Costa VS. The Other Cruise Lines

[Pilot70D]

Hello Costa cruisers. I need your help. We have sailed on Princess, HAL and Celebrity and are now considering a Costa cruise.

 

Specifically, how does Costa compare to these other cruise lines in the areas of food, service, cabin comfort and size?

 

We are both divers and therefore are quite active. We aren't unhappy with our previous cruises but we do want to try a different cruise line. Any and all information will be greatly appreciated.

 

Everyone have a great day out there.

[carribeansol]

We have sailed Carnival, NCL, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Costa. At this point in time price is more of a deciding factor in our cruise selections than anything. We are not picky but we do expect good service and value for our money.

 

Food: We like Costa better. The pasta is to die for.

 

Service in dinning room: Princess first then Costa, Although Costa was outstanding.

 

Rooms: Hard for me to compare as we did an inside for 4 on NCL and insides for two on Princess and Royal Caribbean and have always had a balcony on Costa. Costa's balconys are nice size and with a lot of storage. I would give Costa the edge on room service.

 

Shows: All had better shows than Costa. Language was never a problem in the shows on Costa. Yes, you get 5 languages or even more depending on the passengers but it was never a problem. Our last Costa cruise the shows were so bad we walked out on 4 out of 7.

 

Activities: Depends on the ship. Newer NCL and Royal Caribbean ships have much more than Costa. There is always something to do on both lines. We were never bored, but we are not big joiners.

 

Service over all: Costa

 

Kids programs: NCL/Royal Caribbean Costa seems to put the groups all together even though they state they have different age groups. This was not due to low numbers a we only sail spring break.

 

Alcohol: Costa by far. X1 drink package can not be beat. NCL sends you to the naughty room if you smuggle alcohol. It is easy with Costa. I did not try to take alcohol on any other line.

 

Spa: They are all equal. Last time on Costa the therapist was making deals to give you free massages if you bought a product of the same price. They were VERY SLOW and she made more money on the product than the massage. This may have been an isolated thing as my friend did not experience this on the same cruise.

 

Passengers: Costa has many more international passengers whose customs are very different from us (Americans). Many view them as rude. I have witnessed rude passengers from all nationalities.

 

Ships: Costa has been the CLEANEST I have ever been on. It is hard to compare ships unless you know which two you are looking at.

 

Price: Cost brought me to Costa and continues to draw my attention. We have sailed 4 in a balcony for $2500 or less each time during spring break. They run kids sail free often.

 

I would be happy to answer any specific question I can. I have only sailed in the Caribbean so anything specific to Europe I really don't know.

 

No matter what line you end up on......keep an open mind. You are on vacation!!

[mountainmare]

I'll follow the same format.

We have sailed HAL, Celebrity and a long long time ago one RCI and one Carnival. We prefer HAL. At this point in our traveling life we choose by itinerary, then consider service and price. We picked Costa because they were sailing the Med in the winter. We had previously sailed Celebrity in the Med in October.

 

Food: basically all mass markets have so- so food. Costa had some very good, some just ok. Our traveling mates didn't care for the different menues--you will not see the typical steak and lobster night. I liked the food, but we have traveled in Europe and I just like the different food.

 

Service in DR: Not HAL or Celebrity, waiters rushed, service not coordinated or polished---BUT--this is the first cruise on any line where we weren't bugged to give excellent scores on the evaluation form. When I mentioned this to our waiter he said they just try to give good service and feel it is wrong to ask for good grades (he got very good grades from us)

 

Rooms: We had a basic veranda cabin--the nicest on any line in terms of size, storage and layout.

 

Alcohol: the X-1 is great, I drink wine and love sparkling water. I liked the program as much for the water and soda as for the wine. No problem bringing wine back from port (but this is also true on HAL)

 

Spa--our traveling mates had a nice massage and enjoyed the spa hydro pool day

 

Ship--remember--I sail HAL so the decor is Joe Fargus go wild, but the ship is clean and the decor fun.

 

Price--for our sailing about half HAL or Celebrity.

 

Itinerary--Costa sails places at times of the year when others do not. We will sail with them again for the right itinerary at the right price.

 

When we sailed the Millennium to the Med one thing I did not like was that each evening you returned to an American bubble. The food, entertainment, passengers, ambiance etc were the same as on any Celebrity ship anywhere. This was our first cruise in Europe and we missed the feeling that we were across the pond. I liked the difference, I can understand that some people might find the differences in food, languages, customs disconcerting. As long as you understand that this is a European based line catering to many other nationalities you'll be fine.

