Schlinger

Thanks a lot, Greg! That doesn't seem to be very different. I merely noticed scallops on the Elite menu... And lots of upcharge stuff on both menus. Dom Pérignon is a bit steep at 250 (under 200 on Carnival a year ago). And the "tomahawk" is fassona piemontese 😕 Overall, the benefits from member status or suite bookings seem to be on the light side, especially if the priority boarding remains theoretical.

Maria, have you had a chance to look at the Bellavista menu? I'd be curious to know how different it is from the regular MDR.

I didn't realize Chinese people like steak. Always thought they favored chicken feet and the like. But then again, I have never been to China, so that's probably a stereotype. You wouldn't happen to have (or know of) an image of the available upcharge steaks on the Toscana, would you? In any case, thanks again for the write-up. I found it especially interesting that you could by the required clothes for the mosque visit. A combination of western marketing and eastern tradition of sorts. Flexibility added on top of inflexibility. Made me smile

Well, that's disappointing, isn't it? I only saw on Costa's website that they have a restaurant for suite guests; I didn't realize it is just a dedicated section of the MDR. I'd feel cheated if I had booked a suite and found the setup to be this. As for the lack of priority em- and debarkation, that's one of the things I'd book a suite for, especially if there are tender ports involved or lots of people on board. But then again, I try to avoid that type of cruise, especially during school holidays. Which makes that 3 week cruise from Europe to Dubai in November I'm looking at look better by the minute.

I think most American foods are very good, even if they're usually high calorie. I always gain weight when going to the USA. What I don't like that much about their food is that often times, even dishes that are savory contain sugar, sometimes significant quantities. With pork meat, that's actually not bad taste wise, but I really don't like sugar in things like beef stew. Or sauces. Peanut butter and jelly is something that I wouldn't even try. Sugar, fat and starch. I'm fat enough as it is - why the hell would I eat something like this ? Something else I absolutely abhor about American food, or more precisely drinks, is the tendency to drink out of paper or plastic. I refuse to drink out of paper and plastic. On my first cruise, I learned that drinks on the pool deck are served in plastic or cardboard to avoid injuries from broken glass. While I applaud the precaution, I haven't been back to the pool deck for drinks, ever. Drinking out of plastic or cardboard is something so disgusting I keep wondering how people have come to accept it. The cup becomes slippery from the condensation or too hot to touch (don't even get me started on those flimsy handles they sometimes have or used to have) and has a distinct wet cardboard odor. Horrible stuff.

Nice blog. Good to see you making up for your wife's veganism by getting that tomahawk steak! More seriously, do you remember where it came from ? When I sailed on the Firenze, most of the beef in the steakhouse came from Australia, which is usually a much leaner cut than I like. I suppose Costa have the same supplier for all their ships, so I'd assume the choice would be similar on the Toscana. Looking through the venues, I don't see a steakhouse on the Toscana. Is that correct ? This was an upcharge in the MDR if I remember correctly what you wrote on your blog. Much better than a steakhouse, I suppose, when your wife would rather eat the cow's food than the cow itself ;-)

I sailed with Costa once and get promotion emails from them occasionally. Right now, they have a 75 year Costa promotion with discounts on 75 different cruises. Last month, they had a number of discounted cruises as well. The new promotion started right after the old one finished. Unfortunately, the cruises they discount are usually not the ones I'm interested in. What I like is warm weather and new ships (I don't really care how old they are, but the older Costa ships don't have enough dining options IMHO), so the Mediterranean in March of the fjords, even in June, is not for me. I'd freeze to death before reaching the buffet for the afternoon focaccia.

