BVILady

that is just ridiculous, the itinerary I am looking at is $ 50299.00 per person double-occupancy but $ 113000.00 for single occupancy. Sorry Oceania that is just not acceptable.

Did you start a roll-call for the cruise on MSC-Roll call boards? You might find people to share excursions with. I personally would do ship-tours. We had been in Dubai for 2 weeks and when we did an excursion to Oman the immigration officer on the boarder was very unfriendly, the attitude towards foreigners over there is sometimes scary.

On 11/27/2022 at 4:16 PM, KKB said:

Just a regular gal here.

I do factor in things like drink packages & wifi.

Princess Plus charges $25/day/pp to add drinks, tips & wifi--tough to match that!

Can you provide me with a link to that one? Never seen that and have cruised Princess before.

4 hours ago, drsel said:

One thing in which Costa beats MSC hands down is last minute prices.

As the sailing day approaches, often you get amazingly low fares on Costa, as they try to sell off the last few cabins. No such luck with MSC!

I have to disagree with you on that. In July, the busiest month of the year in the Med we got 3 single Inside cabins for 1 week (Croatia/Greece/Adriatic Coast) including everything, premium drink-package, WiFi for all our devices and service charge for about $ 1000 each. Still prefer Costa food, was shocked at the MSC buffet with all the burgers and hotdogs offered, not the kind of food I am looking for on vacation. And the cream deserts you are complaining about on Costa were all I remember seeing on MSC buffet. We tipped well so had good service, so no complains about the staff at all but don't think I will sail MSC again.

Costa is owned by Carnival. For them to move some ships from the Costa Fleet to the Carnival fleet is most probably because they have lost some Asian and Russian Tourists and cut down on their offered cruises in Asia with recent events. Enjoy your cruise.

1 hour ago, onetimearoundtheworld said:

I just checked the schedule on the Fascinosa which is the same class. Breakfast from 6:30 to 10:30. Lunch from 12:00 to 15:30 coffee and snacks from 16:00 to 17:30 dinner from 19:00 to 20:00 or your assigned MDR time at 19:00 or 21:15. But then you also have pizza from 19:00 to 01:00 and snack bar on the lido deck from 19:00 to 05:00! And the ice cream and crepes bar from 16:00 to 24:00
Sure the last three are to pay but 5€ for a burger, fries and dessert menu or 5,25€ for a classic pizza isn't too bad considering Costas price level and that they often include service charge in the booking. So what you pay on service charge on NCL or RC alone gives you a burger, pizza and ice cream every day.

Other than that it is still costa and their passenger mix in the med is annoying but they pleasantly surprised me. Service has been top and the buffet situation for breakfast and lunch isn't as bad considering there are four stations with the same offerings so you can find a quick moving one. Quality in the buffet actually one of the best compared to other mainstream cruise lines. No fast food but some nice appetizer options and not the usual US based cruise line stuff.

Thank you! Having cruised on lot's of cruise-lines we always liked the food on Costa the most. And considering that the Poster has paid ZERO for the little darlings to be on the ship you would think they can swing to pay for some pizza or a burger. For lot's of people all these food-offerings are too big of a temptation already, like I am wondering how I can possibly discipline myself to not gain too much weight. And remembering the daily news-letter Costa has always offered the most entertainment for kids of any of the ships I had been on. Again free of charge! Concerning bottled water on all the ships I have been on, you had to pay for bottled water and apparently people have been filling up bottles on the buffet-station, which was again a reason to complain. Many people do that, I am not one of them, but that is up to every one.

3 hours ago, cruisenutcol said:

Can anyone recommend a pharmacy in Trieste where I can obtain a RAT test with certificate prior to boarding the cruise.

There are quite a few pharmacies in the Down Town area, I think we did pass two to get to the pharmacy our appointment was at. Check with your hotel to make an appointment for you at one close to you. It went really fast, we were early 9.00 AM, got right in to take the test, went for breakfast and when we got back the print-out was ready. They had told us to come back in 15-20 minutes. Farmacia Ai Due Mori, we went to was right on the Unity of Italy square Down Town in the right-hand corner looking at it from the ocean, close to the cruise-dock. +39040365840

5 hours ago, gennadi said:

As of October 8th, on Costa cruises in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates, fully vaccinated guests will be able to embark without any further tests.

Costa Around-the-World, transatlantic cruises, and generally all cruises longer than 14 nights, require guests to be fully vaccinated and take an antigen test with a negative result within 48 hours of embarkation time.”

Not happy, booked on the Around the World cruise. Would be nice to be able to board and just quarantine for 2 weeks and get on with your life. Had it this summer and was not able to get on RCCL but that was just one week so ok. Was really surprised to test positive, was just like a cold and not even a bad one.

7 hours ago, boulders said:

 

Holland America's supplement for solos is only about 60% for insides and oceanviews on their world and grand cruises. 

That is great to hear, looks like Costa is now also charging double for solo cruisers, so have to look at HAL again.

When you book the  100% alcohol-free (40 beverages) what non-alcoholic drinks are included in that?

"The best of non-alcoholic beverages from the bar drinks list. This package provides easy access to: fruit juices, cold teas, cordials, and non-alcoholic long drinks. Maximum freedom  for you to enjoy or offer to anyone at any time during the cruise."

