Costa Favolosa Samsara Inside v MSC balcony

[pmacher61]

I'm a solo planning a 20+ day cruise out of Buenos Aires in Mar/Apr, 2014.

 

I'd like advice from those who have had relevant experience on a Costa ship with the Samsara Spa, in particular the inside cabins, and how that might compare to a balcony on the MSC Poesia.

The price of the 150 sq ft Samsara inside cabin on the Costa Favolosa is about the same as the 192 sq ft & 40 sq ft veranda of the B2 category on the MSC Poesia. I like the availability of the health food orientated Samsara restaurant especially as I'm informed it has open seating for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the extra space and balcony of the Poesia seems a better deal, ....except I have such forebodings about bad food and bad service on MSC.

 

Can you suggest which I should book? And why?

[Dancer Bob]

You may well be the only English-speaking single in Samsara, so you will probably end up eating alone. How important is that to you? The Samsara menu is much nicer, although I did order off the main menu when something appealed to me.

How much time will you actually spend on a balcony? As a single, I haven't found a larger cabin makes much difference. There's a bridge channel on the TV, so in effect you do have a window with an inside.

[pmacher61]

You may well be the only English-speaking single in Samsara, so you will probably end up eating alone. How important is that to you? The Samsara menu is much nicer, although I did order off the main menu when something appealed to me.

How much time will you actually spend on a balcony? As a single, I haven't found a larger cabin makes much difference. There's a bridge channel on the TV, so in effect you do have a window with an inside.

I speak decent Spanish so language is not a consideration as it relates to communication with other pax. Is the Samsara dining room open for dinner?

Thanks for your reply although I am not so sure a tv screen is comparable to sitting outside even for brief spells.

[Talisker92]

IMO, none of the above. Read some of the reviews of both lines.

[Dancer Bob]

For me it would be a no-brainer, when I've had a balcony I've never used it. I only speak enough French to get by as a tourist and almost no Spanish or Italian, if you speak Spanish that should help a lot. Samsara is a separate dining room, you eat at your convenience (I usually went in between 7PM and 8PM, I'm not sure of exact opening and closing).

I'm not sure what point Talisker92 is trying to make, reviews are useless unless the reviewer makes it clear what's important to them. Many of the reviews boil down to "how dare them foreigners not speak English" and "they didn't have no 10,000 calorie meals and 24-hr feeding troughs". It sounds like you've already done more research than that.