, did the Chicken Store and mainly walked around. We had thought of eating but everything is on Duval and I just didn't want to go there anymore. It was terrible.

 

WORD OF CAUTION abt Key West... Duval Street is a tourist nightmare. It is covered up with t-shirt shops with nasty t-shirts in the window for any child to read. Our 5 year old can read and write so he knew perfectly well what those shirts said. I have never seen such language so publically flaunted. Maybe in a bathroom stall but not on a public street. Between that and the underwear in the window with nasty stuff abt ladies private parts written all over it... ugh. And I am no prude. But we just told 5 yo kiddo to look at his shoes as we walked down Duval and led him by the hand. It was terrible. After the Hemingway House we just walked along side streets to avoid Duval Street. The side streets were fine... no shops there. I for one will NEVER go back to Key West. I had been there 25 years ago and it was lovely but now, not my kind of place. If I ever go on another boat that goes there, I will take a boat day before I will do Key West again.

 

We had far more fun in Grand Cayman and Roatan and would go back to both of those in a heartbeat.

 

Oh and don't miss the BIG midnight buffet... and take your camera. It was amazing!!

 

 

Oh good I hope that the shark guy is on the magica also. :D

 

I hope our dinner guy will be ok with us being last to dinner if they have the 6 thing for the kids . They should let the early dinner people come earlier so we can get to our dinner on time and not make the waiter wait:rolleyes: . I would not want them to miss it but i would not want to miss my nice dinner also.

 

I do not want to think of how many photos I will take. When my husband and I went on a 7 night cruise 3 years ago I won and it was only for two I took 400 photos that were great. I have a full I mean full scrapbook of that trip I do not know what I will do this trip oh my:D

 

Beleive me unless the kids pass out we will not miss the buffet. We will come back with huge tummies.:) It is sad we are all to excited about eatting food and I do not have to cook it;)

 

I did not know that about Key West. I think that is the street we are on to go to the aquarum. OH that would not be good at all. Hope they only had that stuff up becasue of spring breakers and not a all the time thing. I know it is hoping but I will be. Thank you for the heads up

[mom and wife]

Hello Fat cat! We were on the cruise with you, and found your review excellent...especially with the X1 package.We found the same reaction to our card..even to the minute.(That didn't happen last spring on our Costa cruise) We did not appreciate the treatment this time.

 

The cruise director was very difficult to understand.Last spring the director wasn't multilingual so I expect a reason he was replaced.

 

Other that those two minor problems..it was a great cruise!!The staff is friendly and helpful, the ship is gorgeous and SPOTLESS.

I have uploaded a few photos of our cruise here

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/558391502gCXSAk

 

Our shore excursions were mostly on our own, and snorkel related..but we really enjoyed the Butterfly and Aquarium exibits on key West.

 

 

You liked the Aquarium? We are doing that on our own not with a tour. So not doing the butterfly thing we have that here. But nothing like the aquarium. What did you like and not to miss etc about the aquarium.??????? :D

 

Went back up and looked at your photos great photos? Is that the shark you get to feed?

[fatcat04]

I just keep thinking of stuff...

 

I don't know if other cruise lines do this BUT the in room breakfast cappuccinos... man oh man. Order them for breakfast. What a treat, what a luxury!!

 

Every morning we ordered 4 cappuccinos, 2 for each of us along with chocolate crossaints and a pitcher of hot chocolate (real hot chocolate too!!) for the kid. You can also order esspresso. Hubbie did this and added it to his cappuccinos. We really enjoyed this while sitting out on our balcony in the AM in our pj's. :)

[fatcat04]

Hello Fat cat! We were on the cruise with you, and found your review excellent...especially with the X1 package.We found the same reaction to our card..even to the minute.(That didn't happen last spring on our Costa cruise) We did not appreciate the treatment this time.

 

The cruise director was very difficult to understand.Last spring the director wasn't multilingual so I expect a reason he was replaced.

 

Other that those two minor problems..it was a great cruise!!The staff is friendly and helpful, the ship is gorgeous and SPOTLESS.

I have uploaded a few photos of our cruise here

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/558391502gCXSAk

 

Our shore excursions were mostly on our own, and snorkel related..but we really enjoyed the Butterfly and Aquarium exibits on key West.

 

Great pictures!! We really enjoyed them. Such happy memories!! :D

 

We haven't looked at ours yet but when we do we will post them. I know we took a few hundred. Hubbie is such a shutter bug :)

[Mr. Mouse]

Great, lenghty review of your cruises. However, you had a suite and that is probably why you had such great service and extra goodies for breakfast. We never had that offered to us and we've had outside cabins.

