Celebrity VS Costa

[CruiseGal28]

I was only once on a cruise and that was the Celebrity. I had the best time Was the nicest ship (out of the 1 that I went,) The Best Service, Entertainment & Food! To make a long story short I had the most amazing time.

IT is now time to book another cruise and we are looking at costa (there are a few reasons why I dont have a say which cruise line to go...)

Anyways I am getting very scared that I will be dissapointed in all catagories mentioned above. Is the costa cruise really not as good as the celebrity?

Would love to hear all of your opinions.

[Essiesmom]

Book Costa if the price and itinerary are right, but don't look for anything like the service you had on Celebrity. EM

[wwinfl91]

I will agree with the above poster. These are two very different types of cruise lines. Costa is more a european version of Carnival where Celebrity works hard at a more upscale image. We have only been on each line once. We had our first balcony cabin on the Costa Atlantica because they offered a great price for a 7 day Caribbean cruise. We did a 14 day Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Zenith again because of a great price but no balcony. Celebrity definitely had better food and a more upscale although older ship. The Atlantica was realtively new when we sailed on her and we were impressed with the ship. Generally the service on both lines was perfectly acceptable.

 

Anyway if you get a good price on a Costa cruise give it a try but it probably won't compare well with the great memories you had of your first and only cruise on Celebrity.

 

But first cruises almost always leave good memories and you may find you like the Costa experience.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[CruiseNut7]

We tried our first Costa cruise in March and we will probably never go back - mediocre food at best, lackluster service. There is no comparison to the level of quality and service that Celebrity offers.

 

With that said, my favorite cruise line is Princess - ! :)

[ORV]

As another opinion I would rate Costa above both Celebrity and Princess.

[kitty9]

After many cruises, I would rank Celebrity way above Costa in all areas. If you are looking for a more European experience with a more diverse group of passengers, and all announcements in 5 or more languages, and if the itinerary is what you want, then go with Costa knowing that it won't be near to what Celebrity offered you in terms of just about everything, especially food and service.

[arlodog]

We have never been on Celebrity, but have done RCCL and Carnival in the past and went on Costa last March. We would not go again on Costa unless it was for a specific itinerary or significantly lowest price. We got such a great deal that we were not terribly unhappy, but I just checked prices for next spring and Costa is not that much lower that we would consider booking with them again. The food is very European and not to our taste. There is not as many activites as other lines. The whole family agrees that Costa is just not our style. I have heard wonderful things about Celebrity and you will probably be disappointed if you were happy with the experience. Just my opinion

[Bonnie J.]

I think of Celbrity as a 'country club' cruise. A LOT more men in tuxedos on formal night, the only cruise line we've seen where waiters are waiting to help carry ladies trays during the buffet lunch, etc. (Do they still do that?)

We've been on just about every line except Holland America. We did enjoy two Costa cruises ($299, balcony cabin on deck 9!). But Princess is our favorite- who else has eggs benedict at breakfast buffet, avacados stuffed with shrimp- also buffet!

[boereseun]

NCL Pearl had eggs benedict at the buffet including a variety of delicacies for evry taste finishing with sushi ( not every one taste but included ) their desserts were appaling to say the least, tried them all and except for the choc brownies everthing else :p blaaaaa

[ORV]

My mistake, I meant to say Carnival, not Celebrity. I"ve never sailed Celebrity.

[cruiselover57]

I was only once on a cruise and that was the Celebrity. I had the best time Was the nicest ship (out of the 1 that I went,) The Best Service, Entertainment & Food! To make a long story short I had the most amazing time.

IT is now time to book another cruise and we are looking at costa (there are a few reasons why I dont have a say which cruise line to go...)

Anyways I am getting very scared that I will be dissapointed in all catagories mentioned above. Is the costa cruise really not as good as the celebrity?

Would love to hear all of your opinions.

 

I've only been on one Costa Ship back in 1992 (the now defunct Costa Riviera)! The cruise was fun because of the friends we went with but the ship definitely needed some TLC! Service/food were OK - haven't been back since - they have some nice new ships but I find them to be a bit higher priced than other lines (it could be the time of year I like to go - i.e., Xmas time). We were on Celebrity last Xmas and it was time to give Celebrity a rest! Just wasn't up to par - no A rating that's for sure - somewhere between good and fair to say the least. I'm going on Carnival next month (the Freedom) and then it's back to Princess in December!

 

Laurie

[cruisemom42]

The food is very European and not to our taste. There is not as many activites as other lines. The whole family agrees that Costa is just not our style. I have heard wonderful things about Celebrity and you will probably be disappointed if you were happy with the experience. Just my opinion

 

Can you give an example of what you mean about the food? I'm considering a Costa cruise (Mediterranean, dirt cheap price).....and I think I like European food, but just curious what that means to you?

