Just returned from Fortuna 3/30 - Any questions?

[chajec]

I just returned from Costa Fortuna 3/30 cruise in Caribbean. Please let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer them.

 

Carl

[Cheryl1ann]

I too just returned from the Fortuna which sailed out on 3/30. If I had listened to all of the comments posted prior to the cruise I may not have gone. All I can say is that anyone who wrote anything negative about this boat is probably difficult themselves. I went with a group of 16 peoplem including several children.

 

The food was excellent. The choices had a large variety for anyone. The bar prices were reasonable. The X1 package paid for itself within the first 2 days.

 

The service was outstanding; any Costa employee I encountered was more then accommodating to us and the young children. The only rude people I experienced were fellow cruisers, who I am sad to say, were abusive and rude to the staff.

 

I would cruise Costa again without a second thought. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to ask.

[chajec]

Cheryl - I met someone on the bus to the port and then several times on board named Curt. By chance were you the family that had brought 2 cases of water and a bunch of pop on board? I think they said they were from Albany. Also were drinking Coors Light like we were.

 

 

 

We were the family sitting behind you on the bus with my son named Curtis as well. We were the winning horse owners of Number 6 Windy City Tramp on the second sea day.

 

Look forward to hearing back from you. WIll you be posting pictures online? If so, please forward me your album information. Thanks.

 

 

Carl

[lh9789]

the family that had brought 2 cases of water and a bunch of pop on board?

 

 

I'm cruising next month and was wondering how difficult it is to bring soda onboard. Do you have to sneak them on in a bag or can they be right out in the open? In a bag, the Xray machine would show cans, so do you bring liter bottles instead? Thanks.

[chajec]

We had absolutely no problem bringing soda or water on board. They didn't even look. We put our beer in our checked baggage just in case and took about 6 beers on for the first day.

 

I would think you would have no problem with soda.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Also - ask your cabin steward to remove everything from the mini bar in the room so you can keep it cold. I recommend bringing a small collapsible cooler that you can keep in your room and have your steward keep it iced down. IT worked that way for us perfectly and we always have ICE COLD beverages.

 

 

Carl

[ssings]

Hi,

we were on this cruise as well. I was with a big group and I thought it was a great cruise. I actually thought the food at the buffet was some of the best cruise food I have ever had (I've been on Carnival, RCCL & Disney). I thought the buffet food was fresh, healthy and tasted good (I liked the fresh fish everyday - salmon, tilapia, catfish & the thin crust pizza was good. Fresh salads everyday. The pastas always looked good too. I think if you are a fried food fan or fast food fan, this might not be the cruise for you.

 

My cabin steward was very sweet, Allan. I was on the 8th floor. The boat moved quite a bit. Some of the people I was with have never cruised and it really shocked them as they had heard the "you can't even tell you are on a boat comments beforehand" Although I personally have never been on a cruise where you could NOT feel the boat moving.

 

There are plenty of fun things on board to do if you are outgoing. I thought the gym was nice and big. It was full a lot though.

 

I really don't remember meeting any rude people now that I think about it? I had read all the comments about pushing and shoving. I saw a few line-cutters, etc. but they seemed to be older East Coast Americans, not Europeans.

 

If you want to have a good time, you will

Take care,

 

Sue

[MTJtraveller]

We just returned from the same cruise and we too had an EXCELLENT time! The service was wonderful...dinner waiter was Rex and he was so personable and so professional, we had to have breakfast the last morning just to say goodbye.

 

I travelled with kids and they had lots to do and had lots of fun. The cabins were immaculate, the food was good to great, the staff was always nice and the internation flair of a Costa cruise was a real pleasure.

 

We had a large group on board, Holistic Holiday, and found that a bit of a problem as they used some of the common space, making it unavailable for others. We loved having a quiet drink in the Verde Lounge (Green) as the staff was most warm and personable (Bernard) but were unable to use at times because of lectures taking place there. But found the people from the Group to be courteous and interesting.