[arlodog]

Costa can not be beat on price, but I will say it is not our first choice in cruise lines. We enjoyed the ports and would do another Costa cruise if the price and itinerary were what we wanted, but there were parts of it we did not enjoy as much as some of the other lines. We did not enjoy the food, but we are not adventurous eaters either. The food was okay, just not outstanding. The service was great and the ship is very clean and well maintained. If you are interested in a cruise line that is not your typical American mass market line Costa is probably a good choice to try!

[Lineaway]

We were on the Meditereanea this April with another family. It was our first time on Costa. I can say for the most part the prior posts sum up the Costa experience rather well but Costa lacked for us and was the least enjoyable of all our other cruises.

 

We have been on NCL 3X, RCL 2X, HAL 1X, and have a Celebrity cruise booked for Jan. I follow most of the cruise boards on here and I read alot on Costa before we booked it so I thought I knew what to expect. I looked forward to meeting others from different nationalities and same for my kids. It didn't happen.

 

Costa was the best deal cost wise but only because of the "kids sail free" promotion. Otherwise if just the two of us went they were a bit more pricey than Princess or HAL. So ....... Know your prices. Food is really subjective but for the most part I had no complaints although I thought the Pizza was really bad, soggy, salty and greasy. The buffet was actually very well done. Service was good for us but I heard complaints from others. The ship was modern and well maintained. Our cabin, a balcony, was similar to other cabins we have had. The gym was the nicest I have ever been in at sea. The itinerary was excellent.

 

Sounds pretty good so far but Costa markets to multiple nationalities that creates a language barrier. American, Canadian and British passengers were the small minority. I'd put it at 4 or 5 / 1. Entertainment was really bad, we walked out on just about anything we went to, probably too expensive to find good entertainment to appeal to so many different cultures and languages. We actually were bored at night. The kids club was more like a small room with a couple babysitters, our kids didn't want to go. Information on activities or general directions were often conflicting or confusing.

 

If you search some of the reviews, comments like 'the passengers/crew were rude,' come out more on this line. I disagree, I didn't think anyone was really rude but everyone pretty much kept to themselves which was a major difference over our other cruises and greatly impacted our choice to avoid Costa in the future. If you think about it, the ships staff would have to be able to converse in multiple languages just to deal with everyone. No small task. On other cruises we would be out on our balcony as the ship would leave a port. Everyone else out on their balconies would be talking back and forth. Kinda like a neighborhood get together. Not so on Costa. I didn't see any of that. Same with standing in line or sitting in the dinning room for Bfast. Besides an occasional smile or nod nothing. Again, these people weren't rude they just kept to themselves. We were with another family but didn't stick together all the time.

 

To sum up, Costa does alot of things different, not wrong but different. Costa was just not for us but may be a good fit for you. Just know before you go.

[Morgsmom]

We (DD and myself) enjoy Costa precisely for its differences. I think the food is great, but it is European. I love having free cappucino with room service breakfast. The Magica was fabulously clean, much more so than some of the other lines we have been on (with the exception of Disney which must have invisible people running around folding "points" on bathroom tissue!)

 

I have never been able to take advantage of the kids sail free, but would in a heartbeat if they offered it again. I'd also like their winter sailing out of FLL to last long enough this year to cover Spring Break, but they are not. That being said, we are heading out again on Costa this fall and are looking forward to the "European-ness" of it all while in Europe.

[tdogcruiser]

We had a great deal on the Costa Fortuna last December and really enjoyed our cruise. I thought the International feel of the ship was a big plus, it was quite a different experience from most American lines. The ship itself was more on a par with Carnival ships, darker as opposed to RC's lighter ships. Food was in MHO just mediocre except for the homeade pastas. I really didn't care for some of the sauces though. I would have to say food quality on all mass markets is lacking from what I've seen in the last few years - so this may unfortunately be a trend to save money on all mass market lines. Again, just MHO.

 

The entertainment and cruise director and staff was great, especially the Toga party and Italian night. We had an aft balcony cabin that was very comfortable and we did chat with our balcony neighbors. Found the staff for the most part to be very friendly and accomodating.

 

Comparing this line to Royal Caribbean I would say if the price were better, try it. If price is the same as RC - in my opinion RC would be the better choice.

[Twaincruisers]

It has been several years since we were on Costa in the Caribbean but we enjoyed ourselves. As I remember, the pasta was great but the rest of the food was mediocre at best. We were on the Atlantica which was extremely bright and found the ship itself entertaining. We will be on the Concordia in Nov. and expect a very different experience where we will not be the ones necessarily catered to! A few years ago we had a great time on a Princess cruise in the Caribbean where Americans were in the minority...food choices were different as was the entertainment. It was a lot of fun and I expect the Concordia will be, too.