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Planning our first Costa Cruise (Diadema from Savona, Sept 23)


demoiselle
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Greetings!

 

My husband and I have recently booked an interior room on Diadema for late September. This will be our second ever cruise (our first was in the Caribbean last winter on Carnival Fascination) and I am looking for any advice to make our trip more enjoyable and smoother. I have several questions:

 

1. Hubby and I love dancing, especially tango, though we also dance various other ballroom and social styles. Are there venues we should check out on the ship?

 

2. We have only been on a relatively small ship (900ish passengers). What can we do to take advantage of being on such a large ship and to get the most out of our time in ports?

 

3. I unfortunately cannot eat wheat anymore. I saw on Costa's site that they can accommodate special dietary needs . . . but I'm uncertain how to let them know that I have some. Do I need to do this in advance?

 

4. What are the best smoke-free places to hang out? We don't intend to spend much time in our cabins, and we love to sit out, relax and read.

 

We are very excited to be going on this cruise, though I was nervous booking Costa after reading so many negative reviews. I am hopeful that it will be a good experience, nonetheless.

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Hi

 

We have been on the Diadema 3 times now. The last time was in May.

 

We don't dance but Costa is known for it's dancing. See threads by Dancer Bob. There are a few venues where dancing takes place: 1)Grand bar. It's a fair sized dance floor and they play all sorts of music that you can do ballroom to. 2)Theodora: To be honest not sure what they play there as they start so late that we were already in bed( having said that we were so tired most evenings that we went to bed quite early as they days were hot and long. 3) The Rock bar(not sure what it's called). Not really ballroom music. There is also a small dance floor in the piano bar but I never saw people dancing there. Our favourite bar during the day , early evenings and sail away is most definitely the outside bit of Theodora on deck 5 right at the back.

 

I would say all the ports on this cruise are great and lots to see and do. The itinerary is slightly different because I think La Spezia has been dropped. There is one sea day and sat inside as well as outside during the day. It's a big ship with lots of places to go to. They do various bits of entertainment as well if you are interested. Look in the Diario di bordo. It will be delivered to your cabin in the evenings.

 

I think Costa is very good with helping people who are gluten intolerant etc. A few years ago we were on the Serena and one lady at our table was gluten and I think lactose intolerant and they had special bread for her as well as her own puddings. I think you might have to speak to Costa before your cruise. Have a look at the FAQ's on the website. I am pretty sure there is info available.

 

If you are a non-smoker you''ll be happy to know that all the indoor areas on the ship is smoke free. There is a cigar lounge inside and it's totally enclosed and it will be the only place you will smell smoke and only a little as you walk past. There are dedicated areas outside for smokers and they are usually away from the rest of the passengers.

 

We have only cruised with Costa. The last one was number 13 and number 14 is in September on the NeoRiviera.

 

I hope you have a great time.

 

Alicat

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1. This Costa forum has it's own Dance guru - "Dancer Bob", for him Costa is the bestcruise line for dancing. I will not say anymore as I am sure Bob will pickup on this subject.

 

2. Study the deck plan and familiarise yourself with the ship, take the all inclusive drinks package (includes not only alcohol drinks but also non-alcohol drinks, soda, coffees, water). Read up on the Ports sction of Cruise Critic also tripadvisor to get hints and tips from other travellers.

 

3. How did you book your cruise, TA or direct with Costa. Contact whichever and explain your dietary requirements, once onboard see your Maitre 'D in your restaurant to check up if they have your special needs listed. The Maitre 'Ds are very accommmodating.

 

4. Costa has in recent years really tightened up their smoking policy, there is no more smoking allowed in the ship unless there is a dedicated smoking lounge, outside there are only certain areas where smoking is allowed.

 

Don't worry what others have written about Costa, for me the negative reviews break down into 3 groups:

 

a. Passengers looking for a free upgrade, but didn't get one so everything Costa is rubbish.

 

b. American passegers wanting to experience European culture but go back to an American Bubble on the cruise, this will not happen as Costa is an Italian / European line.

 

c. Passengers with true grievences with problems on their cruise.

 

Costa has about 2 million (2,000,000) passenges , only a tiny perentage write reviews (goo or bad), or Costamust be doing some right the vast majority of their passengers. Also join or start a roll call.

 

Go with an open mind, a full glass, swing those legs and enjoy a wonderful cruise.

