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Costa Magica Baltic cruise 6/16-6/23 Report


nicksd
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Hello,

 

My family of (7) just came back from 7 days Baltic cruise with Costa Magica, my 9 previous cruises were with Carnival, NCL, Holland, Celebrity and RCL but 1st time with Costa. My family booked 3 guarantee cabins (2 OV and 1 BAL); we all received upgrades to 2 BAL and 1 Suite. The following are my (subjective) observations:

 

We arrived 3 days early in Stockholm and used Flygbussarna (doorto gate) shuttle for airport pick-up and drop-off. The shuttle can take up to 9 people but I decided to book shared transfer instead of private (686 SEK using discount code CHINA vs. 1039 SEK each way). However, we had the shuttle all to ourselves for both trips. If you decide to book with this company, I highly suggest that you download their apps which will allow you to modify pick-up times, add additional pick-up instruction, use check-in feature to let them know that you’ve arrived.

 

The embarkation in Stockholm was the shortest and easiest I have seen, we're assigned group number at the baggage drop-off area. We arrived at 12:30 P.M. and it took about 30 minute f or us to get to the Lido deck for lunch buffet.

 

The ship announcements were in 4 languages which can be very long and annoying after awhile especially if youtry to take a nap in your cabin.

 

Dining room: We linked our booking together but we were assignment separate tables and different dining rooms.I had to come down to speak with Maitre D so we could seat together. The 2nd night, we’re all assigned to different dining room. Water was free for US customers but we only ate dinner at the dining room for the 1st 2 nights since we didn't care for the food. I understand that food is very subjective but I could not remember last time my family decided to skip the dining room dinner all together. Lamb was very tough, grilled fish was so soggy that my sister thought it should have been steamed fish, I only found steak in the up charge menu, the food felt cheap overall.

 

Buffet: The buffet line etiquette is different on Costa where buffet lines can start from both ends as people do not follow instruction, it was normal for people to reach over you to get to the items they want. I found breakfast buffet was comparable to other cruises minus the omelet stations. Lunch buffet was good but the burger patties were not good at all. Dinner was the worse I have seen as the menu stayed almost the same the remaining 5 days we ate there. There was no steak except 1 night and no carving station. Everything was not very good except pastry and desserts. There were TVs in the buffet area that showed live all World Cup games.

 

Debarkation: The debarkation was also the easiest we have seen as we waited until 10 AM to leave the ship but we didn’t really notice any line before that at all.

Port:

 

We use Dancing Bears for our 2 days in St. Petersburg.

 

Other Ports: I decided to share my notes which I copied from some posts here and added some links and details for myself. Hope it helps

 

Stockholm

 

Moovit apps or Stockholm Rail apps

Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Free Walking Tour

Royal Palace changing guards (12:15 every day,1:15 Sunday)-Love marching band on horseback.

Vasa Museum

Under the bridge tour

M/S Emelie (100SEK/day, under 13 free) Hammarby Sjöstad Stop.

From Frihamnen port, follow blue line, cross the street toyour left. Use Visa or Master to purchase ticket. Bus 76 to Slottsbackenstop in Gamla Stan or Djurgårdsbron for Vasa museum

 

Helsinki

 

8AM-6PM West Harbour and Hernesaari LMA (You'll need transport to the centre, about 10 - 15 minutes by ship's shuttle or taxi, and ho-ho buses stop at the cruise port. Centre is the market place, here you'll find boat trips and tram routes and some sights).

 

We took Tram 7 (or 6T weekend/evening) from the cruise ship in West Harbour (quay LMA) there is a bit of walkingas you follow the blue line once you reached the tram tracks you'll see Terminal 1 to the left and Terminal 2 to the right across the street, both about equal long way to walk to. Terminal 1 is the one closer to the city. The tram stops outside the terminals have ticket machines that take credit cards(Visa and Master Card, I assume only with chip) or Euro coins, NOT notes. Länsiterminaali Västra terminalen…………….Stop Senaatintori (Senate Square).

 

Suomenlinna fortress requires taking a ferry from Market Square. The ferry station is right next to the Market square, I asked a vendor and she pointed it out for me.

 

 

Tallinne:

 

Download Rick Steve’s map

Follow people as you get off the ship, there will be lots of people walking to old town, a very easy 1 mile walk. If you have to take taxi 10 Euro is a suggested price.

Free tour : May-September every day at 10:00, 12:00 and 15:00. Show up in front of the Tallinn Tourist Information at Niguliste 2 a little before the starting time.

 

 

Nick

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for posting. We are also Americans just beginning our research into European cruises. I am trying to understand the value and experience for Costa, MSC, and Pullmantur as compared to, say, Royal Caribbean, so I appreciate any reviews. The prices look very good on Costa, but I am having trouble understanding what is included for the basic categories. We would probably expect things to be similar to our recent experiences on Carnival and RC, so not sure whether these other lines would be the right fit for us.

