Costa Cruises vs NCL or RCL In Caribbean

[Cruising1122]

How are Costa Cruises in Caribbean? Well Inflation has hit home and Costa are only cruises which I can find under $1000 for a 7 day cruise. Really appreciate your input if you have been various cruise line for a comparison?

 

Thanks

[Dancer Bob]

Make sure you're comparing apples to apples on the fares. Costa offers a number of fare levels with different inclusions.

[At7Seas]

Costa is definitely a bit different compared to NCL or RCL, but principally there is nothing wrong with Costa - although there are some pretty bad comments here on Cruise Critic. The only thing you really should be aware about is that they are Italian. Food, lifestyle and vibes are targeting a European public, this might be a bit different from your earlier experiences. It’s just a little journey to Italy as well. With this idea in mind and the right expectations you will have a great time.
 
I had always clean, maintained and well usable cabins. These were cleaned only once a day, but this seems to become the new normal elsewhere as well and I have personally no problem with this frequency. Food in the MDR I much more enjoyed on Costa than on NCL, where it felt like some kind of pressure to go to the paid restaurants to get better food and enjoy my meals. Costa serves the typical Italian four course dinner, already this explains why the two main course portions are smaller than on ships you have a single main course only. Also the meals themselves are orientated on the Italian kitchen, although they have regularly destination dishes as well. So you shouldn’t be surprised finding a pasta course on the menu with every meal. Costa has fix dinner times and you‘ll get an assigned table. There are tables of many sizes, for two, but also up to ten, twelve guests. If you sit at a larger table you are normally sitting together with others who had chosen English as their board language as well. Drinks are compared to the lines you mentioned not expensive, but still the all-inclusive tariff, which adds the package My Drinks for an unlimited number of drinks by the glass, is in many cases worth the money. BTW unlimited means unlimited on Costa. A bar list has been added recently on this forum, so you can make your own calculations. Since Costa caters a lot of different languages entertainment is mainly based on music, dance and some artistic performances, but in these genres they offer an extensive program. Costa has very professional staff aboard and everybody has to speak English, the more they have to communicate with guests the better their skills. Of course this is not the case with every guest aboard. A clear downside are excursions. There might be a limited availability for English speakers, because often the minimum number of participants isn’t met, but especially in the Caribbean this shouldn’t be a problem regarding the alternatives you have in every port.

 

[Cruising1122]

Thanks for your input.

 

I should have been more clear. I will be traveling solo. Before pandemic there were always deals on NCL and RCL for solo travelers and most of time one can find cruise where there was no extra premium. Now this is gone so cost is almost double. Cost in my case is sort of Solo traveler Tax.

 

Costa is Med cruise line  and naturally it will be full of home country people. Caribbean is quite far and most of time European travelers have to travel via some other country (most likely USA). So Costa in Caribbean is still full of European/Italians?

 

I don't have any problem either with European people or Italian food on board. I have read some horrible things on these boards like your phone (not sure all phones or only iPhone) does NOT work (not even to check your cruise account). It has to do with certain bandwidth in Europe or app store. (any way I am traveling in Caribbean). No free Fountain water (My guess is this will be new normal on all cruises). Announcements are in non English language only. Staff does NOT speak much English. Phone is Not working .My concern was overall atmosphere as don't want to get lost!

 

 

I usually choose cruise based on destination and I am not particularly loyal to any specific cruise line.

[Dancer Bob]

Much of that is inaccurate. English is the working language of the hotel staff, all staff are required to speak enough English for their job functions. All safety annoucements are in English, if it's not, it doesn't concern you.

What drinks are included depends on the fare/package you pick. Fountain water is free, it's service you pay for. Most posters here agree the cheapest fares are not really good value. I've always found Costa's single supplements to be very competitive.

There are many direct flights from Europe to the Caribbean, especially the French islands, which are overseas departments of France.

I also had a phone problem on Princess, although I'm not going to spend my cruise looking at a computer, so I didn't try very hard.

I will admit it's easier to get to Europe than to Costa's Caribbean ports, so I haven't done a Caribbean cruise since they left the US market. I'm assuming you have a passport and are not looking for closed-loop cruises.

