This must be the quietest board on Cruise critic

[Aussie Jeep]

Does no one that uses Costa comment? or virtually no one?

Edited February 10 by Aussie Jeep

[SpeedySal]

I quite agree that it does seem as if not many out there want to comment! This board used to be much livelier before Covid, of course.

I suspect many of the regular commentators from previous years have stopped cruising with Costa……..or perhaps stopped cruising all together.

 

The Costa cruising experience has changed enormously, too. I think that Costa are now maybe after a different clientele than in previous years.
 

Perhaps they have also lost a lot of loyal clients with the changes to the Costa Club which is now a little bit of a joke really. I don’t know enough about other cruise lines to know how Costa’s loyalty scheme compares but it used to be quite generous in my opinion but no longer!

 

Does anyone else get the impression that today’s ships are more appealing to younger cruisers and that even older cruisers who are still ‘young at heart’ are no longer very important to Costa? I would be interested in some other opinions so shall we try and stir up some enthusiasm to create a bit of activity on this forum?!

[Rio1978]

The experience truly depends on the ship and the itinerary. 

Sail on Costa 14 times now and each ship has a different vibe and experience

 

Didn't really enjoy smerelda at Christmas.  But loved Delisioza last June ( sailing on her first the third time in June this year)

Firenze was beautiful and really enjoyed that . Enjoyed all so far except Smerelda. Luminosa in rank 2nd bottom for me so far but Serena Favoulosa and Facinosa were amazing but not quite as good as Delisioza 

[gerryuk]

Don't forget that Costa is primarily Italian. Not many Italians on these boards for obvious reasons.  

[the wandering two]

Going on our third Costa cruise this September, a return to Favolosa which was our first in 2019.

Smeralda in Nov '22 & loved it, will be interesting to see the differences going back to a more traditional ship. 

[wcook]

This site is dominated by Americans. I just got off the Toscana in Dubai and didn’t hear or meet a single American on board all week. I did see a few people wearing our national uniform (t-shirt and baseball cap) but can’t confirm their nationality. 
 

To be clear, it was a fantastic cruise, and there were zero problems being an English-only speaker. But Costa clearly isn’t marketing to Americans. Heck, their app still doesn’t work on American iPhones. 

Edited February 12 by wcook

[Aussie Jeep]

On 2/11/2024 at 8:56 AM, SpeedySal said:

I quite agree that it does seem as if not many out there want to comment! This board used to be much livelier before Covid, of course.

I suspect many of the regular commentators from previous years have stopped cruising with Costa……..or perhaps stopped cruising all together.

 

The Costa cruising experience has changed enormously, too. I think that Costa are now maybe after a different clientele than in previous years.
 

Perhaps they have also lost a lot of loyal clients with the changes to the Costa Club which is now a little bit of a joke really. I don’t know enough about other cruise lines to know how Costa’s loyalty scheme compares but it used to be quite generous in my opinion but no longer!

 

Does anyone else get the impression that today’s ships are more appealing to younger cruisers and that even older cruisers who are still ‘young at heart’ are no longer very important to Costa? I would be interested in some other opinions so shall we try and stir up some enthusiasm to create a bit of activity on this forum?!

This will be our first Costa cruise. Genoa to Dubai. 

[Aussie Jeep]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:19 AM, the wandering two said:

Going on our third Costa cruise this September, a return to Favolosa which was our first in 2019.

Smeralda in Nov '22 & loved it, will be interesting to see the differences going back to a more traditional ship. 

We are on the Smeralda in December hopefully it’s awesome. 

[jlawrence01]

On 2/12/2024 at 8:32 AM, wcook said:

This site is dominated by Americans. I just got off the Toscana in Dubai and didn’t hear or meet a single American on board all week. I did see a few people wearing our national uniform (t-shirt and baseball cap) but can’t confirm their nationality. 
 

