Review Costa Classica 05082008

We returned from our Med-Tour around Spain aboard the Costa Classica last Friday.

It was our 4th cruise with Costa, each a different itinerary, each a different ship.

So far we have been cruising on the Costa Marina towards the Canary Islands and Madeira, Costa Victoria on an eastern Med schedule and the Fortuna in the Caribbean.

Out itinerary :

May, 8th Savona

May 9th Barcelona

May 10th Alicante

May 11th Gibraltar

May 12th Lisboa

May 13th Cadiz

May 14th Malaga

May 15th at-sea

May 16th Savona

We chose this tour for the ports and a good price with reasonable airfare. Being away from home for just 8 days worked for us, as we live in Germany we took our flight to Italy early on the 8th with a german low-cost carrier.

We´ve booked transfer from Milano Malpensa airport to the port of Savona through costa crociere, as that seemed to be the easiest way. Our flight was on time and right after baggage claim there werte costa representatives waiting to tell you where to go and when you would be able to get on the coach to Savona. We were originally booked on the noon transfer to the port but due to our early arrival were able to change to an early bus leaving about 9:45 am from Milano.

Transfer was a breeze and we arrived at the terminal in Savona shortly after noon. Being coral-club-members we were able to exchange our check.in number 9 to a number 4 and were on our way to the Classica at about 12:45.

The Classica is an older ship from the early 90th and we expected to see it´s age everywhere. However it wasn´t as bad as expected. But let me try to take you aboard with me.

As another costa ship was in port that day, too, the Classica was docked not directly at the terminal but a dock away. We were brought there by bus.

My first impression was, that the ship seemed bigger than I expected, however the stern seemed quite closed of, not to many windows there…

To board you went through a tent and no 10 minutes later after the obligatory picture, were we making our way up the ramp to the 5th deck where the entrance was that day. By now it was past 1 pm so we were able to head straight to our cabin, get our costa-cards and the door-keycards, deposite our hand-luggage and were on our way to the buffet-restaurant.

Our cabin was on deck 7, genova, forward, cabin 7023, that can hold up to 4 people. First of all, if you take the floor, it was the biggest inside stateroom I´ve ever had. The bunkbeds are in the wall behind the second bed, not above, so that if these beds are not in use, there´s enough space there to store your suitcases, as there is no space underneath the beds. The closet it not really big and there is only about 50 cm space where you can hang long clothes. The safe is located inside the closet, too and it was the biggest one we´ve had so far, enough space to hold our dslr, a 9” laptop and all other stuff. The tv is a very small old model, situated above the minibar. The desk is just a board under a mirror and the electric outlets are situated at the wall underneath the desk. One American outlet, one European, that didn´t fit all plugs. The cabin was ok but shows definite signs of it´s age.

The bathroom itself is small as usual, a shower with curtain, a toilet and a vanity, a wooden floor. Storage inside the bathroom is very difficult, as there are only boards inside the shower, nothing around the vanity. And you cannot use the cabinet under the sink at that is the only place where you can hang up your towels. Well, lets put it this way, with two people you can make do, with 4 I believe it´s impossible.

The ship has 10 public decks. Deck 3 is home to the hospital. Deck 4 solely a passenger deck with cabins. Deck 5, too holds cabins, furthermore you´ll find the chapel as well as the service desk and tour office here. The desks for the international hosts are also situated on deck 5 midship in what has become an atrium in modern ships but here it´s not much more that a light well.

Deck 6 and 7 are once again cabin decks. Deck 8 is one of the main decks. At the stern there´s the restaurant, that offers open breakfast, open lunch and dinner in two sitting. Leaving the restaurant you´ll step into Piazza Navona the main bar onboard, were live music is played in the evenings and games take place. St portside there´s the conference center while starboard holds the card-room, the library and the internet-café, which was slow as usual. If you continue your way further towards the bow you´ll find the cigar bar and the lower entrance to the theatre. Deck 9 holds the tier for the theatre, the photo gallery, 4 small shops, a nice bar midship which is divided in half by night and is also used as pizzeria, where the non-smoking side is used to eat. If you continue your way past the green stairway you´ll enter the small casino, which was not very well used on our tour, maybe due to so many elderly Europeans were onboard. If you enter the bar at the stern, the Puccini Ballroom, by day you´ll find a quite big room with windows on three sides that allow you to read comfortable, by night, the bar is open, there’s music playing and you can dance.

Deck 10 forwards is home to the suites, no idea, what they look like, deck 10 stern holds the buffet-restaurant which is quite cramped and the Alfresco Café, the outside area of the buffet where you´ll also find the grillstation.

