Costa Magica review 4/15 sailing-Bermuda

[e058874]

-Embarkation: pretty smooth process, all total about 1hr from time dropping luggage w/ porters to actually being in our room on board. I think we were eating lunch by 2pm that day. One downside was that our friends had a suite and they would not let us board with them so they got to their room in about 15mins and had wait around for us.

 

-Service: Bad, bad, bad: dining room head waiter was the quite possibily the rudest person I have ever encountered on a ship..he routinely gave us the wrong language menus or skipped some of us for the dessert menu. When brought to his attention, he never acknowledged anything. Not even a "sorry, won't happen again". Never once in a week came back to ask how everything was. Would forget to place the order for multiple entrees we all ordered to share. Zero personality. Our busboy/drink guy was not too with it at first but picked up later in the cruise. He would only take one couples drink order and forget the others then come back 15mins later to take theirs. And they would have to flag him down to do it. 3x during the week the waiters right near our table dropped large trays of food/drinks that got all over the floor right by our table. What a mess..and no that was not because of the rolling of ship...that was done on the more calm nights! In general whenever we asked a waiter or bar server for something they never even acknowledged us..then maybe 10-15mins later they'd show back up with a cup of ice or our drinks. At first we thought it was a language barrier but when they came back they spoke English just fine. As much as a I hate to admit, Carnival had way better service overall than Costa and that bar is not set too high by any means!

 

-Rooms:same exact, and I mean exact, room as on Carnival Spirit, Destiny, Glory classes..had 8237 balcony. Pretty far up front of the ship. And believe me we felt it! Usually book a middle room for that reason that you tend to get less motion. AC never ran really truely cold but we know from experience on Carnival..good luck getting it fixed! So we never even called. Gerald our room steward was very very good. Very friendly and attentive. He filled our cooler every day after we asked him to on the first day. Got the mattress toppers and that made a big difference. Basically it's just another mattress on top of the ones already there. He knew nothing about egg-crate toppers though. He was the one bright spot in the service provided. As a side note, our friends had a suite and it really was beautiful but the "butler" was useless and did nothing for them other than what their regular room steward did.

 

-Food: not good. As others have said, the best food's on Costa are the pasta and pizza. 100% true. The fish was blah and the meat...horrible cuts of beef..fatty and to a point of being unedible in several cases. Again better tasting and presentation on Carnival. Greek buffet was the best of the lunches I thought...different flavors and unique dishes. Club Vincenza pay restaurant...definitely not worth it on Costa. Nothing like the Carnival Supper Clubs. Again, fatty bad cuts of beef. My pork chop was almost rare on the inside. Service was good though but could not hold a candle to the Supper Clubs. Not worth it for the extra $$$.

 

-X1 drink package: Well worth it if you are a big bottled water drinker. Our busboy put up a fuss at first about leaving the bottle on the table at dinner. We told him that we drink the water far too fast for him to always be around to re-pour when we want..he had ask the matre'd to let him leave us the bottle. We always got multiple cans of Coke and club sodas at lunch hours at the pool bar w/out any problem. Also got a few cans right before we left the dining room to take with us to the room, no problem. Did not drink the beer and the white wine included was O.K. nothing great, but all in all a good deal for us.

 

-Ports: as probably already reported, due to the weather they changed our itinerary all around. Which we know the cruise lines can do at their discretion for our safety. We were still excited to get the 1 1/2 days in Bermuda as that is why we took this cruise in the first place. On the day we were re-scheduled to dock in Bermuda, they came on the loud speaker about 2 hrs before docking time saying the harbor was closed. Now I too agree that the harbor looked really treacherous with the shallow reefs but my question is that I have to believe with all the wonderful technology available these days that Costa did not know til right at that moment that the port would be closed. The weather radar can show incoming storms so at that point we wondered why we even contined to Bermuda in the first place and instead were not routed down to a better destination in the Carribbean instead. Also heard the port was not really closed that a larger ship was docked there and so we could not dock. I put no cadence in that as I do not think Costa would lie to 2000+ people on something that can be verified by the Bermuda authorities so easy I would imagine.

 

-Ship decor: really beautiful with all the marble and murals of Italy. If you know the Carnival Destiny class ships you will be able to get around fine.

 

-Shops:same products as on Carnival ships...best deals for women on evening beaded handbags, shawls (pashminas) and watches.