 

OUr favorite port was Grand Turk...the kids and I and my mom walked right (thru the white picket gate) while the crowd walked left out of the port and we had the beach to ourselves. While we were unable to "swim" there as the waves were bigger and I am a Colorado Chicken as far as the ocean, we found nice conch shells to take home. We finally joined the crowd at the other beach and enjoyed the warm water and wonderfull sun. What a great place!

 

I too would gladly answer any questions. All of you on the same cruise, please let me know if you post pictures as I'm sure my collectin is incomplete.

 

Wish I was on the cruise as it was snowing when I came home last night!

[ssings]

We were part of the "health" group and I agree that many of the people were "interesting" to say the least LOL. It was definitely not what I was expecting. The only classes I really enjoyed were the ones given by Marilu Henner.

The Health group had the most bizarre Talent Show I have ever seen LOL.

We ended up eating all our lunches up on Deck 9 buffet.

[CeleBrat]

We were on this cruise too and had a great time. It was our 2nd cruise w/Costa (other than one a REAAAALLLLLY long time ago).

 

SSINGS--I must know, what sort of entertainment was in the Holistic Talent show? We were intrigued by the Holistic group.

 

The great thing about Costa is that they don't "push" $$$ things in your face. It was so nice to NOT have to constantly dodge waiters pushing a drink package, or hear announcements about Jackpot Bingo. Actually, we had to seek out BINGO info in the daily paper in order to know when it would be offered. Same thing for the specialty restaurant. We were unaware there was one b/c Costa was so low-key about advertising it. The cruiseline is so laid back it seem like they didn't care if they made any money on incidentals at all.

 

Conversely--their photo department, was way too laid back. We ended up buying only (1) photo b/c we had a difficult time finding anyone to open the locked cases for us to get a photo. And hello, why are they locked up when there are literally thousands of photos in boxes on the nearby tables? We also spent 3 days trying to track down photos of the kids from the Kids Club, and were unsuccessful. Every time we asked, they kept saying, "We will post them tomorrow." Finally, I said, "Look you guys have been saying that for 3 days now, and tomorrow we disembark." The photo guy just shrugged and said, "Oh, our photo machine must have been broken then and they weren't printed." Um...OK.

 

We had a great cabin steward and wait team (Rafaello, early seating). We also really enjoy the great variety and TASTY Italian food served.

 

We are frequent cruisers (see my siggie!) and will agree that this was probably the roughest cruise motion-wise. I am still swaying even though I've been home for two days now!! The trip from Ft. Lauderdale was so rough that the main pool was closed. We knew it was rough when we could feel the elevator banging against their shafts when riding in them. EEEEK! On that first Sea Day, we went up to Deck 12 Forward and got some great pics of the kids in the insane wind and "fighting" to stand up. It was hilarious! At the Deck Party (2nd night?), rather than enjoying the music, everyone was ewwing and awwing over the crazy waves in the pool (once again due to motion). The waves in the little pool were smashing against both sides of the edges of the pool and reaching up to the deck above it, where we were standing. It was insane!

 

To LH9789--we purchased soda at the first port (San Juan) and had no problems bringing it on-board.

 

Loved the daily Arts/Crafts for us big-kid adults!

 

Also loved visiting Tortola, as we had never been there before. We thought the Costa excursions were very expensive, so instead, we opted to walk off the ship and "hop-on" the first independent tour we saw. We ended up getting an Tortola Island tour with a stop to Cane Bay Beach for $20 each. A bargain compared to the $69 being charged for the same thing by Costa.

 

Grand Turk, always a great beach day. St. Maarten, always a fun shopping day. San Juan, meh...

 

Kids (ages 5 and 7) loved the Squok Club.

 

Those are my rambling thoughts...

 

Just checked the Costa site and it looks like only the Fortuna is coming back next season. Does anyone know?

 

CeleBrat

[kasi1979]

Hi CeleBrat,

that´s right, next season only the Fortuna will be Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. In season 2009/2010 there will be again two ships.

[Cheryl1ann]

Hi, Carl! Its been crazy with work and the kids going right into baseball when we got home but, yes that was us on the shuttle to the port! I will post some pics, just not sure how to do it......Not exactly the computer expert when it comes to things of that nature!