LIVE onboard the Costa Fortuna

[skyking]

Hello All,

 

We are about to leave Orlando to head down to Lauderdale for the one night TA U.S.A preview of the Fortuna. Once we board later this afternoon, I will be doing LIVE posts from the trusty Iphone. I have heard the ship is beautiful, so I will be sure to update on every detail....And since we will be docked all night, I will be ablt to keep them going most the night....Until the free booze wears in anyways:) STAY TUNED!

[guardia40]

Hello All,

 

We are about to leave Orlando to head down to Lauderdale for the one night TA U.S.A preview of the Fortuna. Once we board later this afternoon, I will be doing LIVE posts from the trusty Iphone. I have heard the ship is beautiful, so I will be sure to update on every detail....And since we will be docked all night, I will be ablt to keep them going most the night....Until the free booze wears in anyways:) STAY TUNED!

Hi - Hope you're having a great time - looking forward to pictures and your review when you return. Interested in anything and everything about this ship/cruise line. Will be sailing Costa Fortuna 2-3-08. thanks.

[soccerfootballmom]

Thank you!! Can't wait to hear what you think of her!!

[mahlerlover]

I will expecially interested in your comments regarding how badly (or not) the ship smells of cigarette smoke. Thinking about sailing her in January

[skyking]

Hello all,

 

well we are onboard and actually sitting at the entry area by the waterslide as I write this. So far we are very impressed with the crew and the crew. The ship is in great shape and I can't smell any smoke smell in any interior area. The art work onboard is great, but I feel a little closterphobic in the public areas, but that is simply because I am used to voyager class ships. Doenst make me wish we were sailing tonight. Post more soon.

[skyking]

hello again. We are sitting in the atrium bar now. Very nice, but for some reason the ship is very very warm. Over all this is so far a great ship.

[chelle74]

Have you been on the Magica? If so, how does it compare?

[skyking]

Have you been on the Magica? If so, how does it compare?

 

Never expirenced costa ever. So far I'm impressed and would for sure say it is a step up from carnival.

[soccerfootballmom]

That's awesome to hear skyking. Are there a ton of people on board with you?

[megnsamsgracie]

skyking.. what about kids? Can you visit the kids club? We are taking out 4 kids in 2 weeks!

[duke4ncsu]

Hi all. Sitting at the hotel this early am so excited that I just can't sleep. Decided to pull up Cruise Critic one last time b/f heading on Fortuna this morning. We have been on Magica and Mediterrana before but this will be the first on Fortuna. I have two children 4 & 8 so I will post about the children's club when we return. We are also going to try to smuggle some pancake syrup onboard. Last year, they didn't have any " American" pancake syrup and the kids just hated it. Otherwise great experiences with Costa and don't doubt today will be the start of another outstanding week!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We will be celebrating in Grand Cayman.

[getta]

Hello All,

 

We are about to leave Orlando to head down to Lauderdale for the one night TA U.S.A preview of the Fortuna. Once we board later this afternoon, I will be doing LIVE posts from the trusty Iphone. I have heard the ship is beautiful, so I will be sure to update on every detail....And since we will be docked all night, I will be ablt to keep them going most the night....Until the free booze wears in anyways:) STAY TUNED!

 

My DH and I and another couple are cruising on the Fortuna in January. We are really anxious to read your reviews. Interested in everything. We've been to the ports (still interesting) but we haven't cruised Costa before. Thanks in advance for all your information. Georgetta

[Dolphin Girl]

Hi, Hope you have a great vacation. I'm part of a group of 6 traveling on Fortuna on March 9, 2008. Can't wait to hear everything about the ship. We've never sailed on Costa before and are looking for something a little different. Please keep us posted on her!

 

Have fun and relax!!!

[retdon]

Hi,

Waiting to hear how the Fortuna is. There are 14 of us on the New Years cruise 12/30 and only one couple has sailed on Costa before.

Can't wait to see the photos and hear all you have to say. Thanks for keeping us posted. Linda

[capt5406]

can you tell if the swimmimg pools are fresh or salt water, thanks. George

[skyking]

Hello All,

 

Finally made it home after a very very rough morning, of course this is caused by the open bar last night:) I will write a review later, and post some pics as well, but I can tell you that the ship was beautiful! The crew was very very friendly, and if you are sailing the Fortuna your in for a treat.