 

-Nassau: didn't do any sightseeing, only shopping...good deals on gold and diamonds. Stay away from the straw market unless you want cheap tourist crap that is way overpriced.

 

-Bermuda: loved it! What a beautiful place. The $12 bus and ferry pass is the the BEST deal. The ferries run about every hour to either St. George or Hamilton. The buses are easy to use and safe. People very friendly. Shopping not great deals here, food was on the expensive side. Horseshoe Beach was so pretty in the early evening setting sun. Definitely a place you can go to for a week and have plenty to do. 2 full days would have been great as we didn't get to go to the Aquarium and Caves which we would have done on the second day.

 

All in all, I would say the cruise was on-par value wise for what we paid. Saying that we got a GREAT deal and you get what you pay for. Sadly I expected more and better from Costa as I understood this line to be more high end than Carnival and it was not that way at all. Carnival overall was a much better experience. But becuase it was such a smoking deal, the experience was on-par for the value. Also, this cruise was about 50% or more non-American's and about 80% seniors. Not sure that made any difference to us as we were there with our friends and made our own fun but in the evenings it did tend to close up pretty early. Would rather have that than the nightmare spring breakers or small kids running wild everywhere from the postings a few weeks ago though.

 

So hope the above was informative. Please feel free to reply back if you have specific questions...would I go on Costa again? Only if it was a GREAT deal again and now I'd set my expectations much lower to not be disappointed in the lack of service and mediocre, at best, food.

[michigan tim]

We went on the Magica's eastern itinerary 4/1. I would sail Costa again, but I'd be hard pressed to sail the Magica again. We did the Mediteranea 2 years ago and we enjoyed everything about it (we've also done Carnival and RCCL). We spoke to a crew member on the Magica who's contract is about done and he was hoping to be assigned to a different ship, he said the Mediteranea would be his preference.

[Highlander0108]

Haven't had time to write our full review, but I agree that the food was our biggest dissapointment. Having been on the ship last year and having absolutely the best service, we were VERY disappointed. Our wait staff were absolutely terrible. We did not give them anything extra as they clearly did not earn it. Our waiter was annoyed, in my opinion of our X1 package and it wasn't until the second to last night that he finally got us down and delivered sodas and milk to our table without us asking. We got ful use of the package though, easily exceeding the cost per day with the amount of sodas and beer we drank. I ordered 2 main courses often, mainly just to try the other dishes and he often delivered both at the same time, making for a very cramped table. I thought that was unprofessional on his part and it also made anyone who ordered 2 meals to look like a pig! We usually just wanted a second of the main course. Other times, the meals arrived late and cold. Our tables next to us had different waiters and their service was far better. We were consistently one of the last to leave every night. We had the first sitting. Pasta dishes were very good, al dente style pasta. The fish entrees were okay. I was disappointed with the 2 servings of sea bass I ordered. One was overcooked and fishy, the other was far better. The meats were pretty bad. I was also amazed on the lack of sweets for desert. Those of you thinking you will get great Italian pastry will be VERY dissappointed. We were not impressed with the midnight buffet. We had a much better experience in the Buffet areas with the food. I particularily miss the Mueslex (sp?) cereal with the fruit in it. I would not have even tried it were it not for the people mentioning it on this board.

 

Regarding the itinery, I cannot find fault with Costa. If you check the map, Bermuda is all by itself and there is not alternative out in the middle of the Atlantic. They would have had to make that decision to reverse course 180 degrees and head to the Carribean at the beginning of the cruise and I suspect there would have been an equal amount of upset passengers, myself included. I booked this cruise specifically for Bermuda.

 

Will we go on Costa again? Probably, mainly due to the value and the fact I want to see the Med soon, but not next Spring. We are Costa Club members too so there is always the added perks to think about too. We were either going to go on the Carnival Liberty 8 day western Carribean cruise or on the Magica this past week. We picked the Magica, mainly based our our prior experience. Sadly, I do not feel like I made the best overall decision this time. It was a painful reminder to see the Liberty in port Sunday morning when we docked too, reminding me of that decision. Clearly, the food and service are major areas that need improvement. Hopefully Costa is listening and reading the comment forms.

 

-Ken

[mom and wife]

I am hoping that it was because of where you were goingand that the wait staff is much better. We are leaving in 2 days. We are on the Magica 4/29/07. I will be giving my tips to the people that work for it not leave us high and dry. They are to service us not be better then us. That is why we picked cruising. Where is the LOVe costa!!!!:o

[ecinev]

Hi,

I think we probably should write reviews in the reveiw section of this board.

