How is the Smeralda. Looking at the Genoa to Dubai cruise

[Aussie Jeep]

Hi all. We are looking at the Genoa Italy to Dubai cruise in December on the Smeralda.  We have never cruised Costa. How is this ship? We are looking at an inside on deck 10. Any info would be appreciated.  How much are drinks onboard? Do you find the drink package good value? Two of us.  One drinks average amount one drinks very little. Was thinking this cruise we would just buy the drinks as we go. Thoughts ? 

[Luffe]

Beautiful ship inside and outside. We did Mediterranean cruise 2022 on Smeralda. No complaints. Just understand that it is an Italian ship marketed to the Italians. So lots of pasta dishes, euro food etc. The crew speaks English but the announcements are usually Italian, followed by multi language barrage. 2023 Toscana was running close to max capacity and it was approaching the upper limit. So if there is lots of passengers the queues will long, the elevators crowded etc.  

 

For Finnish market the drink package is very cheap and highly recommended as it contains not only alcoholic drinks but also the expresso, cappuccino, sodas, juices, daily water bottles etc. 

Do the math and see 2023 Toscana drink price list(s) (which was about same price as in 2022 Smeralda cruise) in my previous post: 

 

[Aussie Jeep]

Thank you so much Luffe  We have booked this cruise  Do you remember if there was a sauna and spa?  was it co-ed or seperate for men and women,

 

[Luffe]

20 minutes ago, Aussie Jeep said:

Thank you so much Luffe  We have booked this cruise  Do you remember if there was a sauna and spa?  was it co-ed or seperate for men and women,

 

There is spa but I didn't visit the spa so no idea on the details.

[Aussie Jeep]

Thank you  Would you suggest if only one of us drinks, is the drink package a better deal or just purchase say 6 or 7 drinks a day is better than the package

[Luffe]

3 hours ago, Aussie Jeep said:

Thank you  Would you suggest if only one of us drinks, is the drink package a better deal or just purchase say 6 or 7 drinks a day is better than the package

 

So both have to have the package...  A Coca Cola  is about 5€, a basic drink is about 9 €. So let's say 55€ for that 6-7 drinks. Seven day cruise is 7*55 = 385 €. And the other drinks only water on the breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

The question is how much the drink package costs for you? Note that I am using costacruises.fi pricing so taking our previous cruises the whole "all-inclusive" package was 480 € total for a 7 day balcony west Mediterranean cruise. So 240 €  per person which is 35 € per day. I can easily consume that amount... A few glasses of wine, few coca colas, a Prosecco glass at sail away, few expressos and after dinner cocktail... And Mrs. Luffe also enjoys her wine glasses and cappuccinos. And our daughter got the non alcoholic version for free. For us the drink package is a must - no need to be surprised when the cruise ends. But that it is for our family.  Each person/family has their own needs or requirements.

[Rio1978]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:45 PM, Aussie Jeep said:

Thank you so much Luffe  We have booked this cruise  Do you remember if there was a sauna and spa?  was it co-ed or seperate for men and women,

 

Spa is co ed. It's beautiful but at times very busy

Depending on route you may get hoards of people looking round whilst the staff try to sell a package or treatments to them whilst you try to relax. Pick your times to go and it's great ( open much longer than any other ship Spa have used). Has a snow room sauna steam room etc etc . You have to pay to use any of it. Can pay per day or for whole cruise

 

At times there were no seats or beds left to sit/lie on at other times almost deserted 

 

 

[Aussie Jeep]

thank you

[Teripg]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:54 PM, Luffe said:

 

So both have to have the package...  A Coca Cola  is about 5€, a basic drink is about 9 €. So let's say 55€ for that 6-7 drinks. Seven day cruise is 7*55 = 385 €. And the other drinks only water on the breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

The question is how much the drink package costs for you? Note that I am using costacruises.fi pricing so taking our previous cruises the whole "all-inclusive" package was 480 € total for a 7 day balcony west Mediterranean cruise. So 240 €  per person which is 35 € per day. I can easily consume that amount... A few glasses of wine, few coca colas, a Prosecco glass at sail away, few expressos and after dinner cocktail... And Mrs. Luffe also enjoys her wine glasses and cappuccinos. And our daughter got the non alcoholic version for free. For us the drink package is a must - no need to be surprised when the cruise ends. But that it is for our family.  Each person/family has their own needs or requirements.

Could you help me understand the bottled water included in the package. I read that each person with a drink package is permitted TWO half litre of bottled water daily, and all other water would be served by glass!!! Do you recall if this is fact? I was hoping to get effervescent water, as I don’t drink alcohol but need to get the package because my husband enjoys it😊I hope I have misunderstood.

 

thanks so much!!

[Luffe]

5 hours ago, Teripg said:

Could you help me understand the bottled water included in the package. I read that each person with a drink package is permitted TWO half litre of bottled water daily, and all other water would be served by glass!!! Do you recall if this is fact? I was hoping to get effervescent water, as I don’t drink alcohol but need to get the package because my husband enjoys it😊I hope I have misunderstood.

 

thanks so much!!

Correct. We got two half litre bottles or one litre bottle per person depending on the place where we were picking up the bottles. We never asked for a mineral/sparkling water so no idea if you could have that kind of water.

[energyuk]

I am on this cruise, not all the way to Dubai though, I can't imagine the ship will be anywhere near full as it was originally scheduled to sail via the Suez to Dubai and had the much longer route via Captown released only a few month ago. 

It is great value and I really enjoy Costa , just be aware the food is based for an Italian market, not American. 

The spa is lovely, co-ed with an ice room, steam, sauna, and a huge jacuzzi pool, along with warm stone loungers. I would say it was worth paying for that. 

If you want to know anything ask away. 

[Ibis]

Hope you have a great trip! Is there a piano bar on that ship? We were just on Fascinosa  for our first Costa cruise. We had a great time and in particular, enjoyed the piano bar so we are now wondering if that venue is on all other Costa ships. Thanks for any info you can give.

[energyuk]

Smeralda has a piano bar,  but Toscana has the Heineken Bar which is more rock bands. 

[Miss_Confused]

On 6/20/2024 at 3:06 AM, Teripg said:

Could you help me understand the bottled water included in the package. I read that each person with a drink package is permitted TWO half litre of bottled water daily, and all other water would be served by glass!!! Do you recall if this is fact? I was hoping to get effervescent water, as I don’t drink alcohol but need to get the package because my husband enjoys it😊I hope I have misunderstood.

 

thanks so much!!

You can have as much effervescent water as you like - its called agua con gas - you will often get it by the glass served from a larger bottle 

[Teripg]

@Miss_Confused Thank you. That does clarify things for me. Could you tell me if you could get regular (non effervescent) water by the bottle, or is that by the glass as well. 

 

Thanks again!!

[Miss_Confused]

5 hours ago, Teripg said:

@Miss_Confused Thank you. That does clarify things for me. Could you tell me if you could get regular (non effervescent) water by the bottle, or is that by the glass as well. 

 

Thanks again!!

Basically this is the cultural difference, in Europe people do big bottles for the table not individual bottles. So Costa does it the Euro way - you sit down and they ask you "with or without gas" and serve from 1-1.5L bottles aka by the glass- this is incl. with your package at all restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.. If you want your own personal 0.5L bottle then its usually 1 per day on the more basic package as thats what Europeans get to leave the boat and its considered environmentally friendly to limit it

 

ETA: if you just want your water bottle refilled then just ask and give the bottle - not an issue if its incl. in your fare. Due to health reasons I drink a minimum of 2L of water a day which is 4 individual bottles, never had issues

Edited July 2 by Miss_Confused