Lots of questions...

[Sunshine required]

Hi there,

 

We are looking into booking another family cruise for next year. We were all on our first ever one July 2009, Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas. It was fantastic and none of us could fault a thing. We hope for the same with our next cruise.

 

What we are looking at is Costa Favolosa – Venice (Italy), Bari (Italy), Katakolon/Olympia (Greece), Izmir (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), at sea, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Venice (Italy) - 7th Aug 2011.

 

I think I’m right in saying this is a brand new ship (ie. newly built) but if anyone could answer any of my questions, maybe answering on Costa in general, I would much appreciate!

1. does it suit various age groups? (60, 56, 45, 34, 45, 31, 28, 26 and 3)

2. what type of bed would be given to my 3 year old Nephew as he would be unable to sleep in a bunk bed.

3. is smoking permitted on private balconies?

4. Are there any formal nights?

5. Would you recommend the evening entertainment?

6. is the food quality good?

7. what are the facilities for small children (3years) ie. pool, kids club etc.

8. what are the swimming facilities for adults?

9. Is it only set times for dining?

There does not seem to by much info on Costa's website about this ships facilities, ie. how many bars, restaurants, pools, spa, theatre etc, etc...

That’s all I think of for now but any info is appreciated! :cool:

Oh also if anyone has any sneak previews of how the ship will look I would love to see a pic!?

[RoadTripFanatic]

Hi there,

 

We are looking into booking another family cruise for next year. We were all on our first ever one July 2009, Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas. It was fantastic and none of us could fault a thing. We hope for the same with our next cruise.

 

What we are looking at is Costa Favolosa – Venice (Italy), Bari (Italy), Katakolon/Olympia (Greece), Izmir (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), at sea, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Venice (Italy) - 7th Aug 2011.

 

I think I’m right in saying this is a brand new ship (ie. newly built) but if anyone could answer any of my questions, maybe answering on Costa in general, I would much appreciate!

1. does it suit various age groups? (60, 56, 45, 34, 45, 31, 28, 26 and 3)

Yes. :)

2. what type of bed would be given to my 3 year old Nephew as he would be unable to sleep in a bunk bed. It depends on the type of room you have. We had a balcony. In our room we had a sofa that made into a bed. It was rather small. :) When our DD was 3 we just put her in our bed with us. In most inside cabins I've stayed in bunk beds were the only sleeping option.

3. is smoking permitted on private balconies? I know DH smoked Cigars on our balcony. I don't know if it was permitted or not.

4. Are there any formal nights? Yes. We were on an 11 night cruise and we had two formal nights.

5. Would you recommend the evening entertainment? Most of the music on our ship for the big show was in English.

6. is the food quality good? No. I didn't go hungry but when comparing the QUALITY with other cruise lines it's not as good. Breakfast was definately the best meal of the day. Also another thing to remember is Costa doesn't do night time buffets like the other cruise lines. If you are in port late that night they do a full night time buffet. If not then your choice (well on our ship) was two types of pizza and 4 side items. DD used to beg to eat in the main dinning hall.

7. what are the facilities for small children (3years) ie. pool, kids club etc.

The Pacifica had a great kids play area outside. The kids club was really nice. We had a huge language issue for DD. Only 4 kids registered for the kids club spoke English. (We went in February) I'm sure there will be more in the summer months. BUT everytime she was in the kids center there was always a caretaker who spoke English.

8. what are the swimming facilities for adults?-We had two pools.

9. Is it only set times for dining? On the Pacifica yes.

 

There does not seem to by much info on Costa's website about this ships facilities, ie. how many bars, restaurants, pools, spa, theatre etc, etc...

 

That’s all I think of for now but any info is appreciated! :cool:

 

Oh also if anyone has any sneak previews of how the ship will look I would love to see a pic!?

 

Overall our experience was really good. The only negative thing we found was the food quality. Also remember Costa isn't big on announcements. Read your nightly newletter to know when to disembark, when to come back and where to meet for your excursions. They do not make the big announcement that it's time to leave the ship. :)