 

I had good experiences with service on this cruise. Better than Carnival. And equal to Princess cruise lines.

 

Boarding the ship was fast, and we ate at the buffet and our luggage was our room when we got there.

 

I gave a written list to Julius our room stewart. We were in a balcony room. He brought us three mattress toppers, extra pillows, blankets, and chocolates. The whole trip he was attentive. When our toilet got clogged twice, it was fixed within 30 minutes.

 

The head waiter David Santos took care of at least 3 tables. He was very good about getting everything to us hot. He always came by and explained that this may take a few minutes longer. Gave us seconds on the crab legs.

 

The passengers were mostly seniors from Florida. That is better than

spring breakers. I am a senior, but I prefer a more balanced group.

 

When we first got on the electrical problem caused the toilets not to work. Also we were asked not to use the elevators. During the lifeboat drill, I asked a crew member if the weather would make for heavy movement and he said yes. That made me very nervous. Once we left, and the itenerary was changed. I was fine. When we did make Bermuda, a cab driver told us that the port was not closed and that our captain made the decision not to go into Bermuda. I didn't believe him. But that is a sore spot. I think 5 days at sea was too much.

 

When we did go for a full day to Bermuda, we made the most of it. We took the ferry to St George, went to the Globe musuem. THen took a scenic bus to Hamilton for shopping and lunch. Then a cab to the Underwater institute. THen a cab to the aquarium. THen a bus to Hamilton, a ferry back to the Dockyards, and the arts and craft at the Dockyards. If we had another day we would have went to the beaches.

 

I think I will cruise in May through December. THe weather was too cool for us Floridians.

 

This cruise was very good for the price we paid.

 

WE are not fussy about food, but the food was bad on many ocassions.

The roast beef at dinner was like shoe leather. No one could eat it.

The buffet was the same food most of the time. Many people were complaining about the food.

 

Max and the crew was great. We loved the shows and thought they did a great job.

 

We parked at Pier 21, and returned to pier 21. That part went smoothly. I probably wouldn't take Costa again. I would pay the extra money and go on Princess, or another line.

 

I know you can't blame Costa for the weather.

Glad we made in for one day in Bermuda.

[Highlander0108]

I am hoping that it was because of where you were goingand that the wait staff is much better. We are leaving in 2 days. We are on the Magica 4/29/07. I will be giving my tips to the people that work for it not leave us high and dry. They are to service us not be better then us. That is why we picked cruising. Where is the LOVe costa!!!!:o

 

I believe we just had a so so waiter and that made the dining experience less than desirable. I'm sure the majority of the food would have been better if it were served warm (exceptions to the shoe leather roast beast:rolleyes: ) Our negative opinions are completely based on the food. I also think that rumours about the port being open could possibly be somewhat true. Hey, it could have been open to smaller ships, but after seeing the channel, I'm on the captain's side there. Going in, the ship also traveled over a shoal right between 2 of the reefs and churned up a fair amount of sand similar to what we saw when the ship was docking.

 

Here, though is one tip I apparently forgot about...bring a plug strip if you have a lot if electronics to charge up. We had my dvd camcorder/camera as well as the kids game boys that were always competing for the single outlet in the room, not to mention the wife's hairdryer. The outlet in the head is a special one for rechargable shavers and razors only. There was one ONE available outlet in the entire room. Maybe there is more on the larger rooms. We had an outside stateroom with a large window, one step down from the balcony rooms.

 

I will post a review shortly.

 

FYI, Max and the cruise staff were great and will be missed. Max alone was one reason to take this cruise. This was my 3rd Costa cruise, 2nd with Max. We obviously like "cruising Italian style", but I have to admit, we were not pleased with the food this time.

[joetrizeo]

I am hoping that it was because of where you were goingand that the wait staff is much better. We are leaving in 2 days. We are on the Magica 4/29/07. I will be giving my tips to the people that work for it not leave us high and dry. They are to service us not be better then us. That is why we picked cruising. Where is the LOVe costa!!!!:o

 

when i went i had excellent service all around, from the wait staff to the room steward. it really is luck of the draw and not representative of an entire cruise line for two reasons.

1) the major cruise companies all pool from basically the same employment agencies

2) i had a bad room steward on my recent RC Mariner cruise, she did her job and nothing extra. does that mean RC service is bad all around, no. plus i've read many reviews from all sorts of lines that say they had a terrible room steward or wait staff.