[Morgsmom]

Can you give an example of what you mean about the food? I'm considering a Costa cruise (Mediterranean, dirt cheap price).....and I think I like European food, but just curious what that means to you?

 

We ARE going on a *dirt cheap* Med cruise this fall and looking forward to it and the food on Costa! We have been on Costa 2x and I LOVED having room service cappucino with pain au chocolat for breakfast and fabulous seafood and Greek salads on the lunch buffet. At dinner our servers would bring plates of chunks of REAL chunks of Parmesean cheese and Prosciutto as starters, Insalata Caprese for DD, the most wonderful FRESH pastas... the entrees were "European" in that they were not huge hunks of meat; they were a little more unusual. The cuts were not standard fare (Osso Bucco, for example) and the fish were more exotic than salmon (which was available every night, as well as your basic chicken and steak.) I never tried the desserts and have read that they are not as fabulous as some of the other lines, but that is not a make or break it for me.

 

In the Mediterranean the itineary is so port intensive that the food is going to be more "fuel" for a busy day, not the highlight of my day :p but I, personally, enjoy Costa's food.

[arlodog]

Can you give an example of what you mean about the food? I'm considering a Costa cruise (Mediterranean, dirt cheap price).....and I think I like European food, but just curious what that means to you?

 

They have pasta dishes between the appetizer and main course (I believe) the pasta is cooked al dente--not to our liking, but I understand that this is the norm and probably the "right" way to cook it. They serve pizza late at night in the lido buffet area. You have to order what is on the menu that night and they won't make anything that is not on the menu that night. It tasted like brick oven pizza (i.e. burnt according to my DD) The seasonings on the food are just different--can't really explain it, just different. Of course the deserts are not as sweet as American food. They do have gelato available in the buffet area that is really good--soft serve. Overall the food is okay, not spectacular but adequate. We never went hungry. If you can get a good deal on the cruise I say go for it and enjoy. We booked because we were able to book a balcony for a little more what we normally pay for an inside on RCCL and it was going to the ports we wanted to visit. If you have cruised other lines and expect it to be the same you may be disappointed. This is a stupid thing, but we didn't even get towel animals. Didn't realize how much they help to make the cruise experience, but that is the kind of thing we enjoy and it was missing from this experience.

[cruisemom42]

They have pasta dishes between the appetizer and main course (I believe) the pasta is cooked al dente--not to our liking, but I understand that this is the norm and probably the "right" way to cook it. They serve pizza late at night in the lido buffet area. You have to order what is on the menu that night and they won't make anything that is not on the menu that night. It tasted like brick oven pizza (i.e. burnt according to my DD) The seasonings on the food are just different--can't really explain it, just different. Of course the deserts are not as sweet as American food. They do have gelato available in the buffet area that is really good--soft serve. Overall the food is okay, not spectacular but adequate. We never went hungry. If you can get a good deal on the cruise I say go for it and enjoy. We booked because we were able to book a balcony for a little more what we normally pay for an inside on RCCL and it was going to the ports we wanted to visit. If you have cruised other lines and expect it to be the same you may be disappointed. This is a stupid thing, but we didn't even get towel animals. Didn't realize how much they help to make the cruise experience, but that is the kind of thing we enjoy and it was missing from this experience.

 

 

Thanks for the reply, sounds like I would like the pizza....Sitmar (the forerunner of Princess) used to have real Italian brick oven pizzerias on their ships just like this and I loooooved them as a young girl and teen.

 

BTW, I've never yet had a towel animal on any of my 14 cruises, and I can't really see what all the fuss about them is..... To me, it's kind of like some hotels leave a chocolate on your pillow and some don't. Either way it's hardly a blip on my radar.

[cruisemom42]

We ARE going on a *dirt cheap* Med cruise this fall and looking forward to it and the food on Costa! We have been on Costa 2x and I LOVED having room service cappucino with pain au chocolat for breakfast and fabulous seafood and Greek salads on the lunch buffet. At dinner our servers would bring plates of chunks of REAL chunks of Parmesean cheese and Prosciutto as starters, Insalata Caprese for DD, the most wonderful FRESH pastas... the entrees were "European" in that they were not huge hunks of meat; they were a little more unusual. The cuts were not standard fare (Osso Bucco, for example) and the fish were more exotic than salmon (which was available every night, as well as your basic chicken and steak.) I never tried the desserts and have read that they are not as fabulous as some of the other lines, but that is not a make or break it for me.

 

In the Mediterranean the itineary is so port intensive that the food is going to be more "fuel" for a busy day, not the highlight of my day :p but I, personally, enjoy Costa's food.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I think it sounds lovely and very much like the food I've enjoyed in Italy. Now if I can just coordinate my business travel to dovetail with that cruise, I'll be all set!