Eastern Mediterranean - Costa Magica or Splendour of the Seas?

[Tapi]

Hello:

 

Torn between these two itineraries. It will be our first time sailing in the Eastern Mediterranean. Besides Venice, all ports will be new to us. Which one would you pick (based on itinerary, ships, and cruise line).

 

Thanks for your input:

 

Option 1: Splendour of the Seas

 

Day 1 Venice

Day 2 Dubrovnik

Day 3 At Sea

Day 4 Kusadasi (Ephesus)

Day 5 Santorini

Day 6 Katakolon

Day 7 At Sea

Day 8 Venice

 

Option 2: Costa Magica

 

Day 1 Venice

Day 2 Bari

Day 3 Katakolon

Day 4 Athens (Piraeus)

Day 5 Izmir (Ephesus)

Day 6 At Sea

Day 7 Dubrovnik

Day 8 Venice

 

What we like about the Splendour: Recently renovated, more restrictive smoking policy, 2 days at sea (which we enjoy), Visits Santorini

 

What we like about the Magica: More international clientele. Haven't sailed on Costa in decades (try something new), Visits Athens.

[AnonymousCruiser69]

magica - rci's anti-smoking policies are too draconian. they won't be getting any of my $$$

[UKBayern]

We have actually been on both ships in the Med, so I will try to give my 2 cents. Not that it is going to be much help, since there are pros and cons on both ships. My feeling is that most people on CC are terribly biased against Costa. You are going to get a large number of votes pro RCCL, even from people who have not been on both ships.

 

Ship: Magica is a much larger ship than Splendour, but it does not feel cramped. The staff and the decor on both ships are fenomenal. Staff on Costa is more unterstated than on RCCL. On Costa, it is "Madam, Sir", never "you guys". You flag down a waiter on Costa when you want something, they will not approach you at sailaway with trays with drinks.

Currency on Costa is Euro, currency on RCCl is $$.

The cabins are about the same size and quality. RCCL normally has a small loveseat/couch in the cabins, whereas our Costa cabin had two chairs.

Organisation-wise, Costa is...well...Italian... We always refer to Med countries as a happy chaos, and that also applies to Costa to some extent. Most of the times, they get it just as right as RCCL, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow and laugh the chaos off. Embarkation and disembarkation was much smoother on Costa than on RCCL, although the how and why of the coloured tags is still a mystery on Costa until this day.

 

Food: We enjoyed the food on both ships, but I have to give my vote to Costa on this one. That said, we liked the Splendour dining experience better because of the Anytime Dining, which Costa up to now does not have. Our tablemates on Costa were good, but at the end of the cruise we ran out of conversation topics. If you are a bufet-eater, do not go on Costa. They close the buffet at dinner time, everybody eats in the main dining room. You get water with your meal, and in the buffet, coffee, tea and water is available free of charge all day, but no ice tea or lemonade. There are formal nights on Costa in theory, but nobody dresses up at all. Leave the tux and the gown at home. There are no semi-formal nights. On the Splendour more people dressed up, but also not as much as on other cruises we have been on.

Room service on Costa always costs money, because Italians always eat in the main dining room and there is little demand for room service.

 

Entertainment: don't be fooled by those who tell you "don't go on Costa, because they announce everything in 5 languages". On the Splendour, it was actually 6 (next to english, german, french, italian and spanish also portugese). On the Magica, we had 55 nationalities, on Splendour 65. On both ships, the entertainment was more of the unspoken variety: no comedians, no lectures, more juglers, singers, magicians. On Costa we had a ventriloquist one night who tried damn hard in 5 languages. Bingo, quiz, dancing lessons and other games can get pretty annoying in 5/6 languages. Cannot say one ship was better than the other.

 

Other guests: as already mentioned, there were a lot of different nationalities on both vessels. I personally did not have issues with people at all on either ships. On Splendour, there are more english speaking guests (in our case about 20%) than on Magica, where you find more Italians, French and Germans. Main land Europeans keep more to themselves than Americans or the Irish, as they often travel in larger groups and don't need your company. I don't know when you will be travelling, but during the summer Costa attracts more young families. Because of our work, we always travel in November when the clientele happens to be older and there are no kids around on all ships in the Med.

 

Smoking: we both don't smoke and we do not want to be confronted with it on our cruise either. Must say that the general trend on CC is to comment that on Costa everybody is smoking right left and everywhere, but I was more bothered by smoking on RCCL than I was on Costa. The ship is much smaller, so you tend to see and smell it more. On Magica, it was more or less only in 1 or 2 bars.

