roll call 12/21 costa mediterrenea

[jon04072]

Is anyone out there going on the 12/21 departure of the Costa Mediterrenea?

[Andiamo]

Cool Cruiser,

 

I will be on that five day Christmas cruise. It will not only be my first "solo" cruise, but my first Holiday cruise. I am looking forward to the experience. I am familiar with the ship already, so at least I have one thing covered in advance.

[smann]

Hi, What a coincidence that I just checked the boards today for the first time in awhile, and saw this post right at the top! There will be a bunch of us sailing on this trip. We're all family and range in ages from 1 to 79. This will be our first time on Costa; would love to hear your thoughts on this line.

 

Counting the days!

[Andiamo]

I have always gone (11 Costa cruises) as a "couple". The attraction for us was the dancing to Italian music, so I may not be a good judge of other activities.

 

I do recall seeing the children actively involved in many fun activities.

 

If Sylvia is on the "animation staff" on this cruise, she is not to be missed. She is an extremely talented young woman who speaks about five languages. She ususally as many activities in the evenings that are sort of adults only and always a barrel of laughs. (I have noticed that night life on a Costa ship is always plentiful compared to other ships.)

 

The food, as you may have seen on other posts/boards is not the best, but it would be pretty hard to actually starve. Many people go on cruises for fabulous cuisine. This is not the ship for that. Many go for the quantity and how many meals a day are available. That is the case on this ship. I am not a big eater, so the food issues do not bother me so much. If I were on a more expensive cruise, it would bother the heck out of me.

 

One thing I can absolutely guarantee, Costa ships are the cleanest sailing today. Comfort should be taken in that alone.

 

As many have said before me, it's your vacation. You need to make the most of it yourself. Any plusses are just that, plusses--gravy as they say.

 

Let me know if I can answer anything else. I don't have all the answers, but am happy to try.

[smann]

Most of us going have cruised before and are just happy to be out on the sea and away from home. I, personally, am one of those "live to eat" vs. "eat to live" types, but I will go into the trip with low expectations as far as cuisine goes, so I won't be dissapointed.

 

Thanks for the info. about the entertainment. We will definitely look for Sylvia's doings. Did you ever get to the casino or disco? Dancing is definitely something alot of us enjoy.

 

Have you looked into shore excursions? Those of us with young children will probably not book anything ahead of time, but there are will be some who might want to go ahead and schedule their port days.

 

Thank you so much for your help, we are still....

 

COUNTING the days!!!!!!

[Andiamo]

Greetings smann.

 

You have a good attitude about the food. I had a friend once say "if I want to eat well, I'll stay home and cook it myself".

 

Regarding the casino: I am not a big gambler, but a little slot machine once in a while can be a fun activity and casinos are ususally buzzing, and that alone adds to the festivity of the cruise.

 

I've never tried the disco, preferring live music, but dancing is fun no matter what the music or venue. You can't go wrong.

 

I've never taken shore excursions. Personally, I always felt that they were overpriced and the extra experience was never that important to me. However, when I read about all the extra fun folks have had on excursions, I second guess myself. I do believe though on this trip the ports are limited.

 

Besides, in my opinion, the cruise itself is the best part!

 

Regards,

 

Andiamo (Let's go now)

[sarabear]

I am going to be on the cruise over xmas too! I am 14 almost 15 buy the time we get on the cruise! I am going with my family and another ! :p

 

hey jon04072! -- lol:D

[iBCrUiSeN]

Hey this is my 4 cruise ...ill be going on the costa xmas cruise !

 

((im also sarabear))

[santanesia]

I'm going to... It will be our first Holliday cruise and pratically our first cruise because they ehwre 2 days only.

Erad a lot of bad reviews but we know that we will have fun.

We are just trying to find things to do in Progreso/Merida and Freeport.

We love to snorkel and will try to find some.

Maria

[smann]

Welcome to the new cruisers! It's getting really close now. The stores are getting out the holiday decorations so you know that it will be time to set sail before we know it.

 

Counting the days!!!

[JeffK]

Good to see some comments about the holiday cruising. We will be doing a back to back starting on the 21st and then the 26th for New Years. We have done a number of Costa both in Caribbean and Europe. Also, will be on the Atlantica for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to seeing you all around the ship.

[santanesia]

Hi everyone,

I'm doing some research( my way to extend my cruise) and Progresso/Merida sound good.(Mayans ruins and Merida) We probabilly will try to do something in our on.

I read a lot about Costa and I'm looking very much for this trip.

I don't mind if the food is not that great:p , I'm not cooking and don't need to worried about getting to much weigth.

We will have a lot off fun...

I just don't know how to det up the dinning time.