[At7Seas]

In most cases the single supplement is about 50% (I am also cruising solo). According to my experience Costa still has a lot of Europeans aboard in the Caribbean. Since they have Guadeloupe as one of their bases the number of French is relatively high, this includes quite a number of pax from the French islands in the Caribbean. On Martinique embarkation can be possible as well. Both islands are conveniently connected by several flights from Paris every day and we stay within the EU, which reduces immigration next to zero. The number of Americans went up a bit during the last boarding before crossing the Atlantic.
 
The Costa app is suffering from geoblocking on American phones. But the app is just nice to have, it is not essential. Menus and bar lists are not in the app and can be downloaded as pdf from every phone, tablet, laptop, whatever. Waiters have paper menus on request. Your daily program Oggi a Bordo is delivered to your cabin, the app is just an extra. You may do the safety drill with the app and go to the muster station to show your cruise card or you get the information in person and go to the muster station. Excursions you can book at the excursion desk, printed accounts you get at the reception. In fact you don’t need a phone at all.
 
Tap water is included in the fare and there are dispensers in the buffet and the pool area where the hamburger stall is, but it is not available in the restaurant. In the restaurant you get mineral water only. US customers without beverage package get the mark “Water USA” on their cruise card, this includes mineral water during lunch and dinner. The package My Drinks includes only one small bottle mineral water per day, but you can order with this package mineral water by the glass without limit in all bars as well.
 
And English is working language aboard, Dancer Bob already mentioned it. I am German and German is one of the official Costa languages. But I generally start talking to staff aboard in English, because it is the lingua franca aboard. Of course your waiter in the restaurant needs having a better level of English than your cabin steward, but without exception everybody speaks at least some English.

 

[kremerlorraine]

Costa sells flight/cruise packages from Europe to La Romana in Dominican Republic and to Guadeloupe and Martinique. They even have their own charter flights to La Romana. So they import a lot of Europeans! We've sailed the Caribbean a few times from both DomRep and Guadeloupe: there are quite a few locals in both markets, as well as South and Central Americans in DomRep particularly. There are also always some North Americans on board.

 

I agree with all the comments about Italian food and ambiance. We personally love the food. You won't find free pizza or ice cream and the buffet opening hours are shorter than on most US lines. Things like trivia quizzes tend to take a long time because they are done in so many languages, but it is a good learning opportunity!

 

Language is no problem on board. All the bar and waiting staff, as well as the cabin stewards and hospitality desk people, speak good English.

[BVILady]

I don't know why I keep on missing this. I have been on Costa World Cruise this January and we had maid-service twice a day. I just happened to tell the cabin-steward not to do my cabin in the evening.

I am also a solo-cruiser and have just recently looked into Cruises to Asia and was shocked with the cost for solo-travelers. As a matter of fact HAL had a special on a cruise I was interested in, but talking with the HAL-staff on the phone, the special only applied for per person double-occupancy, so their cabin-price would have been $ 8000 but mine for single-occupancy 9200.00 - Go figure😐.

Don't think I will check into too many HAL cruises in the future. I believe in better taking 3 cruises at one line instead of only 2 on another line - or when it comes to the Luxury lines - taking 3 cruises for the price of 1 on their line - just not a question for me. Will be in the same ports and the excursions I am booking are of my choosing.

Looking at that HAL cruise I also checked out full-internet service and the price on HAL would have been $ 34.00 per day - I just had an offer for a special on Costa for the World Cruise of Euro 14.00 ($ 16.10 per day). But that probably will all change anyhow after Starlink is installed on all ships. At least I hope it will change and prices go down.

The app is not available for the US-market (and for the Caribbean market, since that is my phone-provider - it is a problem with the App-supplier). I was on the ship for 128 days and did not need the app. Menues were available on paper or you could download them on the table, excursions I had pre-booked. To get an update on my account I was able to get at the reception, whenever I asked for it. Oldtimer as I am printed was actually better for me to recheck.

Only on the last day they had a problem with the printer and e-mailed accounts to your e-mail, but I had managed to get mine before the printer gave problems.

