2020cruiserider

2 hours ago, Italian_Cruiser said:

 

Re: school canteen, definitely Colombina and somewhat Meneghino are the most 'canteen' like restaurants.

Hairdryer is the common hairdryer you can find in cruise ships - in my balcony cabin was located in a drawer below the small desk in the main room.

 

 

Buffet: chaotic as usual in Italian ships, food choice is ample but the portions are made by staff behind the counter so it feels less as a buffet than usual.

 

I suspect that the lamb will be served in your assigned dining room.

 

There are 2 different time slots: an early and a late slot - rugantino and arlecchino slots are 15' later than meneghino and colombina. On your embarkation day you will find an hour slot in colombina to change your assigned MDR, depending on availability.

 

Hot water only in buffet, during opening hours.

 

The checks are always done at the port and never on the ship, so I guess the attention towards food is lower.

 

 

Yes, they were similar. Correct: antipasto, primo, secondo, cheese and dessert.

Food was never super hot but I would not say cold. Service (at least in the rugantino) is not one of the fastest.

Never seen a plate being sent back.

On lunch there are half MDRs offering full buffet and the other half a mixed experience with mains a la carte and appetizers/dessert buffet style.

Thank you very much! I plan to board at 4pm on embarkation day to avoid any crowd. I should just go straight to my room guess it should be ready by then right?

Does buffet close early like 20:30 for other Costa cruise I read online?

Is it cool onboard indoor? Thinking if I should bring a thin sweater for indoor while I have thick coat for outdoor?

Reserved a wine tasting session (but they don't allow me to choose the date) I'm guessing it might be in my MDR too.

Hi Italian_Cruiser, thank you for sharing all the info as trip advisor ones are all for Dec sailings and quite negative (for first few sails I assume it's chaotic). I'm completely new cruiser and would like to seek some advice!

Is the buffet still chaotic? Is there a lot of food choices in buffet?

I reserved a lamb rack meal for my 5th night, do I need to reconfirm with reception once onboard which restaurant I will have it in?

What's the dinner times for MDR? Is it difficult to change onboard?

Where could I get hot water for free? (Assume no kettle and fridge in cabin)

Is embarkation security tight for every port? I usually bring a thermal bottle with water with me and some snacks, worry that they might prohibit these.