the wandering two

Our most recent Costa cruise was on Smeralda in Dec '22. Standard fizz at the regular bars was Sant'Orsola, didn't look at any for fee bottles. Smeralda did have Campari & Ferrari bars in which you get their, I would say, better class of sparkling. At the Ferrari bar only, you could get their prosecco brand Bisol 1542, there were Ferrari (traditional method) cocktails included but, for some odd reason, not the straight fizz.

We earned our diamond (therefore elite match) on Royal, mostly great deals on transatlantics, but recently have had way better value on Celebrity. Our last Royal sailing (Jewel Aug 23) saw around 1100 C&A diamond upwards members onboard, the viking crown was given over to Pinacles (200 ish) which left the D lounge for everyone else, so 900 people in a lounge with circa 36 seats! Recently off Constellation transatlantic, way more inclusive, lots of elite events, food better (dont get me started on Royal MTD shambles) greater choice of music and entertainers in lounges & theatre compared to Jewel, a similar sized ship. Lots of folks saying Royal has better entertainment, but they need to compare ship size. Looking ahead, for us to return to Royal it would need to be a destination itinerary, at our price point the older ships are better value but they don't have the quality that Celebrity has.

We're due there January 26th, itinerary 0800-1800, other dates may vary..

We won't find out until September's reposition from Hamburg, Favolosa was our first Costa sailing in 2019.

Hi, we get on the day before in Barcelona. No particular plans, hoping to be wowed by the ship. We just like to wander around, mix of old and new ports for us, maybe a bit weather dependent especially on our repeat ones, not sure if we fancy trying to get to Rome on the train along with who knows how many other passengers given the capacity of the ship. Mark & Heather

Wow, that fish portion is tiny. We're on the TA right after you, thanks for all your posts, it's going to give us a great heads up for Saturday.

Hi, we're on Iona Norway May 11th-18th this year. There's a couple from New Hampshire on the roll call, maybe post a question to them there?

Going on our third Costa cruise this September, a return to Favolosa which was our first in 2019. Smeralda in Nov '22 & loved it, will be interesting to see the differences going back to a more traditional ship.

We've given up on trying to figure out Voyagers club points. Gone through the whole gamut of having minimal status then matching in the good old days when they handed out black/diamond like confetti. Missing points, complained, got some back, points not showing up on one of our accounts versus the other. Bottom line I've got 31300, other half 15000 for the same cruises. As long as we don't loose diamond status (which will only happen if they finally price us out of their product) we don't care about how many points we have.

Have made two booking in the last week, one sailing in Europe (bella) & one from Florida (fantastica) and were given the option to request dining time with both, as the above poster has stated.

Booked World Europa for Jan 24th 2025 on 29th Jan, bella inside, assigned a cabin instantly, still an inside though. Like another poster we were given a handicapped room, midship deck 9.

Hi Heather, Google A Taberna do mar, Portuguese/Japanese seafood, their tasting menu is outstanding. According to recent TripAdvisor reviews the current price is around €35 for ten courses.

Some are already on, booked Eclipse March 22nd Port Everglades to Southampton a couple of days ago, supper cheap plus $300 obc per cabin on black Friday offer.

As you can see from the screenshot the Toscana sailing for next December has the service charge as zero, there are many others too.

The daily service charge is fairly noticeable on the website, great deal regardless. I’ve looked at these sailings many times & quite often the initial enthusiasm is tempered by the lack of a decent price for a single flight home. I have noticed lately that many sailings next year have no mention of service charges, see my screenshot examples. Maybe a new law having to include such fees?

We were on Smeralda last December, probably the same itinerary that you are looking at. We have Sailed many lines including MSC and only once previously on Costa (Favolosa). if cost is an issue you’ll get Smeralda with drinks & tips vs W Europa cruise only for much the same price. Great atmosphere onboard, always something going on, lots of entertainment, never stayed up so late on any previous cruise. The jazz bar in particular liked that when the band took their break, a saxophonist came on & riffed along to a DJ mixing backing tracks. Pure Italy at sea at times, ie organised chaos, food pure Italian vs MSC more broadly Mediterranean. Have to laugh when I read some reviews that complain that they have to pay extra for pizza & burgers, must be the only line that do yet serve beautiful food like frito misto & whole grilled fish as standard. Drink package was so worth it especially as it also covered many drinks at the specialty bars, Campari, Ferrari & Aperol. Found the cocktails were better made than most American lines we’ve been on, as they were less sweet, not loaded with sugar syrup. Central dome on deck 17 has lots of comfy seating, great for a sea day especially in winter. Food is a very decisive subject but we loved it, I’ll let some photos do the talking.

I'm sure the bar tenders would give you a glass of soda water along with your drink of choice. Mio is similar to Robinson's Mini no sugar added squash that we have in the UK.

The deadline for installing the appropriate scanners in order to abolish the 100ml rule is June 2024. Only London City, I believe, has changed with others to follow.

That's because it looks like he bought them in Portland.

And then you get posts from a recent live from by MeganGC1983 showing Guinness at $11?

I don't get the fixation with either rum, check out the added sugar in these, between 20-40g/l, no wonder they taste smooth!

How can you book a cruise without knowing what you've paid for?

That's if they have the availability, no guarantee you'll get what you ask for unless you see it being poured.