Newbies just back from Serena

[Maria63]

Got home yesterday from the 10-day Xmas itinerary to the Canaries. Note: we are not Americans but Scandinavians and live as winter-time expats in Spain. This was our first cruise on a major line (I don't count our numerous short hops in Nordic waters with Silja and Viking, nor our twice-a-year obligatory trips on Finnlines to get to the continent and back).

 

We have done quite a bit of travelling in the past, and have stayed in everything from very basic lodgings to rather upscale hotels and resorts. We are a married couple, late forties, no kids.

 

We booked this cruise very off-handedly and last-minute (just two weeks before sailing). There was no time to do any research, and with no previous experience we went with a very open mind indeed. Based on the info on Costa's website we chose the Samsara minisuite and booked directly from Costa in Genova. We chose to embark in Barcelona (not Savona) and had our own transport.

 

Embarkation was a breeze, the terminal was virtually deserted when we arrived so we could just walk directly onboard. Unfortunately things went seriously downhill from there.

 

Based on the info on the website and what Costa's representative had told us over the phone we thougt that, as we were in the Samsara minisuite, we would get the welcoming spa-package with access to the spa and some treatments thrown in, and naturally access to the Samsara restaurant. Not so! The receptionist at the spa informed us that "our name was not on the list and we obviously had not purchased the package", so no access to spa and definitely no treatments for us then. We had to pay an additional 200 euros to get to use the spa, and with it we got one treatment each. According to the receptionist this happens all the time with guests in the Samsara cabins and the TA:s are to blame for the "misunderstandings". Only in our case there was no TA as we did the booking directly with Costa. Our complaints didn't get us anywhere however, so we decided to just live with it and not let this ruin our trip.

 

I suppose we might be forgiven for thinking that with the Samsara cabin and the newly purchased Samsara spa-access we would get to dine in the Samsara restaurant. Not true! The maitre d´ informed us that "our name was not on the list and we didn't have the necessary package(!)". We would have to pay an extra 180 euros if we wanted to eat there every day, or 20 euros for one night. We paid the extra 20 euros for the first night, but were not impressed with the food so did not go there again. It seems that there are in fact three Samsara-categories: cabin only, cabin +spa and finally cabin+spa+restaurant. Unfortunately neither the website nor any brochures that I have seen so far say anything about this.

 

Based on our experience I would advise anyone who has booked the Samsara category to check with their TA or with Costa what is included and what is not, and to get a confirmation in writing to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

 

We had also reserved our excursions and winepackage online, and the bookings looked perfectly fine and valid to me on the my-costa site. It did however turn out that the reservations had not registered at all and did not exist, so we had to make the reservations & buy our wines onboard (with some additional hassle and queing at various desks).

 

Our cabin was fairly spacious and comfortable, and we liked the additional "suite-perks" that come with the minisuite category: daily fruit-basket was good, bathrobes were nice and the bathroom with a jacuzzi-tub was lovely. The ship in general we thought rather too garish and over-glizy. It is huge in size, but it seems that a lot of the space is taken up by cabins so the general lounges and restaurants are rather on the small side considering the number of passangers.

 

The passangeres were of course mainly Italian, but we had no problems with this. They are generally friendly, very family-oriented and certainly know how to party (without overindulging on alcohol), but unfortunately very few of them are bilingual. They can be a bit of a pest at the buffet and they don't believe in early bedtimes for the kids, but this should not ruin the cruise for anyone. Italians also tend to regard signs like "no smoking" or "adult only" as merely general suggestions rather than strict rules, so those who detest cigarrette smoke or children everywhere might be rather unhappy at times.

 

Staff in the dining-rooms and the cabin-service are mainly from the Philippines, while the receptionists and customer-relations -people are Italian. The Philipinos are generally very friendly and courteous (but not always very well-trained and competent on the Serena). The Italian staff is the way people are in the tourist-industry everywhere on the European continent: some are lovely and courteous and some are definitely not so. They do not usually have the training and customer-friendliness that you see in America. This has absolutely nothing to do with the client's nationality or ethnic makeup, you might look like a viking-god and speak perfect french or italian and still get a very snotty attitude every now and then.

 

The food was generally not very good in our opinion, and both the buffet and the dining-rooms are very noisy and crowded (service was friendly and swift). For a nicer and more elegant dining experience I would recommend the Club Bacco speciality restaurant (price not included). Tastes certainly do differ though; we met a nice young couple from Florida who really liked the food.

 

I will not bore you with any more lengthy details and being non-American and new to cruising I won't attempt a proper review, but I'm happy to answer any questions.