 

Very much appreciate hearing your perspective on your trip.

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  • 2 weeks later...
..... I am having trouble understanding what is included for the basic categories. We would probably expect things to be similar to our recent experiences on Carnival and RC, so not sure whether these other lines would be the right fit for us.......

 

From what I understand, the "basic categories" is like booking a guarantee cabin with food and services similar to other cruise lines as stated here on Costa's web site. One big difference is tap water which will only be provided for guests booking from the US travel sites otherwise you'll have to pay. Other than below average quality of food and very hard bed, everything else is similar to Carnival and RC. We received very good services from Costa crew members. Hope it helps.

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Hello,

 

My family of (7) just came back from 7 days Baltic cruise with Costa Magica, my 9 previous cruises were with Carnival, NCL, Holland, Celebrity and RCL but 1st time with Costa. My family booked 3 guarantee cabins (2 OV and 1 BAL); we all received upgrades to 2 BAL and 1 Suite. The following are my (subjective) observations:

 

We arrived 3 days early in Stockholm and used Flygbussarna (doorto gate) shuttle for airport pick-up and drop-off. The shuttle can take up to 9 people but I decided to book shared transfer instead of private (686 SEK using discount code CHINA vs. 1039 SEK each way). However, we had the shuttle all to ourselves for both trips. If you decide to book with this company, I highly suggest that you download their apps which will allow you to modify pick-up times, add additional pick-up instruction, use check-in feature to let them know that you’ve arrived.

 

The embarkation in Stockholm was the shortest and easiest I have seen, we're assigned group number at the baggage drop-off area. We arrived at 12:30 P.M. and it took about 30 minute f or us to get to the Lido deck for lunch buffet.

 

The ship announcements were in 4 languages which can be very long and annoying after awhile especially if youtry to take a nap in your cabin.

 

Dining room: We linked our booking together but we were assignment separate tables and different dining rooms.I had to come down to speak with Maitre D so we could seat together. The 2nd night, we’re all assigned to different dining room. Water was free for US customers but we only ate dinner at the dining room for the 1st 2 nights since we didn't care for the food. I understand that food is very subjective but I could not remember last time my family decided to skip the dining room dinner all together. Lamb was very tough, grilled fish was so soggy that my sister thought it should have been steamed fish, I only found steak in the up charge menu, the food felt cheap overall.

 

Buffet: The buffet line etiquette is different on Costa where buffet lines can start from both ends as people do not follow instruction, it was normal for people to reach over you to get to the items they want. I found breakfast buffet was comparable to other cruises minus the omelet stations. Lunch buffet was good but the burger patties were not good at all. Dinner was the worse I have seen as the menu stayed almost the same the remaining 5 days we ate there. There was no steak except 1 night and no carving station. Everything was not very good except pastry and desserts. There were TVs in the buffet area that showed live all World Cup games.

 

Debarkation: The debarkation was also the easiest we have seen as we waited until 10 AM to leave the ship but we didn’t really notice any line before that at all.

Port:

 

We use Dancing Bears for our 2 days in St. Petersburg.

 

Other Ports: I decided to share my notes which I copied from some posts here and added some links and details for myself. Hope it helps

 

Stockholm

 

Moovit apps or Stockholm Rail apps

Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Free Walking Tour

Royal Palace changing guards (12:15 every day,1:15 Sunday)-Love marching band on horseback.

Vasa Museum

Under the bridge tour

M/S Emelie (100SEK/day, under 13 free) Hammarby Sjöstad Stop.

From Frihamnen port, follow blue line, cross the street toyour left. Use Visa or Master to purchase ticket. Bus 76 to Slottsbackenstop in Gamla Stan or Djurgårdsbron for Vasa museum

 

Helsinki

 

8AM-6PM West Harbour and Hernesaari LMA (You'll need transport to the centre, about 10 - 15 minutes by ship's shuttle or taxi, and ho-ho buses stop at the cruise port. Centre is the market place, here you'll find boat trips and tram routes and some sights).

 

We took Tram 7 (or 6T weekend/evening) from the cruise ship in West Harbour (quay LMA) there is a bit of walkingas you follow the blue line once you reached the tram tracks you'll see Terminal 1 to the left and Terminal 2 to the right across the street, both about equal long way to walk to. Terminal 1 is the one closer to the city. The tram stops outside the terminals have ticket machines that take credit cards(Visa and Master Card, I assume only with chip) or Euro coins, NOT notes. Länsiterminaali Västra terminalen…………….Stop Senaatintori (Senate Square).

