Costa Magica review 4/15 sailing-Bermuda

[BACON227]

My wife and I were also on this sailing and have nothing but positive things to say about the whole experience. I'm composing a review that I will post on cruisecritic, I hope to have it done soon, it's been a hectic week back from vacation.

This was our first Costa cruise and we can't wait until November to sail Costa again.

I'm curious to know which dining room the posters who had bad service were in. My wife and I had second seating in the Smeralda dining room and the service was top notch.....on par with Princess and RCCL. The 2nd Maitre D(Francesco) was a former Princess employee and it showed, he was great. Francesco arranged dishes for us that weren't even on the menu. One night my wife ordered the sea bass, which she said was horrible. Within 3 minutes she had a new vegetable lasagna dinner in front of her along with a host of apologies.......very impressive I thought.

The food..............the food was good, not great, but far from terrible. My roast beef and beef tenderloin dishes were delicious and could be cut with a fork, it was also cooked perfectly to my liking. The rib eye steak........horrible, that is the only dish I can say I didn't enjoy. I also agree I was a little dissapointed in the variety of desserts, but I sure would like to have a chocolate soufle right about now........the soufles were delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The entertainment was the best entertainment of any cruise we have been on..........don't miss Mr. Pizza night and especially don't miss toga night. Don't be a stick in the mud...........WEAR THE TOGA ALL NIGHT, EVEN TO DINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody thinking about cancelling their cruise because of these reviews are foolish.....get on board with an open mind not looking to nit pick every little detail of the cruise and you are guarenteed to have a fabulous time!!!!!!!!!

[fatcat04]

I also agree I was a little dissapointed in the variety of desserts, but I sure would like to have a chocolate soufle right about now........the soufles were delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ohhh... I had forgotten about the chocolate souffle... drool... drool... (fatcat04 in a momentary chocolate induced coma).....

[joetrizeo]

just a little bit of factual information. true Italian desserts are not super sweet or super rich like we are use to over here in the states or perhaps in France. they tend to be on the 'plain' side by nature. perhaps Costa's desserts are more representative of Italian dining as opposed to a bad chef.

 

I thought their tiramisu was great...

[BACON227]

Yes, the tiramisu......that was excellent also!!!!!!

 

One thing I forgot to mention before.

 

Much is made about how much to tip the waitors, asst. waitors and cabin stewards, but sometimes just a little friendly personal attention from yourself is worth more than any amount of money. Get to know your waitors and waitresses, ask them about their families, you might be surprised to see the attention you receive in return!!!!!!!!

 

We always give extra than the auto tips, but I think it was the attention and friendship that we gave our waitor and asst waitor that meant more than anything..............the proof was when they both said that they wished we would be with them again next week.

 

Anyway just my opinion................

[antcyd]

Just got home about 3 hours ago from the 4/22 sailing and have to say that our experience definitly was similar to the OP's experience.

 

I will write more about it later since we just got home and are very tired but have to express our total disappointment, this is our 3rd Costa cruise, the other 2 were EXCELLENT, the Magica was not, food was awful, some things even inedible, majority of staff was either rude or indifferent, they just didnt seem to care. We have taken 44 cruises and I have to say this one was one of the worst we have ever taken and to be honest, I am still shocked that it was like that.

 

We were not the only ones who felt this way, just about everyone on the ship was talking about the same issues. There were many people who just couldnt wait for the cruise to end by Thursday, the day after we left Bermuda(which was outstanding and the one true highlight of this cruise!!!)

 

I feel sad to say these things about Costa given our 2 other experiences with them but this was our experience on this particular sailing, I am just shocked still at the events of the entire week

[Cruisenouvelle]

I normally read the Celebrity threads, but came here to see if Costa's improved on their Bermuda run. Ironically, that was the sailing that my DH and I were going to take as our first-ever. I still want to see Bermuda, but Costa seems to be the only line that sails from Florida (we live here!), and DH won't fly to Cape Liberty, or anywhere else to take a cruise. Anyway...I like michigatim's outlook....

Have a great cruise... Just put the off-road tires on before you leave and you should barely feel the bumps!. I feel so sad that anyone would be at a point, based on negative reviews, where s/he DREADS an upcoming cruise. We all go into cruising w/ an open mind (so we say!!), so please try to enjoy your cruise. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Hope you have a great cruise on the 29th. Thx michigantim, I really like that saying!!

[e058874]

We had late seating in the Portofino dining room. I don't even remember our two waiters names because I honestly do not think they ever told us once. And were never there at our table long enough for me to read their name tags. I'm serious! It was that bad of service.