Just back from Fortuna

[tomml]

We just returned from the Fortuna this AM. Feel free to ask any questions.

[mtl kid]

When will you post your review?

[Kenhel]

Any comedy shows or stand up comedy?

 

Did you go to Afternoon Tea? How was it?

 

How was San Juan at night? Are most stores/cafes open?

 

Did you take a ship excursion in St Thomas or did you go out on your own?

 

Was the casino generous to you?

 

Crab legs, rissoto etc.....tell us all about the food!

 

Will you sail Costa again?

[Kenhel]

Any comedy shows or stand up comedy?

 

Did you go to Afternoon Tea? How was it?

 

How was San Juan at night? Are most stores/cafes open?

 

Did you take a ship excursion in St Thomas or did you go out on your own?

 

Was the casino generous to you?

 

Crab legs, rissoto etc.....tell us all about the food!

 

Will you sail Costa again?

[tomml]

Hi Kenhel,

 

I was planning on posting a review but don't seem to have the time to put all my thoughts down due to time constraints so I will attempt to answer some of your questions.

To preface my comments, my wife and I have a somewhat different philosophy of cruising. We feel that we experience each cruise with very limited expectations. Our major objective is relaxation away from the phone, etc the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. With that thought in mind, this experience on the Fortuna definitely met our objective. We had a great time of accomplishing our goal.

 

The comedy show was a late night experience of a comedian/impressionist/singer that was great. This show was Vegas like entertainment. The Fortuna dancers/singers were good also. However their shows were not blended as I would have expected of a professional group. The shows went from one theme to another and to another. They did a great job. It is just that the shows did not flow correctly. For example, one evening the show went from an acrobatic duo to Scottish dancing. It seems that they just added things to add additional time to their shows.

 

The afternoon tea was just an extension of late lunch. I have experienced tea on other lines that were sit down events with excellent service and ambience. On Fortuna it was just different types of sandwiches/desserts.

 

We were in San Juan on Christmas Day evening. Most of the town was closed. There were one or two eating establishments open and a few stores. We choose to walk about. We sat at the beach across from the municipal center, which turned out to be our private beach. I have been to San Juan in the day time. Experiencing El Moro, the fort, is fun.

 

We went to St Marten, instead of St Thomas. We have been to the Islands many times so we choose to take a cab to Orient Beach that is on French side of the island and spend the day enjoying the water and the sun.

 

The casino was good to me. I played Black Jack a few days. There was two to three tables open. The ones that had the low minimum had players playing that really did not know how to play so I stayed away from them.

 

The food was typical Italian fare. I think that as the cruise industry get larger and cruise lines need to fill cabins, they need to cut costs and food seems to be one of the cost cutting measures. I have been on many cruises in the past ten years and seem to notice that food has gone from excellent to adequate. Fortuna did a good job of preparing food in mass quantities. We had lobster one evening and king crab legs another. The meats were adequate- nothing to rave about. The service was good. Other lines had much better personalized service.

 

All in all the cruise was good. It met our objective of relaxation. Pricing was a major factor in picking this cruise and line. It is somewhat a step up from MSC. I am undecided if I would choose to sail this line again. If the itinerary was attractive to me, I might.

[BooBooMonkey]

Which Itinerary? Did you go to Tortola and Nassau also? If so, please tell us what you did there.

Which cabin did you have, and how was the service by the cabin steward and service in the dining room?

How were the public areas, such as the pool/Lido, bars, and buffet restaurant? Which dining room and what seating did you have?

 

Thanks!

[Kenhel]

Did you watch any movies while onboard? I hear there is a charge of ~$9 pp to watch.

[big traveler]

We were not impressed with the food, especially the breakfast at the buffet. Most of the hot foods were cold. The shows were very entertaining except for the female comedian the first night. She should have stayed home! The ship is quite nice, except it is hard to find your way around since a lot of the levels did not go from one end to the other.

What was surprising to us was the total lack of hand sanitizers at eating places or any other place on the ship. We have been on 2 MSC cruises and would rate them a little higher than Costa. Neither of them in our opinion compare to Holland America, Celebrity or NCL.

[workermom]

Could you please tell me if yo were allowed to bring on board ship bottled water, soda or wine?

 

Thank you,

 

Workermom

[millineumwoman]

worker mom - yes u were

[VABeach]

I just got back from this cruise also. It was my first time cruising Italian style and all I can say is: I had such a great time that I just traded in my summer cruise for a week in Venice! Need I say more??? :D

[abitaturbodog]

VaBeach--Wow!! That's Amore!