What I have been wondering the passport does usually stay with the purser on the ship, so do people take their passport with them going on individual excursions? How can you catch up with the ship without the passport?

Traveling solo on the 2023 World Cruise with Costa I have done a lot of research concerning all the ports and decided my best bet will be ship-excursions. Costa's excursions are reasonable priced and I was able to book a package called "My Exploration" which is one full day and 2 half-day excursions and any additional excursions are discounted 25 %. I could not see Viator or Tripadvisor excursions any more reasonably priced and with doing the ship-excursions I know they will wait for me and if for any reason the ship is last minute not docking at the port, I am not paying for an excursion I will not be able to take. Just recently had taken all excursions with MSC besides one where we did a private tour but just because we were able to make more stops but the price was higher then the ships-excursions and  in Corfu we just took the shuttle to town and walked. I usually want to see and experience a lot so the excursions I am taking are not just a trip to a beach.

I want to bring some magnets for the cabin but not sure how to get them to the ship. I think I read somewhere that they cannot be in the checked luggage. But I am sure they should not be close to my computer, phone and credit cards so don't want to bring them in my personal item. Checking 2 suit cases and didn't want to bring another carry-on, just too much to handle, so how am I going to deal with the magnets or can the small magnets go into the suit case?

I had previously read on the board that people did prepay an amount to their account but then had problems with the amount actually showing. I would really like to do a prepayment for my excursions to not have to go online into my bank-account on the cruise to make payments on my credit card. What are your thoughts on that?

1 hour ago, VaTech8912 said:

What did you need to submit to Royal for your Covid positive result?  Thanks much.

The eMed Test result we had received by e-mail.

Costa is already a Carnival daughter, would miss the Italian food and European Atmosphere if they are turned into just another Carnival.

On 9/19/2022 at 2:09 PM, Wansbrough said:

Why do you feel the need to book a ships excursion? Google is a wonderful tool which can put you in touch with many local guides and company's.

I usually research excursions on various sites (the advantages of being retired and having all this free time) and noticed that Costa Cruise lines excursions are really reasonable. For example Gibraltar and the rock is Euro 33.75, could not find it any cheaper on tripadvisor, viatar and so on. Saw on one Luxury liner the question whether a ship-excursion was worth $ 299.00 (forgot where to) what they will be charged extra and I was being charged on Costa less then $ 100.00. Besides not having to pay for the tour if at last minute the ship doesn't dock in the port I also have the peace of mind that if the tour is delayed the ship will wait for me. And being traveling solo the excursions with the ship are easier anyhow. Seeing so many cruisers aimlessly walking around here in the BVI in Road Town from one parking lot to the next because they figured to just wing it is a constant reminder for me to book excursions when on a cruise to SEE the places I am going to.

another reason they have lost so much business to other cruise-lines is that they have come up with itineraries recently later then other cruise lines. Other lines have already World Cruises up for 2025 and Costa has not even any summer-programs for 2024. Due to that for this summer we have booked 2 cruises with  Royal Caribbean since Costa's itineraries were not out and ended up taking one cruise with MSC. I  hope they will catch up and get organized again in the near future. I am not loyal to any cruise line usually itinerary, date and price are the deciding factors for me but am invested in Costa right now being booked for 2 World Cruises so routing for them. 

yes, can't find it anywhere either. Usually they will have a sale when you board, so don't worry too much. Hoping that pricing will only get better with some cruise companies now including unlimited use. I am staying positive 😄😁😄

Even if they do not mention any storage possibilities, get the list of luggage shipping companies and call them up and find out. Not so sure about shipping Australia to Chile, you might need to find an Aussie company.

I had just kept on saving until my retirement days without any exact plan, maybe use the money for a rental-unit or whatever would come up. Had to use some for Hurricane-repairs and building-extension I had felt needed and now I am spending my children's inheritance and they are ok with it. But I am living pretty frugal anyhow, driving a Suzuki jeep and not a Jeep-jeep and cooking at home, love cooking and am comfortable at home don't need to go out a lot. So when it comes to vacation times I can spend my money for whatever I feel like. including all the shopping 😄😁😄in preparation and during.

On 9/21/2022 at 4:44 AM, CruiseCriticAaron said:

One issue I will point out, for English-speaking passengers: I've had every excursion I pre-booked online cancelled due to lack of English-speaking participants. The only ones available are guideless tours and transfers. So it definitely pays to do your own research on what you can do in port, because you're going to be on your own a lot.

wow that is worry-some for me, have booked all excursions on the World Cruise 2023 - will be difficult to replace them with online bookings having to rely on the ships internet. Wondering how the German speaking passengers fare, I could switch to German if necessary. Are there a lot of Germans onboard, or you might not know. In my age and traveling alone the ship-excursions are just making the most sense.

Thank you all again, received an e-mail confirming the refunds are going to be processed.

Had not realized before that crew might leave during my cruise. We don't have any segments during my 4 month+ cruise but I had planned to clear my account monthly, so that might be a good date to also distribute some tips. Thanks for making me aware of it.

I have booked this package for the World Cruise 2023 and am very happy with it, but there had been plenty more destinations to choose included excursions from. On the 2023 Cruise we also got a 25 % discount on all the excursions booked at the regular rate, which came out to quite a lot of savings. Can't read the small print, so don't know whether you have any discount offered on any other excursions.