 

Also, we were advised that we could request one of several choices of red or white wines. If this is not the case once we get on board, I will have Guest Relations remove that charge from my statement. I'm not a wine drinker, but took the package ONLY because I thought I could order one of the wines I am able to enjoy. We were also mislead to think that all we had to do was ask for wine or soda and the staff would happily supply the drink because the servers were somehow compensated from the monies collected for the drink packages. Costa will have lots of questions to answer if they are misleading travelers before we board.

 

Our outside cabins on Carnival and Royal Caribbean appear to be larger than what we see we are getting on our 4/8 cruise. At least, the Costa balcony has been described as "less roomy", and we were told there is less room in the cabin. I hope it is not too crowded for 3.

 

Key West's T-shirt shops have those "off-line" items everyday, all year through. That's why we don't bother to get off the ship at that port anymore, unless we want rum cakes that some ships don't sell.

 

But thanks for saying the food was good, although we'll probably be eating pizza and macaroni instead of the pig and fowl...... We are steak or fish eaters so I hope we can have some choices.

 

Glad you might be going back to Costa. Unless we get a super deal again, we'll go back to Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or Princess. They have been best choices for us in the past 24 years.

[Jdleong]

Mr Mouse...I got the impression that you are looking to be disappointed before you even get on the ship. With that attitude, your cruise is doomed before you start. You already have confrontation with the staff planned if you aren't pleased, so I bet you will be at the Guest relations office. As for cabin size, all the rooms (except suites) are about 180 sq feet. The balconies are good size, but the extended ones are about 2 feet deeper than the regular ones. I have cruised with 3 in a room, and had plenty of space, and on my next cruise we are having 4 in our cabin. During the day, the couch will be that, and in the evening it turns into the third bed, so that is when you will loose space...there are three large closets, and plenty of drawers and cupboards. I hope that you will be pleasantly surprised, and have a great cruise, just go with a open spirit.

[njs]

Mr Mouse

 

FYI - Joe Farcus is the designer for Carnival and Costa so the cabins are pretty similar. You don't have previous cruises listed in your signiature, but we have sailed on Costa Atlantica, Carnival Glory and Carnival Liberty in balcony cabins and these cabins look identical for both cruise lines. So I dont think you will have a problem with room for 3. And if you go to the carnival boards people will tell you that Carnival's cabins are larger than RCCL (I've never sailed with them, just passing on what others have reported)..Every cruiseline is known for its own peculiarities ~go with the flow, enjoy the ride, and have a great time. I am so looking forward to bkfst cappaccino on my deck (something I would have to pay for with carnival, altho it is free at dinner) Yes I will miss the deli sandwiches (had a reuben everyday and my dh and sons ordered in roast beef and brie every nite:D ) but I will make up for it with the "Italian Flavour" of this cruise. One thing I do know, I would have had to pay a lot more for a panorama suite on Carnival or RCCL - so remember the good and forget the disappointments and you will have a great time:)

[njs]

FatCat

Just a few more questions

FYI ~ your boarding and disembarking went smoothly b/c you had priority treatment b/c of the suite -That is one thing that is great about Costa ~they give a lot of extra perks for suites that other cruiselines dont.

I have searched many sites trying to find out re:room service menu for the suites. I know there are more options than on the regular rm svc menu, but is it similar to the dining rm menu or just a few additions.

Can you order eggs benedict? Thanks for the tip about the caps - will remember to order 2 each:) . When you order the larger bkfst for rm svc how do you gauge the tip?

Did having a 3rd passenger in the suite mean any additions to what you were offered, or is it only for 2 (eg specialty restaurant for 3 or just 2 adults). Just wondering if I should keep my daughter with us in the suite, or move her in with her 2 brothers in the adjoining cat 9 cabin (it will accomodate 3 as well.)

I'm having trouble with costa's site (something I remember from my last time booking with them LOL) so I wondered if you took any pics of the cabin or balcony?

Do they now have soft serve icecream, or is it still the hard ic (which was usually half melted?) The atlantica was an older ship, so Im hoping thats why they didnt have self-serve

What night do you think was best for the spec. restaurant. Do you remember any night the dining rm meal wasn't as appealing. Had initially thot of booking it when perhaps returning late to the ship from an excursion (except that means my 3 kids miss the dining room meal~ they probably wouldnt thank us for that:rolleyes: ).

