Opinions and general questions about Costa

[SoFloDeb]

:) My husband and I love to cruise. Our main reason for cruising is to relax - we both have very stressful jobs and put in lots of hours so when we cruise, we relax, eat, sleep, sightsee, play in the casino, and I love Bingo - but only on a cruise. We have tried most every line and do not have an affinity toward any in particular. I really would like to try something a bit different. I've read that the Costa is not Americanized. Never having been on anything other than an "American" style cruiseline, exactly what does this mean? If it is because of the different languages, well, I live in Florida and we have every language under the sun spoken here. We are not big on late night shows or pool games, We like to eat and love Italian food such as pastas, calamari, prosciutto, zuppa de pesce and such. I am 52, DH is 45. I am very enthralled with this cruiseline and have just requested a brochure. I have not been able to find a lot of info on Costa, but it just appeals to me. What do you all think? Are we too "Americanized" or do you all think we can be happy with Costa? Also, any ideas as to what ships do the Caribbean in October/November? Thanks a bunch in advance for any and all replies!

[bethcollins]

We sailed on the Costa Mediterranea this past April. We've cruised before on RCI, NCL, Princess, Celebrity, Disney, and Carnival. I found Costa to be very similar to the mainstream lines. The food was not the best we've had, and also not the worst. I found the service and cleanliness to be top notch. On our sailing I would say the overwhelming majority of passengers were North American--maybe in the 80% range. Since we went over Spring Break the ship had a ton of kids. I have read some complaints about the teens on this particular sailing, but I didn't experience any bad behavior personally. Costa is the only line I know of that discounts for kids so deeply--in fact they count up to age 17 as a kid. This seems to affect the amount of kids on board if that would be an issue with you. The actual ship was mostly gorgeous, with a little tackiness thrown in (example would be the lights in the main dining room). We're looking at booking Costa again for this winter or early spring. You really can't beat the price of their specials. My best advice is to go for it. It's just different enough to make the experience unique, yet similar enough to make the experience comfortable.

[SoFloDeb]

The information you provided is exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate your time and the fact that you responded so quickly! Have a great weekend!

[Southbound]

Just this morning, I was speaking w/our TA, who is the manager of a major agency specializing in cruises. She's tried them all, at least twice. We've done 4 HAL cruises in the past 18 mos, w/the 5th coming up in Dec. Had been thinking about trying Costa next year and decided to pick her brain,since she's recently been on both Costa ships, one w/a large group & the other just w/DH. Said the ship was very nice although cabins not as nice or spacious as HAL; service was excellent; but was very disappointed in the Italian cuisine. She's originally from a major Northeastern metropolitan area that offers a wide range/variety of authentic Italian food and found the offerings on both Costa sailings seriously lacking. Said every selection they tried was beyond bland; pastas were severely overcooked & mushy; breakfast & lunch buffets were horrible. Told me she could not, in good conscience, recommend Costa to any clients who were accustomed to good, traditional Italian food, as they wld be very disappointed. However, if the cabin size & the cuisine were not a priority, she wld otherwise feel she was being honest in recommending a Costa cruise, but she would definitely first inquire & determine her client's preference. Knowing that we're from the NY metro area, she told me if we tried Costa we'd concur with her & her DH on the cuisine and to not expect cabins to be comparable to HAL's. So, now we're back to checking HAL's 2005 schedule, concluding "If it's not broke, don't fix it"! ;)

[Kruizefan]

Hi,

I´m European, have done about ten cruises but only once "American Style" Celebrity, I loved their shows but they had only limited dance music.

My first cruise was with Costa some years ago. They really had the worst food on sea, but nice entertainment and great dancing. I love the multi-lingual und -culturel atmosphere onboard their ships. The cabin with balcony are just fine.

In October or November you won´t find any Costa-ships in the carribean. The Costa Atlantica will come to Ft. Lauderdale in late November and I will do the transatlantic by Costa Mediterranea from Genoa to Ft. Lauderdale from 12/7 to 12/21, cruises start on Dec. 26. I guess. I would not recommend Costa Allegra or Costa Romantica, these ships do also cruise in the carribean this winter.

regards

Peter

[CruisinMatt]

I like Costa for the cleanliness of the ships, and the European "flair" that comes out during the cruise. I agree that the experience in the Caribbean tends to be similar to mainstream american based lines, but I think it's different enough for me to enjoy Costa. As far as the food, I have never gone hungry. To me the relaxation and ports of call are more important than the food. :)

[Ta421sBtrHalf]

Hi,

I would not recommend Costa Allegra or Costa Romantica, these ships do also cruise in the carribean this winter.

regards

Peter

 

 

Where in the Carribean does the Allegra and Romantica sail? In my brochure for 2004-2005 season it only has the Mediterranea and Atlantica. Are these sailings more South American or are they only for Europeans?

