Thinking of booking Costa - A few Questions

[ShipsInBergen]

I've been looking at the transatlantic on Costa Altantica this september. This price is good and the ports look fantastic.

 

I'm worried from what I've seen about a few things with the Costa 'experience'. I've cruised twice with RCI and once with P&O and enjoyed both. On a tight budget so not looking for 5*, but want a good holiday.

 

So here are the things which come to mind. I tried searching a few of them but there's not much on these boards!

 

- What drinks are free of charge? Can you always get coffee/tea? On RCI they are always topping up your water glass at mealtimes and you can get lemonade and iced tea for no charge.

 

- What are the prices like on aclcohol? Can you bring any of your own onboard?

 

- Is there a steam/sauna provided at no extra charge?

 

- Is 24hr room service included?

 

Thanks. Sorry for all the questions! :rolleyes:

[Il navigante pazzo]

Dear UKcruise88:

I hope you are still checking your post for answers. I have recently completed an 11 day Costa cruise (April 24 to May 5 on the Magica) and can try to answer some of your questions:

The drinks that are free of charge are water, coffee or tea at the buffet and the restaurant. For breakfast at either location hot chocolate (instant) and milk are also available.

Prices of alcohol and of all drinks in general are pretty stiff: 6 euros and up for cocktails, 2.60 euros for soft drinks to all of which a mandatory 15% service charge is added. As far as the rule goes you cannot bring any drinks on board, but only the one on alcohol was enforced on my cruise - I was able to bring on soft drinks without being stopped.

As far as I know there is no free sauna service.

Room service outside of breakfast has to be paid for (and do not forget the 15% service charge).

I plan on writing a review of my trip on the Magica shortly - unfortunately it will not be a very nice one ! On the Magica - out of 3200 plus passengers there were only 27 passengers with English as the primary language making all English speaking passengers a cultural and social minority among the sea of Italians, French and Germans. As I will write in my upcoming review notwithstanding the excellent service the "Costa way" causes no end of annoyances to English speakers on board. I speak Italian like a native (which I was) but 50 years spent predominantly in Britain (4) and the US (46) have also made me sensitive to rudeness, line cutting, etc etc. This was my first time on Costa and, after other cruises I have taken on Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity I would not hesitate to prefer them to Costa by a wide margin. My American born wife is even more emphatic in her feelings about Costa. (Incidentally - both of us visit Italy and Europe every 1-3 years so these answers are not generated by anti Italian feelings !

I hope this catches you before you have totally committed.

[ShipsInBergen]

Dear UKcruise88:

I hope you are still checking your post for answers. I have recently completed an 11 day Costa cruise (April 24 to May 5 on the Magica) and can try to answer some of your questions:

The drinks that are free of charge are water, coffee or tea at the buffet and the restaurant. For breakfast at either location hot chocolate (instant) and milk are also available.

Prices of alcohol and of all drinks in general are pretty stiff: 6 euros and up for cocktails, 2.60 euros for soft drinks to all of which a mandatory 15% service charge is added. As far as the rule goes you cannot bring any drinks on board, but only the one on alcohol was enforced on my cruise - I was able to bring on soft drinks without being stopped.

As far as I know there is no free sauna service.

Room service outside of breakfast has to be paid for (and do not forget the 15% service charge).

I plan on writing a review of my trip on the Magica shortly - unfortunately it will not be a very nice one ! On the Magica - out of 3200 plus passengers there were only 27 passengers with English as the primary language making all English speaking passengers a cultural and social minority among the sea of Italians, French and Germans. As I will write in my upcoming review notwithstanding the excellent service the "Costa way" causes no end of annoyances to English speakers on board. I speak Italian like a native (which I was) but 50 years spent predominantly in Britain (4) and the US (46) have also made me sensitive to rudeness, line cutting, etc etc. This was my first time on Costa and, after other cruises I have taken on Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity I would not hesitate to prefer them to Costa by a wide margin. My American born wife is even more emphatic in her feelings about Costa. (Incidentally - both of us visit Italy and Europe every 1-3 years so these answers are not generated by anti Italian feelings !

I hope this catches you before you have totally committed.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

It seems like what you are saying reinforces whatr I have seen many times on this board - that a Costa cruise is often not a good experience. Luckily (maybe) the cruise I was interested in has sold out. I'm on a waitlist, and at the price being offered I still might go ahead and book with them. It's just a shame that all the little things seem to be extra (and that alcohol is SO expensive :eek:).

 

It's so difficult to decide! Part of me wants to go with Costa and make up my own mind, but a part of me wants to listen to all of the terrible reviews they get here and steer clear, saving money and time. A very difficult decision. Hey, either way, a cruise is a cruise.

[SirBeavis]

I have sailed twice with Costa and just booked a third cruise. I love Costa and have always had an excellant experiance with them.

 

Also keep in mind that people who do have a bad experiance are more likely to post a review than people who have good experiances, anger is a good motivator! I am not saying to ignore their experiance or opinions but take all opinions with a grain of sand (even mine).

 

Plus, no matter how it is you are still on vacation and I find most experiances are more determined by your own attitude.

[6moreyears]

We too have sailed on Costa Two times. We love Costa. We were in the Carribean both sailings. And we liked the International Diversity. The drinks in US Dollars were about $6 - $7 plus 15% gratuity. (We were just on the Sapphire Princess in April and they also charge the 15% on drinks. This is pretty common.) I agree the Beavis, vacation and the right attitude can make it or break it!! Try Costa. We would not hesitate to book them again!

[treesah]

Here's my 2c. We went on Costa last year (Spain, Morocco, the Canaries and Madeira).