Deck 11 is the pool-deck. At the stern there´s a small pool with deck chairs on 3 floors surrounding it terrace-style. The pool water is pumped up from the ocean daily and is not heated! The bigger pool area is midship, where animation will take place, too. Here you´ll find little shelter to the wind. Deck 11 forward is home to the spa with the gym, two indoor-jacuzzis and one of the nicest sitting areas on board. Deck 12 is a jogging-track which seems to be full of deck chairs so that I believe running might be uncomfortable. Apart from that there´s a small area midship that provides wind-shelter but hold only about 10 deck-chairs and another area of deck-chairs towards the bow. Deck 13 is non-existent ;) Deck 14 hold the Panorama Lounge, by day a well air-conditioned sitting area to read and have a great view over the sea, by night (starting on our tour at 11:30 p.m.) it´s the disco.

There was never a shortage of deck-chairs and bar sevice was provided in all outer areas. We chose to buy a boys-and-girls-card for 46 euro and a water-package for 26 euro so that we didn´t have to sign for every drink but could just hand-over a coupon.

Drinks apart from the menitioned packages very quite expensive, a normal sized beer was 4,50 euro, an non-alcoholic cocktail 4,50 euro, a cocktail with alcohol about 6 euro. We shared our dinner table with three couples, 4 of the people at our table had the X1-package and were making good use of it. However receiving a second bottle of wine seemed to be quite slow, as though costa hoped you´d let the idea go.

Speaking of our dinner table: As I said there were 8 people at our table all of different age, but speaking the same language. We ate dinner in the first sitting, at 6:15 pm. Our table was not situated in the main room but on portside. There was a selection of items one could choose from every night and the daily “specials”. Pasta was always good, everything else ranged from just ok to absolutely fantastic and even though one at the table might have great food, the same item on another plate looked barely eatable. We had some problems with our waiter. Being allergic to different kind of foods, I informed costa ahead of time of the items I´m not allowed to eat. On our first niht the maitre came by, to inform me that he had marked the items I was not to eat on a menu every night. Well let´s put it mildly, it worked 3 nights, and only on the second gala night without having to ask again. Our waiter managed not once to hand me the prepared menu that was at his station. So I was back to using common sense and if in doubt don´t eat it. That went as far as not having any dessert on the 2nd gala night, as they could not guaranty that the ice-bomb didn´t contain nuts and the waiter would not bring me another dessert. Apart from the allergic problems, the waiters mixed our orders time and again. Either you received something you did not order or you received nothing at all. So service here was kind of poor even though they tried.

We ate lunch in the buffet restaurant where we could select from various items and take our meal with us outside. I ended up eating chicken and French fries quite often as it was delicious and always fresh. Pre-prepared pasta tended to be cool, but definitely my best lunch contained of fish-fingers. Tea and coffee were available for free in the buffet from early morning until 7 pm.

Breakfast found us one day in the buffet, the other in the main dining-room. Well, it was definitely better upstairs in the buffet, as everything was fresh, always replaced when empty and the omlettes were made to order, whereas it was difficult to receive any service in the dining-room during breakfast at all. The only positive thing downstairs was free cappuccino.

The ports were a good mix of everything.

- Barcelona unfortunately was rain all day, so we dropped the idea of visiting parc guell and decided to take the offered shuttle (5 euro return-ticket) to colom and walk to the aquarium from there. After seeing all the fish (16 euro p.p.) we went shopping at mare-magnum before returning to the ship. Rain never ceased to increased as did the wind, which made for a bumpy ride.

- In Alicante we decided to take a costa tour through the city. We visited the old ruin on the hill, which provided a great view of the harbour and walked through town afterwards.

- Gibraltar we took the tour of Gibraltar and the rock, which brought us to the airport, to point Europe, to and old tunnel that´s now a museum and was used during the siege. The tour ended with a trip up the rock to see the famous monkeys.

- In Lisboa we took the shuttle into town (5 euro) and from there the hop-on-hop-of bus to take a tour of the city (14 euro). We got of the tour-bus at the tower of belem and spent some time taking fotos. We completed the tour and went shopping downtown after that.

- Cadiz welcomed us with sunshine and a walking tour booked trough costa, that showed us plaza espana, the cathedral, an old church where spains first constitution was written and the city hall. We returned to the ship for lunch and went for a walk through the parks along the sea-wall in the afternoon.

- In Malaga we took the city-tour, that took us to the ruins on the hill, to the alcazabar, the cathedral and on a stroll back to the port entrance where the bus waited to bring us back to the ship.

- The last-day was a way-too-short day at sea.

All in all we enjoyed our tour. We will definitely cruise costa again, but if possible not on board the Classica as the ship provides too few places where you can sit outside and enjoy the sun without being blown away. Another minus is the ships age.

The crew was helpful and the organization exceptional. This was our second one-week cruise and by now we realize that we like longer cruises better. Apart from minor problems, a very nice week and money well spent.

Ute,

Welcome back and thank you for the Classica (which I found to be very well presented especially with the photos).

