Costa Magica Excursion questions

[vtsunshine]

Hey All!!

I have been reading everyones comments on Costa Magica and must say I am very excited about my up coming cruise (7/31)

I had a few questions to post about the excursions, I read a few things on some of the ones we are interested in and was just wondering if anyone had gone on these particular trips or talked to people who did...any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!

--Savona probably will go it alone, please comment if you agree or disagree!! And where to go :)

--Barcelona (I really think it would be best to do this one alone, but my husband wanted me to ask about a few of the excursions!!;) )

*Barcelona & Picasso Museum

*Tapas Tour

--Mallorca

*Catamaran Cruise seems really interesting, but it's not just a booze cruise is it?? Not that I don't enjoy those, but were looking to snorkel and see some of Mallorca!!

--Tunis, so I won't lie, I'm a little concerned by some of what I have read about here (pushy vendors, state dept warnings...etc), positive feedback would be appreciated!!

*Historical and Cultural Tunis

--Malta

*Off Road

*Horse riding

--Palermo (again, I feel we should go this one alone, but the husband wanted me to ask;) )

*Mysterous Palermo

*Selinunte & Marinella Beach

 

Finally from what I have gathered from all the other entries reguarding this particular ship I should ... stick to pasta dishes at dinner, go to the pay resturant atleast one evening, remember to bring shampoo, lotion, etc, buy a drink package (soda, wine, ..), be able to hold my own in the lines (I already knew that one living in Germany...nothing against the people though! It's just culture), and bring plenty of bottled water, ... anything else I'm missing??

 

Thanks for all and any feedback!! I am looking forward to our Costa cruise, we have cruised once before for our honeymoon on Carnival out of Miami and had a super time!!!

~VT Sunshine

(VT is for Virginia Tech:D ...not Vermont!)

[TDOTCRUISR]

Hi vtsunshine--I bumped up some previous threads for you that had our reviews of some of the excursions. You may have to read through them though--Jo42, Latex and I have covered some of the excursions that you had questions about.

[nellie21]

In Savonna, we did the Portifino tour....one of the highlites of our trip!!:p

[vtsunshine]

TDOTCRUISR and Nellie21 Thanks so much for the replies to excersions questions!! I'm very much so looking forward to our cruise!! I keep hearing how "different" (negative ofcourse) European cruises are compared to American ones, but we're pretty laid back and easy to please ... good weather, food, fun and we're happy:D Cruise ships always seem to have that perminant "happy" vibe to them so I doubt much will ruine our trip:) For all those that complain I just say stay home;)

But again, thanks so much for ya'lls input and if anyone else knows anything about these excursions please let me know... I know a bunch of people from this forum were taking the 4th of July cruise with Magica!!!!

[hammybee]

I am not a big time shopper while on vacation but be prepared for the most wonderful blown glass creations in Malta, at exceptionally good prices.

 

I would opt for the Portofino excursion.

 

Barcelona is better on foot.

[theman1]

Hello vtsunshine,

 

Regarding Barcelona - go on your own. It is really the best way to discover the town.

Catamaran excursion (Mallorca) you do not step on the ground of Mallorca. Directly from the ship you go on catamaran. People said it was very nice.

Tunis - (if any) take Historical and Cultural Tunis. Actually Tunis is the best day to stay on the ship (empty swimming pools, slide etc.) Tunis is very dirty - my imprestion - worst town of all I visited during the cruise.

 

Regarding Palermo etc. We took Selinute and beach. Mainly recomended for people who want to go for swimming in the sea. Selinute is one hour stop and very good for archeologists and interseted in history.

Palermo itself is a town with "two faces". Few streets in the old town worth seeing. The rest of the town grey..... We saw it only from the bus.

The best stops are Barcelona and Malta (we took Mdina and Mosta tour, we also stoped to buy some glass). After the tour you have planty of time to see La Valetta (a must see!!!!).

Mallorca - we were few times before the cruise, so we went shopping.

Sicilly is beautifull. Unforunatelly there is no excursion to the most interesting parts of the island.

 

Regarding the food - stick to pasta AND FISH dishes at dinner. Fish dishes are also fantastic. Most of apetizers and desserts also very good. From soups you can try some cold one. My wife said that some were very good.

[twojays]

vtsunshine - we bought the wine package, which is 6 bottles of wine and 10 free bottles of water. If you exchange the water voucher in the restaurant, you get a 500ml bottle, but if you exchange it at a bar, you get 1 litre.

 

There is also free iced water available on tap all day in the Bellagio Restaurant - so if you have an empty bottle, you can fill it up there whenever you want and keep it in your fridge- so I wouldnt have thought there was a need to take bottled water with you.

 

We had no problems with the food. I had read on here to stay away from the meat dishes - but they were fine the week we were on board. The pasta and fish are good too.

[jstrutton]

How does the wine package work. Do they give you vouchers to us anytime you want to use it or how do they account for your using all the bottle.

[goldencup]

See my other post re the wine package.

 

Regarding Barcelona, I would totally disagree that it is better to go it alone or on foot - you won't see a fraction of it in the time available. If you want to see all the Gaudi stuff plus the Olympic Games site etc (as we did), the only feasible way is to take an excursion and we considered it was well worth the money. We still had time to explore the Ramblas etc, afterwards.

[CruizingNut]

Now that you're back... what did you find out????

 

We're on this same itinerary and Tunis scares me!!!

[goldencup]

Re Tunis, we didn't get off so we had a nice peaceful day on the ship. Friends that did an excursion said it didn't get as far as Carthage and they spent almost all the time in the Souk which they hated. Many people came back with items they didn't really want as they felt pressurised to buy something. I don't understand why they didn't query not getting to Carthage as that is the reason they booked the excurion but perhaps they booked the wrong one. We were advised not to get off the ship unless doing an excursion as there is nothing to see close to where the ship docks, but when we were leaving we noticed beaches that looked only a few minutes' walk away.

[twojays]

Wine Package: You get vouchers - we got ours the first night in the restaurant. You can then exchange one for a bottle of wine each evening if that's what you want to do.

 

The water vouchers also work the same way - although we did discover that if you exchange at a bar e.g. Grand bar solento, then you get a bigger bottle thatn if you exchange in the restaurant.

 

Don't be afraid about Tunis - we took the Historical & Cultural Tour - and our guide gave us a brilliant tour of Carthage.

 

Have a great time.

[CruizingNut]

Thank you!! Even though I am a shopaholic... I don't like to be hounded. I have never taken an organized tour in the 13 cruises I have taken but... this one seems to be a place where it is necessary.

 

Based on your recommendation, I will be booking the Historical Tour. Hopefully it is not a cattle call!!!

 

I can't imagine going all the way to "Africa" and stay on the boat! I could not forgive myself for that but... I will not put up with all the haggling. (especially since we are women traveling alone)

 

Leila

[goldencup]

I agree that if it is your first and possibly only trip to Africa it seems a waste to stay on board - but I have been there many times and Tunis is not my favourite part! Enjoy your visit - with hindsight I wish I'd taken the trip to Carthage and I would have certainly complained if it hadn't actually gone there! The friends we met on our cruise were a little naive and probably booked the wrong excursion as there were several with similar names.

[CruizingNut]

Thank you!:D