 

I had so much fun on my Mediterranea cruise last week that I traded in my Carnival cruise for one on the Fortuna. I know it's not quite Venice, but I wanted to play too!

[Slippery when wet]

I just got back from this cruise also. It was my first time cruising Italian style and all I can say is: I had such a great time that I just traded in my summer cruise for a week in Venice! Need I say more??? :D

 

Hi!

 

Hoping for some help with shore excursions, we are leaving Jan 13th! on the Fortuna and still have not made up our mind! We are family of 4, with 2 kids age 14 and 18. We don't want to be too stressed out running around watching the time at every port and are trying to watch money .

 

Heres what we were thinking of doing after reading for 2 hours everyones reviews:

 

San Juan; seems to be a bit of a bust by most accounts, ok to just get off the ship and walk around a bit just to check it out.

 

St. Thomas : the ulitmate island tour sounds like it has something for everyone.

 

Catalina Island: This is completely free correct? - beach day, can buy snorkelling stuff if we want....is the food free as a ship quest?

 

Casa De Campola....only one thing to do, the show sounds good.

 

Nassau- here is where we are stuck! Is the Pirate tour lame for bigger kids? the submarine, sounds like alot of money for what it is, according to the reviews.. perhaps Tiki Island snorkelling? My daughter 14, really wants to try snorkelling.

 

Looking forward to hearing what you thinK!

Thanks!

Also....what to wear underneath the togas? They give us sheets apparently?

[BambiRumsey]

Hi slippery - I just did this Itinerary Dec 16th so I'll try to answer some questions.

 

1. San Juan - we did not get off the ship here but my in laws did. Old Town is just a few blocks off the pier and they said they found some nice little cafes to sit and listen to local musicians and did a bit of shopping.

 

2. St Thomas. In laws also did ultimate island tour. Did indeed cover a lot of stuff. Stopped at Magens Bay for a while too to let folks swim. You are responsible for own transportation from Charlotte Amalie back to ship ( a few bucks in a cab). The Snorkel Adventure to Coki Beach is a great trip for beginners. Nice soft sand beach with a slow decline into deeper water, no waves to speak of, lots of fish to see. Our 8 year old really impressed us with how brave she got as the day went on....

 

3. Catalina Island is a private beach excursion. You will be the only people there. Beach chairs and umbrellas are plentiful. Snorkel gear is available for rent on your costa card for $8. Lunch is provided by Costa in a large pavillion (think the lido buffet but only on land). There will be bar service on the island also charged to your costa card. Other activities like water tubing and shopping I believe are cash based. Best snorkeling here is to the left of the tender pier - between the pier and the rocks.

 

4. The Kandela show is supposed to be quite good but we found we were so tired from a day of swimming and sunning on Catalina that we were happy we had not booked this excursion. If you really want to see a show, maybe try the Flamenco show in San Juan (Latin Tradition I think it is called).

 

5. Nassau. Blackbeards Beach break is a nice beach excursion and not too expensive. They offer a snorkel with stingrays excursion also to blackbeards. If you have never been to Nassau maybe just walk to the straw market and explore a little bit. Since this is the last day of the cruise, we were happy to not have an excursion schedule to stick to so we could pack and nap to have enough energy to get us through TOGA NIGHT!!!!

 

As for what you wear under your toga that is up to you but I have a few recommendations. Yes, they will give you additional sheets and also gold laurel wreaths for your heads. There will be a paper with some ideas on how to tie it. I wore a flesh colored strapless bra under my sheet last year and ended up making my sheet into a strapless empire waisted dress. Just make sure that everyone keeps a pair of white or nude underwear clean for that last night and you will be fine. My mother in law brought her white silk long johns for a little bit of a more modest look. You can wear as much or as little as you like under your togas. When you get the sheets, play around with them and figure out what method of tying works best for you.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!!!!

[Slippery when wet]

Hi Jennifer..thank-you so much for your advice! Very much appreciated I am so glad I stumbled across this site,-completely by accident! Everyone's info has helped sooo much! I wasn't sure what I was doing when navigating this site at first, and left messages everywhere, then forgot where they were and how to find them!! I am so glad to know about toga night! My kids will LOVe that- my son is John Belushi buff and loved the Animal House movie.

[abitaturbodog]

Slippery -- You might want to consider grabbing a taxi in St. Thomas over to Coki Beach. It would be a lot cheaper than the cruise excursion and you wouldn't have to be hearded around like cattle!

