Americans sailing Costa, you've been warned!

[Q.E.D.]

I would be curious what the things were that the OP asked for and was apparently always told "no".

 

This attachment he posted, showing the huge amount of booze he smuggles onto ships, might give us a clue here. :rolleyes:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=156980&d=1274727788

[glrounds]

Just sailed Serena, Med cruise Civi - Malaga via Italy, Spain, Morocco, Canary Islands. It was the first Costa ship to leave Civi after Concordia.

 

And although I could write a book on how bad the experience was, I can just say in every category except the room steward, it was unbelievably horrible, beyond words. It was SOOOOOOOOO bad I just don't know where to start.

 

Any believe me when I say this ... nothing has changed since Concordia, the disorganization is beyond belief. And as an American who speaks almost fluent Italian, the translation was not the barrier, it was the utter and complete lack organization and respect for their passengers. It was like a horrible horrible nightmare.

 

So go ahead and ask away ... the food ... Grade F dogfood. The excursions, they had no problem cancelling and not letting you know about it. Try to get on another excursion instead? Well that's logistically IMPOSSIBLE by their standards.

 

When leaving the ship with an empty coffee cup asking where I can put this with dozens of stewards around, please put that in your room. I asked if he was joking ... his answer no. Please put in room or you can't leave the ship. The word "NO" is the only word they know how to respond. No to EVERYTHING!

 

Everything ... I could go on for pages and pages. I'm booking a Princess cruise TODAY and sailing ASAP, just to wash away the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE experience that EVERYONE I spoke to had. They SUCK!!!!

 

I have never cruised COSTA, but in almost all the conversations I have had with Americans that have, they say essentially the same thing. RUDE pushy inconsiderate passengers and RUDE snappy crew members.

 

No Thanks.

 

[KatetheWanderer]

This attachment he posted, showing the huge amount of booze he smuggles onto ships, might give us a clue here. :rolleyes:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=156980&d=1274727788

 

Ha ha. I have another clue to offer. This is what the OP STLPilot posted in 2010 as a challenge to another NCL cruiser about the OP's plan to take his bike onboard. Can you imagine someone wheeling a bike around on formal night? You gotta love the spunk in that although the staff might tell him to put it away. I wonder if that is what happened on the Serena too. If everyone brought their bike, it would be a heck of a situation trying to get to the lifeboats.

 

 

"Originally Posted by downsized

I just have to comment on this one!

We've been on two cruises where passengers left their strollers out in the hallway ("It's too crowded in our cabin for all of our stuff!").

 

The hallways are darned narrow to begin with, and adding extra crap for every other passenger to trip over (or negotiate around) is simply irresponsible...and in the case of one of the strollers (after my DW became entangled in it)...the Concierge agreed with me, and the stroller "disappeared".

In my opnion, EVERYTHING that passengers bring aboard belong in their staterooms, or in storage, out of the way of others!

 

I'd love to take our Segways aboard, but with the close confines of a ship, it is just not practical.

 

THE OP STLPILOT REPLIES TO THE ABOVE AS FOLLOWS--

 

"FYI - I'll be sailing the NCL Dawn in about 5-6 weeks. I'll be the guy having his picture taken with his bike on formal nite if you like to give me a piece of your mind. :)"

[oceanwavegirl]

Do they give free spumante on MSC Chuck?? What have you been holding back? Oh surrrrrrre. That's riiiiiight. Of course, you who cruises at least five times a year and never has to scrimp on his shipboard account while partaking in fine wines and massages wouldn't think to let the rest of us proles know the scoop on the free spumante.

 

BTW, this poster is laughing out loud, not once but twice. I think she is laughing at you and not with you. Possibly for being a loser who would pick an Italian ship. Maybe she is laughing at GMT for wishing you a great cruise on an Italian ship. Grumpy? Where is your zinger. Someone is laughing at GMT!!

 

Hi Kate the Wanderer.. actually I was recalling my experiences with the Italian crewed 'Sitmar Line' in Aussie waters ..their trademark was a free spumante at the cocktail party this is in the good old days of the 1980s...and we all used to laugh about it and enjoy !!

There were some good aspects of the Italian cruising back then with them, a very loud and boisterous ship indeed !! I cant also forget Princess have many Italian staff also and they are marvellous.

Anyway cheers enjoy your next cruise......;):)

[KatetheWanderer]

Hi Kate the Wanderer.. actually I was recalling my experiences with the Italian crewed 'Sitmar Line' in Aussie waters ..their trademark was a free spumante at the cocktail party this is in the good old days of the 1980s...and we all used to laugh about it and enjoy !!

