I did the 19nt onboard Costa Diadema to Dubai ~ Ask me your questions

[Shelledpea]

HI all,

 

OH & I sailed from Dubai onboard Costa Diadema. 

 

We experienced the highs and the lows of the Costa service style.

 

We visited:

Palermo

Pireaus

Heraklion / Iraklion

Haifa

Transited the Suez Canal

Aqaba ( & Visited Petra )

Salalah

Muscat

Khor Fakkan

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

 

We overnighted in Dubai before returning to the UK

 

Ask anything you need to know

 

Shelley

[jakob71]

49 minutes ago, Shelledpea said:

HI all,

 

OH & I sailed from Dubai onboard Costa Diadema. 

 

We experienced the highs and the lows of the Costa service style.

 

We visited:

Palermo

Pireaus

Heraklion / Iraklion

Haifa

Transited the Suez Canal

Aqaba ( & Visited Petra )

Salalah

Muscat

Khor Fakkan

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

 

We overnighted in Dubai before returning to the UK

 

Ask anything you need to know

 

Shelley

Hi,

Thank you for the opportunity to ask about your experiences on your Costa Diadema cruise.

My wife and I have previously cruised with Celebrity, Holland America, NCL and RCI, and we will sail  on a Costa Smeralda cruise in a few months time.

Were you satisfied with the selection and quality of the MDR’s dining options? How was the service from your wait staff in the MDR?

What do you think were the lows with your Costa Diadema cruise?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

 

[Shelledpea]

Hi Jakob,

 

I'd say go with an open mind. The main dining has none of the quality or the flair of Celebrity and but you'll never go hungry. Sometimes the descriptions were extremely wide of the mark. We found the food in the buffet of an evening hotter than that served in the dining room and I feel that Costa have done the right thing in reducing the number of buffet serving stations as you can see the the food being replaced on an extremely frequent basis.

 

The serving staff did an extremely good job when you realise they had 30 - 40 people to serve, top up drinks for and take orders from on  their own which I found odd... They have a busser but that person does nothing but run food from servery to station ....

 

If you look at Costa on a pppn it is extremely cheap ~ we did 19 nights with basic All Inclusive for £864 each and you get exactly that. If you do your port excursions wisely ( Book your own and do your own thing!) then it can be an extremely cost effective way to travel.

 

Make sure you sign up for Costa Club ~ the benefits are myriad and it costs nothing plus we found the pizza at pummo D'oro areally really good and with discount they were  €4.50 each with a dessert. As we had booked a premium cabin various item on rroom service were also free ~ I can recommend the chicken sandwich .

 

FYI I mainly sail MSC but have also cruised with RC, Carnival, P&O, Celebity, OV, Marella/Tui & NCL plus a few non mainstream brands 

 

 

[jakob71]

17 minutes ago, Shelledpea said:

Hi Jakob,

 

I'd say go with an open mind. The main dining has none of the quality or the flair of Celebrity and but you'll never go hungry. Sometimes the descriptions were extremely wide of the mark. We found the food in the buffet of an evening hotter than that served in the dining room and I feel that Costa have done the right thing in reducing the number of buffet serving stations as you can see the the food being replaced on an extremely frequent basis.

 

The serving staff did an extremely good job when you realise they had 30 - 40 people to serve, top up drinks for and take orders from on  their own which I found odd... They have a busser but that person does nothing but run food from servery to station ....

 

If you look at Costa on a pppn it is extremely cheap ~ we did 19 nights with basic All Inclusive for £864 each and you get exactly that. If you do your port excursions wisely ( Book your own and do your own thing!) then it can be an extremely cost effective way to travel.

 

Make sure you sign up for Costa Club ~ the benefits are myriad and it costs nothing plus we found the pizza at pummo D'oro areally really good and with discount they were  €4.50 each with a dessert. As we had booked a premium cabin various item on rroom service were also free ~ I can recommend the chicken sandwich .

 

FYI I mainly sail MSC but have also cruised with RC, Carnival, P&O, Celebity, OV, Marella/Tui & NCL plus a few non mainstream brands 

 

 

Hi Shelly,

Thank you for a very informative feedback to my questions!

[gerryuk]

Hi Shelly,

Was thinking of going on this cruise from Dubai back to Europe, A couple of questions......

I am assuming like me you hold a British passport, please confirm that all the visas for the non European leg are done via the ship and you don't need to get visas before boarding?, although I will get a visa when arriving at the airport in Dubai as I will stay there a couple of days before boarding. But what about visas for places like Jordan, are these done on the ship with the relevant authorities?

I have done a couple of Costas to South America and the make up of the ship was mainly Italians and Brazilians with a very light scattering of Brits on board, and a good mix of young and older cruisers, What was the demographics on board this ship? Thanks.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

We are booked on the Diadema out of Dubai the coming winter and looking forward to try Costa and the Diadema. We mainly sail MSC but have also sailed in RCL and Celebrity. How long was the buffet open in evening? Did you manage to find a reasonable quiet place /lounge onboard without very load music and finally, was the pools heated? 

 

Thank you very much and all the best from Norway 🇳🇴 

[YVR GAL]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:22 PM, Shelledpea said:

HI all,

 

OH & I sailed from Dubai onboard Costa Diadema. 

 

We experienced the highs and the lows of the Costa service style.