Cruised on the Firenze last year. Great ship, too bad Carnival took it. In terms of recent ships, that leaves the Toscana and the Smeralda. Regarding the loyalty program, reading through the perks, the thing that immediately stands out to me is that there seems to be little incentive to get a higher status: the most significant perk, a 10-20% price discount, is available immediately after joining. "Exclusive" products and services with a 50% discount are also for every loyalty program category. As are birthday cakes and other minor perks. What silver, gold and diamond members get that the others don't get is a free bathrobe, a second towel, a free pizza and other insignificant things that your cabin steward will happily provide in exchange of a tip. The only things of significance for higher than bronze status I have seen in the program are a dedicated restaurant and priority em- and debarkation. Not worth the thousands you'd have to spend on cruises IMHO.

That's an easy one: Mont Saint Michel is a world heritage site and Paris is a rat-infested city, with the garbage men on strike. When the strike eventually ends and the city gets (more or less) cleaned up, it's always easy to fly in if you insist on experiencing the "Paris syndrome".

I saw that shop and you're right, you could take anything from there on the ship (Pride in May this year) as the security check took place before that. I didn't realize that you were allowed to do this, and neither did I know that this was also the case for other European ports. They did check my backpack in every other port, but never asked to see the bottles (of water) i was carrying in it. I guess this explains that. The problem I see with this is that you'd have to finish a whole bottle of liquor in one week as it's impossible to take back with you on the flight back. I'd drink a nightcap before bedtime, but drinking in the cabin alone sounds pretty sad to me (I'd probably buy bourbon and my wife only drinks wine and pre-dinner cocktails).

I think Carnival took 2 of the newest ships from Costa because it allows them to increase capacity / compensate for the scrapped ships on the cheap and because they can make more money with American passengers who are both more willing and able to spend money. In addition to that, the cruise season is much longer in the Caribbean than in the Mediterranean. Regarding the brand positioning, I guess we'll have to see what pricing they will set: "Costa by Carnival" could mean Italian lifestyle made accessible to American consumers by ironing out some of the incompatibilities. Or it could be an attempt to extract more money out of the guests without much added perceived value, in which case it would fail. I'm curious to see how they will position this brand and what changes will be made.

Often heard that about the lengthy announcements on MSC. What a turn off. That said, Costa didn't do that last month on the Firenze. They had 2 minute announcements in 3 languages about the ship having docked and then another to let people know they can get off. That's it.

I cruised on the Costa Firenze last month and found it to be similar to the Carnival Horizon, even though the Horizon felt smaller. That said, when I was on the Horizon in late 2019, it was absolutely packed and all the pools were full of children. This was my first Costa Cruise and I only ever read bad things about it on (American) websites and (American) social media. Yet all my (European) friends and their families cruised on Costa and liked it, so I decided to try it. As a European myself, there were a few things that I disliked on "American" ships that I liked better on Costa, but there are also a few things that the "American" ships do better. What Carnival should do is keep the stuff Costa does better and change the stuff they don't do as well in order to give their customers a perfect cruise that exceeds all their expectations. I'd gladly point out the details to CCL in exchange for a few complimentary cruises where I could check that they were implemented correctly. 😁

Yesterday after disembarkation, the taxi ride was roughly 25 minutes from the cruise terminal to the Saint Charles train station. Last month, the taxi hit a traffic jam and it took about 40 minutes. The taxi cost €20 and is available right there and then at the cruise terminal. I looked up an Uber while walking the gateway and it was €22 with a ten minute wait. There's also a bus that goes to the city center for free, but I'm not sure where exactly it goes.

I watched a few YouTube videos about the luxury and "almost luxury" lines. IMHO fares close to (or even over) $1,000 per night are a little too optimistic. I do realize that I pay for a better cabin and better service and food as well as for the fact that there are less other guests on board, but in the post pandemic cruise world I have seen these past two months, this latter point is also true for the mainstream lines, so we're talking roughly 5 times the price of a regular cruise. That's a lot of lobster and champagne :-). It's probably something I'll try some day, during a sale, but right now I'm looking into the "almost luxury" lines like Azamara and Oceania. The "best cuisine at Sea" is a very appealing feature IMHO. The only thing I'm not so sure about is the smaller size if these ships in terms of stability.