I have some questions with regards to the Classica:

a) The European electric socket in the cabin, is that the standard round 2 pin German plug?

b) The safe was that for use with the cabin card or a four digit numbrt that you have to program in?

c) On the deck plan, between the Tivoly Restaurant and the Piazza Navaona, there appears to be small or separate dining rooms?

d) The buffet-restaurant on deck 10, besides breakfast and lunch did they also do evening meals there (open seating)?

e) How was the Pizzeria and Grill Station?

f) Is it possible to get out outside on deck 7 or 8 to overlook the bow?

g) How was the enterainment?

h) With regards to the TV, could one also access your onboard account or book excursions via it?

i) Any other secrets that you are keeping from us?;) or :eek:

Danke

Ron

HI Ron, thanks for your warm welcome, I´ll do my best to answer your questions :)

I have some questions with regards to the Classica:

a) The European electric socket in the cabin, is that the standard round 2 pin German plug?

The European socket is the standard 2 plug used in Germany, however we had some plugs with us that didn´t fit in there.

b) The safe was that for use with the cabin card or a four digit numbrt that you have to program in?

It was our luck that the safe was locked with a 4 digit combination, so that each of us could open the safe independently.

c) On the deck plan, between the Tivoly Restaurant and the Piazza Navaona, there appears to be small or separate dining rooms?

Actually what seems to be small dining rooms n the plans are actually an enlargement of the main diningroom at both entrances, where you find about 10 tables. Our table was situated there.

d) The buffet-restaurant on deck 10, besides breakfast and lunch did they also do evening meals there (open seating)?

At least on this tour the Buffet-restaurant was closed in the evening.

e) How was the Pizzeria and Grill Station?

As you have cruised with costa before: The Grill Station at deck 10 was nothig special, the usual hot dogs, french fries, hamburgers, chicken and some salad. We did not try the Pizzeria, as we attended dinner in the dining room. Pizza in the afternoon at the buffet was really good and the Pizzeria on Deck 9 looked nice. The Pizzeria served pizza slices from 7 pm to 9 pm and from 10:30 pm til 1:30 am you could get pizza a la carte.

f) Is it possible to get out outside on deck 7 or 8 to overlook the bow?

Sorry, but I found no way to get out on deck 7. All doors at the bow read "crew only" so I didn´t dare try them. Also on deck 9, the deck at the muster stations is not open to passangers.

I forgot to mention, musterdril took place in the theater, the puccini ballroom and a third station somewhere in between, so you never actually saw your lifeboat... :confused:

g) How was the enterainment?

Life music in the evenings was really good. We only watched one show in the theatre, on the 2nd gala night there was a magician, Connie Boyd, who did a really good job. We did not attend any other show, especially not the first 3 nights, as the boat offered some kind of rollercoaster-entertainment for our stomachs ;) During the day you could attend various animation programs as well at Bingo. We preferred sunshine... If you consider Buffet Magnifico entertainment than please attend, however don´t be to patient as everyone seemed overly rude. I hardly managed to take some pictures and prefered to leave the buffet to the mob.

h) With regards to the TV, could one also access your onboard account or book excursions via it?

Unfortunately Costa Classica stil has the old-fashioned kind of tv, that allows you to watch tv and that´s it. No chance to book your excursions online or keeping an eye on your expenses. However there are two excursion-computers where you can book your excursions without the help of the tour office. One is situated near the tpur office on deck 5, the other right outside the internet cafe on deck 8.

i) Any other secrets that you are keeping from us?;) or :eek:

Secrets? Not really. Just keep in mind to check your deck-towels before using them, as we saw a pool attendend re-rolling used towels by the aft pool... That might be a one time thing but better safe...

If you like anything special for dinner, ask your waiter or maitre, they are usually very accomodating and give their best, even though the language barrier was sometimes a problem.

The officers were all around the ship in the evening and even in daytime you could see the crew mingling with passangers. Was nice to see them getting some time of, too.

If you´d like to see more pictures, tell me what you´d like to see and I´ll check my database if I captured anything for you ;)

Ute,

Thanks for the insight.

I would like to take you up on your offer with regards to photos, especially from the ship (inside and outside).

Have you booked your next cruise?

Ron

Hi Ron,

I´ll select some more pics tonight and post them here.

By now I haven´t booked my next cruise, but I finally convinced my significant other that cruising isn´t so bad, so chances are good that I´ll return to the caribbean next season on the Fortuna :)

But it´s an awfully long time until then, so if my new job gives me the chance, I wanna go cruising again this fall. So, I´m keeping my fingers crossed.

Central Pooldeck Deck 11

Aft pooldeck

jogging-track

Panorama Lounge deck 14

central bar - pizzeria deck 9

puccini ballroom

Piazza Navona bar deck 8

internet cafe

libary

theatre

Attrium - light well

That´s it, I hope you are getting a better picture of the Classica now.

Happy to answer any further questions :)

I think that the Costa Classica is one of the best ships of the fleet Costa Cruises, after Costa Marina naturally!!;) The insides are very beautiful...

Ute,

Thank you very much for supplying the photos, give me a good insight as to what to expect.

I may came back with some questions.

One question how do you incorporate the photos in the main body of the message and not as attachments?

Ron

The pictures are on a webspace I own, so that I just link to them and don´t use the limited space provided by the forum.

If you have your pics on a webspace, you can use the "Insert Image" function, include your URL and the picture shows up :)