gerryuk

I was booked on the Fortuna from Rio to Barcelona in March. Costa sent me a email saying the ship would no longer be disembarking in Barcelona. I was given the choice to continue with this cruise, get a refund or choose another cruise with obc. I chose to cancel this and take the Costa Firenze from Rio to Barcelona in April. I had already booked the Firenze from Barcelona to Kiel in May so its worked out well as i will now be doing back to Back on the Firenze from Rio to Kiel.

That's not correct, the price shown is for a solo cruise. Did this cruise to Dubai in November and its not that much dearer for this years cruise. And its over 20 nights.

From the UK site, not sure if its on other Costa sites around the world.

Costa Cruise and Drinks offer. On the UK site there is a cruise and drinks offer, so you pay for the cruise and get a free drinks package. I have tried a mock booking with some dates i am interested in, that includes the offer. However when i go through to choosing the cabin it comes up with the usual choices, basic or with drinks package with the cost significantly higher with the drinks package, which rather defeats the purpose of the offer. Has anybody booked this offer?, i am wondering if you book the basic package without drinks the offer will then apply and show the drinks package on your receipt?

In many European ports there is free internet supplied by the actual port. Do ports in America like Miami provide free internet?

Do these vloggers have to get permission to film in restaurants and the public places on board? I think there is a difference in the ordinary person taking pictures and videos for their own use and vloggers posting everything out, in the public domain on the internet. I do follow some of these vloggers at times, however i would think it a bit creepy if they were filming on the next table to me. Can staff on the ships order them to stop filming or is it the cruise lines stance that they are to leave them alone as, all publicity is good publicity?

I did Barcelona to Dubai with Costa in November. We were forever having to hand our passports in to be checked at each port then hand them back into the reception, some ports wanted to check the passports even if you were staying on the ship. It did not help that one of the port calls was in Israel. On disembarking at Dubai no one checked or stamped our passports and we all had problems at Dubai airport. Eventually the authorities at the airport took pictures of everyone's passports before allowing us through to catch our flights. When it comes to customs and passports, always expect the unexpected.

With many cruise lines sailing with 40 - 50% occupancy on their ships, it is no surprise that there are far fewer staff and the cruise lines are cutting back their product, accordingly. I did Barcelona to Dubai with Costa in November and there were 2500 on board. The ship (Toscana) holds 6500. Before Covid, cruise lines were ordering new mega ships thinking that the numbers who cruise would continue to rise, and their profits would rise in line. Today though, its a perfect storm for many lines, far to many cabins and not enough customers to fill them. Many lines tried to entice people on their ships by lowering their prices but still cant enough people to book, now many of them are hiking their prices to get as much money as possible from those who are booking. It would not surprise me if there is more consolidation in the industry with cruise lines merging, many ships heading to the breakers yard and possible bankruptcy's, something eventually will have to give. In the meantime i will continue to cruise, i am doing back to back with Costa from Rio to Barcelona then onwards to Kiel. The flight to Rio from Spain cost more than the cruise from Rio to Barcelona. Unless you are travelling on a luxury line, then lower your expectations, you may then be surprised. Having said that, reading these boards even some of the luxury lines are cutting back accordingly.

Cruises for Singles: offers and bookings | Costa Cruises

Cruises for Singles: offers and bookings | Costa Cruises

Costa always seem to be reasonably priced for solo sailings. I did Barcelona to Dubai in November and it was around 800sterling for a outside cabin on Costa Toscana, that was for over 20 nights. I am doing back to back on Firenze in April, Rio De Janeiro to Barcelona just over 600sterling and Barcelona to Kiel in Germany, again just over 600sterling. Those are for inside cabins. I am in the Costa Club and get a discount (15%), but even so, for me, its well worth it.

If price is a factor cruising solo then consider Costa in the Med.

Dont think Cruise Critic do a Italian language version, so no surprises that these boards are not busy. MSC seem to be a pan European cruise line with many sailings in America so is far more busy than Costa boards. Costa is defenatly a Italian customer based line.

Sorry the above did not come right but you get the drift.

I received this email from them yesterday. Don't know if its country pacific or even for those in the Costa Club. Unlimited drinks and fun! What are you waiting for? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Unlimited drinks and fun! What are you waiting for? Online version Hi Gerald, The Promo CRUISE & DRINKS has arrived and to kick off 2023, what could be better than a cruise from £599 per person with unlimited lunches, dinners, snacks and drinks, all included in the price? Book now, cancellation is free up to 60 days before departure². Your first cruise of the year!

Don't know about Doha , i think it depends on how far the ship docks to the port entrance. I was on Toscana on its way to Dubai in November and the only bus that took you to the city centre was at Abu Dhabi. That was provided by the port and they took you to the Mall in the centre.

Do Americans actually buy mini bar items though, or do they use the fridge to store alcohol that they have brought onboard themselves? On Costa you are not allowed to bring drinks onboard. Personally i never use the mini bar so wont miss, it but i can see why others will want one. Another way of looking at it, it must be good for the environment not to have them?

Just of the new Costa Toscana ship from Barcelona to Dubai. There were no fridges (cool box) for mini bars in the cabins. I believe that all the new Costa ships are the same. You could order a cool pack for medication if required. I would have thought that many customers had their stewards remove the mini bar on day one, particularly if they had kids with them. Considering the number of cabins on some of these new mega ships, the cost of the fridges and the power they required to operate, would i be right in thinking that the mini bar is a loss making part of the cruise lines business?

Not on Toscana. I was in a outside cabin and none of them had fridges for a mini bar, you can order a cool pack for medication if needed.

Have to agree with everything you have said. I was on the Toscana a couple of weeks ago on its way to Dubai. The ship is beautiful, but would hate to be on it if it was at its full capacity of 6500. There was only 2500 on the cruise to Dubai.

Do not give them your luggage the night before. Find out the night before what exit will be used and just go there with your own luggage at around 05.30. You will find that many people go down this route. Taxi to the airport will not be a problem. As long as your flight leaves as scheduled, you should not have a problem.

Take language into consideration. If you travel with a line like Costa, the vast majority of the pax will be Italian, although all the staff speak English. At the present time this would probably not matter to a lot of cruisers, however it is presenting problems. I was on Costa a couple of weeks ago and there were so few English speaking pax on board they cancelled some excursions. One was to Istanbul, not a problem for me as i just left the ship and walked to the main Mosque and Grand Bizzar, Istanbul was a delight on foot from the port, and cost nothing. I will be back on Costa this week from Barcelona to Dubai, it will be interesting to see if any excursions are cancelled on this cruise.

Remember a lot of people including myself have to travel a fair distance to get to the cruise terminal. I live in the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria) and Barcelona is for me my homeport. I would not travel all that way for anything shorter than 14 nights.

Sorry once you have hit the yes or no in the privacy section go to the bottom of the page and hit "save and end"

I received the medical questioner this morning via email from Costa for my cruise next week. Once filled in i pressed "CONTINUE" it then sent me too the Tickets and Transport page. There is the personal info and contacts in emergency which you must have filled in previously. Halfway down that page there is the "privacy policy" just check both of them and go to the bottom of page. I was then able to print off my boarding pass. In My Costa look at the very top of the screen and hit "my cruise" then "tickets and transport" click yes or no to the privacy policy, hopefully it will direct you to your boarding passes, if not call or get Costa to call you.