[joetrizeo]

When our toilet got clogged twice, it was fixed within 30 minutes.

 

:eek: How the heck do you clog (need i ask) a vacu-flush toilet...twice!?

[fatcat04]

:eek: How the heck do you clog (need i ask) a vacu-flush toilet...twice!?

 

Joe... I noted the warning to NOT be sitting on the toilet when you flushed it. Considering it had the power of a jet engine, I call that sound advice. But then that would be one way to clog it up.. lol. :D

[jettaleea]

Hey our toilet malfunctioned constantly on our Pride of Aloha cruise last February. And that was just with urine!

[mtl kid]

I always say that any cruise will always beat staying at home. I know that food is very personal and subjective but.......for those who always manage to find nothing worthwhile eating I would love to see what kitchen you all eat at once your home. As for service........ for those who find that it is not up to par with their high standards I would like to come over to your house and do the white glove test on your dust free furniture. When you do not have to cook , clean and serve the food or do any housework........relax, take a pill and just enjoy what is around you, sun sky, waters that are a deep blue, music and nice company. Sorry but is there nothing more important out there with all the trouble the world is in today?

Ciao!:rolleyes:

[wanderlust88]

Hi everone...

I was also on the magica on april 15th. to Bermuda.

I will be posting a review on the "member reviews"

 

I was very concerned about the weather myself on sunday..esp with that noreaster that was making a rukus across the U.S.

I was at the port by 1115, and was on the ship by noon. Boarding was easy. We were in an outside cabin 6202, and it was at the very front of the ship, our window faced the front...which we mainly saw the railing instead of the ocean. I WILL NOT EVER BE IN THE FRONT AGAIN. that is for sure...wow..was it rough up there. I never get sea sick, and I had never drank so much sprite in my life

1. Cabin attendant was Leah...THE WORST. I have been on 10 cruises..so I am familiar...and wow...we hardly ever saw her. We asked for beds to be separated..didnt happen til after 9pm...when we got to the cabin I left her a very nice note, introducing ourselves..and asked for extra pillows and sep the beds....when we did finally see her around 4, she said..yes i saw your note, i will do it later...She wouldnt empty the fridge either..told us to put everything in a bag, and store it ourselves...!! the green bch towels in the room, well, i used one of them after my shower to sit on the bed, and she would fold up the same towel and put in on the chair...( i know it was the same towel, it had a stain), by the 3rd day..i had to put on the shower floor...it was never replaced. the list goes on...but why bother you get the gist of what I am saying...we got chocoates on twice...and the second time choc were only put on my roommates pillow...and she put 3??? why??? made no sense..

I was tempted to remove her tips...but you know..I dont like to do that...

2. Pools were closed basically the entire time of trip. at least the main pool...I got so many different answers as to why. The last day at sea was nice and warm, and it would have been nice to have that pool open so one could sit on the side of the pool and cool off...they only had the one in the back (which had the top closed most of the time) and the one by the slide..which felt like it was full of ice.

3. I enjoyed the food very much. I thought the appetizers were great, and my meals were very good. yes, the roast beef was bad, but i had the pastas, and the mashed pot were great. Our dining staff was great. Cant complain here..we had sonny and william in the Smeralda 2nd seating.

4. The lay out of the ship...well, it was a bit strange..but I got used to it.

5. The casino..well, the costa coins were ridiculous..the ship is not that old that they cannot have slots with the tickets that print out. What a pain in the ass to go to the cashier every But the theme was attitude city.

6. I thougt room service was strange in the rooms...they charge for b/fast??? why??? after b/fast..you can only get coffee..no cookies, sandwiches...nothing. I was not used to that either.

7. room ac was never really cold.

8. Got our luggage very fast.

9. WOULD NOT CRUISE COSTA AGAIN.

 

I just prefer RCCL, the pools are easier to get in and out of...the promenade decks on the voyager class ships are nice to coffee whenever you want, cookies and sandwiches etc...24 hrs a day.

For the most part the value for the money...always worth it on a cruise...how can you beat it? But its nice to try different cruise lines...and talk to other people about their experiences. I love cruising, and look forward to trying NCL, and Holland in the future.

Yeah, the 5 days at sea was not very nice...but the weather sure was not cooperating...and I the captain did his best I am sure.

happy cruising..

