Where has all the Costa cruisers gone?

Lol I have really woken you guys up.

I had no idea that people chat on FB about the cruises in the same way they do on CC. I have looked at a few bits on FB but have no intention of sharing my cruise experiences there. Now after their debacle about the USA election even less so. Maybe I am naive and the same goes on this forum.

I know some people put photos of themselves and their family on CC. I have put some on of my cats but no intention sharing any other information about myself. You all know my first name. I have no problem with that.

So how the blazes to you search for info on FB anyway. Here I can at least type in what I am looking for and sometimes I find it.

May I have one of the original Bisque Kewpies as my price please?

Alicat

Last FB Roll Call, we had 150 members and about 30 regulars. The same CC RC was dead as a doornail. Peeps tend to pair off even before the cruz...age, geography, common interests and instant messaging. We pretty much hooked up with 3 other couples and did a lot together.

 

So how the blazes to you search for info on FB anyway. Here I can at least type in what I am looking for and sometimes I find it.

 

May I have one of the original Bisque Kewpies as my price please? NO!

 

Alicat

One simply types in the name of the ship in the top box and it`ll bring up all the RCs and groups about that ship. Costa rarely gets any roll calls going.

Last FB Roll Call, we had 150 members and about 30 regulars. The same CC RC was dead as a doornail. Peeps tend to pair off even before the cruz...age, geography, common interests and instant messaging. We pretty much hooked up with 3 other couples and did a lot together.

Hello Alicat

Me and my husband are still cruising with Costa.

Trying out Victoria on 6th May from Savona which is our favourite starting point. 7 days cruising in premium balcony cabin with drinks package for £500 each is not to be sneezed at! We love our Diamante perks so will be continuing to cruise Costa as long as we are fit to travel. We usually fly to Milan then take the train to Savona where we enjoy 2 nights in the Darsena Hotel. It gets us into the Italian mood before boarding a ship :D

Our last cruise was on Diadema - our 2nd time on her. We like the ship but dont like the disruption of passengers embarking and disembarking all the time.

We hate the budget cuts that are so obvious, but its Carnival policy so not just Costa who are affected. We havent been on a P&O cruise for a few years, but last time on there we werent impressed.

We have to do a MSC cruise this year to keep our Black status, but havent found one that can match Costas prices. We like MSC, but my Carnival shareholder benefit gives me extra obc with Costa making it a better deal all round.

Im hardly ever on here as I thought everyone had deserted the forum. ;)

Caryl

How are Costa NeoRiviera, Victoria and Fortuna for long 4 week cruises?

How would you compare them?

Are there many grand production shows?

Do they have different shows/entertainment every night for 29 nights?

Hi Caryl

Welcome back. Last time you were around you were doing house renovations and had a couple of cruises lines up.

I would also like to hear about the Victoria. We were on her in January and they were sprucing up carpets and stuff. All and all not impressed with the ship. It was an amazing cruise though.

Drsel, not quite sure why you post the question on this thread. Also you asked similar questions in the past and I thought we answered. I am not sure that any of the ships you mentioned do such long cruises. Note even the repo ones. The Victoria currently does a 7 day cycle in the Med. The Fortuna is still in the far east but I noticed coming back at some stage. The Neo-Riviera is also doing Med 7 day cruises. I think she might then go to India or do the Seychelles/Madagaskar circuit. There might be others that can confirm.

I am pretty sure if you such extended length cruises on any line there will be repetition.

Alicat

Hi Caryl

 

Welcome back. Last time you were around you were doing house renovations and had a couple of cruises lines up.

 

I would also like to hear about the Victoria. We were on her in January and they were sprucing up carpets and stuff. All and all not impressed with the ship. It was an amazing cruise though.

 

Drsel, not quite sure why you post the question on this thread. Also you asked similar questions in the past and I thought we answered. I am not sure that any of the ships you mentioned do such long cruises. Note even the repo ones. The Victoria currently does a 7 day cycle in the Med. The Fortuna is still in the far east but I noticed coming back at some stage. The Neo-Riviera is also doing Med 7 day cruises. I think she might then go to India or do the Seychelles/Madagaskar circuit. There might be others that can confirm.

 

I am pretty sure if you such extended length cruises on any line there will be repetition.

 

Alicat

Alicat, you are the Costa expert. How would you compare these 3 ships, Victoria, Fortuna and neoRiviera ? Are they similar? Are the shows, entertainment and activities the same or different? Why I am asking, is because I want to know if I should do all three or would it be repititive?