 

The cabin we had was an ocean view cabin 1307.....The cabin had a little wear and tear, but nothing drastic, the bed was very comfy....Again I really enjoyed it:)

[BambiRumsey]

as on most cruise ships - the pools will be filled with salt water

[joetrizeo]

First Costa cruise for the '07 '08 carib season and we got a live one!

 

Excellent! This thread should be chalk full of good info!

 

Have a great time and keep us informed!

 

capt5406, pools = salt hot tubs = fresh.

 

i second that, costa is definitely a step up from carnival.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Just back to NY from a trip to FL that included this "cruise" (a true cruise to nowhere as we literally did not move ;) ).

 

It was my first time on Costa and generally I have positive impressions. I certainly would not mind a "full" Costa cruise - it is not something that I am dying to do tomorrow but something I like to try sometime.

 

I had recently been on CARNIVAL VICTORY (alas, only to visit) and since they are basically sister ships, it is difficult not to compare them. I far preferred the decor of FORTUNA - of course she is still very obviously a Farcus creation, and could be nothing else, but manages not to be really gaudy in the way some Carnival ships are. Many I have spoken to feel she may be the best-decorated ship he has done. Obviously it is rather difficult to say that without having been on all of them (and one wonders if anyone other than the Joe and Micky can claim that!) but she must be one of the nicest, unless of course you like Farcus best when he's at his most over the top. (In that case you really want some of the older FANTASY-class ships...) There are a few spaces I didn't like but many I liked a lot, which is about as good as you're going to get on a huge ship with varying styles of decor.

 

Sadly, I really, really dislike the layout of all these DESTINY/TRIUMPH/CONQUEST-class ships (all very similar). I don't find them user friendly at all which is so unusual for modern ships. (The culprit is in the presence of two two-deck dining rooms, which completely breaks up the flow of the public rooms since you have the galley between them on one deck but not the other, meaning some public rooms are actually stuck between the two - odd!)

 

Other than that, it is difficult to find much to complain about. For the most part I found it to be a typical high-quality mass-market cruise experience, just with a European accent. (This of course means five-language announcements etc., so Costa is not for you if you are not looking for an "international" experience.) Certainly it seems a very well-run, professional operation.

 

Anyhow, a much longer review, with photos, will follow.

 

Oh, and I did not notice much in the way of smoke odors - impressive for a European ship. (Anyone who has spent much time in Southern Europe knows that you will encounter a lot more smoke there than we are used to in North America, though in some countries anti-smoking laws mean it tends to be done less in public than it was until very recently.)

[skyking]

Just back to NY from a trip to FL that included this "cruise" (a true cruise to nowhere as we literally did not move ;) ).

 

It was my first time on Costa and generally I have positive impressions. I certainly would not mind a "full" Costa cruise - it is not something that I am dying to do tomorrow but something I like to try sometime.

 

I had recently been on CARNIVAL VICTORY (alas, only to visit) and since they are basically sister ships, it is difficult not to compare them. I far preferred the decor of FORTUNA - of course she is still very obviously a Farcus creation, and could be nothing else, but manages not to be really gaudy in the way some Carnival ships are. Many I have spoken to feel she may be the best-decorated ship he has done. Obviously it is rather difficult to say that without having been on all of them (and one wonders if anyone other than the Joe and Micky can claim that!) but she must be one of the nicest, unless of course you like Farcus best when he's at his most over the top. (In that case you really want some of the older FANTASY-class ships...) There are a few spaces I didn't like but many I liked a lot, which is about as good as you're going to get on a huge ship with varying styles of decor.

 

Sadly, I really, really dislike the layout of all these DESTINY/TRIUMPH/CONQUEST-class ships (all very similar). I don't find them user friendly at all which is so unusual for modern ships. (The culprit is in the presence of two two-deck dining rooms, which completely breaks up the flow of the public rooms since you have the galley between them on one deck but not the other, meaning some public rooms are actually stuck between the two - odd!)

 

Other than that, it is difficult to find much to complain about. For the most part I found it to be a typical high-quality mass-market cruise experience, just with a European accent. (This of course means five-language announcements etc., so Costa is not for you if you are not looking for an "international" experience.) Certainly it seems a very well-run, professional operation.

 

Anyhow, a much longer review, with photos, will follow.