[michigan tim]

Every line has their good ships and bad ships, and I'm referring to crew/service here. It would seem to be a management issue. If you have a lax hotel manager you are going to have a higher percentage of weak performance from room stewards, if you have a lax restaurant manager you are going to have lax restaurant service, etc...

 

When it comes to getting a good waitstaff/room steward it is indeed the luck of the draw, but I think on some ships the odds are higher and on others the odds quite low.

[TDOTCRUISR]

Have a great cruise! It looks like I have found another mueslix (oatmeal) lover in highlander0108 in addition to joetrizeo.

[Highlander0108]

Every line has their good ships and bad ships, and I'm referring to crew/service here. It would seem to be a management issue. If you have a lax hotel manager you are going to have a higher percentage of weak performance from room stewards, if you have a lax restaurant manager you are going to have lax restaurant service, etc...

 

When it comes to getting a good waitstaff/room steward it is indeed the luck of the draw, but I think on some ships the odds are higher and on others the odds quite low.

 

You may be on to something there. There was a different person running our dining room and I did not get a great impression of him. I completely forgot about my first run in with him just hours after we boarded. I waited to see him about possibly switching our seating assignment to our waiter form last year, Jonnie and his assistant whose name now escapes me. Anyway, we saw the assistant earlier in the day and our hopes were they were still both on the ship. When I finally spoke to the maitre-de with this request, he was a little puzzled that I would want the same staff. I expected a completely different reaction, more like a "well, it is nice that you remembered them and are glad you liked there service, let me see if I can find him", but he was mildly annoyed and could not be bothered to look up the waiter. Come to find out, we later learned that Jonnie had been transfered to the Costa Mediterrania anyway.

 

Please don't misconstrue my earlier comments as huge complaints. I would classify them as dissappointments. I am a big Costa fan, but have to admit there were some issues with our cruise this time. We still had a great time and did not dwell at all on it. We saw plenty of others who seemed that all they could do was focus on the negatives.

 

Yes, you have another Mueslix lover here. Some days, there was more fruit in it than others and often I had to go searching the various buffet lines to find it. It seemed to go fast. I wonder if the QE2, our next cruise, has it as well along with the bangers and mash.

[shipaddict]

After reading all of these posts plus the review of the woman that had the credit card problems I am not looking forward to my cruise on Magica on 4/29. Sure I would rather be with a large group of seniors since I am a Gerontologist and not be around a lot of out-of-control teenagers. But bad service, bad attitudes, only one stop on an island for an entire cruise and bad food add up to a waste of money, time, and a lot of stress.

 

A few days ago I called Costa to ask for a sharps container for my insulin syringe disposal and was told by a rude man that I should have ordered this a long time ago. Also he said I had to give a bottle of insulin to the ship's doctor. I asked him why and got no response.

 

So I am going on this ship with no expectations and now think a lot of the positive reviews about the Magica are written by paid employees of Costa.

[michigan tim]

Shipaddict,

 

I just consider all these issues to be minor bumps in the road. I paid my money, I'm vacationing on a beautiful ship and I'll be darned if I'm going allow these minor annoyances to detour me from my daily grind exodus. Have a great cruise... Just put the off-road tires on before you leave and you should barely feel the bumps!

[Highlander0108]

So I am going on this ship with no expectations and now think a lot of the positive reviews about the Magica are written by paid employees of Costa.

 

If you read my review from my Magica cruise last year, you would think then I am a paid employee. I gave it the highest ratings in all categories. I do own stock in Carnival though...;)

 

By the way, we stopped in both the Bahamas and Bermuda on the April 15th cruise. We got the islands in, but just not the full time at Bermuda. Weather happens. On my very first cruise on the Victoria, we couldn't get into Grand Cayman because of the rough seas that made tendering too dangerous. Same thing on that ship. People complained, but we just moved on.

 

Have a great cruise and don't let the little things get to you. You will enjoy Max, his wife, and the entertainment this cruise. Try the Mueslix too:)

[ecinev]

Enjoy your April 29th cruise.

 

Believe it or not I miss being on the cruise. We are back to paying bills, cooking, cleaning house, and the whole daily grind.

 

We will probably wait a whole year to cruise again.

 

So enjoy the cruise. You should have descent weather.

 

Call Costa again and maybe you will get better info.

 

Ask to speak to a supervisor. With health issues it is better to know up front any important information.

 

Dealing with my daughters illiness, I am less stressed if I prepare for all situations.

 

Have fun .

