CoupleUK

Start with the controversial one lol. 

YC in Europe used to insist that you did not tip extra (they may still say that). 

Americans love to tip so you guys just go ahead lol

We allocated just 100USD between us for a 2 week cruise - 70 will go to our waiter as we always have the same one for the whole cruise and 30 goes to asst waiter. 

That's it. 

We've done Splendida, Meraviglia and now on Seaside in YC. Bounisimoaiden voyage next month. 

It's great to try new ships - even the b2b were now on gets boring with exactly the same shows on. 

So, try a new ship BUT accept that there will always be your favourite ship - and that may turn out to be Seaside after trying Mera. 

Sorry not much help really lol

After all that, we prefer YC on Seaside so far. 

One word of warning - the last 2 sailings have been inside YC cabins and on each the noise during the night from galley or crew staircase has been really loud. 

We were on seaside as it passed the stationery Bliss. 

The thing we noticed was a total lack of any lights from cabins - none. 

The top deck and other deck lighting were on but not even a balcony light. 

So we thought perhaps a partial power loss. 

Duplicate 

A thread I started earlier seems to have been deleted too - no idea why as lots of sensible discussion

OK the Asian Restaurant is included - it is next to teppenyaki which is not included. 

Food in Asian was OK but nothing special and we wouldn't go back. 

Portions were tiny (I've had better crab cakes frozen from the supermarket). The main course mahimahi was very small and dessert choice was really poor. 

Having our server wipe down the table with strong smelling bleach after the main course did not help. The waiter complaining about previous evening guests was poor too. 

Stick to butchers cut. 

You have the two in tepanyaki (might be under two different names) - the std dinner and the "show dinner" 

Std is included - well it was when I booked it yesterday for tonight. 

I will know in 1 hour lol

YC dining staff will ask if you have a preferred dining time each evening - but it is only a guide to estimate demand. You can still go in when you wish. 

While it is correct that YC has mostly tables for 2, there is in my opinion a huge difference in what a table for 2 actually is. 

A table for 2 which is 6 inches fr the next table is NOT a table for 2.

Butchers cut, seafood, tepenyaki at least

It's a 3 course full dinner.

Its the same dinner you get when you buy the 2, 3, 4 etc speciality dining packages. 

We did Butchers Cut last week and you aren't going to leave hungry. 

If you don't like any of the dishes listed, you can choose anything else off the menu for 50% off that dish. 

It is a great perk for Black Card even just to eat in different surroundings. 

Were on a B2b so in the tepenyaki restaurant tonight. 

Currently on second part of b2b so on the strange port time itinerary. 

To be honest, we seldom get off cruise ships these days - far too many appalling yet expensive shore tours. 

We always go YC now - even in an inside cabin as balcony rates getting too expensive. 

YC excellent yet again. 

Do wish MSC would sort out the cabin bathrooms as sitting sideways on the toilet is a nightmare lol. 

Also for anyone overweight, I would suggest putting a bath towel in the sink and lather it up with soap. Then hang it on the wall inside the shower, camber in and just twirl around. It's the only way to wash inside the 2ftx2ft cubicle. 

With the Intenditore package you have a choice from 2 dry white wines, 2 red wines, prosecco and champagne by the glass at each bar. So, if your drink of choice is red wine then you better hope you like one of those being offered.

There is a larger choice within the restaurant (which you will wait ages for and nobody will remember the next evening) or the wine bar (but that has very limited hours).

If you are content with that limited choice then you will be fine - if you don't like any of the wines they serve at the main bars then your Intenditore package soon becomes worth less than you thought it would be.

 

as it has been mentioned - we've had prawns/shrimp on board Costa and MSC now and every time they taste terrible - there is little flavour and to me they taste powdery and dry.

Is it just me? Have they been frozen too long? - there must be a reason for it.

I love them but cannot order them now as I know it will be a disappointment.

Yacht Club EVERY time - prices are rising so we "make do" with an inside cabin now - but the whole experience is fantastic (OK so the cabin is ridiculously tiny and the layout is frustrating BUT the whole experience makes up for that)

Like you, we love Celebrity but prices are just ridiculous now - though TAs are great value.

Hi Dan

Yes, I did see the "beer bar" and popped in to see the various unknown brands on draft and by the bottle.

I would have given it a go - but my wife would still not have got her preferred wine (unless we kept running back/forth to the wine bar). I have never been on any cruise line with such a restrictive choice - I would have been seriously fuming if we'd paid for the drinks package separately (obviously we did within the cabin price but it's psychologically less noticeable that way lol)

I was going to go in there for the football one day - as there wasn't anything else to do - but, after the whole Costa experience I guess I fell into the mindset of the crew - and I just couldn't be bothered.

