Costa Luminosa experience

[loveopera]

We are considering booking Costa's Luminosa on a cruise from Dubai to Savona Italy on Mar 21 2011. I'd love to hear some good comments about the ship - I've read some poor reviews of Costa's ships but the itinerary looks great so I'm tempted to book the cruise

thanks for any comments

[G.M.T.]

I would suggest you ignore most Costa ship reviews (as the age and amenities of the ships vary widely) concentrate on the Deliziosa and Luminosa as they both do the Dubai cruises and are both new and sister ships.

 

When reading reviews I try to read between the lines, most negative reviews tend to fall into 3 categories:

 

a. Someone had genuine grievences / problems.

b. Someone has a vendetta against Costa, i.e. because they didn't get a cabin upgrade or whatever.

c. The cultural shock, Costa is an Italian / International cruise company, some Americans expect it to be like Carneval / RCCI etc. and what to see the world but from living in an American Bubble on the cruise ship.

 

Don't forget it is YOUR cruise and it is what YOU make of it.

 

Just do it and go with an open mind.

 

Ron

[nx4cruise]

We are considering booking Costa's Luminosa on a cruise from Dubai to Savona Italy on Mar 21 2011. I'd love to hear some good comments about the ship - I've read some poor reviews of Costa's ships but the itinerary looks great so I'm tempted to book the cruise

thanks for any comments

 

 

We just returned from our cruise on the Costa Luminosa(Baltic). We had a great trip. Hopefully I will have a review ready to post soon. Anything specific you would like to know?

[Cygneagile]

Hi Loveopera

We are booked on the Luminosa for Sept 10 cruise Western Med and Atlantic ocean. I am so looking forward to your review. Since this is a new ship the reviews have not been posted on the Other reviews sites.

Will keep a watch for it.

Julie

[jotabecu]

I am also looking at Costa Luminosa and look forward to any comments on the thread. Thanks

[Boy Blue]

We did costa luminosa in March this year..... We had a fantastic time and would book to go on her again.

 

There were lots of nationalities on board, only one day did it get very noisy with italians by the pool but there where lots of quite places to lay in the sun, we were lucky to have a balcony and it was just brill to have our own bit of space.

 

The food was good and the company on our dining table (all brits) was the best company we have had on a cruise, we were first in the dining room and always the last to leave ;O)

 

The X1 drinks package was very good value for money.

 

We were on deck 4 towards the rear of the ship (4367} which had a larger balcony for no extra cost.

 

Cant comment on the shows as we never went to one. but had fun in the casino.

 

We did all our own trips, and the ports were easy to explore and always taxis available.

 

Hope this helps, anymore questions dont hesitate to ask

[loveopera]

Ron, I LIKE your attitude! After living in Naples Italy for 7 years, I think we can enjoy being on an Italian ship.

[loveopera]

Thanks everyone for the nice positive statements. We'll book the cruise as part of an 80 day combination of cruises and land tours in the Middle East. The ports on this cruise from Dubai to Savona sound great plus we'll get back to our old "home" town of Naples, Italy for a few hours. I was mostly concerned about the comments I had read on the rudeness of the room stewards and wait staff and negative comments about food.

pat

[welwyngirl]

Boy Blue's post was pretty well spot on IMHO! We also did the Dubai cruise and had a wonderful time. It was a bit tedious hearing announcements in several languages, but after a day or so I switched off all those other than English.

 

We also pre-paid the X1 package and found it to be great value if only for the wine with dinner.

 

If you decide to travel with Costa I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. We've just booked another Costa cruise sailing at the end of July.

[Cygneagile]

Such wonderful information thank you very much. I know we will enjoy our cruise. It is nice to hear people that take pleasure and enjoy their cruise. Cruising is what you make of it. Food is international and so certain things may not be available we need to adjust our attitude toward the food and international travel. We have toured Europe before so I know that the food will be a bit different. But I enjoy meeting people and I just love Pasta. They usually sit English speaking people with people that can speak English. We can speak French so that is o.k.

So BOY BLUE (from Yorkshire) tells us about the food and Mmmmmm the Casino…… I love that also. We play the slot; can you tell me if they have penny slots? What is the minimum Euro they will take? I already have my Euro traveler’s cheque and cash. One other question BOY BLUE how was the exchange rate for you Cabin Charges? We were thinking of using our Travelers cheque to pay our cabin cost. Can you elaborate a wee bit on the Food?