[joetrizeo]

Joe what do you think of all of these bad reviews? You seem to know a lot about the Magica...is there anyone at Carnival that can correct these problems?

 

negative reviews have merit in their own right. i have never read a super positive review a Bermuda cruise (unlike carib cruises). it seams Bermuda cruises are cursed. last year routy mexican teens took over and vandalized the ship which spurred disastrous threads.

 

but i know if you go in with an attitude of 'this sucks' you will subconsciously look for negatives, not focusing on positives and it'll be a self fulfilling prophecy

 

correct me if I'm wrong but i think the weather played a big factor in peoples overall perception and enjoyment of the vacation. if the weather is bad it puts a dim outlook on your vacation. i hope people can differentiate between bad weather and bad cruise.

 

I've already spoken my peace about the service, i had excellent service. and food well thats subjective, i thought the food was excellent. having just gone on RC i felt RC's food and costa's food were very similar and both very good. carnival on the other hand was just ok with food. now others will say they loved RC food and costa's food does not compare. so whats the difference? what gives? I'd like to find out some day too.

 

my guess resides in an event i witnessed on board. after filling my plate at the lunch buffet with wonder items such at fresh salad, sliced beef, olives, tomatoes, pizza and freshly prepared fish, i saw a couple plainly glance at the buffet line. the man said 'well i know where I'm going again...' and proceeded to the grill buffet.

different strokes for different folks i guess.

[ranger838]

First time on Costa and it was different experience. Have taken 12 cruises on various cruise lines. To prevent repetitiveness in reviews I wanted to address root causes that would be simple for Costa to implement and go a long way to providing greater satisfaction for travelers.

 

1. The Pros: Entertainment - one of best on any ship I have sailed;5 stars, Activities - staff leadership (Max) obviously top notch and team reps. energetic (across the board) and respectful;5 stars, Captain and his Staff - Visible and above average leadership; 5 stars, Main Dining Room Food and Service - Above average with exception of desserts(which were average at best), Service was great at our table ( the table itself is poorly designed with 10 seats on a long picnic style table, much too crowded ), food was quite good and comparable to other lines such as RCL, Holland,etc., quality above Carnival. The ship needs to hire a pastry/dessert chef that would be more in keeping with U.S. tastes for U.S. cruises, desserts lacked any sweet tastes with most desserts very bland, typical would be cherry pie that had no appearance of any cherries, our first ever cruise where no creme brulee was served ( of course they had no lobster either, and what is sushi? ).

 

2. The Cons: Communication with Information Desk and Excursion Desk - well below average, this is due to one big reason that Costa needs to address to serve US cruisers, the staff does not know English, it is so obvious that they apparently learned English outside the US, they could not answer the simplest of questions in basic grammatical English conversational usage. I expect the room service staff to not know some English colloquilisms but the Main Info Desk and Excursion Desk I would expect to have someone who speaks fluent English. The lines at these desk were routinely very long and the answers given to all guests was a standard " Unfortunately, we are not able to......" Even on the most basic question the answer is a canned reply which did not satisfy the cruiser. 2 stars

 

Buffet service was repetitive and below average, all breakfast sweet buns tasted the same although they looked different and were not at all sweet, eggs appeared to be powdered scrambled eggs, pancake flour and waffle flour were apparently bought last year, it was stale and tasted horrible ( or perhaps they get it from a cheap supplier), no donuts, turnovers, or the like. 2 stars

 

Casino area was poorly designed. It was much too small and crowded for this size ship. The disco took up half the casino in that it is in the middle of the casino. Costa should redesign this area by deleting the walls or making them smaller so the casino could be expanded. 3 stars

 

Main Dining Room, in the rear of the ship - Esmeralda, is poorly designed in that you have several hundred people trying to use four elevators to get to the rear dining room at one time. There is no easy walk through capabilities. The elevators were always slow or one was broke so dining was routinely late. 3 stars

 

Pool areas, lounges were narrow and deck chairs were metal which made for a cold seat on chilly days. Pools not used on cruise even on good days for unknown reasons. 3 stars

 

Staterooms, we had deck seven in the forward area of ship. Forget about afternoon nap. The band and musicians practice in the theater, which was two decks below us, in the afternoon. It sounded like they were in our stateroom on everyday of the cruise from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. Costa apparently forgot to get the sound insulation option when they bought the ship?? - 2 stars

 

 

ALL in ALL we made the best of our poor weather cruise which was not the ship's fault. Overall, we would try Costa again once they are more familiar with american expectations, if they do not take actions to satisfy american tastes and desires in cruising they will not succeed in this demographic.