[angelina46]

have just read your review with great surprise and worry. i have booked a samsara cabin for the 19 jan. i thought all samsara cabins include free entry to the spa! at least that is what it says in my brochure very clearly. i shall be ringing my t. a on monday. i paid a lot more for this cabin for this reason! as of yet i have not read anything very good about the serena. hope i havent wasted our very hard earned money!

angelina46

[millineumwoman]

u said u go to spain quite often, when is a good time to vacation in spain

 

as we are thinking of going to spain and italy and wondering if there is any other good time besides summer to visit there.

[Maria63]

Hi Angelina! I'm so sorry to have caused you worries, and I do hope that everything gets sorted and that you will have a lovely cruise.

 

At least you have plenty of time to check with your agent - just make sure she/he really checks with Costa and gets everything in writing, and take the documents with you just in case. I have also (both before and after the cruise) read the Samsara-info on the website very carefully, and I really do think it's misleading to say the least.

 

Let's hope everything is ok with your booking!

[Maria63]

The Spanish Costas (Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca) are generally fine all year for sightseeing, city-tours, golf etc, but the weather can be unpredictable and often too cold for the beach (15-20 C is normal). Personally I think late spring and the autumn (October-early November) are the nicest: it's not too hot and the summer crowds are gone. It can be very windy and there can be whole weeks of rain (and sometimes flooding, the infra-structure does not cope very well with heavy rainfall). Yesterday Barcelona was sunny and very nice, about 12-15 C. The northern parts of Spain will be cold and get a fair amount of snow from december to march. I don't have a lot of experience about Italy, but the climate is generally a bit cooler than in Spain. In Genova two days ago it was sunny but rather cold and windy (about 5 C, I really missed a woolly cap and mittens!)

[abitaturbodog]

Thanks for your review. It was definitely unfortunate that you didn't research this vacation more before you left. I think that all of your problems with the Samsara suite would've been solved if you had taken more time to do your homework.

 

Just for the record, I'm American and I don't, "believe in early bedtimes" for my kids when we're on vacation either. Perhaps if the children were bothering you so much in the evening, you should have gone to bed early.

[angelina46]

just looked at the costa 2008 brochure. it states very veryclearly that all the samsara suites and cabins include unlimited access to the spa plus two free treatments so dont understand how you could have had a problem. but will be on to my t.a. first thing monday!

angelina46

[Maria63]

Thanks for your review. It was definitely unfortunate that you didn't research this vacation more before you left. I think that all of your problems with the Samsara suite would've been solved if you had taken more time to do your homework.

 

Just for the record, I'm American and I don't, "believe in early bedtimes" for my kids when we're on vacation either. Perhaps if the children were bothering you so much in the evening, you should have gone to bed early.

 

(Sorry if I was unclear on this, but english is only my third language.) I had read everything I could get on the web about the Samsara, but could really not find anything about there being three different categories. We certainly did not have any problems with the kids staying up late. This was not meant as a negative comment, only a general reflection. There is a lot of negative rap about the Italians on this board, and I was rather trying to defend them as I happen to like Italians in general. Please do not take my comments personally, I fully understand that we might have chosen the wrong type of ship and that we have ourselves to blame for going last-minute without research.

[Ski Mom 2]

How was the spa? What treatments did you do? Did you enjoy it once you were able to access it?

[Maria63]

How was the spa? What treatments did you do? Did you enjoy it once you were able to access it?

 

We really enjoyed the spa, regardless of the bad start! My DH had a massage to begin with, and he ended up having a whole series of different massage-treatments. He has problems with sore back and muscles and has tried a lot of different therapies in the past and thought this was one of the best. I had only one facial, but it was quite good (I'm no expert on beauty treatments, but I had a similar one a few months ago at the rather prestigious Marbella Club Hotel in Spain, and I think the one on Costa was better). We spent quite a lot of time in the spa-area, it is a haven of tranquillity compared to the rather lively atmosphere on the rest of the ship. The gym and sauna are open to all passangers, and I thought them good as well. It can be crowded at times, but early mornings and during lunch hours and right after excursions there is usually plenty of room. The ladies' sauna has a very nice picture window, I loved to admire the Spanish and French coastline while bathing (according to DH the gentlemen don't have a window in their sauna though).

 

The whirlpool is marketed as "thalassotherapy", but if that means salt-water with minerals, then the one in Samsara is in reality only an ordinary pool with rather heavily chlorinated water. It was quite nice though and not too crowded.

 

The spa and gym is unfortunately located in the very front part of the ship, and once you are out on the Atlantic the roll is rather heavy even in nice weather (I had a rather interesting hill-session on the treadmill...).

[G.M.T.]

Maria63,

Shame that you experienced such problems on your first cruise.

 

I know that when booking items online with Costa Web site, there is a cutoff date (12 to 14 days) before the actual sailing date.

 

Try to get hold of a Costa 2008 Catalogue and have a look at page 13 , there it lists all the items in the Welcome Pacakge for Samsara Cabins and Suites.