 

Suomenlinna fortress requires taking a ferry from Market Square. The ferry station is right next to the Market square, I asked a vendor and she pointed it out for me.

 

 

Tallinne:

 

Download Rick Steve’s map

Follow people as you get off the ship, there will be lots of people walking to old town, a very easy 1 mile walk. If you have to take taxi 10 Euro is a suggested price.

Free tour : May-September every day at 10:00, 12:00 and 15:00. Show up in front of the Tallinn Tourist Information at Niguliste 2 a little before the starting time.

 

 

Nick

 

Nick............You said very little about St. Petersburg which I would imagine is the highlight of this cruise. Is there a reason? Were you disappointed with Russia?

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Hey nicksd, thanks for posting this! It's really helpful to me as we're planning a trip on this very same cruise for the August 11 sailing date. It seems that you had mixed feelings about your experience. Would you recommend this cruise to a first time cruiser? It's definitely very price friendly compared to other cruises that are available around the same time. I'm guessing because the Magica is an older ship...

 

It's really sad to hear that the food was not to your liking as this is one of the most important aspects of this cruise. Did you pick the premium option which gave you the choice of first and second seating, and does that make any difference in terms of the food you get? Also, you mentioned that you skipped the dining room altogether for certain meals; did you order food in to your cabin, was it at an extra charge, and was there an a la carte menu to order from?

 

Thanks again for a really insightful review!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Nick............You said very little about St. Petersburg which I would imagine is the highlight of this cruise. Is there a reason? Were you disappointed with Russia?

 

I apologized for neglecting the details of our 2 days excursion in St. Petersburg. I sent out emails to several tour companies, and I selected Dancing Bears which offered a private "Two-Day St Petersburg Must See Must Do Shore Excursion" tour for 8 people at $220 USD/each. They were also willing to modify the tour to meet our needs. The reviews were positive.

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with rich history, our tour guide was attentive and knowledgeable. We're lucky to be in St. Petersburg during the World Cup so the city atmosphere could not have been better. The only negative was we ran into big crowds every where we went in the city. We were picked up on time in a new 15 seat Mercedes Sprinter.

Day 1: We tour Upper and Lower parts of Peterhof, lunch (included), Subway ride, Catherine Palace (Amber room), and St. Isaac Cathedral.

Day 2: Faberge Museum, Hermitage, short boat ride, Church of Savior. The kids really enjoyed the Faberge Museum but I wish the egg collection could be more expansive.

I feel that we only scratched the surface with 2 days in St. Petersburg but the private tour gave us the most efficient way to make the most out of our short time there Our tour guide did a great job adjusting the program and communicating with the driver as he always pulled up when we came out of a place.

We were taken to a place for souvenirs for 20 minutes, prices and quality were not great. We were aware that tour operator probable received kickback but there was no pressure to buy anything. If you're interested in matrioshka dolls, I would wait to buy them in Estonia where you can walk around on your own from shop to shop and the quality seemed better as well.

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Hey nicksd, thanks for posting this! It seems that you had mixed feelings about your experience. Would you recommend this cruise to a first time cruiser? It's definitely very price friendly compared to other cruises that are available around the same time.

It's really sad to hear that the food was not to your liking as this is one of the most important aspects of this cruise. Did you pick the premium option which gave you the choice of first and second seating, and does that make any difference in terms of the food you get? Also, you mentioned that you skipped the dining room altogether for certain meals; did you order food in to your cabin, was it at an extra charge, and was there an a la carte menu to order from?

 

Thanks again for a really insightful review!

 

Hi. It's only my opinion when I compared to other cruises in the past. Since it's you first time cruiser, it will be fun as you get to explore the ship and food options.

No I did not have premium option. Makes no difference whether you have 1st or 2nd seating since it's the same menu. I skipped the main dinning room for the dinner buffet.

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Hi NICKDS

Your info re the Baltic Costa cruise was very useful. I am starting my cruise 24 Aug from Stockholm so same itinerary. I would be very interested in your experience of Stockholm and whether it will be convenient to use Krona cash. My Bank does not allow krona to be selected on my cash card so I am only able to purchase Euro. Was thinking of obtaining some cash before I go but not sure how easy it will be to use as I've heard Sweden is going cashless. Also interested to hear about the food on Costa as previous reports were not positive - so appears that little has changed. Looks like I may be on a serious diet as I don't like bad food. I was on Cunard Qu Vic in 2015 and loved my trip and experience so the bar has been set high. Did you book any of the Costa excursions? If so I would be interested to hear your thoughts. I will actually be continuing on with Costa from Stockholm to Milan and note that two of the ports chosen - Harwich and Le Havre don't have much to offer. London & Paris are suggested as the places to visit ( as if anyone would want to spend 4-5 hrs of the day sitting on a coach or train). I realise I should have done more research.