[joetrizeo]

2. The Cons: Communication with Information Desk and Excursion Desk - well below average, this is due to one big reason that Costa needs to address to serve US cruisers, the staff does not know English, it is so obvious that they apparently learned English outside the US, they could not answer the simplest of questions in basic grammatical English conversational usage.

 

don't forget that english is not the center of the universe. since as you know there is a SUBSTANTIAL amount of european customers onboard, main service staff have to be fluent in MANY languages, not just english and their native.

 

i'm sorry you did not like the layout of the ship. i found it good myself. i enjoyed the fact that they chewed up most of the useless casino space and made a bigger lounge and disco. seriously, how often do you see more than one person sitting at a row of slot machines and have thought 'gee, this casino needs to be bigger'

"Main Dining Room, in the rear of the ship - Esmeralda, is poorly designed in that you have several hundred people trying to use four elevators to get to the rear dining room at one time."

i agree, thats why i always tell ya to take the stairs. either to deck 3 or 4 (yes you can get into semeldra on deck 4). or you could just come 5 min late to dinner after the crowd has seated :)

 

Pools not used on cruise even on good days for unknown reasons

if you've ever been on conquest class ships, you'll know that in high seas the pools get wavey and splash water around. they close them for safety.

 

"Costa apparently forgot to get the sound insulation option when they bought the ship?"

more like the shipyard builders forgot to put it in. doubtfull anyways.

[fatcat04]

or you could just come 5 min late to dinner after the crowd has seated :)

 

Exactly... on the Costa Med (I know a different ship but dinner time is dinner time) the dinner crush (and that is exactly what it was) started abt 5:30 for the 5:45 seating. Our solution was to get a drink at the main bar in the center of the ship, sit down in some of the very comfy seats provided, enjoy the view of the sea going by, have a nice chat, and wait until 5:50 to get to the door. Worked every time. We never had to stand in line to get to the dining room and no one ever seemed to care. Franz, our excellent maître d', was very nice, and always smiled when we walked in.

 

I will say... I am very sorry others had such a miserable time on the Costa Magica. Hard to believe we were sailing on the same cruise line. Our time on the Costa Med was one of the best vacations we have ever taken, period. We are still in post-cruise depression a month later. We will cruise Costa again, no doubt. They earned our return service time and time again. :)

[Highlander0108]

I will have to say that the the Guest Services desk was very curteous and pleasant everytime we had to visit it. Granted that there is a language issue, they were always cheerful in their responses, even when some of the guests were a liitle testy.

 

The Tour office was a little overwhelmed when first when the schedule was flipped and then when we were delayed into port. Same comments as above.

 

We never arrived at the correct time for dinner. Try getting 2 kids ready along with mom in cramped quarters. It worked out just fine to be 10-20 minutes late. We found on this cruise in particular, people came all at once to things, often quite early. The show after dinner was very difficult for us to get 4 seats. People were lining up 45 minutes beforehand to get a seat, which was crazy.

 

The pool situation was a little fustrating and really did not make much sense. They opened the pool at the stern the last 2 days, which had the roof deployed, yet they did not fill the main "kids" pool even the last day. I believe this pool never had water in it the entire cruise, maybe except for the first day. Nevertheless, it was never opened. The kids were dissappointed that the slide was rarely open. Finally, on the last day, it was opened. The Costa lifeguard watching the slide did comment that the main reason the slide doesn't get open is that the staff required to unlock the ate often forget. She sat over 45 minutes from the scheduled opening time until a Costa person came with the key. Try explaining that to a 5 year old.:mad:

 

I agree the layout of the rear dining room is a little weird, how you get to it, but it really isn't that bad. Try navigating on the QE2, with the remnants of the 2 class layout still intact and the Magica will seem like a dream. Carnival has gotten a lot of mileage on this hull and layout. Why keep repeating a bad thing if it is clearly so bad no one likes it. Even the Concordia and I suspect the new Costa Serena is the same basic layout.

 

We're suffering from cruise withdrawl right now too. My in-laws went on the Med 3 weeks before us and had a geat time, after our recommendation to try Costa. We still love Costa.

 

In the words of Max...Caio!

[shipaddict]

Thank you for giving me some good tips for my cruise Sunday.