[CruisinMatt]

Where in the Carribean does the Allegra and Romantica sail? In my brochure for 2004-2005 season it only has the Mediterranea and Atlantica. Are these sailings more South American or are they only for Europeans?

 

As far as I can tell, they do a "deeper" caribbean cruise that seems to be excusivley for the European market. I have yet to find these cruises offered to Americans.....

[STEFY14]

Hi all!

After cruising for years with "american ships" I was on board Costa Atlantica last August, sceptic cruising on an Italian vessel.

So if you like bingo, if you like pasta (I notice 5 differents kind of pasta in the buffet one day), fish (very good and well prepared), you are the perfect guest of Costa Cruise Line.

Belive me, I'm Italian, I love gurmet cucine, and I love to relax, but I love also during my holidays enjoy night life. Costa will offer you all this things.

Enjoy your cruise

[rocktheboat]

When cruising in Europe the menu is very different from the menu when cruising from the United States.

[Italian Cruiser 1975]

Where in the Carribean does the Allegra and Romantica sail? In my brochure for 2004-2005 season it only has the Mediterranea and Atlantica. Are these sailings more South American or are they only for Europeans?

 

Costa Cruises will deploy five cruise ships in the Caribbean during the winter season 2004-2005.

 

Costa Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea are mainly dicated to the american cruise market: English will be the official language onboard, as clearly advertised in the italian brochure.

 

Costa Romantica and Costa Classica are dicated to the european cruise market, offering 7 days cruises to the Southern Caribbean from Pointe à Pitre ( Guadaloupe ) and La Romana ( Dominican Republic ).

 

Costa Allegra will sail from Fort Lauderdale, but... ironically... she will be not marketed in the Usa... Costa Cruises knows that...due to her dimensions and the lack of a large number of private balconies... she isn't competitive in this market. She will perform 11 days cruises to the Western Caribbean/Panama Canal. The prices are quite high.

[Italian Nancy]

Hi, we sailed with Costa on the Mediterrean in Feb of this year.. We hated it.. The food was downright terrible and the staff didn't even care. They shut off the espresso machines right after breakfast time and you could only get one through the bar during the rest of the day. The cabins were very small compared with HAL and the beds were very uncomfortable. The pizza we were looking forward to were cold and greasy. We tried Costa in the Caribbean as a tryout for our Mediterrean cruise, we would NEVER sail with Costa again. We are booked with Celebrity for our next cruise (less than 4 wks now)

[Silver Anniv]

It's amazing how different people experience cruises.

We too were on the Mediterrean in Feb of this year. And we had a completely different experience.

 

We had wonderful staff (through the whole ship), I thought the rooms were nice and big enough, we had a balcony so that helped, the pizza we experience was not cold or greasy, I enjoyed it and eat it several time. I had espresso delivered every morning to my room, and sorry, but that was enough for me for the day, so can't say about the rest of the day (wouldn't let it ruin my cruise though).

 

It's seems to be an individual experience, and everyone will have a different opinion of likes and dislikes.

 

It was a beautiful ship and very clean. Enjoy your cruise:) .

[rocktheboat]

I didn't care for Costa, we all know that but I have to disagree on the staff. I thought they were great. The rooms were bigger than Celebrity Century and twice the size of any RCCL cruise I was on, I thought they were a very nice size. Got espresso any time we asked and for a cruise ship the pizza wasn't bad. The rest of the food was not to my liking.

It was a beautiful ship and very, very clean. I loved the ship.

[Mamanance]

I find it hard to believe that some people are saying they hated the food on some of the Costa ships. We have cruised on HAL, Carnival, Royal Car. and Costa and I must say that Costa was OUR all time favorite. The food was out of this world. We did enjoy lunches and breakfast in the dining room. I would recomment that. They have such a beauitful dining room and the wait staff was excellent. It was a great relaxing cruise and we'd do it again in a heart beat. :)