 

Oh, and I did not notice much in the way of smoke odors - impressive for a European ship. (Anyone who has spent much time in Southern Europe knows that you will encounter a lot more smoke there than we are used to in North America, though in some countries anti-smoking laws mean it tends to be done less in public than it was until very recently.)

 

 

I agree with everyting you said, I did not like the lay out of the ship at all....Very weird to get around. ALSO something did really bother me, and I know it is lame.....In the elevators there is NO list of what is on what deck...NOTHING....So unless you have a map on you there is no way of knowing what deck to go to. Again I found this very very odd. Pics should be up tonight or tomorrow night.

[d5480]

I was on the Fortuna’s transatlantic cruise completed on Saturday. I have sailed on more than 50 cruises including 6 this year. It is my opinion that the ship and its crew are as good as the other mass-market cruise lines that sail from the U.S. The food and entertainment are not as good and will be a disappointment to many people. The only way Costa is going to be able to compete is by offering the cheapest rates.

[joetrizeo]

Sadly, I really, really dislike the layout of all these DESTINY/TRIUMPH/CONQUEST-class ships (all very similar). I don't find them user friendly at all which is so unusual for modern ships. (The culprit is in the presence of two two-deck dining rooms, which completely breaks up the flow of the public rooms since you have the galley between them on one deck but not the other, meaning some public rooms are actually stuck between the two - odd!)

 

I cover this aspect in detail in my 'getting around the magica' thread in the signature. anyone who wants to learn more about these ships read it. it explains exactly whats going on. also it helps to look at a deck plan when doing so :) basically the kitchen is in between the two, so you have to either go up one or down one deck, over then back :)

 

Costa is not for you if you are not looking for an "international" experience.)

 

agreed :)

[leeanninfla]

I was on the Costa TA overnight on the Fortuna on Saturday, and I must say, I was not impressed very impressed overall.

The room was great, I was in Balcony 8335, and it was quite clean.

It was hard to navigate yourself around the ship without a map, especially when in the elevators, such as was already mentioned.

When inside the ship it was quite claustrophobic, and I did not like that feeling.

At dinner time, we were the first one seated in our section, and the last one asked at anytime for our order. Never once asked if we would like a soda or anything other than wine. When ordering even though pointing exactly to the menu what was being requested, we had to repeat several times. The Caesar salad, that specified anchovies upon REQUEST, came with anchovies, YUCK.

I ordered the beef for dinner, specified no pumpkin mousse or mushroom, and when time to deliver the meal, 2 hours after sitting down, and the last at the table, all that had been done was it was wiped off the beef and then the beef turned over, mousse side down. YUCK. Maybe I am a picky eater, but I do not like pumpkin anything, or mushroom, and this was swimming in the pumpkin. So I planned on hitting the buffet after dinner was finally over.

Dessert was good, if you like MELTED baked alaska. The cake sat on the counter for so long after the Baked Alaska parade, that it just was a melted mess when delivered to the table.

If I was at a restaurant in town, I would have been served another meal, however I did not want to have to wait for another hour for food to be delivered.

We went to the buffet after dinner was over, and there was nothing available but salad and pizza. Well we had that for lunch, not to interested in it again.

We went to do the scavenger hunt and not one of the staterooms for inspection were open. That was a pain because we really wanted to view them. The scavenger hunt was a good idea, since it made you visit each of the public areas and notice things you might not think about before, like all the ships painted on the walls or the ships on the ceiling in the atrium.

The plastic/canvas bag and diamond paperweight gifts were nice, and unexpected.

The ship was very clean, and nice, however not one that I would be interested in sailing on.

[cdngb]

Just got off the Nov. 2nd transatlantic cruise and I will try to answer some of the above noted questions. Yes there was more smoking than on the other ships, but I only really noticed it in the Casino. Most of the ship is smoke free. The design is tough to get used to as the two restaurants each on the third and fourth decks do cut the ship up. The two pools were salt water, the slide was the same as on the Carnival Glory and other same class ships, the hot tubs were not as warm as on other ships. The design in the ship was nicer than on the Glory and the theme was an honor of the past Costa ships thus a maritime theme. Decks, restaurants etc. were named after decomissioned Costa ships. I will try to answer specific questions, and will soon post a lengthy review. However it was a great cruise at a very reasonable price.

[Seago2]

Can anyone add to the partial reviews??? I am * this close * to booking and looking for any advice. I am NOT a Joe Farcus fan, but I got used to the Elation after a few days...