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I think the above posts answers most of your questions, so I just add one more ' If it is not in English it does not concern you'

 

You could email info@costa.it 7 days before your cruise they will do their best about informing ship about your dietary requirement's failing that see Maître D roughly 4pm in MDR you sail.

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I see my reputation precedes me. Have you been to any of the Stardust dance weekends in the Catskills? Linda has tried other cruise lines for her winter cruise, but now only books Costa.

What kind ot tango? The Grand Bar floor is 60' long, although only 20' wide, lots of room, you need to be a bit of a contrarian, Costa attracts people who like to dance so it gets pretty crowded at peak times. The music groups are very eager to please and do requests when it's not busy. Teodora and Country Rock are themes, sometimes they're OK, check out the Piano Bar and the Atrium also.

Reviews are only useful if the reviewer has the same standards as you. I was on Deliziosa Transatlantic a couple of years ago, there was a large group of Americans, as soon as I saw them I thought "What are these old geezers doing here, they look like they should be on Holland America" I saw a couple of reviews I think were from them, the only comment I agreed was "lots of dancing", everything else was debatable, misleading, or just plain wrong.

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Dancer Bob, you actually were the one who recommended that my husband and I check out Costa for a future cruise after we returned from our first ever cruise on Carnival. :-)

 

We dance Argentine tango, and really like alternative tango. However, we dance a number of other styles (less well). The opportunity to dance will be much appreciated--we missed that on the Carnival cruise.

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AT is a bit hit-or-miss. One Diadema trip, there was a big Italian AT group on board (Tango Su La Mare, but I never managed to track down the organizer) and I've seen the Cruise Director schedule AT sessions on some trips. But I've also heard some AT people expressing disappointment- I suspect they didn't speak up and let either the musicians or the CD know they were interested in AT.

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4. Costa has in recent years really tightened up their smoking policy, there is no more smoking allowed in the ship unless there is a dedicated smoking lounge, outside there are only certain areas where smoking is allowed.

they still allowing smoking on private balcony, right ?

 

b. American passegers wanting to experience European culture but go back to an American Bubble on the cruise, this will not happen as Costa is an Italian / European line.

 

i cant say it better myself - so true

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have been on over 50 cruises but never before on Costa. We just booked a 28 day cruise from Singapore to Savona for a ridiculously low price of about $1,869 for a balcony-$67 per day. I can endure some tribulation for that price.

 

We also love to dance and are looking forward to that, as well as to exploring few new countries that we have not heretofore visited.

 

How's the food? Can you take wine on board? We will be traveling with 5 other people, all of whom are experienced cruisers.

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You are in for a great experience, even if somewhat different.

 

Costa have a strict no bottle policy which in most cases is enforced. The food is certainly getting back to the old Costa but remains rather limited. On the plus side for 60 Euros extra, you can purchase three meals in the Specialty Restaurants,

Teppanyaki a wonderful Japanese adventure, the Samsara club and Piazza, all worth trying, Menus are printed in English outside MDR's daily.

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Tenpin, I believe you are talking about the Diadema, the previous poster (PunkiC) is cruising on the Victoria.

 

have a great cruise on the Magica.

 

Never ever even thought about the itinerary just the ship (Diadema OP)

Should have known that coming from Singapore it could not have been the Diadema which hasn't been far from the Med since it's launch.

 

Looking forward to going back on the VICTORIA once it has settled in.

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They don't allow any wine at all? That's really weird. Had I known that I may have passed, even given the excellent price. One of the best part so sailing out of Italy is bringing onboard the amazing Italian wine. Singapore, not so much.

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They don't allow wine on for consumption on board, but they will store it for you until you disembark. You will only have one port call in Italy before Savona, so this really only affects your last day of the cruise.

 

As to the food, I always found the pastas to be fantastic, the proteins less so compared with an American cruise line. I wonder if the food will be different from a cruise in Europe since it originates in Asia and most of the ports are there as well.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
We recently returned from our cruise on the Diadema and had a wonderful time! We especially appreciated the live music and busy dance floors.

It's always nice when OPs report back after their cruise, especially if they liked it. Makes answering questions all the more worth while.

 

Thanks

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It's always nice when OPs report back after their cruise, especially if they liked it. Makes answering questions all the more worth while.