Maybe we can meet at the ship one time:) .

Maria

[jon04072]

Good news! Got a call from the travel agency today....we were upgraded from an inside guarantee to a Veranda Oceanview!!:eek: I have seen reviews about the food....some say it is bland. I am not looking for the finest cuisine, just a vacation with great weather and holiday spirits!!:D

[catcruiser101]

I will be on the 12/21 cruise too, along with my son (19 yrs old) and daughter (17 yrs old). Our 1st time on Costa. Looking forward to relaxing, any info on excursions will be greatly appreciated. Maybe we can all meet up on the ship sometime.:D

[santanesia]

We will be there too.

I'm looking for more info in shore trips and will let you know.

It would be nice to meet in the ship .

We all will have a great time.

Maria

[catcruiser101]

Thanks appreciate any help. Lets see about meeting on board, anyone else interested in getting together for a cruise critic get together? I am not familiar with the ship (1st time on Costa) which place would be good for all to meet?:)

[chronic travelitis]

We'll be there, too! My husband, two adult daughters, a friend and me. We've sailed on Costa twice before - Our first cruise ever to the Southern Caribbean on the Daphne & later to Alaska on the Riviera. You may not be familiar with those because they were both done away with shortly after our cruises, so we'll try not to get too attached to the Mediterranea. They were two of our favorite cruises of the many we've been on and we had more fun than we did on any of the others, so we're really looking forward to this one.

 

Santanesia & Catcruiser,

If you decide on a place to meet, we'll be there.

[mattytude]

I guess you can add me, my wife, and our 2 kids. Never been on Costa, not looking forward to the food, but the ship looks incredible. The only concern is that compared to other ships, everything looks kind of stuffy (formal) not appearing as laid back as some "Fun Ships". Maybe its just the Italian style design. Keep me posted if you all would like to meet somewhere.

[Cheryl061]

We are finally booked! My husband & I will be cruising Dec. 21...Let us know where everyone is meeting...you can count us in!!

[smann]

I'm sure I can get some of our group to a get-together. This is getting so close now. Anyone else starting to think about what to bring? We've cruised before and have ALWAYS packed too much, so this time its a strict one-bag-per-person policy. Yeah right.

 

Andiamo, perhaps you can suggest a place that would be good for a meeting since you've been on the ship before. Would love to have you join in the fun, too, of course!

 

jon04072 - Congrats on the upgrade!

 

mattytude - Hopefully everyone will be in great spririts and we'll have as much fun (more!) than the "fun ships."

 

Counting the days......

[Andiamo]

Greetings SMann and fellow cruisers.

 

I will visit the Costa site over the weekend to refresh my memory of the lounges and then make some suggestions. At this point it is my guess we will want to meet at least by the 22nd. It will probably be too soon for all to have navigated the ship sufficient to know where everything is so I'm wondering if it should be the largest lounge. Then again, it would be difficult to not find the Atrium lounge. Either one will be a good choice and when I verify the names of these lounges I will report back.

 

Ciao for now,

 

Andiamo

[santanesia]

The 22nd sounds very good, I think.

It is my first time in Costa also.

For Progresso try the site 'Yucatan today' site, it is vey informative.

For Freeport, we will be there on X-mas day and I don't know what will be open, but after the hurricanes, I think that they are in need of bussines, but I don't know what to expect.

Maria

[Andiamo]

Greetings fellow Costa cruisers.

 

To view all the different options for meeting on the Mediterranea go to costacruises.com; click on "our fleet"; then "the present fleet"; then Costa Mediterranea"; then "come on board". You will then see "technical chart". Scroll down. You can see just about every venue on the ship. Piazza Casanova is the largest lounge. The Atrium is kind of a hub. Lounge Talia is just outside of the dining room (not sure which deck--there are two decks for entering the dining room). I think Lounge Dionisio is the other lounge just outside of the dining room. Then there is Giardino Isolabella, which is a show lounge, in addition to the main theater. The Salone Orientale is also a nice lounge. Anyway, happy hunting. Note: you need Quick Time to view these pages. It is a free download. You will have fun using your mouse to move around entire rooms--cabins included.

 

We have more than enough time to find a good place to meet and greet.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Andiamo

[smann]

Hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving! Now we're really in the home stretch for the cruise. I can hardly think about anything else!

 

Counting the days........

[chronic travelitis]

We got our documents the other day!! It's really getting close now. Has anyone come up with a meeting place yet? How about the Dionisio Lounge on the Bacco Deck aft? Does anyone know what time early seating is for dinner? We should probably plan to meet early enough for the early seating people to visit, then make it to dinner on time. Any ideas?

 

Diane