 

Try the Costa online Catalogue:

 

English pages 12 / 13

http://www.costacruises.co.uk/b2c/GB/ebrochure/costa_catalogue.html

 

Spanish pages 10 / 11 http://www.costacruceros.es/b2c/e/ebrochure/costa_catalogue.html

 

There is also a Samsara own Web site in various languages:

http://www.samsaraspa.com/

 

If I were you I would definately take these problems up with Costa, Genoa.

 

I found your "review" objective, there was certainly nothing negative about our southern cousins the Italians.

 

Let us know how you get on with Costa.

 

Ron

[Maria63]

Ron,

 

thanks for your sympathy! I know that we might have a strong case against Costa, but right now we feel that it might not be worth the trouble. I realise that some people will hate me for saying this, but I have a strong feeling that Costa does not take complaints very seriously (the receptionist at Samsara said this happens all the time with their guests, but no-one at Samsara was at all interested in our complaints). It is not the end of the world for us, but we will "wote with our feet" and probably go for an other line in the future.

[angelina46]

hi,

how was the evening entertainment? any live music? dancing? were dinnner jackets worn? evening dresses?

thanks

angelina46

[Maria63]

hi,

how was the evening entertainment? any live music? dancing? were dinnner jackets worn? evening dresses?

thanks

angelina46

 

Angelina,

 

I think you will be happy with the evening entertainment, there really is a lot going on all the time and something to suite almost any taste. The shows are mostly musical performances with dancing (ok for families, nothing too risqué or naked), perhaps not always very professional but quite enjoyable.

 

There is ballroom-dancing in the "grand bar" every night and another bar has country music and old rock n'roll. One of our favourite spots was the piano bar, there was a violin-piano duo that did Strauss & light classicals and some jazz.

 

On informal nights you would see everything from jeans & T-shirts to jackets and business-suites. Formal nights were a happy mixture of everything I can think of, there were a fair amount of tuxes and lovely full-length gowns, but a jacket & tie and dressy pants and top will do quite nicely as well. I don't think you would feel overdressed if you went formal all the way, but you would be equally comfortable in your ordinary weekend-glad rags or sunday bests. I don't think that the crowd on the Serena is of the type that generally worry too much about the classification and deaper meaning of different dress codes and etiquette when it comes to your attire.

 

My favorite was the "Fantasia Italiana" or Italian night. Dress code is informal but you are encouraged to wear something red, white and green (don't worry about this, a scarf or some hankies or some other ornament is enough, and nobody minds if you haven't got anything in these colours). The whole ship goes wild with tarantella-dancing, conga-lines and sing-a-longs, just relax, let your hair down and join in!

[angelina46]

thanks a lot. very helpful. tomorrow i will let you know what my t a. have to say about the samsara cabins. should be interesting!

angelina46

[angelina46]

hi,

could you also tell me what you did for the day in casablanca and lanzarote? also what currency did you use in casablanca?

thanks

angelina46

[Maria63]

hi,

could you also tell me what you did for the day in casablanca and lanzarote? also what currency did you use in casablanca?

thanks

angelina46

 

 

The itinerary was Casablanca - Tenerife (not Lanzarote) - Madeira and so on. We opted for the ready made excursions in all ports, and they were surprisingly well organized considering the number of people that take part.

 

Morocco is a very interesting country and has a lot to offer, but Casablanca is a new and bustling modern city and perhaps not that interesting compared to Marrakech. As the latter is a very long bus drive away (and we had been there before) we took the Casablanca city tour with the Hassan II mosque. The mosque is very impressive, although brand new. You can pay with euros almost everywhere in Morocco, it's considered a very good currency. You can also tour Casablanca on your own with taxi, the town is not as "scarey" as it might seem and the local authorities are very serious about nobody harming any tourists. The trip to Rabat might be a good idea if you like historical sights (I have never been there so I can't say), the town is older than Casablanca.

 

On Tenerife we had a tour that took us a bit inland to see the nature, but unfortunately the weather was very bad and the scenery disappeared into clouds and fog. We had some nice winetasting however, and a stroll in a pretty town called Laguna close to Puerto de la Cruz. Tenerife is also very doable on your own with taxi, or you can just walk in to town from the port.

[jeepdawg]

Hey, it's Nick, of the young couple from Florida which you spoke of! That 4x4 trip in Madiera was something else, wasn't it?

 

I'll be posting our reviews of the Serena trip as well, but saw your review and wanted to say, "Hi!"

 

Nick

[Maria63]

Well hi there Nick!

 

Nice to hear that you got home in one piece. From what I remember you telling us of your trip you really might have some story to tell, I can't wait to hear it all!

 

That 4x4 was great, hope you guys didn't catch a cold though. Say hi to DW!