Costa Victoria 13/1/18

[alicat58]

Hi All

 

I am home after a long old flight and have worked my way through over two weeks worth of work emails bolstered by some extra strong cold and flu remedy:(.

 

First of all some stuff about the ship. I'll eventually get to the ports and some photos.

 

We have been on all the Neo ships. They don't have the bling of the newer ones but we liked them. I liked the Neo Riviera best. The Victoria does not have bling or the charm that the Neo ships have.

 

They were replacing carpets the whole time we were on the ship. There was a particularly OCD cleaner in the grand bar whizzing up and down with his carpet clearer all hours of the day. The carpets made so much fluff and this young man is obviously proud of a clean room. He was tut-tutting the whole time. I could not do that job, so there's fluff, who cares.

 

They were also sanding down the outside wooden bannisters(maybe another name) and re-varnishing them. The pool decks were scrubbed and areas cordoned off during the day for this job. My impression is that they are starting the refurb before the 12 days in Marseille. I cannot see what they can achieve in 12d. They need to strip the whole ship down and re-do her.

 

There were issues with the lifts the whole 2 weeks we were on board. Not stopping quite at floor level or just not working.

 

We had an ocean view cabin on deck 8. It was very quiet though we were close to the panoramic (sic) lifts. Our cabin steward was not the greatest. They now adopted the Carnival policy I read about. Once a day cleaning. Morning or afternoon. You can ask for twice a day but the note makes you feel so bad about mucking up the environment that we put up with damp towels in the morning. That is when Dennis remembered to clean the bathroom. He also removed the base cover off the bed and I bashed my calves regularly on the sharp corner of the bed frame. I should have asked him to replace it. The cabin was snug to say the least but when we booked nothing else was available. There were four small drawers on either side of the bed. Suitcases fit under the bed easily.

 

There was a small half circular shelf we used for our laptop. NO CHAIR! We asked and got a folding chair from the training centre.

 

There were four larger drawers next to the minibar and reasonable amount of hanging space with those awful hangers that do not slide.

 

The bathroom was the usual except tiny. No washing line and no shaving mirror. One shaver plug in the bathroom and a single plug next to the desk. We played musical plugs with this.

 

There are a distinct lack of bars on this ship. There is a small atrium bar on deck 5. The entertainment here was ok at best. A chap singing and playing the piano, a chap playing the piano with a female violinist. OK but lots of bum notes(coming from her who does not play an instrument but likes to listen to music). Then ther was the tenor. Big guy and sang OK but we saw the other big guy years ago. Some latin dance lessons in this area and some noisy dancing to piped music. Quite fun to watch.

 

The Grandbar Orpheus is on deck 6 and is a thoroughfare. Bar stools at the bar and lots of chairs and tables. Two acts in this area and then the silly stuff done by the entertainment team. Both acts a female singer and a guy "playing" an instrument. More of the fabricated stuff than actually playing. Once again OK. They got lots of people dancing.

 

There is a lovely bar on deck7 right in the front of the ship. Unfortunately we only managed this one once because they started the entertainment too late for us. (21.45 and later). They also did some silly stuff here. The lets embarass the customers. Why do people to that?

 

There is a bar inside the theatre. Never saw it open.

 

There are two bars on the pool deck. One is in the smokers area and open all hours. The other one on the opposite side and only open in the evenings. It's the Spritz bar. Mostly deserted.

 

There is a wine bar but not included in the usual package and no entertainement.

 

The final one is on the outside section on the buffet.

 

Having listed so many I can see people saying what are you moaning about? In effect only two bars where you could go for a drink before supper and after where there was entertainment.

 

We don't gamble. Not quite true, we don't usually gamble. There was that one time when we both got a €10 OBC and I put my whole stash on my birthday and won €300. I legged it straight out of there in a flash. It was in the days when Costa only let you use your OBC in the casino. The casino on this ship is HUGE. Presumably it is one of the areas that will change when the Victoria comes to Europe.

 

The restaurants and food: Since we have become Perla Diamante we enjoyed eating in the club restaurant and it was free dining. That suited us because we don't like to eat late but 18h00 is ridiculous. We were really peeved about this new arrangment replacing access to the club restaurant. We had our "cordoned off" area in the Fantasia on deck 5. The menu was the standard MDR menu but in addition to that we could have any of the items that were usually charged. I have already mentioned the mouldy lobster claw. It did not belong to the lobster. Suffice to say we did not try lobster again. The large prawns were nice. Stay away from the Pork chop Milanese! It is very greasy. We had some good meals. They also had a dish from the area every night(could have fooled me because they were all curries with naan which is Indian in my book.) I had it once and it was delicious. A few evening the cheeses were good but not sliced off the cheese trolley like in the club restaurant. They cunningly did not include the fillet steak on the menu. Hubby asked and had it most nights(as usual). We had an excellent waiter called Ronie(one n) who managed to arrange for the philistine to have chips with his steak as well.