I'm also curious to know if there were lots of families on board and were they predominantly Italian or a good mix of Nationalities. I am a solo traveller so not used to being around families or lots of children.

Did any of your party use the gym (which I assume was free to use) or partake of any other facilities?

 

I would appreciate any comments you can make so I can be better prepared.

Thanks

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Hi. It's only my opinion when I compared to other cruises in the past. Since it's you first time cruiser, it will be fun as you get to explore the ship and food options.

No I did not have premium option. Makes no difference whether you have 1st or 2nd seating since it's the same menu. I skipped the main dinning room for the dinner buffet.

 

Thanks for the response. We've gone ahead with this cruise, figured it be a nice entry level cruise to get a feel for things and then take it from there.

 

Is the dinner buffet available at an extra charge? I could find no mention of it. Is it at the Bellagio restaurant?

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Hi NICKDS

 

Hi Tuibird,

 

.......... Was thinking of obtaining some cash before I go but not sure how easy it will be to use as I've heard Sweden is going cashless.

I was able to get my 3 days pre-cruise in Stockholm without any cash. I paid everything using my no foreign transaction fee credit cards: museum, metro pass, restaurants, street vendors, taxi.... so I had a small amount of Euro with me but I didn't need it at all.

 

.......Did you book any of the Costa excursions? If so I would be interested to hear your thoughts. I will actually be continuing on with Costa from Stockholm to Milan and note that two of the ports chosen -

 

I didn't use any Costa excursion as cruise ship excursion is overpriced and crowded. Since you travel by yourself, it's a great option to use the roll call to join other small private excursion group. You can save money and don't have to be on the big bus with 50+ other people.

.......I'm also curious to know if there were lots of families on board and were they predominantly Italian or a good mix of Nationalities. I am a solo traveller so not used to being around families or lots of children.

There were not a lot of kids on my cruise. I think it really depends on the lengths of cruise and school calendar. Longer cruises tent to have less kids.

 

Did any of your party use the gym (which I assume was free to use) or partake of any other facilities?

No I did not use any gym (my pedometer showed that I walked 7-9 miles per day....good enough for me ;p)

I would appreciate any comments you can make so I can be better prepared.

Thanks

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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Thanks for the response. We've gone ahead with this cruise, figured it be a nice entry level cruise to get a feel for things and then take it from there.

 

Is the dinner buffet available at an extra charge? I could find no mention of it. Is it at the Bellagio restaurant?

 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner buffets are included in the price. Bellagio (deck 9) is where the buffet is served.

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Glad you enjoyed your Baltic itinerary.

 

We did a Baltic cruise about 4 years ago on NCL. Since then I have been a regular on the Northern Europe/Baltics port of call board on CC.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192.

It is the place to get all info on the Baltics and each port of call. I got so much info from this site that I just felt the need to 'give back' and, as I said, have been a regular on that board for years. They have people who basically live in cities where the ships stops and they give out so much great info, it makes doing each port on your own, so easy. Except for St Petersburg, almost every port is very easy to do on your own, and I would highly recommend a private tour in St Petersburg, opposed to any ships tour. We used SPB Tours for our two days in St Petersburg and now there are several other, well respected, tour companies.

 

To this date, our favorite cruise.

 

Cheers

Len

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Costa prices are looking cheap and they are cheap,but you get what you pay for.

I would call costa the discounter of the cruise industry.YOu can have fun but the overall level is quite cheap.I never had any problem with the food they serve in the main dining room,it was the best food on the ship.The buffet is - compared to other cruise lines e.g. NCL - not really competitive.Quality of food is max. average and the variety is very small.

I am surprised that there was abuffet for dinner at all.During my 2 costa cruises (fortuna 2011 and pacifica 2012) there was no buffet offered for dinner at all.YOu had the choice between main dining room or nothing.

For us europeans usually only water during eating times is included as well as breakfast,lunch and dinner.Anything else must be paid extra(service charge,soft drinks,snacks,etc.)

Overall Costa is not bad,it is average quality and service(or maybe a bit below average) for a reasonable price.

 

 

During school holidays there a usually a lot of families on board,depending on the cruise region the nationality varies.

In the mediterranean 60-95 % are italian(rest international), in the baltic area and Norway it is more international.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Hi Nicksd,

Thank you for you responses to my queries.

I have booked a small group tour in St Petersburg so really looking forward to that. Also made enquiries with my Bank and have obtained a card that won't attract fees so all sorted for the non-Euro countries.

As for the roll call - sadly there appears to have been no-one else from NZ who has joined. Guess I will have to wait and see who now joins the cruise.

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