There were some good aspects of the Italian cruising back then with them, a very loud and boisterous ship indeed !! I cant also forget Princess have many Italian staff also and they are marvellous.

Anyway cheers enjoy your next cruise......;):)

 

Yes. The Italians give a lively cruise. The Atlantica was a very active ship late into the night. Lots of group dancing. And we did get some free prosecco too!

:)

[Host Mick]

Look ... I'm not looking to disagree or agree about anything. I'm just stating facts, no more no less.

 

Oh and another thing. Constantly being told by everyone how little money they make and to give them good marks on the 150 question survey so they can make a "tiny bit more".

 

I'm a business owner myself and I would FIRE my employees if they would be telling my customers how much money they did get paid or didn't get paid, it's proprietary information and shouldn't be used as a tool to gain customer sympathy. It was RIDICULOUS!!!!

 

The best way to learn about the success of your company is simply measure if your customers come back ... or don't come back. Not one of us is going back.

 

Did they give you the speech about how a 9 (of 10) is unacceptable to management and they'll get fired so give them all 10s?

[loubetti]

My first cruise ever was on the Costa Riviera in 1985, with Mario Palumbo as captain. It was a 7-night Eastern Caribbean, and my friend and I had a great time on the former Guglielmo Marconi. Sadly, that ship went to the breakers almost 10 years ago.

 

I never cruised Costa again, but went on to Cunard and Celebrity, and of all cruise lines, Regal Cruises, and their classic Regal Empress. 12 cruises on Regal Empress alone.

 

I was on QE2 when she hit the rock outside of Martha's Vineyard in August 2002 (got a free cruise out of that). I've also done some trans-Atlantics on QE2 and QM2.

 

Anyway, I have not cruised in some 7 years, but after 43 cruises, I wanted some land vacations, and those I got.

 

This week, and while going on a trip down to Boca next week, on a whim I booked a 2-night cruise on the Bahamas Celebration, essentially the replacement for the Regal Empress and before her Ocean Breeze (the former Southern Cross).

 

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with my old friend, Rolf Bassenberg, for some 7 years the master of Regal Empress (under Regal Cruises, not Imperial Majesty), and before that her other incarnation Caribe I. He told me, in reference to Concordia, "If I were the staff captain I would have shot him", meaning Francesco Schettino. Well, Rolf is an old time mariner, and I knew where he was coming from.

 

As to comparisons between the Concordia and Titanic, there are none; zero, nada. Captain Smith died, but it is not known whether he went down with the the ship, or just died in the water, and his body sank. Do NOT believe everything you see in the movie "Titantic" by James Cameron. After all, he showed William Murdoch committing suicide, which was never proven.

 

Smith too was in a state of shock after Titanic hit the ice berg. His officers were not on their A-game either. The life boats went out some 700 persons short of capacity.

 

As to Concordia and Francesco Schettino, it appears to be very damning to him, but let's get all the facts in first. Indeed, he's already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, and while I agree with where captain Rolf is coming from, I just want to learn the facts too.

[cruiselover57]

While I can't really speak for many of the Costa ships, I was on one back in 1992 (the Costa Riviera) and we had a good time - it was only a week to the Caribbean. The only reason I haven't been back on Costa is really two-fold: 1) the timing wasn't right or 2) I found better deals on Princess, Carnival or RCI (the main cruise lines I tend to go with lately - most often Princess). I told my DH the only way I'd consider a Costa cruise ever in the future was 1) we'd have to check their safety records and 2) give us a great deal we can't pass up! While I tend to agree that this was an isolated incident with the Concordia and the poor judgment of this Captain, I'm sure their other ships might be OK but for now, I feel safer going on Princess. I know there have been some negative posts about them too but we're Elite, and we get some really great benefits so we'll stick with them (3 planned for this year alone)!

[cruiselover57]

Hi Kate the Wanderer.. actually I was recalling my experiences with the Italian crewed 'Sitmar Line' in Aussie waters ..their trademark was a free spumante at the cocktail party this is in the good old days of the 1980s...and we all used to laugh about it and enjoy !!

There were some good aspects of the Italian cruising back then with them, a very loud and boisterous ship indeed !! I cant also forget Princess have many Italian staff also and they are marvellous.

Anyway cheers enjoy your next cruise......;):)

 

Are you referring to the Fairstar by chance? If so, I was on that ship 3 times and as old as it was, I loved it! Aussies are great and we had the best cruises ever!

[AmoMondo]

Now see. This is why I love Downton Abbey. I could totally see the Dowager Countess played by Maggie Smith nailing the delivery of this post. An arch of the eyebrows, a downcast glance at her gloves and a quick inhale for effect.

