Just Returned from EC 3/27 MED

[tjn003]

Any questions?

[Tamara]

I was on that cruise too. What did you think?-Tamara

[tjn003]

The ship was beautiful. Our cabin steward was wonderful, except no creative towel scuptures. Our room (1238 Circe) was very nice.

 

The breakfast and lunch buffets were good, but the beverage stations did not seem to flow well with the buffet line creating confusion. Dinners were very, very poor compared to my four other cruises on Carnival. I am not a gourment, nor do I expect gourmet food on a cruise. However, I do have an appreciation for good food and this simply was not good. For example, the clam chowder tasted like Campbell's mushroom soup with tiny clam bits. The beef was usally tough and tasteless, except for the last night. Our waiter, who had worked for several other cruises lines, was politely critical of the food and often steered me away from dishes that he did not consider acceptable. We had one waiter for about 4-5 8 tops. Other people told us they had 4 waiters for a couple 2 tops. The dinning room either needs more help and the kitche staff needs retooled. Since the Italians are well known for their cuisine you would expect very, very much more.

 

The ports of call were great. This was our second visit to San Juan and it confirmed my recollection that there is very little to do there considering the time of day you arrive, except a good party at Senor Frogs. We hired a tour guide outside the wharf at $10.00/head and had short but nice tour of New and Old San Juan, including a stop and tour of the capital building.

 

At St. Thomas we booked a tour though Sunny Liston at sunnylistontours.com based upon a recommendation from this Board. We had 3 hours to shop, toured the entire island and had a banana daquiri on the mountain and spent 2 hours at Saphire Beach (totally gorgeous) for $20.00/head. Well worth the money.

 

Isla Catalina was my favorite stop. A great island. Be sure to bring cash to purchase local wares. I purchased 25 Dominican Cohiba cigars for $40.00.

 

Kandela show was excellent and a great way to spend the evening at Casa de Campo.

 

Nassau is fun. Straw market is always worth a stop. We did the Blue Lagoon Island tour. A nice beach experience, but no time for shopping if the ship arrives at its scheduled time. We were fortunate that the ship arrived early and gave us a little more than an hour to shop before the tour departed.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation were the smoothest I ever expereinced.

 

Costa seems to have and identity problem as to whether it wants to be a family cruise line are primarily adult. There were 550 kids on the ship including my two (10 and 14). Heard many complaints from older adults about children, especially in the pool areas. We witnessed a heated verbal exchange take place between an older adult passenger and a mother of a child in the aft pool resulting the older passenger calling security. Costa had trouble keeping the kids out of this adult only area. However, it is not very well marked this way.

All in all I would give Costa a second chance and cruise them again. What were your impressions?

[Pinkiegirl1947]

I was on the Mediterranea for the 4/10 cruise. Although it was a wonderful trip and I enjoyed it a lot, I had the same experieince with the aft pool. One day, there were 3 kids who kept hopping in and out of the hot tub for what seemed like hours. Finally they were gone and we decided to get in. Bingo...back they came, jumping and splashing the 4 couples who were already in the pool. (and you know these are not huge hot tubs!)

 

I politely asked if the kids belonged to anyone in the hot tub, and they did not. Then I asked the kids if any of them were 12. As they were more like 6, 7, and 8, I pointed to the sign stating the rules, and said calmly, "Sorry, then you will have to get out" They complied, and everyone in the tub applauded. Ahhhh, peace descended. However, as soon as we got out, back they came.

 

One woman on the pool deck later asked me if I was the one who made the kids get out. I admitted that I was and she said "BRAVO! Someone needs to do it." She said their parents were back by the railing apparently fast asleep. Thank goodness the kids had not fallen in the pool and gotten hurt...their parents were oblivious!