The water issue is also something I don't quite understand, when I was on HAL, Princess and P&O when I wanted bottled water I was charged for it, so I don't see any difference with being charged on Costa. Having the drink-package I get water with lunch and dinner and 1/2 l a day to take with me, so if I want more, it is not going to break the bank to pay for it and there is a Water-package - 13 l. bottles (at least on the 2024 World Cruise for Euro 37.00 - bre-booked, now I think Euro 42.00 pre-booked.)

If you are accustomed to larger portions for dinner - you can always order 2 dinners 😂🤣😂

Everyone of the Staff spoke English and I had plenty of people to talk to, in English and in German, since I do also speak German. The people on my table for Dinner were English speaking.

We had gotten a Special for a sail on RCL last summer, which wasn't priced badly for 2 single-cabins, but it was on Sale, so not sure what their normal single-supplement is.

Just go and compare what all is included, check for example cruise critic here whether you see any Drink-price lists for the individual lines, I know someone posted to one for Costa just recently.

Whatever you choose - ENJOY

 

[At7Seas]

15 hours ago, BVILady said:

The water issue is also something I don't quite understand

 

Let me try to solve the “miracle” regarding water on Costa. Some guests expect getting in the MDR a carafe tap water on the table for free. I have been on cruises where exactly this happened, but Costa serves mineral water by the glass instead - depending on where you book or what package you have included in the fare. This is the core of the “horrible” experience quite a lot of people had on Costa. Once I read here on CC that the lack of tap water on table would be a violation of human rights.
 
It speaks for your seriousness that you can’t understand why people are complaining. It cannot be about facts, everybody who ever sailed with Costa had plenty of water. It is probably about a feeling, because Costa is different from what they are used to and from these differences they create a huge problem as if serving mineral water by the glass would be a torturing guests.

[Cruising1122]

Thank you for addressing water issue. I guess there will be plenty of water.

 

Since lots of European responding to my post. How is food esp. Pizza and Pasta. I love good Pizza, Ravioli  by the way.  Do you guys eat Pizza by hand like most Americans do or by fork?

 

I did not get quite get internet issue for Americans. Is it only Costa App which does Not work or no internet at all? Does it matter which phone do you have, iphone or Android?

[At7Seas]

There is a great pizzeria aboard of all ships, but against a small fee only, here you also find the menu of the pizzeria: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2956918-costa-toscana-drink-lists/#comment-65908479. Sometimes there are slices of pizza available in the buffet as well, but I also was on cruises where I didn’t see a single slice. In the pizzeria you’ll get cutlery, but it is your holiday…   
 
The typical Italian meal has four courses to choose among: antipasti (starters, literally before the pasta), the primi piatti (first courses), the course that is also called pasta (!), however here risotti and soups are located as well, secondi piatti (second courses), which is traditionally the fish or meat course and dolci (dessert, literally sweets). So you will get a choice of pasta twice every day and if you want two pasta courses during lunch or dinner you are free to order them of course. Since there are so many different types of pasta a single type as ravioli won’t be served very often. Regarding quality I was always very content with food aboard.
 
Internet is available for everybody against a fee, only the app doesn’t work on North American phones. Phones Americans bought elsewhere don’t have this problem, just that Apple requires additionally a European (fake) address for download of the app as well. Definitely American security features don’t allow using the app, perhaps there is a conflict with the environment of an Italian IP address. This could eventually come to an end regarding the fact that Costa is phasing out their Italian provider and getting Starlink connections and the phone thinks being in the USA. All ships should get this upgrade until December. As said before menu and bar list are available as pdf download from the ship’s intranet for free, the app is not needed for this.

[Cruising1122]

thanks

[maryann2]

8 hours ago, Cruising1122 said:

Thank you for addressing water issue. I guess there will be plenty of water.

 

Since lots of European responding to my post. How is food esp. Pizza and Pasta. I love good Pizza, Ravioli  by the way.  Do you guys eat Pizza by hand like most Americans do or by fork?

 

I did not get quite get internet issue for Americans. Is it only Costa App which does Not work or no internet at all? Does it matter which phone do you have, iphone or Android?

Just the Costa app which does not work on North American phones. They have said that they are working on it so hopefully this will change.

I will be using WhatsApp again next March on Costa Toscana. It worked very well this year. Very reasonable I thought. .70 Euro for 20 days.