Costa Serena Oct 26-Nov 2

[Dunmore2]

We just returned from this ship and have many positive and a few negative things to comment on. It was our first Costa cruise, but we have sailed on Celebrity once before.

Positives for us.....

-beautiful large room, very well set up with ample storage space (room 8258)

-bathroom also well designed with many glass shelves for holding necessities

-good water pressure in shower

-delicious soups with meals

-pasta at dinner was good 6 out of 7 times

-the birthday cake we ordered to have with our meal was the best dessert we had on board

x1 card was easily used

-happy helpful staff who all spoke English

-Jazz, the english-speaking hostess was great

-our waiter and assistant were gifted at remembering our likes and dislikes

-early dining time varied from 6;45 -7:00, both good times for us

-Today magazine informing us of daily events and port hints was useful

-theatre was beautiful with most of the shows to our liking

-ports of call were wonderful which is why we picked this cruise in the first place

-disembarkation was smooth and well organize

-we ate a small breakfast in our room. which always arrived on time

Negatives for us......

-slight urine smell in our bathroom, which was otherwise spotless

-lettuce in the salad was getting brown by 5th night

-entree selections were just ok...fish was always great, but beef, chicken, lamb and rabbit were often tough.

-too many people on board, was crowded on 5th floor in the shopping area...hard to walk from restaurant to theatre as there was a bottleneck of people.

Conclusion

We enjoyed our cruise very much, we have a few more lines we would like to try before we try Costa again. I will post a little about the ports of call in a few days.

[abitaturbodog]

Thanks for your review. I miss the pasta on board Costa. Hey, that rhymes!

Looking forward to your review of the ports.

[Dunmore2]

We flew into Venice a few days early because we wanted to visit some friends who lived on Lido and get also to get a headstart on adjusting to the timezone change. We did the Secret Itinerary at Doge's Palace and also the Basilica as we did not have time on our last visit. Both were fantastic.

On the morning of the ship's departure, we took a water taxi from our hotel to the ship (85 E) and arrived far too early at 11:30. We started to board at 1:00 and were surprised to find our room was ready at 1:30.

We went to the buffet and ate a light lunch. We had a quick walk around the ship, registered our creditcard at the customer service desk on deck 3, checked out our table for dining, and were back to the room by 3:00. Our luggage was there by 4:00. That left time for a short nap before dinner. We were at a large table, 10 people, 4 from Canada, 4 from USA and 2 from France. The couple from France was on their honeymoon and decided to stay at our table even though her English was limited.

Out of 3000 passengers, 300 had English as their first language.

BARI.We docked around 11, and were off on the ship's tour at 12. It is a beautiful city. The tour was a great way to see a lot in a short time. I think there were 20-25 people on our tour and the guide's explanations of St. Nicholas and the castle were informative. We were happy we took the tour. We got back to the ship at 2. Very long lines tore board, but there is a store to shop in if you don't like lines.

Muster drill took a long time and the staff was not very patient. At the buffet and at the muster were the only times we noticed any pushing!!

KATAKOLON Olympia Mythology and Modernity Tour met at 8:15. 30 of us on the bus. We drove 30 min through farming areas to the site and our guide explained a lot on the way. This guide was excellent. She took a bus 4 hours from Athens to give the tour. She studied archaeology in Germany and was very informative. The site was very crowded with tourists. The stadium was impressive. Very simple and understated, quite a contrast to the recent extravaganza in Beijing. Back in Katakalon we had a little shopping time, but since it was my birthday, we sat at a portfront table and ate Greek snacks and drank ouzo. No line up this time when we boarded the ship.

Formal night....most ladies in fancy shorter (knee length) dresses and most men in 2 piece suits. A few people in jeans though. The dining room gets very warm as the meal progresses.