 

We had most of our breakfasts in the MDR. Good omelettes. Cold eggs Benedict. They do have some pastries and fruit as well. Only saw cold cuts and cheese on the last morning. The pastries in the buffet were better. My favourite little fruit tarts. They also have an egg station on the outside deck where the dow fried eggs, omelettes(only cheese) and I think scrambles eggs. There was also bacon and sausages at the far end of the buffet.

 

Lunch at the buffet was rubbish. We came back from shore late a few days and the food was cold and boring. They served lunch till 4pm which is the latest I have ever seen. The burgers and chips were good but only served till 3pm. Tea time was 4-5pm and the usual small buns and stuff.

 

Info for Tanja: People dressed up most nights. Not everybody but lots. There were two gala evenings, two elegant evenings(the one was white night), an Italian evening, black , red and gold evening and the last night was Asian. The men dressed mainly in smart trousers and shirt. Few wore jackets. Minimal tuxes and ties. Boys/teens mainly casual and on gala smart trousers and shirt. The ladies wore the full evening thing and some were more eccentric than others.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation: True to Costa they don't tell you where to go. Our hotel looked on the internet and sent us to the wrong terminal. I suggest that people look on the port website or cruise mapper to find which terminal. There is the new Marina Bay International cruise terminal and Habourfront which is the old one.

 

Embarkation was diabolical. Numbers 1 and 2 were priority boarding and there were so many people I should have known the restaurant situation will be an issue. Being Italian and French they shoved and queque jumped as usual. Then it was the Singapore border control. My oh my. They take their jobs very seriously. They were more miserable that the Russians in St.Petersburg. You get these guys at the airport when you enter, then before the ship, midway through the two week cruise when you get on AND off, again when you return to Singapore and at the airport when you leave you are just about wafted through. Security check only when you get to board the plane. I had a bit of a scare yesterday. Hubby and I were sent to different counters and I suddenly noticed him been taken to a separate room. OMG what is going on? It seemed like ages before he came out. Of course he told me they subjected him to a body cavity search:mad:. It turned out that his thumb printes did not scan. The same happened at the airport.

 

Our first embarkation was at Harbourfront. The second part was also there and we disembarked at Marina Bay. We were only told the morning we left that there was a change.

 

My last bit of info for now. We got the "social package" for keeping in touch(read annoy) the family. It allows you access to Facebook, twitter and Whatsapp. A few others we don't use. I think it was €36 plus €3 for connection for the two weeks.

 

I'll get to the ports, tenders and photos later.

 

If anybody has questions please ask.

 

Alicat

[alicat58]

Please tell me how status match with other lines work. Is it just with MSC that you can do it?

 

Alicat

[G.M.T.]

Please tell me how status match with other lines work. Is it just with MSC that you can do it?

 

Alicat

Just with MSC, at present.

 

Within some groups you can get a similar level, i. RCCl - between Roxal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

PS. Welcome home.

[alicat58]

Good to know.

 

Thanks. Glad to be home. Still need to collect the cats. They probably think I have deserted them poor things.

 

Riana

[tenpin]

Welcome home Alicat, thanks for all the info on the Victoria, I was an avid lover of that lovely ship & was looking forward to cruising on her again, but it seems that like most other Costa promises the Victoria does no longer live up to its name.

 

I certainly am very upset about these new Club Dining rules, we are unable to get a suite in May, so I guess we will no longer be in the Club D.R. but like the Magica in a section of the main dining room.

Saying that after our experience on the Diadema, fixed times & two sittings I guess it is goodbye to exclusive dining for suite & Perla Diamante members on any Costa ship.

Switching ove to MSC after our next booked two with Costa

 

Hope cats are now home and forgive you for leaving them so long. We cat sit for our friends when they cruise, free holiday for us right by the coast.

[alicat58]

Both cats now home and looking as if they have been on a 14d cruise. FAT!

 

Alicat

[tjandluke]

Welcome back Alicat.