 

Itinerary: basically you only have to choose between Santorini and Athens. Do the homework, what do you want to see and is the sight actually open on the day you are visiting. Magica has more major cities (Bari, Izmir, Athens) than Splendour and you have 1 day less at sea. RCCL is going to be less hectic. I would like to suggest that if you are not planning on going to Ephesus, Kusadasi is a nicer place for a small wander around than Izmir. You do not mention how long your port stops in Turkey and Katakolon are, this could influence you decision too. In both instances we were in Izmir and Kusadasi, the port stop was so short you could not really head out to Ephesus without being rushed and herded into a coach. Same with Katakolon. Both destinations are prime candidates for cruiselines to push ship excursions, because people often do not have ample time to venture out by themselves (but it can be done, there are also car rental companies and independant tour companies!)

 

As you can see, I am not pro or contra to either of the two. In fact, we are not a fan of any particular cruiseline at all as you can see from my profile. Maybe you have picked something up in my answer which will swing the decision in a certain direction for you. Should we have to choose in future, we would maybe go for RCCL as we like Anytime Dining and really missed that this time, but we would definately love to go on Costa again for the gorgeous food. Feel free to ask more questions if you want to know something specific.

[Tapi]

UKBayern:

 

Thank you SO much for your detailed reply!! :D I think you covered every question that I had. I'm glad to hear that the Magica is not as bad as some people make it sound, but I believe that we are leaning towards the Splendour. Anytime Dining, the extra day at sea, docking in Kusadasi (instead of Izmir) are factors contributing to the decision. Although we'd love to see Athens, the Magica's stop is only about 5 hours. I think I'd much rather spend the day in Santorini. This will be a 10th anniversary cruise, and it will also be the first time we travel without kids since they were born, so relaxing is definitely at the top of the priority list.

 

We still have over a year to plan, so I'm sure I'll continue my research, but if the cruise was tomorrow, we'd be on the Splendour. Thanks again for your time! :D

[Blondie008]

UKBayern:

 

Thank you SO much for your detailed reply!! :D I think you covered every question that I had. I'm glad to hear that the Magica is not as bad as some people make it sound, but I believe that we are leaning towards the Splendour. Anytime Dining, the extra day at sea, docking in Kusadasi (instead of Izmir) are factors contributing to the decision. Although we'd love to see Athens, the Magica's stop is only about 5 hours. I think I'd much rather spend the day in Santorini. This will be a 10th anniversary cruise, and it will also be the first time we travel without kids since they were born, so relaxing is definitely at the top of the priority list.

 

We still have over a year to plan, so I'm sure I'll continue my research, but if the cruise was tomorrow, we'd be on the Splendour. Thanks again for your time! :D

 

If you mean "some" as "me" - then go for it -

Ive smoked for + twenty years - the Magica cruise was SO smokey I QUIT smoking - UKBayern went in November - off season - pool deck would not be scorching sunbathing etc - I went September - unadulterated chaos everywhere, bars, restaurants, food and drinks service abysmal. I came home and cancelled a similar cruise we had booked on Pacifica as I wouldnt chance cruising on a Costa mass ship again.

It was during school term so I expected less kids and teens = wrong - free family places ensured a mass.

Up on deck - there was no bar service, and it was a queue at the bar for a minimum of 40 minutes for a drink by day on the sun decks.

The 7 day loop is a chaotic nightmare - you will experience four days where lifts are not in operation due to luggage changover, four loads of people, some are having their first formal night where others are having their last - its nuts!

But smoke :eek:

I was so relieved our family (non smokers) were not with us, be warned - there is no escape on Magica from smoke. You can smoke in the grand lounge, the casino, the piano bar, another lounge beside the piano bar and the disco. Oh - and also in the lobby lounge, even there there is a smoking area. The smoking areas were heaving with smokers - I honestly believe if you are a non smoker and smoke bothers you, you do need to look at that very carefully... I have zero to gain by telling you this - but for me - a heavy smoker - to be going into the non smoking areas and NOT smoking - it was serious.... Maybe because I smoked very mild cigarettes I was bothered by the heavy smoke of european style cigs - whatever - it was honestly very bad indeed. I found myself coughing and wheezing and moving to any area which was fairly smoke free???

I actually wondered if the ships air con was running - there was a steady black haze - and officers and crew for sure smoke in public areas, kinda unprofessional if you ask me.

