Costa Mediterranea 7-16-07

[krennen]

We just returned from this cruise. The other cruise line we have sailed with has been Carnival (4 times all different ships) First about the ship and Costa. The ship was very clean and the staff very nice especially the waiters in the dining room. We returned around 9:30 from Mykonos and were able to eat in the main dining room even though we had early seating for dinner. I figured that there might be room as most people were still on the island. The maitre" d was very gracious in accommodating us. We even had a table of 8 to ourselves. The food was good on the ship but I think that Carnivals is a little better. I will say the Grand Buffet was beautiful and more elaborate than on Carnival. The real negatives about food was that there was only water and milk to drink on the Lido deck without paying extra.. On Carnival there was always lemonade or fruit punch for free and more choices for juice. They were always running out of ice and the ice cream machine could have been available more. In the dining room we did get Iced Tea for free when I asked the waiter for it. The ship’s photographers were just OK. Photos were not very good quality (overexposed and improperly centered) so we didn’t even consider purchasing

 

The ship's entertainment was just OK. I realize that with a international group of passengers things will be different. Hearing the same announcements at shows in 7 languages got boring. English was definitely a minority and I had expected that when we boarded. The ship's dancers could have been better to make better shows. Dance shows cross all language barriers. Carnival does a good job with their entertainment staff. I did enjoy the arts and crafts time that they provided. It was free and just for adults--I have never seen that on Carnival.

 

As for the ports. In Bari we walked around the old town and saw the Svevo castle and the 2 main churches. We also just walked into a little church and an attendant gave us a brochure for a little museum run by the diocese a few blocks away. We managed to find it and were treated to a free guided tour by a lady who spoke pretty good English. It contained old artifacts from the original basilica as well as vestments from cardinals, artwork, and altar pieces and old scrolls. Some stuff was from surrounding churches from the area. It was a lovely time and the lady was very sweet to show us around. It was an unexpected surprise! We did leave a few coins in their offering box.

 

In Katakolon we rented 2 Fiat Doblos from rentacarkatakolon.com There was 16 of us and we drove ourselves to Olympia. I had no problems with the cars or service. It was a very hot day about 100 degrees F. We walked around and then drove back a shopped a little in the town before getting back on the ship. It was much better and cheaper than a ships tour because we could leave when we wanted to. I found information on the area ahead of time so we didn't need a tour guide.

 

Santorini was beautiful and time was too short. They dock first between Ia and Fira, for tours. Later they dock in Fira. So if you want maximum time, take a ship tour to Ia village. We walked around Iao and then the bus took us to Fira. We even had enough time to take the caldera walk from Fira to Imerovigli and back. The ship really needs to spend more time there.

 

The same day we were in Mykonos. We were tendered in (a surprise to me as I called Costa just before we left and they said only Santorini needed tenders) Anyway we walked around and saw the windmills and old church. The streets are narrow and it was crowded with several ships in port at the same time. We ended our time by watching the sunset just before 9 pm.

 

In Rhodes we hired a private taxi. It was the best for us to see as much of the island as possible. The taxi stand was just outside the dock. Dominic took us around the new town, up to Monte Smith, and then on to Lindos. On the way back we drove along the west coast to Rhodes town. Back there we walked around and saw a couple of museums and the Grand Masters Palace. It was hot but a nice day.

 

In Dubrovnik we tendered again—surprise! We “walked the wall” first thing. It is the highlight of the city. It got very crowded later as we saw a long line waiting to go up after we were finished. It took us about an hour and we took lots of picts. Once down we visited a couple of churches and the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries. They were OK. The city is smaller than Rhodes so it doesn’t need as much time.

Overall we were pleased with the cruise. We also had 14 of our friends with us so we had a great time visiting with them.

 

Embarkation was a breeze—we got there early and avoided any lines. Debarkation was good too except one of our suitcases lost its colored tag and was one on the last pieces off the ship!!

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[olga77]

Thanks for your info. We're going in Novemver, so hopefully it won't be that crowded.

[olga77]

Can someone share pictures of Costa Mediterranea ship? The ones I found on Google weren't really detailed. Thanks much!