Pros: we had 8 American passengers. We connected in a way that I didn't think was possible. We became like family (the good kind). I cherish that experience. Loved the crew. They all spoke English and were very attentive. The cabin was fine. The food was OK, I always found something to my liking. The itinerary was great. We participated in quite a few activities on board and practiced our meager foreign language skills.

Cons: The ship (Classica) was a little too spartan for me. I like more glitz and opulence. Some of the passengers were not polite and there were out of control children (but his can happen on other ships).

In brief: I would go on Costa again if the price and itinerary are right.

[WineDarkSea]

I did a transatlantic repositioning cruise on the Costa Fortuna earlier this spring. I'm still in the process of writing my review.

 

I can only comment on the first question, since I did not use (or attempt to use) any of the other services. Iced tea, hot tea and coffee were free the whole trip.

 

Personally I loved Costa and I would sail with them again any time. I was a bit nervous before I left, based on the bad reviews, but I figured for the price, I wouldn't mind below-average service or food. I should not have worried, because everything was just fine. Perhaps I'm easy to please, but I had no problems whatsoever.

[marybor]

I took the Costa Mediterranae cruise from Savona to Lisbon to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The ship was beautiful and comfortable, the food was fine and we were presented with a lovely cake for our celebration. Our Indian waiters were lovely and pleasant and friendly. There it ended. The officers were very aloof and never saluted us. Our cabin boy was on the make, gave us a very sad sob story, so that we tried to avoid him as much as possible. The passengers, mainly Italians were the rudest ever. Very pushy and greedy. I don't think that I'd cruise with Costa again. I've been to Alaska and Caribbean with Carnival, and though Costa is owned by them, there is no comparison with regard to friendliness.

[keltic]

I. The passengers, mainly Italians were the rudest ever. Very pushy and greedy. ........

 

I do apologize, but I have to disagree with this generalization. I suppose, you mean "some or even many" were pushy or rude. Have you been able to know all the single italian passengers on the cruise, to know they were all rude?. I have cruised many times with Costa, and I didn´t find more or less impolite people, than travelling with other american companies. I have enjoyed some, disliked others, but of course it´s not an umpleasant experience of worse than other bottom line companies.

[marybor]

Keltic,

As I was travelling with my husband, I didn't look out for any 'single Italian passengers'. So I don't know if they were rude or not!!

[mcdermott]

There are good and bad in every race and we should not condem a race by meeting a few

 

I have cruised on ships with mainly American passengers and some have been great some have been awful and I guess thats the way the world is made

 

Standing in line is not a Europeans thing we live in Spain and one of the first phrases we learnt was Its me turno (I think its the same in Italian they seem to understand it) and said in a loud voice usually works

[Scribbler Deb]

Dear UK:

On the Fortuna in April we could get juices and coffee/tea for breakfast free (and wonderful cappucino room service free at breakfast). Other than that, the buffet has free coffee/tea almost all day and ice water but that's really it. We brought bottled sodas and juices from shops on shore and kept them in our mini bar, and we bought the X1 drinks package to have wine and other drinks at meals, because the drinks are pricey.

 

We only used the room service for breakfast because at other times there was a service charge.

 

We had a lovely holiday for the money. I hope you have a good experience too!

[2009verandalover]

Hello UKCruise88,

 

This was my first ever cruise so I won't go on as I had quite a great time all in all but I am not an experienced cruiser.

 

Regarding your spa question, the Costa Victoria does have a free steam room and sauna. You can probably check out the ameneties on your ship quite easily on line.

 

We overall loved the crew, only one person employed by Costa that we encountered was nasty.

 

The food generally was very good, some excellent, some so-so.

 

We were 2 of only 400 English speakers on the ship vs. 2,200 passengers total. That did not bother us in the least. All the crew speak English, some better than others but it worked. The pushy Italians were fine. We were enjoying ourselves so much that the culture differences just added to the overall experience.

 

The only major issue for me was the 2nd hand smoke. That would make me look at another cruise line next time as it seems Costa's smoking policy is quite liberal.

 

Hope this helps. Have a fantastic time.

[GOLDENBONNY]

I've been looking at the transatlantic on Costa Altantica this september. This price is good and the ports look fantastic.

 

I'm worried from what I've seen about a few things with the Costa 'experience'. I've cruised twice with RCI and once with P&O and enjoyed both. On a tight budget so not looking for 5*, but want a good holiday.

 

So here are the things which come to mind. I tried searching a few of them but there's not much on these boards!

 

- What drinks are free of charge? Can you always get coffee/tea? On RCI they are always topping up your water glass at mealtimes and you can get lemonade and iced tea for no charge.

 

- What are the prices like on aclcohol? Can you bring any of your own onboard?

 

- Is there a steam/sauna provided at no extra charge?

 

- Is 24hr room service included?

 

Thanks. Sorry for all the questions! :rolleyes:

 

We love Costa.Is it the best cruise line? probably not,but we are not going to find what wrong,we are going to cruise:DPrice is great, kids sail lfree most of the time.Our firs cruise was on Atlantica,same as you are now I was confused with reviews,but I learn never to trust review:D .

[GOLDENBONNY]

Dear UK:

On the Fortuna in April we could get juices and coffee/tea for breakfast free (and wonderful cappucino room service free at breakfast). Other than that, the buffet has free coffee/tea almost all day and ice water but that's really it. We brought bottled sodas and juices from shops on shore and kept them in our mini bar, and we bought the X1 drinks package to have wine and other drinks at meals, because the drinks are pricey.

 

We only used the room service for breakfast because at other times there was a service charge.

 

We had a lovely holiday for the money. I hope you have a good experience too!

 

 

Drinks are pricey on eny line;)