We didnt complain as we paid so little (£699 each in a balcony) but for sure it rated way down as one of our least favoured cruise experiences. Would not repeat it. My one blessing is that the cruise was the motivator I needed to quit - I thank God I went!! Small price to pay :)

Obviously I had a totally different experience from UKBayern - it was a sunshine cruise for us, we just wanted a cheap break in the sun - no big deal really - just was very aware of the heavy smoke and as I say, enough to make me finally quit for once and for all!

Perhaps they had an older pax crowd and a majority of non smokers - who knows - but for sure, my experience you would not have enjoyed as a non smoker.

You're taking a chance - you could win and get a low smoking pax - or - you could get my experience....

[cruisetrail]

UKBayern:

 

Thank you SO much for your detailed reply!! :D I think you covered every question that I had. I'm glad to hear that the Magica is not as bad as some people make it sound, but I believe that we are leaning towards the Splendour. Anytime Dining, the extra day at sea, docking in Kusadasi (instead of Izmir) are factors contributing to the decision. Although we'd love to see Athens, the Magica's stop is only about 5 hours. I think I'd much rather spend the day in Santorini. This will be a 10th anniversary cruise, and it will also be the first time we travel without kids since they were born, so relaxing is definitely at the top of the priority list.

 

We still have over a year to plan, so I'm sure I'll continue my research, but if the cruise was tomorrow, we'd be on the Splendour. Thanks again for your time! :D

 

No one can make a good ship sound bad.

Costa Magica is as good or bad as she is.

I cannot vote for the itinerary - it's subjective.

The Splendour is an older ship that has undergone serious modernization to be somewhat in line with the product of more advanced RCI ships.

You have taken a wise decision.

You cannot compare the updated Splendour with Costa Magica (one of the worst Costa ships).

If you want to try something new, why cruise on an older version of the ship you have already been on?

[Tapi]

If you mean "some" as "me" - then go for it - ...

 

Hi Blondie:

 

"Some" as on the several reviews in the member section, although I did read your review as well (but I wasn't singling you out) :o. 56% of readers would recommend the Magica which I considered to be pretty low.

 

We do consider excessive smoking to be detrimental to our enjoyment of our vacations, and Royal Caribbean's more stringent smoking rules will also be a strong deciding factor, and one that tips the scale in favor of the Splendour.

 

I honestly believe if you are a non smoker and smoke bothers you, you do need to look at that very carefully....

 

 

I do thank you for taking the time to share your experience. My wife used to be a smoker earlier in our marriage, but she now has very little tolerance for it, so I'm sure your observations will resonate with her.

[Blondie008]

Hi Blondie:

 

"Some" as on the several reviews in the member section, although I did read your review as well (but I wasn't singling you out) :o. 56% of readers would recommend the Magica which I considered to be pretty low.

 

We do consider excessive smoking to be detrimental to our enjoyment of our vacations, and Royal Caribbean's more stringent smoking rules will also be a strong deciding factor, and one that tips the scale in favor of the Splendour.

 

 

 

 

I do thank you for taking the time to share your experience. My wife used to be a smoker earlier in our marriage, but she now has very little tolerance for it, so I'm sure your observations will resonate with her.

 

 

Tapi? What time of year are you planning? Is the NeoRomantica 13 nighter out of the question - the one I am doing this year goes most of the ports you mention plus Ukraine and Turkey? Greek isles from Italy? I dont know if it runs again in 2014? Is 13 nights too long?

[Tapi]

Tapi? What time of year are you planning? Is the NeoRomantica 13 nighter out of the question - the one I am doing this year goes most of the ports you mention plus Ukraine and Turkey? Greek isles from Italy? I dont know if it runs again in 2014? Is 13 nights too long?

 

We will be sailing in November (our wedding anniversary is Nov 6th) :)

Initially, when I began planning this cruise, I started looking at 12-14 night cruises, but unfortunately, that would limit the days we can use for a family vacation earlier that year (this cruise will be just for my wife and I).

[Blondie008]

We will be sailing in November (our wedding anniversary is Nov 6th) :)

Initially, when I began planning this cruise, I started looking at 12-14 night cruises, but unfortunately, that would limit the days we can use for a family vacation earlier that year (this cruise will be just for my wife and I).

 

Aaaah okay - well - hope you get sorted out. I am sure whatever, wherever, celebrating a joyous occasion can only bring happy times. Enjoy planning!