[fatcat04]

Great, lenghty review of your cruises. However, you had a suite and that is probably why you had such great service and extra goodies for breakfast. We never had that offered to us and we've had outside cabins.

 

Actually Mr. Mouse... everyone has the same FREE continental breakfast options which is on the first page of the breakfast door hanger. Check out this website for the standard door hanger menu for breakfast. And this was from a review of an inside room, which is generally the cheapest on the ship.

 

http://cruiseclues.com/costamediterranea/breakfast_menus.htm

 

Danish, brioche, crossaint, toast and jelly, juice, coffee, cappachino, esperesso, hot chocolate. We had to fill out the back of our breakfast card (a completely seperate section on the card) with our cooked to order options from the main restaurant kitchen included with the suite.

 

Sure, the suite offers more but heck, that why it costs 2-3 times as much as an inside room. It should come with more perks... but considering what we paid, it was well worth it!!

 

Sorry but if you are looking to be disappointed.. you will be. Might as well just cancel the cruise right now.

 

Your vacation is what you make of it. I can have fun at a wake and always try to make the best of everything even the bad stuff. I certainly didn't let the X1 issue spoil our cruise. We just rolled with it and put our comment on the comment card at the end of the cruise.

[fatcat04]

FatCat

Just a few more questions

FYI ~ your boarding and disembarking went smoothly b/c you had priority treatment b/c of the suite -That is one thing that is great about Costa ~they give a lot of extra perks for suites that other cruiselines dont.

I have searched many sites trying to find out re:room service menu for the suites. I know there are more options than on the regular rm svc menu, but is it similar to the dining rm menu or just a few additions.

Can you order eggs benedict? Thanks for the tip about the caps - will remember to order 2 each:) . When you order the larger bkfst for rm svc how do you gauge the tip?

Did having a 3rd passenger in the suite mean any additions to what you were offered, or is it only for 2 (eg specialty restaurant for 3 or just 2 adults). Just wondering if I should keep my daughter with us in the suite, or move her in with her 2 brothers in the adjoining cat 9 cabin (it will accomodate 3 as well.)

I'm having trouble with costa's site (something I remember from my last time booking with them LOL) so I wondered if you took any pics of the cabin or balcony?

Do they now have soft serve icecream, or is it still the hard ic (which was usually half melted?) The atlantica was an older ship, so Im hoping thats why they didnt have self-serve

What night do you think was best for the spec. restaurant. Do you remember any night the dining rm meal wasn't as appealing. Had initially thot of booking it when perhaps returning late to the ship from an excursion (except that means my 3 kids miss the dining room meal~ they probably wouldnt thank us for that:rolleyes: ).

 

Hubbie had egg benedict with bacon on the side almost every morning. One morning be had smoked salmon and capers with cream cheese on a bagel but went back ot the eggs benedict... it was so good. I did pouched eggs on toast with link sausage most mornings but the bacon was excellent so I switched to that at the end. Check out this website for the full suite breakfast menu:

http://cruiseclues.com/costamediterranea/breakfast_menus.htm

 

As to tip.. we adjusted everything at the end. You can only increase/decrease your tips across the board not by individual but everyone was excellent so we just upped it for everyone. They only tip standard $8.50 a day per adult, half that for kids but our son being only 5 had no tip attached to him. Not enough!! We upped it to $14.28 per person per day across the board for me and hubbie as I just felt $8.50 was not adequate for the service we got. It cam eout to $200 tipping for the cruise. I didn't know if we could slip them cash or not as I know some cruise lines frown on that so I thought using the cruise tipping system would work out better. We might have been able to slip them some cash but I didn't want to get anyone in trouble.

 

The fancy restaurant is for everyone in the suite though I doubt many parents bring their kids. It is rather quiet and private and would be no fun for a kid. I think most folks use the kids club for that night. That and teh breakfast are probably the only extra perks as everything else is set.

 

We took tons of pictures but I am not allowed to look at them until hubbie gets home from him business trip. :p He left out the day we got back and will be back later this week. It is a vacation tradition that we all have to sit down and look at the pictures together first so I am dying here waiting!! But I will post them this weekend

 

Oh yeah.. soft serve from lunch until 1am solid. You know the kid was lovin' that. Pizza and ice cream at midmight.. did I mention he wanted to "live on the boat." :D

 

Last night is a good choice for the fancy restaurant as the dinner was not as good as the other nights, at least IMO. Don't do it on the gala nights.. food is way too good in the regular restaurant. You will need to make your fancy restuarant ressies first day you get on the boat if you want to have your pick of times. Also, if your kiddoes need to be in the kids club, you will have to work out the time as the fancy restaurant is open from 7-9 (I think you can arrive any time without trouble) and the kids club doesn't reopen until 8:30pm (goes till 11pm) on non-gala nights. Just look at the Squok Club info sheet in your room when you arrive. Expect a late dinner.. you can take the kids to the regular restuarant (if you are 1st seating) or buffet early and then send them to the club. Just check with your butler abt this. On Gala nights the kids club is open from 3-5pm and then 6-11pm so extended hours.