 

Coki is a beautiful beach where the snorkeling is wonderful. It's easy to get to and cabs are waiting to take you back to the ship.

 

With the money you'd save from the ships excursion, I'd recommend taking the Sky Ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Charlotte Amalie. We watched the sunset from up there and had a little snack at the restaurant/bar. It was beautiful.

 

The pirate tour in Nassau is pretty bad. Also, you can walk to all of the places that they take you on the tour on your own. We did a walking tour of Nassau the last time we were there. We got the tour from the Nassau Port of Call thread. It was very interesting...and FREE!:D

 

Have you researched your ports at the Ports of Call boards here on Cruise Critic? There is soooo much information on the individual ports there.

 

Good luck!

[abitaturbodog]

I'm attaching some photos of Coki Beach and the view from the Sky Ride....

[Slippery when wet]

Wow. it looks amazing! Thanks for the advice! I am always leary about eating and drinking away from the ship or resorts....The water issue etc...I will take your advice and check out the Ports of call board, I didn't know about it ! What exactly is the sky ride ? terminology or an actual ride in the sky of some sort!! ( I get nauseated on helicopters)

[VABeach]

VaBeach--Wow!! That's Amore!

 

I had so much fun on my Mediterranea cruise last week that I traded in my Carnival cruise for one on the Fortuna. I know it's not quite Venice, but I wanted to play too!

 

Great choice! Much better than Carnival. ;) Actually, since I usually fly solo and have to pay the double occupancy rates, Venice was cheaper than the cruise. Who knew??? Shoulda done this a long time ago.~

 

Slippery, You're talking to a single, diving girl! Can't help too much with the family stuff... but you'll have a great time!

 

BTW, if you think you might be interested in snorkeling, StThomas is the water for you! Amazing. :D

 

Enjoy.

[BambiRumsey]

The sky ride is like a gondola type thing that you see at very large ski resorts (lots of them in colorado).

 

If you have ever been to an amusement park it is one of those little cars that seats 4-6 people and uses a motorized cable system to get you from one place to another.

 

Agreed - on this particular itinerary, St Thomas or St John is THE place to give snorkeling a try. Good snorkeling in Nassau is on the other side of the island with Stuart Cove's and unfortunately you just won't have enough time to get there....

[Slippery when wet]

Hi Jenny, Thanks! Not sure who I am talking to, as I don't know exactly what I am doing 1/2 the time being a newbie on this site! :)

Slippery

[Slippery when wet]

Hi again...thanks for the tips, I am going to look into the skyride thing for sure.

One more question......Towels at the Beach? Does the ship provide beach towels for Catalina? or do they provide beach towels that can be taken off the ship for the shore excursions , or are the room towels ok?

Thanks!

[BambiRumsey]

for sea days there will be towels by the pool. Before port days, your cabin steward should put the appropriate number of beach towels in your cabin for the next day that you can take off the ship. Ones by the pool are blue, ones you can take off are green.

 

If for some reason they don't get into your cabin the night before, just give a call to guest services and some will be brought to you.

[VABeach]

Hi Jenny, Thanks! Not sure who I am talking to, as I don't know exactly what I am doing 1/2 the time being a newbie on this site! :)

Slippery

 

We're all newbies once! You'll have a great trip. This is an awsome site.

 

I highly recommend going to the Roll Call Forum and chating with the people you will be cruising with. They should have a little get together scheduled and you will get to meet everyone.

 

It really makes for a much more friendly cruise as you will get to know, and then meet in person, people you will see all over the ship, in the lunch room, in the elevators, on shore excursions. It's always nice to see friendly, familiar faces and you can get started on it right away. :)

 

Enjoy.

[getta]

We're all newbies once! You'll have a great trip. This is an awsome site.

 

I highly recommend going to the Roll Call Forum and chating with the people you will be cruising with. They should have a little get together scheduled and you will get to meet everyone.

 

It really makes for a much more friendly cruise as you will get to know, and then meet in person, people you will see all over the ship, in the lunch room, in the elevators, on shore excursions. It's always nice to see friendly, familiar faces and you can get started on it right away. :)

 

Enjoy.

 

If you go over to the roll call for your cruise, you'll see that I've posted 3 or four times but people don't seem to be interested in getting to know one another or just busy, I guess. I'm traveling with my DH and another couple. We'll be diving in each of the ports. Have a great time. It's been our experience that there are no terrible cruises. Georgetta