 

Thanks for all the detail on Victoria. Im still tossing on booking for the Fortuna. One minute I think yes, the next I think no. I think I will eventually say yes as the dates and itinerary really work for us. Others just don't work as well.

 

The offer on the Fortuna is good value and the time in ports is good which is what we like.

 

Sorry to hear of the once daily room service. I would just ignore the tone of the letter- I can't stand damp towels. Luke apparently does not mind them as he seems to leave his on the bathroom floor regularly at home!

 

Cant wait for the next installment....

 

Thanks for the info on the Gala nights and the clothes worn. Luke who will be 13.5 when we go has formal clothes- we go to the races a bit here and he needs them to get in... just wondering if to pack them.... I will keep thinking....Although he is young he is a big strapping young man with a size 10 foot already! So his clothes/ shoes take up lots of space...

[alicat58]

Hi All

 

Should be at work but this nasty virus got the better of me and I am at home. I have just done the Costa questionnaire for what it's worth(nothing).

 

I forgot to mention the theatre yesterday. Oddly it is at the back of the ship. It is smallish but fine. We actually went to two shows which is a lot for us. There was a bigger group of dancers on this ship than any of our recently cruises and both the costumes and choreography were good. Shows were a bit shorter than usual. I think there were 6 or 8 girls and 3 boys. The female singer was good and the male one not too bad. The second show had an act with some acrobatics and weird stuff with what looked like conkers on strings. Made lots of noise but was entertaining.

 

One of our bug bears in the theatre is the sound level. We have walked out of shows on the Diadema because it was so loud that it distorted. We listen to a lot of music and have a high end sound system at home. The music was still loud in the theatre but much more acceptable and we actually enjoyed the shows. There was a "surreal comedy show" which we missed. We saw the entertainers for this act on the last day........

 

To Tanja: Size 10! Why do mens shoes take up so much space.

 

I need to sort the photos out but at the moment that is a bridge too far. I am going to have a snooze now. I know it is 13h43 in the UK. I feel very sorry for myself.

 

Alicat (Riana)

[tenpin]

Alicat,

 

I have just got over a stinking cold, Vicks rubbed on the soles of my feet stopped the coughing at night.

 

How the hell does that work???????????????????

[alicat58]

Hi Tenpin

 

I cannot get my head around that one either though my trusted jar of vicks lives on my bedside table. Maybe it is reflexology or reiki or magic of just co-incidence.

 

I took your suggestion and rubbed my soles with vicks last night. It worked till 3am when I started coughing again. I could not be bothered to re-apply at that stage. Still at home today and currently feeling rather grotty again so off for a snooze. My big Xmas prezzie arrived today. New computer. I just know hubby is going to expect me to set the thing up. Oh dear.

 

Alicat

[alicat58]

Hi

 

Slightly better today. Frustrated as usual with CC. I wrote a long entry and lost it when I went to the photos.

 

Pre-cruise: Singapore.

We stayed at the new Novotel on Stevens. It only opened in October and still has a new carpet smell. We were supposedly upgraded . Not sure what the difference was. It was good value for money and breakfast was included.The breakfast was varied with anything from pastries to curry! I did not try the curry or noodles.

 

The hotel has an infinity pool on the second floor-not exactly the Marina Bay Sands. It also shares a large "lap pool" with the Mercure which was next door and attached to it. I had a swim in the drizzle on our second day and the water was pretty chilly.

 

Our BA flight was delayed by about 40 minutes and we were cream crackered when we arrived. The queue at passport control took very long. Be warned. As mentioned before, they are very grumpy and thorough.

 

There are some restaurants immediately outside the hotel. Italian, Fish, Chinese, Malay(Halaal so no booze) and Curry that was not open yet. I suspect franchised out by the hotels. There was a "tapas" place in the hotel foyer and at the Mercure a wine bar that served food. It opened on the night we arrived. We had a mixed platter of cheese and meats. VERY expensive and the wait was ridiculous seeing that everything was cold and just had to be served.

 

We wanted to find some sushi but after looking at the prices decided to give it a miss. So I never had the chilli crab G.M.T. suggested. We ate at the Italian place the next evening.

 

If I lived there I would have to be teetotal. The booze is ridiculously expensive.

 

After a good nights sleep we woke to find it raining and miserable looking. Never mind! I had a cunning plan. We were going to visit Gardens by the bay and spend time in the two domes. Even if you are not into gardening this is a must. It was amazing. I'll post some pictures as soon as they have uploaded to Flickr.