Oh well. only 11 days until we fly to Caribbean for a 14N B2B aboard MSC Seaside - the smallest cabin at sea with (I kid you not) only 2 drawers and one tiny wardrobe for storage BUT I know we will get a far superior level of service.

Just finished our 7 night Christmas Cruise aboard Costa Diadema.

I wish I was in better shape, as I could have ran away from the awful experience even faster than I managed.

This was our 41st cruise and our 7th aboard an italian line - and it was my worst ever cruise.

Our Samsara Suite (11005) was one of the largest on the ship - and for the most part it was wonderful. OK so the curtains weren't actually wide enough to keep the daylight out, the only light allowed on the huge balcony were blue fluorescent tubes, the stupidly designed above-bath shower screen slid back and forth at night (requiring the use of a bathrobe cord to tie it up) and the wifi was so poor in the cabin that I could only manage to get 500mb of my expensive 3GB package.

Stewards stored their trolleys outside the door, store rooms and a chemical closet were opposite and an extremely loud flushing system went off every 10 to 15 minutes from before 7am (I think it was a waste system for the stewards - or our neighbouring cruisers had really upset stomachs all week)

The TV billing system did not work - the first charging error of $114 from the Spa. I queried it at Guest Services and was advised that I must go to the Spa to correct it - even though it was their error and I had never set foot inside the spa.........The second overcharge (again by the Spa) was for $210 so I did indeed go to sort it with them. I was advised that I really shouldn't worry about these things and they would all get sorted when they found the issues. Reassuring, not.

We were lucky as our cabin choice came with the Interdore [sp] top beverage package. There was a total choice of TWO different wines at each bar - if you wanted something different you had to wait for dinner or go to the wine bar on deck 5 (after 7pm of an evening as most bars didn't open until then). My only draft beer offering was Heineken (I do like lime in my lager but Costa dont do cordials). Never mind, I could have the world-standard Strongbow cider - erm no, they don't have that either.

I have NEVER been on a cruise with such a limited beverage choice.

I heard someone say Gelato and Crepes were included on the Interdore package - sorry, they aren't.

So, the CLUB RESTAURANT - it actually felt like I was sat in a meeting room - all of the tables lined up in neat rows. Not a table for two in the whole place - unless you consider a 6 inch space between tables as separating them. The Maitre'd (Manager) was utterly useless - there was no organisation/training at all. My plates were removed while my wife was eating. On more than one occasion, the waiters placed new cutlery for my next course and then leant across or around her to lay her cutlery while she was still eating.

The food was nice but the whole ambiance of the place made for a disappointing dining experience. By day 4 we felt we couldn't eat another mouthful of mozzarella or pasta. The choice at mealtimes was embarrassing - we saw a vegetable twice in 7 days (a tiny gathering of 5 runner beans one day and a single carrot on the other).

The buffet restaurant was just as bad as on many cruise lines - a poor selection, not very hot and a game of treasure hunt to compile a meal. Only Celebrity manages to get the buffet right.

You will note that I was careful to mention that we had sailed a few times with another Italian cruise line - so please don't say "oh you must remember you are on an Italian ship" to excuse the really poor quality offer from Costa.

I knew what the shows would be like - but it scares me that someone said Diadema was the flagship so had the best entertainment - OMG I dread to think what the other ships offer. Strangely, the only 2 shows which stood out were ones with a Christmas theme; Im guessing these were put together by the entertainment staff and not head office etc.

But who the hell designed the theatre? The stage is very deep and they do use most of it - which means only those sitting in the centre of the theatre will see the whole show; I honestly believe 70% of the theatre space is useless for its intended purpose. 

There is more I can comment on but - as was suggested to the International Host in the theatre - there isn't much point.

Costa won't be on our cruise list moving forward - and even if they did listen to guests and implement changes, they will still be years behind the competition.

Thank You for the time you take to reply Tenpin - it is a very quiet board so your help is invaluable.

I have read a few of your posts and you are 90% supportive of Costa but do get fed-up with constant changes (don't we all) lol

Have you sailed with MSC yet?

Worth taking a look - especially when you use their Status Match scheme as most will go in on the highest Black Card level - its worth it for the free 1 night in one of the speciality restaurants, the free bubbles, fresh fruit, choc coated strawbs and a nice solid chocolate ship each to take home as gifts lol.

You do get 5% off sailings, with the voyagers section offering from 5% to 15% more off certain sailings (so that is 5%+15% off whatever the current advertised price is for some sailings)

IF you can do Yacht Club (even in an inside) then definitely worth it.

NOW I am panicking - not good with the cruise being just 1 week away.

Is there not full service dining in the Club restaurant? - a full menu offering?

If the choice (and I use the word very loosely) of main courses is limited to two dishes and I have to select food from a buffet I might as well go to the main buffet to eat.

