Just back from costa fortuna-italy-greece-croatia

[rusty86]

Hi all, we just came back from a great cruise on the Costa Fortuna. The ship is beautiful, staff was terrific, entertainment was very good, people were friendly and lively, ports were wonderful, but the food was hit or miss.

The worst thing about the cruise was embarkation, very disorganized, 3 people checking 3000 plus in. AFter reading so many negative posts we were nervous but we had a great time.

We dealt with the fact that the food was not up to our American standards and what we are normally used to on a cruise. We always found something to eat and the pasta was really spectacular as was the gelato. We never went hungry.

Any questions I will gladly answer.

[Capricruiser]

I'm curious why would Italian food be up to American standards on an Italian ship??? Anyway, glad you had a good cruise.

[rusty86]

Italian food is great but there were limited choices. I am used to caribbean cruises where there are tons of choices to pick from. Some nights there wasn't any entree that we wanted, but we could always get salmon or chicken. Again the pasta was fantastic.

[Cygneagile]

I love pasta so this will not be a problem. Chicken and Salmon are also a good choice. How were the sauces and desert.

We must realize that Europe cruises are geared to a bigger cross section of nationalities. And Costa, as I hope, would give us a different cuisine.

[blueboo]

Steak and lobster are VERY expensive in Europe so if they were on the menu every night the cruise would probably be more expensive as well. My hubby is Canadian so I know that North Americans are very spoiled when it comes to meat but I think we have better and fresher choices of cheese, fruit and veg over this side :)

[CtheW0rld]

glad you had a nice cruise.

[number5]

Hi, when the announcements are made, do you hear them in your Stateroom or do you only hear them in the passage outside your room ?

 

Is the buffet open 24/7 or does it close at 11:00pm ?

Were there times when it was too busy & impossible to get a table ?

 

On sea days was it easy to get a chair on deck by the pool. Were there lots of empty chairs with towels etc on that people reserved in advance and didn't seem to use ?

 

Can you advise on the price of a glass of house wine, a pint of beer etc ?

was the special offer on drink of the day good value.

 

What did you find the most impressive : sailing out of Venice or sailing into Venice ?

 

thanks for your answers

[Capricruiser]

Hi, when the announcements are made, do you hear them in your Stateroom or do you only hear them in the passage outside your room ?

Only the important announcements are piped into the cabins, e,g, the lifeboat drill. The others are infrequent and heard only in the corridors and public areas.

 

Is the buffet open 24/7 or does it close at 11:00pm ?

Were there times when it was too busy & impossible to get a table ?

The self-service buffet (on all Costa ships) is only open for breakfast and lunch - not dinner. In the late afternoon there may be snacks, some salads, and pizza by the slice. The only time it's open for dinner is for those port calls having late returning excursion groups, e.g. Alexandria, Egypt. You may have to walk around a bit to find an empty table or place to sit.

 

On sea days was it easy to get a chair on deck by the pool. Were there lots of empty chairs with towels etc on that people reserved in advance and didn't seem to use ?

Passengers always try to reserve deck chairs and then hold on to them all day. The crew will try to remove the towels from chairs whose occupants have gone to lunch for example.

 

Can you advise on the price of a glass of house wine, a pint of beer etc ?

was the special offer on drink of the day good value.

I only drink wine at dinner and buy it by the bottle. Sometimes I had a small beer with lunch in the buffet and it seems to me the price was a little less than four euros.

 

What did you find the most impressive : sailing out of Venice or sailing into Venice ?

When the ship sails by Saint Mark's square. If your balcony is on that side it seems you can almost reach out and touch the bell tower.

 

thanks for your answers

 

You're welcome.

[kuldalai]

In the main dining room whilst you can buy wine by the glass we buy a bottle, drink a glass re-stopper and the waiting staff store it (whites under refrigeration) and return the remaining wine to your table next night .

[rusty86]

Here are some answers for all of you:

-desserts at dinner were very good, I ate the gelato every night because it was amazing. Pastry at breakfast was awful tasted like cardboard, I think they had 2 different dessert chefs!

-Sauces were usually good.

-Yes, I am a spoiled by the great meats and lobster and shrimp that you find in the Caribbean. The cheeses were excellent as were the veggies but the fruit was often canned.

-Announcements were outside the cabin and only very important ones could be heard inside.

-There was NO dinner buffet! You could get pizza, salad, a pasta dish and dessert till 1 AM though. There was always a themed food (taco-tropical-finger sandwiches-fruit-desserts) at 11:30 each night in various lounges throughout the ship. Good chocolate covered strawberries.

-Tables were not that hard to find at breakfast & lunch buffets.

-We had one sea day and my husband went up to get us 2 lounges at about 9:30 AM, but the upper decks were pretty open even later in the day.