 

Hope this helps... I will work on posting those pics this weekend. ;)

[njs]

Fatcat

Thank you so much for all the information you have passed along. Glad to know I can get my eggs benedict in the room - Im not really an early morning person, and dont like to have to make conversation with strangers at that time if I dont have to:D Our kids are older (15,17,19) so will just pay out of pocket for the 2 boys (they are in the cabin beside us)

I would be dying to look at the pics. My dh is in NIreland right now, so I had to show my dd everything last night (just couldnt keep it to myself) Of course, she is sworn to secrecy so the boys wont be bugging me:)

Glad they have the soft serve now.

When I did the booking I was told early seating was 6:30 and late was 8pm, so I chose early. Now I'm thinking that wasnt right b/c I think people here have mentioned an earlier time. Do you have your papers that mention the actual times?

BTW - you can give the room steward, butler and dining rm waiters an extra cash tip at the end of the trip (they provide envelopeson carnival for this) On carnival we always gave the person who delivered rm svc a tip - just didnt know how it would be if you ordered a big meal (Was the room svc delivered by you room steward)

[fatcat04]

Fatcat

Thank you so much for all the information you have passed along. Glad to know I can get my eggs benedict in the room - Im not really an early morning person, and dont like to have to make conversation with strangers at that time if I dont have to:D Our kids are older (15,17,19) so will just pay out of pocket for the 2 boys (they are in the cabin beside us)

I would be dying to look at the pics. My dh is in NIreland right now, so I had to show my dd everything last night (just couldnt keep it to myself) Of course, she is sworn to secrecy so the boys wont be bugging me:)

Glad they have the soft serve now.

When I did the booking I was told early seating was 6:30 and late was 8pm, so I chose early. Now I'm thinking that wasnt right b/c I think people here have mentioned an earlier time. Do you have your papers that mention the actual times?

BTW - you can give the room steward, butler and dining rm waiters an extra cash tip at the end of the trip (they provide envelopeson carnival for this) On carnival we always gave the person who delivered rm svc a tip - just didnt know how it would be if you ordered a big meal (Was the room svc delivered by you room steward)

 

Since we were in a suite our room service was always delivered by Roberto our butler. He even picked up the dishes after breakfast.

 

Costa didn't give us any envelopes for cash tips. :( I would have happily given tips that way had I known I could hand them tips. But I guess they will get them just fine through the ship tipping service.

 

Seating on the Costa Med was always at 5:45/8pm for our West Carb cruise. We generally got seated abt 5:50 and didn't roll (quite literally) back to the room until 7-7:30pm. 6 courses every night.. appetizer, soup, salad, pasta, entree, dessert.

 

Cooked to order breakfast room service was available at the times the actual restuarant was open. Double check that as our breakfast was delivered late a couple of times due to asking for it too early.

 

Lunch times varied but generally started around noon and went to 1:30 or 2 for the main restuarant with late buffet lunch ending around 3:30 - 4pm. Breakfast and lunch times varied due to docking times.

 

Tea time generally ran from 3:45-4:45pm.

 

"Midnight" snack/buffet sometimes started at 11:45pm and went for an hour to 2 depending on the night. They are also in differnt locations every night. The Grand Extravaganza Buffet.. which you CAN NOT MISS!!.. started at midnight on the nose in the main dining room. Wow is all I can say!!

 

Pizza, fruit, dessert, and soft serve seemed to be available at teh pizza area anytime from lunch until 1am. I know we hit the pizza/ice cream joint almost every night between 11-midnight. They always had a cheese and topping pizza with no sauce and a sauce pizza as well. Pizza is not gooshy with sauce so if you are a sauce freak, you will not be happy. I myself hate a lot of sauce so it was just what I like. Desserts are cakes and tarts generally. Fruit was like fruit salad. Waermelon was wonderful. Pineapple was terrible. Usually it is the other way around, oh well. Might have been the time of the year.

 

Keep asking questions.. I am happy to answer them :)