 

We visited:

Palermo

Pireaus

Heraklion / Iraklion

Haifa

Transited the Suez Canal

Aqaba ( & Visited Petra )

Salalah

Muscat

Khor Fakkan

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

 

We overnighted in Dubai before returning to the UK

 

Ask anything you need to know

 

Shelley

Hi Shelly. I am a Canadian booked on the Diadema 11Jan20.  Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman. I am thinking of the hop on hop off in Muscat and Abu Dhabi.  What are your thoughts? Do you think it would safe and easy to walk around or should I book tours.  I hear the English speaking tours can cancel at the last minute due not enough travellers. Thanks

ssgrant444@gmail.com 

[greg2014]

Hi Shelly. I am going for this cruise in reverse direction in March 2020. Could you say sth about Khor Fakkan ? Is this port location suitable for exploring city on foot ? Is any shuttle bus provided ?

[Shelledpea]

On 12/22/2019 at 1:40 AM, gerryuk said:

Hi Shelly,

Was thinking of going on this cruise from Dubai back to Europe, A couple of questions......

I am assuming like me you hold a British passport, please confirm that all the visas for the non European leg are done via the ship and you don't need to get visas before boarding?, although I will get a visa when arriving at the airport in Dubai as I will stay there a couple of days before boarding. But what about visas for places like Jordan, are these done on the ship with the relevant authorities?

I have done a couple of Costas to South America and the make up of the ship was mainly Italians and Brazilians with a very light scattering of Brits on board, and a good mix of young and older cruisers, What was the demographics on board this ship? Thanks.

Hi Gerry,

 

Sorry for the late reply but life got in the way

 

Yes all visas were sorted by the ship including the Jordanian, we just had to present ourselves onboard at an allocated time to meet the Israeli authorities. This was done by deck and took less than 5 minutes as queues were not long. 

 

We met probably 20 brits onboard but the rest were mainly italian with a smattering of other Europeans and a few Indians. It was mainly an older crowd and less than 10 children (all very young).

 

 

[Shelledpea]

On 12/22/2019 at 9:34 PM, Norwegian Cruiser 73 said:

We are booked on the Diadema out of Dubai the coming winter and looking forward to try Costa and the Diadema. We mainly sail MSC but have also sailed in RCL and Celebrity. How long was the buffet open in evening? Did you manage to find a reasonable quiet place /lounge onboard without very load music and finally, was the pools heated? 

 

Thank you very much and all the best from Norway 🇳🇴 

 

Hi,

I mainly sail MSC also so this was a change for me ~ as I've said previously go with an open mind.

 

The buffet was open from approximately 6.30pm till 9pm each evening and only one half, but the food is replenished quickly and it is always hot. There is generally a carvery station, a food of the world section, pasta station, grill and vegetables and then bread, cheese, fruit desserts etc. There are no drinks waiters in the buffet you have to go to the counter and get your own drinks (none of the handy "press for service" buttons that I have become accustomed to...)

 

Of an evening we found the outside bar at the aft of deck 5 (Through the Teodora Lounge) extremely pleasant and the music was never loud enough to obscure your conversation ~ it has comfortable rattan furniture and was our favourite place onboard.

 

No the pools aren't heated but it was so warm that they were refreshing. They also made a couple of the jacuzzis on deck 5 cool as the pool decks were so crowded so it was nice to have the extra space and relative quiet of the loungers there.

[Shelledpea]

On 12/25/2019 at 8:31 PM, YVR GAL said:

Hi Shelly. I am a Canadian booked on the Diadema 11Jan20.  Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman. I am thinking of the hop on hop off in Muscat and Abu Dhabi.  What are your thoughts? Do you think it would safe and easy to walk around or should I book tours.  I hear the English speaking tours can cancel at the last minute due not enough travellers. Thanks

ssgrant444@gmail.com 

 

Hi,

 

In Abu Dhabi the ships shuttle drops you right in the centre of town next to the world trade centre. From there we walked down to the Corniche and went to the public beach. It felt extremely safe and was very easy to navigate ~ the HOHO buses are very expensive.

 

We disembarked in Dubai so I am not sure where the ships shuttle takes you to but again the HOHOs were available and again they were pricey, we used the metro from our hotel. It is approx £4.50 per person for a day pass and you can ride it all the way out to the Atlantis on the Palm past all of the sights and just get off and on as you choose.

 

 

As for Muscat it was a beautiful we booked a tour independently before travelling that combined a dolphin watching boat trip, a sea tour of the area where we saw sea eagles, herons and the beautiful scenery and then afterwards we went snorkelling for an hour in a secluded cove that was rich in Corals and marine life. It cost 22 Omani Rials per person and included drinks. Muscat was the highlight of the cruise for me. 

[Shelledpea]

On 12/26/2019 at 10:14 AM, greg2014 said:

Hi Shelly. I am going for this cruise in reverse direction in March 2020. Could you say sth about Khor Fakkan ? Is this port location suitable for exploring city on foot ? Is any shuttle bus provided ?

 

All I saw of Khor Fakkan was the port area ~ It was a day of torrential rain when we docked and as I'm from Manchester I have enough of rain at home! We used the day onboard chilling out and listening to the thunder. Sorry I'm no more help but on the upside hat was their one day of rain for the year so you should be ok..

[maryann2]

3 hours ago, Shelledpea said:

 

Of an evening we found the outside bar at the aft of deck 5 (Through the Teodora Lounge) extremely pleasant and the music was never loud enough to obscure your conversation ~ it has comfortable rattan furniture and was our favourite place onboard.

 

Thank you for all the information you have given Shelley.

I am also doing the reverse direction cruise from Abu Dhabi to Rome in March.