Costa Concordia or Voyage of the Seas?

[Tapi]

Hello everybody:

 

I'm thinking about taking a 7 night Western Mediterranean cruise during the fall, and I'm down to either the Costa Concordia from Civitavecchia, or the Voyager of the Seas from Barcelona.

 

I have been on the Carnival Liberty and I understand that the Concordia was built to very similar specifications so here are my questions:

 

- If you have sailed on RCCL Voyager class and on the Costa Concordia, what would you say are the pro's and con's of each one?

 

- If you have sailed on Carnival's Conquest class, what differences will I find on the Concordia?

 

I have done quite a bit of reading on both of these, so I would love some personal experiences! Thanks for your time!

[Morgsmom]

We have been on the Mariner of the Seas 3x (sister ship of the Voyager), and several Conquest Class ships. When choosing our upcoming Med trip I ultimately selected the Concordia for several reasons. We (DD and myself) both enjoy the "European-ness" of Costa (after the first dinner our fabulous waiters would have prosciutto & parmesean cubes waiting at our table for us). We practice our languages and enjoy the multi-cultural thing -- even in the Caribbean. I figured it would be more "authentic" once in the ACTUAL Mediterranean. :rolleyes:

 

Additionally, the fare for our 7 way was comparable to a 5 day on the Voyager so $$ won there. The Voyager class is lovely, don't get me wrong, but IMHO better suited for lazy sea days than a port-filled Med itinerary. When you have a sea day while sailing down to St. Maarten it's fun to spend an hour in the ice rink or try the rock wall (and I certainly will NOT share the photos of my backside in the harness sling going up but I did make it to the top more than once!!), but in the Med. I am more interested in gearing up for the next port of call. At that point the ship is more of an affordable hotel with board (given the pathetic state of the USD vs the Euro). For that reason, I chose the Concordia.

 

Best of luck & enjoy.

[judybee]

I am not familiar with RCCL, however, I did take the Concordia's Western Med cruise last June and enjoyed it very much. The ports, especially Barcelona, Tunis and Malta, were very interesting and the ship was great. We had a cabin with a balcony that was spotless and larger than expected. The food was good and the wait staff was excellent. There is a lot of grumbling on this board about pushy passengers, and while this may be true to a certain degree, it did not stop me from enjoying the international flavor of the ship. Vive la Différence! :)

[mringenoldus]

We are going to be on the Med in five weeks and really looking forward to it. This is my first Costa cruise so I can't comment specificaly to that.

 

I am platinum on both Princes and RCCL - and have cruised the Voyager class twice (once on the Voyager OTS itself) We are scheduled again on Voyager in the Fall of 08.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Voyager. The ship itself is unique in design with the interior promenade. There are activities galore and some you won't find anywhere else (like the ice rink, nightly parades down the promenade and climbing wall)

 

I think Voyager is the perfect ship if you have a wide span of ages in your traveling party as there is truly something for everyone.

 

If a very large ship isn't for you - then Voyager class might not appeal. However, in spite of the number of passengers, it never seems very crowded.

 

Half the fun is choosing - so have a great time!