 

[Boy Blue]

I played the roulette table, my husband cards, but people on the slots seemed to be plugged in with there cruise cards :confused:

 

I think the chips on the roulette table were 1 euro (or perhaps 50 cents) cant really remember.

 

The food was varied. For breakfast there was plenty of choice, there is two chefs cooking omlettes or eggs, but not where the rest of the buffet is they are stood towards the back of the room one each side. My favourite was smoked salmon and scrambled eggs mmmmmmm.

 

Lunch we usually did the buffet and it had a theme most days, I just sort of grazed up and down.

 

We took a travel kettle and coffee tea etc and always took sandwiches and cakes back to the cabin and sat on the balcony to enjoy.

 

Dinner again was great my hubby is a fussy eater and we always found plenty to eat. We had a wonderful waiter who always made sure our glasses were full, and after the 1st night had our wine waiting in an ice bucket for us, the others didnt have the X1 package as they didnt know about it but I would recommend it, we took what was left in the bottle with us when we left the dining room.

 

The ship was lovely, I would go again tommorrow.

[Cygneagile]

I played the roulette table, my husband cards, but people on the slots seemed to be plugged in with there cruise cards :confused:

 

I think the chips on the roulette table were 1 euro (or perhaps 50 cents) cant really remember.

 

First of all BOY BLUE our Euro cost us about 1.30 Canadian. So I trust that the machine take the one Euro at the time. I could not buy anything smaller than 5 Euro... Our banks only carry 5 and up. So now we need to use our card. I trust the slots have the different Euro value.... 5 Euro is about 7 dollars so that would be good for me.

 

We took a travel kettle and coffee tea etc and always took sandwiches and cakes back to the cabin and sat on the balcony to enjoy.

 

I have a travel kettle also. Did you bring your own coffee and tea. I enjoy Earl Gray and sometimes Chai Tea. Where did you get your milk. I gather they had sandwhices for lunch. We have a balcony and that sounds like a great idea. I love to sit there and watch the ocean go by.

 

I can not understand why people say the food is not good. You go on a cruise to see the world and share you experiences with other cruise mates. No negative thoughts are allowed.... We are doing the No No thing and bringing a Rum runner with gin in it. So I will probably buy the tonic water at the bar. I do not think is it easy to pick tonic water in the ports. But we will see.

We enjoy a glass of wine at dinner time. That is a must. But this does not warrant buying the package.

 

So looking forward to our cruise. I have a packing list already made up now I have to add my travelling kettle. Looks like a thermos. I am surprise they will let us take it.

[Boy Blue]

I cant remember how much we paid for X1 but it was well worth it........ you could drink at the pool bar from aprox 11am till 4pm that was soft drinks wine and beer. At dinner you could order house wine red white & rose by the bottle (as many bottles as you wanted) beer and again soft drinks.

 

You can get milk from the buffet and keep it in your fridge, but I took coffee with the cream already added.

 

When we travelled the euro to the pound was not a good rate, but my bill at the end of the week was really good value.

 

We are looking to do the world cruise with costa in 2012, but hoping to do the Far East in May 2011.

 

I agree a cruise is what you make it, We always travel with an open mind and dont let other passengers bother us.

 

A holiday is what you make it.

 

We are crusing from New York to Canada with Princess in september so planning and saving.

[suekay]

We are considering booking Costa's Luminosa on a cruise from Dubai to Savona Italy on Mar 21 2011. I'd love to hear some good comments about the ship - I've read some poor reviews of Costa's ships but the itinerary looks great so I'm tempted to book the cruise

thanks for any comments

Check cruise dot co dot uk for reviews of Costa Luminosa. I just read them all (about 10 in all) as we've booked the Dubai cruise for December. We did the same itinerary on Costa Classica three years ago and were NOT impressed with the ship, but reviews of Luminosa are much more favourable - and no matter what, it's worth it for the itinerary:)

[Cygneagile]

It is good news for all Costa Luminosa cruisers. I am now truly looking forward to my trip in September. There are not takers for the Roll Call. I love the atmosphere of the Italian Cruise ships. I was on the Carla Costa years ago and just loved the pasta dishes. The sauces were never the same.. We have Pre-booked our excursion already. Unfortunately, they did not want our money now but at the end of the cruise. This puts a damper on our budget. We love to have all our excursions paid for before we leave. But hey, that is o.k. Just either bring more EURO's or charge on my visa card. Either way we are in for a good time.

Julie