[monicajay]

Go to Webshots.com , enter "Costa Mediterranea" for a search, there are thousands of pictures, some good, some bad, but basically all of the ship is covered if you look at enough of them.

 

Have fun.:)

[olga77]

Mercy!

[Jo42]

Hi Krennan, glad you had a good time! I agree aobut the ship's photographers, our own photos are much better!

 

You'll see from my prev post that I found the food good but very much the same as on my previous costa cruises - despite them being at least 2 years apart

 

In Santorini we took the first tender ashore and then immediately took a taxi to Oia. It was 50 euro for him to take us there, wait for an hour for us to see around the village then take us back to Fira. Much better than the 50-60 euros per head the ship wanted! It pays to be a little brave and do your own thing!

 

In the buffet resturaunt wasn't there an 'orange' drink that was free out of the machines?

[krennen]

Yes I guess there was--but we used that as our OJ in the morning. I was expecting lemonade or punch like our Carnival cruises have had.

[juscrusin]

Hi Krennan,

 

When you took the ship's excursion to Oia, how did it work? We are thinking of doing Oia on our own, since we'd like to spend more time there, but are concerned about the cable car lines.

 

You mentioned the ship first docks between Oia & Thira. Do you bypass the Thira/cable car mess? Or do you still have to to take the cable car up to Thira to start the excursion to Oia. It seems like your excursion dropped you off in Thira. I’m assuming that Costa gave you a cable car ticket back to return to the ship? Did you experience any problems with long lines at the cable car either going to Thira from the dock or returning to the ship? We have 2 other ships in port along with the Mediterranea (small ones – potential of 800 or so passengers), but we’re concerned after reading all of the posts on the subject.

[themoon]

Hi Krennan,

 

When you took the ship's excursion to Oia, how did it work? We are thinking of doing Oia on our own, since we'd like to spend more time there, but are concerned about the cable car lines.

 

You mentioned the ship first docks between Oia & Thira. Do you bypass the Thira/cable car mess? Or do you still have to to take the cable car up to Thira to start the excursion to Oia. It seems like your excursion dropped you off in Thira. I’m assuming that Costa gave you a cable car ticket back to return to the ship? Did you experience any problems with long lines at the cable car either going to Thira from the dock or returning to the ship? We have 2 other ships in port along with the Mediterranea (small ones – potential of 800 or so passengers), but we’re concerned after reading all of the posts on the subject.

 

DH and I took the Oia tour while on the Costa Victoria. They took us by boat to a spot on shore where all the tour buses were waiting, we boarded and drove to the village first. The guide was very informative during the ride. We then had time on our own to walk around in Oia before re-boarding the bus to Fira. In Fira we walked around on our own before using the cable car ticket that we had been provided at the beginning of the tour. We were also worried about long lines so we did not spend too much time in Fira. We had no wait time at all at the cable car, but I don't know what it was like closer to sailing time. It was an enjoyable excursion.

[juscrusin]

DH and I took the Oia tour while on the Costa Victoria. They took us by boat to a spot on shore where all the tour buses were waiting, we boarded and drove to the village first. The guide was very informative during the ride. We then had time on our own to walk around in Oia before re-boarding the bus to Fira. In Fira we walked around on our own before using the cable car ticket that we had been provided at the beginning of the tour. We were also worried about long lines so we did not spend too much time in Fira. We had no wait time at all at the cable car, but I don't know what it was like closer to sailing time. It was an enjoyable excursion.

 

Hi the Moon,

Many thanks for your input! Do you recall how much time did you get to spend in Oia before reboarding the bus to Fira?

 

I 'm also trying to find out how the Costa Oia shore excursion works: the ship docks either 1) between Thira & Oia, or 2) at Athinios giving priority in unloading "shore excursion passengers" first, then bus to Oia, and then as you mentioned. I've read conflicting messages on the threads about this one, so I'm not sure where the ship docks. Looking at the map, Athinios is in the opposite direction of Thira & Oia, so if the ship docks at Athinios that means you'll actually lose time in Oia, because you'll have to backtrack via bus to Oia. Well, we'll see. At this point, we are seriously considering doing Oia on our own, but our concern is the wait for the cable car line. So we're trying to weigh out all the factors!