 

Rome versus London for splendid national cuisine? Hmmm??? ROME!!

 

Lol!

[G.M.T.]

Do they give free spumante on MSC Chuck?? What have you been holding back? Oh surrrrrrre. That's riiiiiight. Of course, you who cruises at least five times a year and never has to scrimp on his shipboard account while partaking in fine wines and massages wouldn't think to let the rest of us proles know the scoop on the free spumante.

 

BTW, this poster is laughing out loud, not once but twice. I think she is laughing at you and not with you. Possibly for being a loser who would pick an Italian ship. Maybe she is laughing at GMT for wishing you a great cruise on an Italian ship. Grumpy? Where is your zinger. Someone is laughing at GMT!!

 

Laugh and the whole ship laughs with you, cry and you cruise alone.

 

Ron

[sidari]

Did they give you the speech about how a 9 (of 10) is unacceptable to management and they'll get fired so give them all 10s? .. Host Mick

 

They must have forgot on the Deliziosa in December! though we were asked that on our Princess and RCI cruises .... so what point are you trying to make here?

[dizzy1948]

I want to know what dog food tastes like...come on STL as a "conasewer of good food would you advise that one eat it with biscuits perhaps? "

[moniquet]

According to what people say Costa food has no comparison with Italian food. I like Italian food, spent a week on the Amalfi coast in Oct. and ate well. Have also lived in Spain for 15 years!

 

My opinion is still linked to the European ethic of bad service, bad management, poor value for money. Even a good steak can turn out like dog food in the wrong kitchen.

[Capricruiser]

Do they give free spumante on MSC Chuck?? What have you been holding back? Oh surrrrrrre. That's riiiiiight. Of course, you who cruises at least five times a year and never has to scrimp on his shipboard account while partaking in fine wines and massages wouldn't think to let the rest of us proles know the scoop on the free spumante.

 

BTW, this poster is laughing out loud, not once but twice. I think she is laughing at you and not with you. Possibly for being a loser who would pick an Italian ship. Maybe she is laughing at GMT for wishing you a great cruise on an Italian ship. Grumpy? Where is your zinger. Someone is laughing at GMT!!

No free spumante on MSC (that's another reason I like Costa) but they keep bringing me bowls of fruit every couple days. However, by the next MSC cruise I'll be Black Card so I'll get champaign and chocolate-covered strawberries in the cabin! Wow!

[Capricruiser]

Did they give you the speech about how a 9 (of 10) is unacceptable to management and they'll get fired so give them all 10s?

I don't understand why a CC host is posting controversy? Aren't you supposed to be neutral and monitor member posts for community violations? I'm confused.

[G.M.T.]

I want to know what dog food tastes like...come on STL as a "conasewer of good food would you advise that one eat it with biscuits perhaps? "

 

Liz,

 

I had to laugh when you wrote "conasewer".

 

Cona is a coffee company and back in the 70s they were sponsoring a rally team with their name pastered all over the cars. The team was entered into the Portuguese Rally, the cars arrive in Portugal and put on display. The team was immeiately banned.

 

Some marketing guys had not done their homework.:D:(

 

Look up Cona in http://www.urbandictionary.com/

 

Ron

[Becks200200]

Most of the Americans I saw had heaping plates and seemed to be enjoying the food as much as everyone else. Maybe more. They could have been dogs dressed as Americans and that could explain their great appetite for the food.

Brilliant!

 

MsTabbyKat, We took our family to Florida a few years ago & sick of all the heavy fried, cholesterol laden food 5 of us ordered salads (in Busch Gardens) which were so huge my mother in law told the waiter that it would feed a family of four for lunch! His response? "Thank you ma'am!". We didn't bother to tell him it wasn't a compliment.

 

I wonder what people expect from food when they travel? Should every town in every country and every hotel and every ship have the famous five fast food shops? Or, should we be diverse and try to experience other things? Honestly there was so much food in so many different places on my cruise that even if I hated something I could try something else.

[KatetheWanderer]

Did they give you the speech about how a 9 (of 10) is unacceptable to management and they'll get fired so give them all 10s?

 

Dear Host Mick,

Ask STLPilot also about what he thinks about Princess and their "guilt" trip on tipping. On May 13, 2009, STLPilot said--

 

"The system really sucks and many people including Princess are making their guests feel guilty for not following their "protocol". And as soon as anyone says "this is for your convenience" that's a red flag for "we need you to pay because it will increase our profit margin".

