Costa Cruise lines??

My wife and I just signed up for a 29 day "re-positioning" ship cruise aboard Costa 'Deliziosa"....a really wonderful trip, in print, and I think pretty inexpensive so far. HOWEVER, after booking this, I am checking out a lot of blogs, Cruise Critic, etc., and NOT FINDING a lot of compliments or favorability with this Cruise line? I am hard pressed to even SEE this company on any of the rating blogs? Can anyone give us some information, especially if you've sailed with Costa (now Carnival I think?)

We don't sail until March 2018, so have plenty of time.

Thanks to anyone that can shed some light with this.

Best regards,

Miawtaw

:)

There is a Costa forum her as well as the review section

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138

Some people like them other do not just like any cruise line

I think more Europeans prefer Costa than North Americans it may be a different onboard experience

JMO

We've done two cruises with Costa, and enjoyed them very much. The parent company is Carnival, but in my opinion, they are very good at letting their subsidiaries retain their own personalities.

Have you cruised with any other line? If it's your first cruise, that's probably a good thing, because Costa are not quite like any other line. If you've cruised with other lines, then keep an open mind and celebrate the differences.

In general terms, Costa can be very good value for money. Their drinks package is a bargain price, and even their cheapest cabins are usually a very generous size. I have read complaints about the food, but we found it very good. They tend to serve more slow-cooked meat dishes, and fewer huge steaks.

Because they attract a variety of nationalities, you may find that announcements on your cruise are made in several languages. They made announcements in six languages on both of our cruises, but we were in the Mediterranean.

They also did a lot of interporting, where quite a large segment of passengers finished their cruise in many of the ports where we called, and others embarked in their place. This can help embarkation and debarkation be less of an ordeal, as the numbers are smaller.

We opted for the cheaper method of booking, which meant that we got a guarantee cabin, and no choice of dinner seating. We were travelling with two other couples, and somehow got assigned to different dining rooms. The Maitre d' was able to fix this problem for us after the first night.

The other quirk of Costa that causes complaints is their short hours in port. Check your itinerary and see if this is going to be a problem for you on your cruise. Some itineraries are better for this than others.

We found their entertainment to be top-notch, with a huge variety of live music played in the many lounges every night, and they happened to have the best Beatles tribute band I've ever seen, at sea or otherwise, as one of the main shows.

I hope you have a great time on your cruise. If the price and itinerary were right, we'd happily give Costa another go in the future

Costa ships are very similar to Carnival ships - even the cabins are similar in style and size. They also have a spa which is similar to Carnival ships with the thalisotherapy pool and thermal suite. The Deliziosa even has a 4D cinema like the Carnival Breeze. IMO, I would not worry at all about going on this ship. The only possible downside would be the port times, so DO check that out.

There is a Costa forum her as well as the review section

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138

 

Some people like them other do not just like any cruise line

 

I think more Europeans prefer Costa than North Americans it may be a different onboard experience

 

JMO

Thank you sincerely for your informative reply....We'll go there to view.

We've done two cruises with Costa, and enjoyed them very much. The parent company is Carnival, but in my opinion, they are very good at letting their subsidiaries retain their own personalities.

 

Have you cruised with any other line? If it's your first cruise, that's probably a good thing, because Costa are not quite like any other line. If you've cruised with other lines, then keep an open mind and celebrate the differences.

 

In general terms, Costa can be very good value for money. Their drinks package is a bargain price, and even their cheapest cabins are usually a very generous size. I have read complaints about the food, but we found it very good. They tend to serve more slow-cooked meat dishes, and fewer huge steaks.

 

Because they attract a variety of nationalities, you may find that announcements on your cruise are made in several languages. They made announcements in six languages on both of our cruises, but we were in the Mediterranean.

 

They also did a lot of interporting, where quite a large segment of passengers finished their cruise in many of the ports where we called, and others embarked in their place. This can help embarkation and debarkation be less of an ordeal, as the numbers are smaller.

 

We opted for the cheaper method of booking, which meant that we got a guarantee cabin, and no choice of dinner seating. We were travelling with two other couples, and somehow got assigned to different dining rooms. The Maitre d' was able to fix this problem for us after the first night.

 

The other quirk of Costa that causes complaints is their short hours in port. Check your itinerary and see if this is going to be a problem for you on your cruise. Some itineraries are better for this than others.

 

We found their entertainment to be top-notch, with a huge variety of live music played in the many lounges every night, and they happened to have the best Beatles tribute band I've ever seen, at sea or otherwise, as one of the main shows.

 

I hope you have a great time on your cruise. If the price and itinerary were right, we'd happily give Costa another go in the future

You are too kind....THANKS so much for this great review...nice to know. We are "psyched" about this first cruise, and just want it to go well, especially now that it will also be our honeymoon !

Best regards,

Miawtaw

:)

Costa ships are very similar to Carnival ships - even the cabins are similar in style and size. They also have a spa which is similar to Carnival ships with the thalisotherapy pool and thermal suite. The Deliziosa even has a 4D cinema like the Carnival Breeze. IMO, I would not worry at all about going on this ship. The only possible downside would be the port times, so DO check that out.

THANK you so much for your kind and prompt reply. We are getting more comfortable now, with the favorable replies we are receiving. It has since become our honeymoon trip so we just want it to go really well.

Best regards,

Miawtaw

:)

You are too kind....THANKS so much for this great review...nice to know. We are "psyched" about this first cruise, and just want it to go well, especially now that it will also be our honeymoon !

Best regards,

Miawtaw

:)

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Be sure to let Costa know that it's your honeymoon, they should do some nice things to help you celebrate.

there WAS that LITTLE incident a few years ago ......... which left a cloud over the line

btw ... just recently the 'dismantling' aka scrapping of COSTA CONCORDIA was completed

http://gcaptain.com/costa-concordia-dismantling-completed-in-italy/

this link can point you to others with pics of the lift and movement of the wreck ....

We have been on 4 Costa cruises. Costa is the Carnival of Europe, the most popular.

On our 1st 3, I don't think Europeans knew Costa was doing the Caribbean. There weren't a lot of Europeans on board. On our 4th cruise we didn't leave port until 7:30pm! At 6:30pm we saw two buses full of passengers arrive! They were from the Costa flight from Europe.

When you go to the dining room for breakfast or lunch, you are asked if you'd like the menu in French, English, Spanish, Dutch or Italian! So, announcements are in more than just English.

Again, on 1st 3 they had toga night. Everyone got sheets and directions on how to make a toga for that night's party. A LOT of people made togas- I did twice. Some people came with togas, didn't have to make them from sheets. It was a fun night. On our last cruise they still had it but you had to go somewhere to get a sheet and not that many had togas that night.

This was the 1st ship ( done 100+ cruises) that it was hard to smell the smoke in the casino.

They also had games with the passengers- not on a stage but in a big lounge- that was so funny, every one laughed!

I actually told a lady in the elevator, with 50 year old high school french, that I didn't speak french in french, when she turned and spoke to me in French.

We did have fun on the cruise though but haven't been back for quite a while.