 

We wandered to the shopping centre adjacent to the hotel and ended up sharing a pizza in one of the restaurants. Once again , very expensive.

 

Taxis are cheap and efficient. The drivers chatty and very friendly.

 

Let me have another groan about CC and the photos. Why do they have to make it so difficult? Has anyone tried to upload on their phones on the CC app?

 

Alicat

[G.M.T.]

Our BA flight was delayed by about 40 minutes and we were cream crackered when we arrived.

Alicat

We loved Singapore (but as mentioned for the price of booze), luckily we had 3 days onboard with drinks package.:beer-mug:

 

Riana, a bit of ryhming slang slipped in there, didn't know you were a cockney?

[alicat58]

Hi Ron

 

Been in the UK for a bit and has picked some Cockney up. We fortunately had 14 days of booze package.

 

In one of the domes.

I would like to have one of those stone snails in my garden to scare the real little blighters off.

The sheer scale of these domes are amazing. I don't do heights. Had to come down a spiral staircase in Kew once. This was much easier to manage even on the walkways high up.

Could not resist.

Loads of amazing sculptures made out of wood. I loved these monkeys.

Just pretty.

 

I only managed to get half my photos to Flickr. It is truely tedious.

 

Alicat(Riana)

[tenpin]

Awesome photo's, taking me back to my youth when I could travel farther than the western Med.

[alicat58]

More to come! I hope I am not boring everybody senseless with the stuff I post. No doubt GMT will tell me.

 

When I researched this trip it was difficult to find information. I used CC and the other one as well. We still ended up not knowing what we will do in each port. In the end it worked out fine.

 

Do you only do Western Med Tenpin?

 

Alicat

[alicat58]

One last pre-cruise entry and then I will only be back on the weekend.

 

The Orchid gardens within the National Botanical gardens. There is a fee for the orchid garden but the rest is free. It was drizzling again so we concentrated on the orchids.

 

 

 

 

I know, it's not one! I think ginger plant or something.

An amazing tree with a photo bomber in my shot.

 

See you on the weekend people. 5 and a bit more years to retirement. Sigh!

 

Alicat(Riana)

[G.M.T.]

Riana, you are certainly not boring myself. I love reviews with photos, especially when I have been there. Keep them coming.

 

Five years to go to retirement - since when is the retirement age in UK at 46 y.o.? ;)

[tenpin]

Yes sorry to say I now can't travel far, and having problems flying, use Eurostar or Dover/Southampton, mostly western Med we not longer go ashore, but love it when ship is nearly empty, meeting the crew when things are quiet.

 

Think this year maybe our last cruising but, hey had a great time while it lasted and nearly spent all kids inheritance

[bazbov]

One last pre-cruise entry and then I will only be back on the weekend.

 

The Orchid gardens within the National Botanical gardens. There is a fee for the orchid garden but the rest is free. It was drizzling again so we concentrated on the orchids.

 

 

 

 

I know, it's not one! I think ginger plant or something.

An amazing tree with a photo bomber in my shot.

 

See you on the weekend people. 5 and a bit more years to retirement. Sigh!

 

Alicat(Riana)

Hiya Alicat (Riana). Glad that your'e now on the mend and thanks so much for the insight on your cruise and pre-cruise, i too love the photos but your'e braver than i am, i have no idea how to do that sort of thing (G) It will be interesting to see what the Victoria looks like after her refit, i will let you know our impressions when we return from her in June. Like Tenpin i too now find it more difficult to move around and tend to stay on board ship a lot more, which i also love. Probably be able to do a couple more long distance flights but then after that we'll just stick to the Med. Happy cruising and welcome back..

[tjandluke]

Riana,

 

DON'T stop posting about your cruise and Singapore. I love reading reviews and getting all the details. Im like Ron in that I also love hearing/ reading about laces I have been and am planning on going to again!.

 

Ron, its not only the Brits that speak Cockney! My Dad was fluent (born and raised in Australia) and used it throughout his life- mostly to try to confuse my rather posh Mum! Still trying to work out how they were happily married for 50 years. I grew up with it -not to mention the look of horror on my Mums face when I started to use it occasionally as well.

[alicat58]

Hi there

 

It's the needy one. I am suitably reassured that people are enjoying my review and it's not self indulgence only.

 

Bazbov: I swear a lot when I deal with the photos and posts. CC is not the easiest site. I have just lost a whole post with photos!