You know very well that there are plenty of negative reviews on Costa, hence I am concerned. Also wondering if it is worth doing all three ships.

Sorry for pestering you and thank you for all your help and advice!

Hi Drsel

Not quite seen myself as a Costa expert, just a regular(as in lots of times) Costa cruiser with no experience of other lines.

1) The ships are totally different sizes and lay outs.

2) The entertainment will change depending which ship you are on because the theatre sizes vary. The shows(we don't often go) will be different because of the artists they have on board. They do not have the same broad way type shows running all the time. In fact , they don't have Broadway type shows at all. There will be singers, dancers, magicians/illusionists and often some sort of an acrobatic theme. There is always a staff show as well.

3)Activities depends on the animation team. They will have outside activities, exercise classes and trivia inside. Then there are dance classes with the latin group(usually)

4)Sometimes there are enrichment talks about some of the ports(not that often that I have seen). Sometimes there are Italian language classes.

5) The lounge shows will vary to a degree. There will usually be a guitar group, a pianist, a band/or more and there might be singers. None of the above will be static in my experience.

I have not been on the Fortuna for a very long time. The Victoria was still in the far east when we went but the entertainment was definitely European orientated. The Neo-Riviera has a very small theatre and I honestly cannot remember what the entertainment was like.

licat

They've all gone to MSC!

Hi Drsel

 

Not quite seen myself as a Costa expert, just a regular(as in lots of times) Costa cruiser with no experience of other lines.

 

1) The ships are totally different sizes and lay outs.

2) The entertainment will change depending which ship you are on because the theatre sizes vary. The shows(we don't often go) will be different because of the artists they have on board. They do not have the same broad way type shows running all the time. In fact , they don't have Broadway type shows at all. There will be singers, dancers, magicians/illusionists and often some sort of an acrobatic theme. There is always a staff show as well.

3)Activities depends on the animation team. They will have outside activities, exercise classes and trivia inside. Then there are dance classes with the latin group(usually)

4)Sometimes there are enrichment talks about some of the ports(not that often that I have seen). Sometimes there are Italian language classes.

5) The lounge shows will vary to a degree. There will usually be a guitar group, a pianist, a band/or more and there might be singers. None of the above will be static in my experience.

 

I have not been on the Fortuna for a very long time. The Victoria was still in the far east when we went but the entertainment was definitely European orientated. The Neo-Riviera has a very small theatre and I honestly cannot remember what the entertainment was like.

 

licat

I used to love Costa. Loved the fun -- the animation team, the talent/toga nights, Mr. Pizza, etc. I also thought they had the best music and dancing at sea. We took two, sometimes three cruises on Costa every year, mostly from FL, but a few times we flew to Italy to take Med cruises or a TA. However, the Caribbean season was cut short, the travel agents didn't like to work with Costa, and no more good deals were to be found. The final straw was the change in the Costa Club points. We lost our Gold status, even though we were on Costa every year. We have since been on several MSC cruises -- the Italian style is there, but still not the same as the old Costa cruises. We miss them.

I used to love Costa. Loved the fun -- the animation team, the talent/toga nights, Mr. Pizza, etc. I also thought they had the best music and dancing at sea. We took two, sometimes three cruises on Costa every year, mostly from FL, but a few times we flew to Italy to take Med cruises or a TA. However, the Caribbean season was cut short, the travel agents didn't like to work with Costa, and no more good deals were to be found. The final straw was the change in the Costa Club points. We lost our Gold status, even though we were on Costa every year. We have since been on several MSC cruises -- the Italian style is there, but still not the same as the old Costa cruises. We miss them.

I have only been on the MSC Divina, but four times. They have a large dance floor. Three of the four cruises had excellent music and good dancing. The last cruise had a band that played a lot of hard rock type stuff. Nobody was dancing. We asked if they could play other music, but they were unresponsive. It was disappointing. There is an animation team, and there were some fun events, but again, not as fun as the Costa games. The food is similar to Costa -- OK, nothing special. We have always had good service on both lines. The MSC shows were better in general, but at least in the Caribbean, they do cater more to the American audiences than Costa does. MSC matched our Costa points (as they do with any other cruise line -- I don't know if this promotion is still going on, though), and as a result, we are at their top tier. That was a huge bonus.