 

Thanks

 

Aw! Thanks! I wrote the above message while working, so I couldn't say much, but I think it would be worthwhile for me to come back and answer my own questions from when I started this thread:

 

1. Hubby and I love dancing, especially tango, though we also dance various other ballroom and social styles. Are there venues we should check out on the ship?

 

Most nights, we had no shortage of opportunities to dance and were limited only by how tired we were from walking around all day sightseeing. One night out of seven had rather little music that appealed to my husband, but every other night we were able to dance if we wanted.

 

There were at least five dance floors, three of which we danced on more than once. Diadema had a variety of live musicians and all were (in my opinion) very enjoyable. The best venue for us ended up being the Country Rock club, where both groups played a lot of music we could swing to, plus some cha-cha, rumba, and a couple numbers we could do tango to (they were "alternative" to be sure, rather than classical).

 

The Grand Bar had a very nice trio and a busy dance floor, though there was more bachata and merengue than we liked (since we don't really dance them) along with waltz, quickstep, swing, tango, cha cha and more. Some nights the floor was even a bit crowded--so nice and unexpected!

 

The Project Band in the Theodora Lounge was also very good, and though some of their sets were better for listening than dancing, we got in some tango, swing, and cha-cha at this venue as well.

 

In short, Costa Diadema was a big hit for us in terms of live music and opportunities to dance. We will certainly be doing Costa cruises in the future.

 

2. We have only been on a relatively small ship (900ish passengers). What can we do to take advantage of being on such a large ship and to get the most out of our time in ports?

 

We needn't have worried--Costa dealt with the number of passengers with ease and we were rarely in line for more than a few minutes to get on or off the ship.

 

3. I unfortunately cannot eat wheat anymore. I saw on Costa's site that they can accommodate special dietary needs . . . but I'm uncertain how to let them know that I have some. Do I need to do this in advance?

 

 

I called ahead and informed Costa that I required gluten-free food, and reaffirmed when we arrived and in the dining room.

 

Overall, food was OK but not as amazingly good as when we were on Carnival Fascination. To compare is a little unfair, because when I was on Carnival I could still eat wheat, but my husband tried all my dishes and we agreed about the experience. His food and my "special diet" fare were basically equal in quality, and every night at dinner I had two to three options for the appetizers and main dishes.

 

For breakfast, I had the option of going to one of the restaurants where they would bring up a special plate with gluten-free breads, cookies, cake and pastries. There was also a buffet with fruit and similar fare to what was on the main buffet on the Lido. Hubby found the regular pastries in the breakfast restaurant less fresh than in the main buffet, so I ended up assuming the "risk" of eating some wheat accidentally and had my corn flakes, fruit and cheese in the main dining hall, forgoing the gluten-free breakfast.

 

I also had the option to have a gluten-free lunch on board, but during limited hours, in the same restaurant. We went there only once, during our sea day, because we were on shore at lunch time most days and got back to the ship too late for the restaurant. The time we went we had a nice sit-down lunch, and I had my own menu to choose from. We were pleased with it, but the limited hours meant that I did get a late lunch at the buffet (again, at my own risk of being cross-contaminated). There were enough non-wheat options for me most days.

 

I am wheat-sensitive, not allergic or celiac, so I had more freedom in my eating because all I risked was a bad tummy ache. I think Costa did very well for me, and could only wish for longer hours for lunch so I could have taken advantage of the gluten-free menu more often.

 

Food was the weakest point of the cruise for us, but it was still satisfactory to good.

 

4. What are the best smoke-free places to hang out? We don't intend to spend much time in our cabins, and we love to sit out, relax and read.

 

 

Hubby and I had absolutely no problem finding smoke-free places to hang out, both inside and outside.

 

 

Costa suited me and hubby much better than Carnival did (though we enjoyed that cruise, too). We loved the sophisticated feel, the live music and dancing, and the smoke-free venues. We didn't mind being in the minority as English speakers, and we had no problems communicating with staff.

 

 

Thanks to everyone who

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Glad you enjoyed your cruise! We came to similar conclusions about Costa, liked the fun atmosphere (even though we are not such avid dancers as yourselves), and found the food "OK".

 

Are you coffee drinkers? Costa got me addicted to Italian espresso, I now make it at home and find what they serve in coffee shops near where I live to be decidedly lacking...

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