We know we're not going to get a Celebrity-style cruise, but we've done enough with MSC now to appreciate that things will be different on Costa - Im not sure "self-catering" is what I had in mind though.

Not expecting too much as this board is very quiet, but hopefully get one or two ideas.

We sailed Costa once before many years ago so essentially this is a first-time sailing for us.

So, compared to other cruise lines, what should we expect from Costa and Diadema?

Best bars?

Any hideaways from the crowds?

Best places (free) to eat?

....that sort of thing

Weve sailed Celebrity and Royal so wont be comparing Costa with them. We wont even compare with P&O or NCL.

We have sailed a number of times with MSC (mostly in Yacht Club though).

Please help us to get the most out of this cruise.

PS do they dress the ship for Christmas?

We were VERY loyal to royal but wouldn't go looking for a cruise with them any more - OK so we did Navigator 3 times this year but those were charters and we'd have gone whichever line or ship it was.

We LOVE Celebrity - but waaayyy too expensive now.

Lured by the incredible Status Match at MSC, we went straight in at the highest Black tier - much to the upset of loyal MSC cruisers (and I do understand why).

We took our first MSC cruise in a Balcony and in the main dining room - it was "ok" but nothing special. The nightly shows were appalling and just rehashed efforts every night of what we had seen 2 nights previously. It is fair to say we were not "wowed" by MSC.

Problem was - we don't do things by halves and had booked 3 MSC cruises and couldn't easily cancel - we were dreading those forthcoming cruises.

HOWEVER, we had totally different experiences to that first MSC encounter.

We now try to book with MSC whenever we can - and we cruise a LOT.

Yacht Club is our No.1 cruising choice. Prices are rising so it's usually an inside cabin for us if we want the YC service. TBH I would probably sleep in the lift to enjoy everything Yacht Club - it is truly an amazing experience.

We do like OUR space and time on a cruise so being down with the masses of loud Italians is our worst nightmare - YC takes us away from all that.

Sadly, MSC customer service and their website are so annoyingly amateurish it has stopped us sailing MSC 100% of the time - we have booked on other lines as I refuse to give them my hard earned £££ unless they up their game to get it.

Emails to the UK head dont get a reply from someone who actually cares about his guests - the complaints are just filtered down the ranks to people who go through the motions day in day out and have little interest or authority to change anything.

If I treated my guests in the way they do, I wouldn't have a business left.

If you can work your way through all the issues and niggles, then choose YC and enjoy a great cruise - just dont expect shore side to do much if you need to raise any concerns later.

Thank You for the reply - I am hoping that the Samsara is included but wont get my hopes up - I just hope we can get a decent table for 2 that isn't crammed in next to another with just 6 inches separating them (ie Royal Caribbean/Celebrity)

We've started to do a lot of cruises on MSC - but only in Yacht Club (prices are increasing so we have to make do with an inside YC these days) - the service, space and food quality is FAR superior to any cruise line we've been on in the past 10 years or so.

Thank You for your helpful post.

I was a bit concerned that Id read somewhere that the Samsara Suite did NOT include the Samsara Restaurant any more and that it was a purely pay to eat now ??

What are the shows like? - Im guessing very similar to MSC as its Italian - lots of opera vocalists and nothing really making sense lol basically the same group of acts rehashed each night.

39 cruises (mostly) enjoyed so far - this will be our 2nd on Costa after a 10 year break.

What can we expect from our Diadema Samsara Suite (11005) by way of perks?

Any recent menus or drink lists please?

Any helpful suggestions on how to get the best out of our Costa cruise.

We are sailing at Christmas in the Med

Having a nightmare trying to login to the Royal website again.

Have the previous issues been sorted or are they still ongoing?

TY

I was definately on 160 before the latest cruise.

The reason I know is because we are so close to D+ so I was monitoring our cruises.

The funny thing is that we dont think Royal cater for our needs any longer and book elsewhere.

I just want what we are entitled to - even if the hassle ends up driving is farther away from sailing with them

We took advantage of the Status Match and gained Black in Voyagers Club.

We immediately booked 3 cruises with them.

We HATED that 1st cruise and looked at ways to cancel the others.

I am so glad we didn't !!!!

Once you adjust to the format of people joining/leaving every day (ie muster drill daily for new arrivals), the multi-language announcements and the increased noise (mainly) from groups of italian families then you will be fine.

We have now enjoyed five MSC cruises, have another booked for November and then three booked for 2019 so far.

You can enjoy 3 cruises with MSC for the price of 2 with Royal. Drinks are MUCH cheaper, internet is cheaper and excursions are cheaper too.

If you can find a deal the go Yacht Club and you are unlikely to want to cruise with anyone else again.