MSC Divina the dance floor (Black and White lounge?) is tile. The furniture was the most uncomfortable I have ever seen on a cruise ship. I also found the quality of the music varied with the group. Costa remains the best for dancing I have ever found.

It is very lonely on the Costa boards at the moment. I have been sneaking a peek at some old threads and there used to be so many Costa cruisers.

 

Has just about everybody jumped ship?

Alicat

Hi there I am still aboard heading on Baltic cruise on Magica in July ! You are right though it's very quiet on here at the moment ;):confused:

Hi there

It is good to see a different name. By the way I also like Campari.

You will love the Baltic cruise. We did it a few years ago on the Luminosa. Talinn was lovely-DIY, just walk and you are in the town. We did a 2 day St.P tour with Alla. It was amazing and extremely good value. They book you with others in max 16 people. We were the only ones from Costa. All the others were from a Princess ship. We managed to get off the ship very early and quickly. Walked around Helsinki and enjoyed the market. Ho-Ho in Stockhold. Not great, make other plans if you can.

Alicat

My goodness! I have managed to wake a few of you up.

 

I have only been on Cruise Critic for a few years now and to me it looks very active in general. I love looking at other cruiser's travels and photos. Where has everyone gone if they are not on Cruise Critic?

 

I disagree with Ron about the blandness. If you look at itineraries they are just about the same for all the lines in the various areas. I think the exceptions are the Far East cruises. Look at the Med, all the lines go to the same ports-East and West. Fjords, ditto. Baltics-ditto, Caribbean-the same places.

 

We've been on a Baltics cruise and it was great. It would not be one that I would repeat. I am not keen on the really cold weather ones so Alaska and even the Fjords I am not sure about.

 

It is a pity Costa does not do many new itineraries. Having said that we enjoyed our India and Singapore cruises immensely. Both American Coasts would be great.

 

Now , I would like to know how one manages to pierce your right hand with a garden fork. I think he is fibbing. MinL did it. Own up Ron, that's what has happened is it not.

 

Alicat(Riana

Hi can you tell me if we have to get visas as doing Baltic cruise in July with Costa and not sure what is required for St Petersburg as we will be there for 2 days thank you

Hi can you tell me if we have to get visas as doing Baltic cruise in July with Costa and not sure what is required for St Petersburg as we will be there for 2 days thank you

Good luck.

Alicat

Sent from my SM-G965F using Forums mobile app

Hi there

 

It is good to see a different name. By the way I also like Campari.

 

You will love the Baltic cruise. We did it a few years ago on the Luminosa. Talinn was lovely-DIY, just walk and you are in the town. We did a 2 day St.P tour with Alla. It was amazing and extremely good value. They book you with others in max 16 people. We were the only ones from Costa. All the others were from a Princess ship. We managed to get off the ship very early and quickly. Walked around Helsinki and enjoyed the market. Ho-Ho in Stockhold. Not great, make other plans if you can.

 

Alicat

We're looking forward to our Baltic cruise ,we've been to Tallinn and Helsinki before but not to the other ports of call we just need to find out about visas for St Petersburg :)

If you book a tour the visas will be included. Not sure about the ship excursions. I won't try DIY in St Petersburg. I think I mentioned we went with Alla tours. Have a look at their website. They have all the info there.

 

Good luck.

 

Alicat

 

Sent from my SM-G965F using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the info we are there when the world cup semi final is on so my other half is keen to be ashore if at all possible in the evening after we've done our daytime sightseeing not sure if you would know if this is possible :)

Hi

There were evening trips with the same company. Ballet and such. Suggest you email the company you decide to use and check whether they are taking people to the football.

Just a word of warning. Both days are jam packed seeing stuff and you will get back to the ship absolutely dead tired after the first day. We just had a shower , supper and bed if I recall because the next morning was even earlier.

Riana

Hi

 

There were evening trips with the same company. Ballet and such. Suggest you email the company you decide to use and check whether they are taking people to the football.

 

Just a word of warning. Both days are jam packed seeing stuff and you will get back to the ship absolutely dead tired after the first day. We just had a shower , supper and bed if I recall because the next morning was even earlier.

 

Riana

Thank you Riana for all your help we will make further enquiries as suggested. Belle :cool:

Good luck!

Riana

we booked on Victoria inovember round india ocean cant wait, somewhere different , been on costa few years back was great fun very lively