 

Ron: They have not lowered the retirement age in the UK you flatterer. I am counting the days though. I don't want to get old(er) but boy am I ready to stop working. I worked this morning and just got irritated. Are you still working?

 

Tanja: I'll carry on. Hopefully I will give some useful info about the ports.

 

Tenpin:Thanks for following.

 

OK, let's try again. This is the last morning before embarking. We went to China Town. I'll post some later photos to show the change in decorations as they were getting ready for NY.

Is he not the cutest? He is an umbrella stand and I want one.

Dull day but pretty lanterns across a street.

Hindu temple, name on side. There was a wedding on our last day. Did not see the bride, just guests arriving.

The temple at the Buddha Tooth Relic Museum. There was a service on the go when we where there. Monks chanting, gongs being gonged and Bells being rung. I always feel as if I intrude when we enter a shrine, temple or church when people are worshipping. Our worst experience was in Albi when people were strolling in and out and a funeral was in progress in the massive cathedral.Weird.

He looks really miffed about something.

Another one of the Hindu temple.

 

We decided to get a taxi back to the hotel for our 12 o'clock check out and to go to the harbour.

 

More later.

 

Riana

[alicat58]

Is that the railings of a ship I can see?

The ship was docked at Harbourfront and the cable cars were overhead. We were toying with the idea of going on the cable car to get overhead shots but the customs/emmigration was too much to contemplate that. Unfortunately we had other plans for our mid cruise return and never got round to doing it. I think it would be great fun to do. It looked gorgeous at night as well.

 

Our next stop was Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur. I am going to start a separate entry for the day.

[alicat58]

Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur:

 

I have organised a private taxi for the day with an amazing guy I found on cruise critic. I emailed him before the cruise. He was so quick I don't know whether he ever sleeps. He waited for us in the terminal building and drove us about in his air conditioned taxi for $90. The only thing I told him I would like to see was Batu Caves and I let him do the rest. He planned the journey so we went to the caves first and then worked our way back until he delivered us safely and in time back to the ship. I can heartily recommend him and if anyone wants his email I can pass it on. Costa did not have a shuttle to KL. You had to pre-book a tour to DIY. I do not think we could have managed the amount of things in comfort if we used Costa and it was more expensive.

 

Batu caves

I don't know who he is but it takes 30l of gold paint to paint him. We did not walk up to the caves. Multiple reasons:1)Something like 271 steps up and then you have do come down again. 2) Too many steps. 3) Far too many steps. It's not that I am lazy, no, actually I am.

Gorgeous garlands. It is amazing how they are made.

Part of the complex. Apparently there is a festival once a year when Hindus from all over come here to worship. It is very busy then. Moral of the story is check it's not when you are going. Sorry but I cannot remember what it was called but I am Google will know. On the day we visited there were lots of people. They come on Sundays because they don't work and are dressed beautifully.

If you can enlarge the pic you'll see monkeys on the steps. The detail on that facade was stunning.

I think he is the monkey god. He's the guy who has his chest ripped open and has two gods/people in his heart. Look at his amazing tail.

I added this one so you can see the beautiful outfits. I should have sneaked a few pics of the kids but the pedo attitude people have in the UK I did not. I noticed that our American friends on CC happily take pics of kids and post them.

 

So that was Batu caves. If you plan to go to KL and you have not been please put this at the top of your list

[alicat58]

More KL:

The king's palace. There are something like 9 kings in Malaysia and they each have turn to stay in the palace. They stay for 5 years. I suppose some never get the opportunity.

Outside, not allowed in.

? Giant bonsai

One of the colonial type buildings in the centre of town.

The cricket club. I don't think this is a cricket playing nation. The old club house is pretty. The pitch is not one any longer.

I think the fountain was a Queen Vic memorial fountain. I loved the detail.

This is all at the same square with gorgeous buildings and the I love KL sign to the one side. People were queueing to take their photo there.

[alicat58]

Zaidee, our driver, then took us to the KL tower which he said was better for the view that Petronas. It was a short queue and we got a discount for seniors. I have kept my ticket.

The Petronas towers are the ones in the middle. You cannot see them as two separate towers from my photo.

Another big one going up.

And here they are from the bottom. We did not bother to go to the Skybridge.

China town. If you want to get a "good" knock off branded watch, this is where you go. The food looked and smelt amazing. Did not have anything because the boss is scared he'll get a dodgy tummy.

Thean Hou Temple. It's a Chinese temple. It is stunning. I will have to do another entry to add some more photos. CC only allows 6 per post.