 

You know what I say ... go ahead ... raise their prices and pay your help what they deserve, I double dog dare you. Then we know which companies know how to manage their companies right and who won't. The airlines have been going through this for years since Southwest, JetBlue and other discounted airlines figured out how to run a company the right way."

 

In another post from 2009, STLPilot said he wouldn't comment on whether the food was good or bad on Princess because he said he hardly ate anything on the ship. He mostly ate on land.

[fishin' musician]

I attended a wedding reception of about 50 people a few years ago and the bride's family was from a large east coast city. They served a very nice sit-down dinner w/ surf & turf in a small hotel banquet room. One of the bride's family members stood up and said, "We can't eat this crap." and actually went and brought in bags of McDonalds for his family.

[Keel Haul]

My first cruise ever was on the Costa Riviera in 1985, with Mario Palumbo as captain. It was a 7-night Eastern Caribbean, and my friend and I had a great time on the former Guglielmo Marconi. Sadly, that ship went to the breakers almost 10 years ago.

 

I never cruised Costa again, but went on to Cunard and Celebrity, and of all cruise lines, Regal Cruises, and their classic Regal Empress. 12 cruises on Regal Empress alone.

 

I was on QE2 when she hit the rock outside of Martha's Vineyard in August 2002 (got a free cruise out of that). I've also done some trans-Atlantics on QE2 and QM2.

 

Anyway, I have not cruised in some 7 years, but after 43 cruises, I wanted some land vacations, and those I got.

 

This week, and while going on a trip down to Boca next week, on a whim I booked a 2-night cruise on the Bahamas Celebration, essentially the replacement for the Regal Empress and before her Ocean Breeze (the former Southern Cross).

 

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with my old friend, Rolf Bassenberg, for some 7 years the master of Regal Empress (under Regal Cruises, not Imperial Majesty), and before that her other incarnation Caribe I. He told me, in reference to Concordia, "If I were the staff captain I would have shot him", meaning Francesco Schettino. Well, Rolf is an old time mariner, and I knew where he was coming from.

 

As to comparisons between the Concordia and Titanic, there are none; zero, nada. Captain Smith died, but it is not known whether he went down with the the ship, or just died in the water, and his body sank. Do NOT believe everything you see in the movie "Titantic" by James Cameron. After all, he showed William Murdoch committing suicide, which was never proven.

 

Smith too was in a state of shock after Titanic hit the ice berg. His officers were not on their A-game either. The life boats went out some 700 persons short of capacity.

 

As to Concordia and Francesco Schettino, it appears to be very damning to him, but let's get all the facts in first. Indeed, he's already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, and while I agree with where captain Rolf is coming from, I just want to learn the facts too.

Hello did you sail on the Ocean Breeze ?

[fayruz]

After all STLPilot had to say, that is the one that caught your eye?

 

why, yes :-) and as Smurfettes has already said, leave it somewhere. Don't expect to have a maid following you everywhere you go to tidy up behind.

 

other things that caught my eye : as I said, we have different tastes, I would not recommend Costa or MSC to anyone who thinks italian food is microwavables from the shelf.

[Midway Moo]

I used to sail Costa back in the 80's. At that time they had 3 ships:Carla, Riviera,& Daphne.Their theme was" cruising Italian Style".They sailed from FLL& SJU. It was my favorite line.

Then I believe they were sold(but not yet to Carnival) & they changed to "Euro-Style Cruising". After that,their popularity faded.

I agree Americans, for the most part, want the RCCL,Princess,Carnival type of cruise.

[travelling heavy]

I watched a series of TV documentaries a couple of years ago that spent time on board the Costa Serena. Watching that series of programs was enough to put me off ever considering Costa. :eek:

As a Brit and, therefore I guess I qualify to be a European, I’m more than happy to cruise Princess or Celebrity, or at a pinch, RCL.

[moniquet]

Brilliant!

 

MsTabbyKat, We took our family to Florida a few years ago & sick of all the heavy fried, cholesterol laden food 5 of us ordered salads (in Busch Gardens) which were so huge my mother in law told the waiter that it would feed a family of four for lunch! His response? "Thank you ma'am!". We didn't bother to tell him it wasn't a compliment.

 

I wonder what people expect from food when they travel? Should every town in every country and every hotel and every ship have the famous five fast food shops? Or, should we be diverse and try to experience other things? Honestly there was so much food in so many different places on my cruise that even if I hated something I could try something else.

 

We own a home in Florida (Naples) go every year and American food is diverse too. Lots of authentic Italian and other countries food. You can't slam US food out of a large salad experience in Busch gardens!

 

BTW I was born in Yorkshire