-A glass of house wine was 5 euros and .75 service, We didn't have beer.

Sailing out of Venice was amazing, you sail right in front of S.Marks, it was an awesome sight, we were on the upper deck and took some postcard quality pictures. Sailing back in was early and foggy not as gorgeous.

-The daily special drink was 5 euros and .50 to get a larger one (well worth it) plus ervice charge.

- We bought a boys & girls drink card from home 10 sodas for 25 USD.

Well worth it since a soda on board was 3 euros plus service for a glass. We got a can each time.

 

I hope that helps, any more questions?????

Rusty

[volleyballmom87]

I remember the Pasta course being the most memorable course of the dinner on some nights and the entrees just being adequet. One night I wish I had ordered another portion of the risotto for my entree. I have not had one that good since.

[rusty86]

I agree the pasta was wonderful and the seafood risotto was fabulous. Too bad they only served the risotto once.

 

Rusty

[number5]

Thanks Rusty for that extra information & thanks to capricruiser as well.

 

I leave tomorrow and provided my flight isn't cancelled by the volcanic ash will be on the Fortuna this time tomorrow.

You never mentioned the toga party, do many people get involved ?

[rusty86]

No Toga party, they did have a greek night but only the staff was in togas.

[rusty86]

NUMBER 5 , enjoy the cruise. I hope the volcano doesn't cause any problems.

Let me know how it went when you return. I hope you have great weather as we did.

Rusty

[RoadTripFanatic]

Here are some answers for all of you:

-desserts at dinner were very good, I ate the gelato every night because it was amazing. Pastry at breakfast was awful tasted like cardboard, I think they had 2 different dessert chefs!

Rusty

 

The good breakfast pastry chef was on our ship the Pacifica! LOL! Our breakfast pastries were amazing!

[hat776]

When entering or exiting the Grand Harbour in Malta I think to appreciate it you should be on deck and not in your balcony.

I feel the same applies in Venice. While it's impressive if you're on the St Mark Square side, you don't get the atmosphere and you don't realise you're sailing down the Gran Canal if you remain in your balcony.

[chop-chop]

How formal were the formal nights? Do men need a jacket and tie?

[rusty86]

Formal nights were anything goes, tuxes-suits-jackets & ties-nice shirts & slacks. My husband wore a nice shirt & slacks, didn't want to pack a jacket and didn't feel out of place. Some women wore gowns, i opted for nice black slacks and a fancy top, easier to pack. We needed room for the stuff we bought.

[saltywillie]

We sail with you guy onthe noordam Jan 08 Pat & Bill Ronkonkoma N.y. we are doing the same cruise with ABC IN NOV. WITH A 2 NITE IN Venice is that what you guy did and how were the tours

[rusty86]

Hey, how are you guys? We did the tour through abc so it is the same one. The trip was great, the hotel in venice is gorgeous, a 5 star gem. The only tour we took through the ship was in santorini, oia village. If you are not on a ship's tour there you do not get off the ship till 9 am, only those on an excursion get off at 7:30. We also booked a private cab for olympia, he took us around for 4 and a half hours, we even went to his house. Everything else we did on our own. Bari, mykonos, rhodes & dubrovnik were easy to walk around. Venice we also did on our own, the hotel had a free shuttle to s. Marks so it was easy.

Any questions feel free to ask. We had a great time with perfect weather.

Rusty

[saltywillie]

Thanks for the heads up about the tours ,our itinerary is a little different,we are flying nonstop Delta to venice ,and the stay in venice is at the Bauer hotel near St marks we know the area ,we cant wait to go.one more question how were the transfer (plane to ship etc.) and what did you think about Bari, Pats grandfather was from Bari she cant wait to see the place. Thanks Bill

[rusty86]

We also flew nonstop jfk to venice. The bauer hotel is supposed to be beautiful and you won't need to shuttle over . The transfers were good but venice is hard to get to from the airport. Vaparetto was a long ride to the ship. I think they went extra slow because we couldn't check in early. Going back was much faster. We also had to wheel our own luggage once we got to the ship and check it in, a bit confusing. The embarkation was a mess, 4 people checking in 3000. Once you drop off your luggage they give you a number and you wait and wait and wait. I asked a woman working there if she could give me a lower number and she did so we then checked in faster than others that were with us.

[rusty86]

Bari was a lovely city. We walked all around. Went to the basilica di san nicola where santa claus is buried.saw the castel del monte. Some people went on an excursion to see the trulli houses in alberobello and enjoyed that. We purchased shuttle bus tickets (6 euros each) to get to town and found that it was not needed, it wasn't that long a walk. Also had some great gelato there.

[saltywillie]

I hope you dont mind us asking question .How many ABC people on the tour, and is costa ready for me to wear my caribbean shirt on this cruise or leave them home .Did you eat in and great places in Venice (thank again)