To be clear, it was a fantastic cruise, and there were zero problems being an English-only speaker. But Costa clearly isn’t marketing to Americans. Heck, their app still doesn’t work on American iPhones. 

 

To be honest with you, for Americans, cruising on Costa Cruises was a lot like purchasing a Fiat 500.  It sounds great in principle but in practice ...

 

My first cruise was on the old Costa Riviera around 1991.  The cruise was built fro Mediterranean cruises but we were on an Alaskan cruise.  Big Mistake.  There was so little to do and "Cruising Italian Style" was very weird.

 

There was so many goofy things on that cruise.  Pizza was an extra charge.  They sent you a pre-cruise survey.  We noted that we did not drink and we were seated at the Mormon table.  A bunch of us would play basketball everyday and a little Italian guy would walk through the game every single morning.

 

The only thing that 90% of Americans cruise know about Costa is the Costa Concordia disaster.

 

Carnival has been converting several of the Costa ships under the Carnival brand but it seems like those cruises are more heavily discounted than most other Carnival cruises.

[Eric from San Diego]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:32 AM, wcook said:

This site is dominated by Americans. I just got off the Toscana in Dubai and didn’t hear or meet a single American on board all week. I did see a few people wearing our national uniform (t-shirt and baseball cap) but can’t confirm their nationality. 
 

To be clear, it was a fantastic cruise, and there were zero problems being an English-only speaker. But Costa clearly isn’t marketing to Americans. Heck, their app still doesn’t work on American iPhones. 

I would love to cruise on Costa.   After all, if I travel to Europe to enjoy the cuisine and culture, then a European ship full of Europeans should be wonderful.  But trying to schlep luggage and me from California to Marseille or Genoa or Savona (where is that?   Do they have an airport?) does not seem practical.   

 

Plus I don't understand Costa's practice of embarking and disembarking passengers at every port they stop at.  Having new people on board every day seems like it would destroy the sense of continuity.   

[wcook]

Luggage is easy - you drop off when you get to your airport. You pick it up when you arrive. You hop into a cab to the port. Genoa port is a short cab ride from the airport. Sevona is a long cab ride from the Genoa airport. Marseille port is a medium cab ride from Marseille airport. If Barcelona is an option it’s medium cab ride and there are going to be more flight options. The only annoying thing with luggage is if your flight home has a transfer in a US airport you have to take your luggage through customs in that airport and recheck it. 
 

Of course, I’m sure you realize San Diego doesn’t have the best flight options to Europe. But that’s your karma for having perfect weather every day. 
 

As for Costa starting/ending in multiple ports, one you experience it you’ll never want to go back. Embankment and Disembarkment days are just normal days on ship. So much nicer and easier. Sure you give having everybody on the cruise starting the same day and having a sad last night together, it’s so worth it. 

Edited March 15 by wcook

[ilikeanswers]

You think this is quiet? You obviously haven't been to the Freighter and Other Non-Traditional Cruise Travel board😂. 

[gerryuk]

17 hours ago, Eric from San Diego said:

I would love to cruise on Costa.   After all, if I travel to Europe to enjoy the cuisine and culture, then a European ship full of Europeans should be wonderful.  But trying to schlep luggage and me from California to Marseille or Genoa or Savona (where is that?   Do they have an airport?) does not seem practical.   

 

Plus I don't understand Costa's practice of embarking and disembarking passengers at every port they stop at.  Having new people on board every day seems like it would destroy the sense of continuity.   

Savona is generally the main embarking and disembarking port for Italians. Barcelona is the main port for many Europeans and those outside Europe. Its very easy to get from the airport to the cruise port in Barcelona. 

I wish all cruise lines did the same as Costa, hell who wants to que with thousands of others during embarkation, when with Costa it is usually a few hundred at most, at each port.

I also think it is good business practice for Costa. Many people who board cruise ships go on a spending spree for the first few days, then they cut their spending down. New customers every day is money, money, money.