IZMIR We walked off the ship at 8:30. We had hired a private guide, Yildirim, to take us around Izmir as we had been to Ephesus before. We found the guide through ALLABOUTTURKEYDOTCOM, Burak Sansel is the owner, and the guide he organized for us was wonderful. We had emailed him with the sites we wanted to see and that is what we mostly did. It cost 200 USD. There was a big national holiday, and most of the downtown traffic was rerouted for a parade. Yildirim's English was great. He has a son who lives in Canada, 100 km from us and he has visited our area. We drove along the coastline for 30 min as he told us history and answered questions. Then we went to the old elevator. We were dropped off downtown near the Konak clock Tower and did a lot of walking in the Kemeralti district (this is what we asked for). We really enjoyed the market/ bazaar. There is very clean bathroom there. Our guide paid for us to use it, I was glad not to squat over a hole.That option is there too if you are willing! We went to the guide's favorite spot for lunch and enjoyed kebabs, kofta, salads and it was less than 10USD for all 3 of us. Next door he bought us dessert. Yum. It was fun walking with him and he explained many Turkish and Jewish customs to us.He grew up in Izmir and so did his mother. He gave tours because he loves to teach. If we go back, I would hire him again.

[Dunmore2]

ISTANBUL - We docked quite early,no line ups getting off the ship. We met another guide hired through Burak's site allaboutturkey.com. This guide's name was Bulent Aslan, and like our guide at Izmir, he was very well-travelled and spoke perfect English. Through email we decided what sites to visit in our 4 hour tour. (180 USD for 2 people) Our driver took us the scenic way on Kennedy Street around the harbour until we reached the Sultanahmet area .The views of the Sea of Marmara are nice. Bulent gave us a running commentary of sites and history as we drove. Our driver dropped us off at the Blue Mosque. After our walk through, we headed through an open park-like area that used to be full of buildings until a fire destroyed it all. As we walked, Bulent would tell us the best locations to take photos. The next site was the Haghia Sophia. Wow, we were here for a long time. There is a lot to see and a lot to learn. We had a glass of apple tea just outside the front gate. There is also a clean bathroom here at the exit with flush toilets and soft (?) tissue.

Our next stop was the Basilica cistern. Then we met up with our driver and went to the Grand Bazaar. He took us to a few unique shops. He spent another hour with us here. Instead of going back to the ship. we wanted more time at the Bazaar. Bulent walked with us over to the "best" restaurant in the bazaar and we had a nice lunch. We were going to take a taxi back to the ship, but Bulent suggested we take the tram. He told us exactly where to go and which stop to get off at. The tram, which was very crowded, doubled back through the Sultanahmet area so we could see our favorite buildings one more time. We had a short walk from the tramstop back to the ship. no line-up at all to get on the ship. Again, I would recommend doing a tour in this way in Istanbul. I appreciated the fact that we could give either US dollars or euros to the guides and they would give us the Turkish lira for the stores that did not accept anything else. We did not need to change very much, but their rate was fair.

 

AT SEA DAY-another formal dinner. The waiters put on a good show as well.

 

DUBROVNIK -we took the ship's tour. The bus was full. We drove out of town a few miles first so we could get to an area where we were looking down into the harbour. We had 5 minutes to get off the bus, take our pictures and get back on. It was a little rainy and foggy, so the views were not as spectacular as they usually were. The bus dropped us off in town at the old walled city. This tour was a walking tour and some of the older folk had trouble. Our tour did not include walking on the wall "above" the city. Those who did the tour on their own really enjoyed it, but they said that they did not get much out of walking through town and through the churches as there were no signs to explain anything.Our guide spoke very good English. He had a bit of a cold and some passengers had trouble hearing him when we were in the churches. When the tour was finished we had a couple of hours to explore on our own. We had lemonade and bought a few items (plum brandy).Then we could get on any Costa bus to go back to the ship. The lineup to get on the buses was very long. We walked into town a bit and looked into some other stores. When we got back, the lineup was even longer. We needed an icecream cone while we waited for the line to get shorter. The icecream store right beside the gate is great .1 Euro for a huge scoop.The line of people waiting to take the bus back was even longer, so we decided to take a taxi. 10 Euros for 4 of us. No line up to get back on the ship today either.

 

VENICE- It was foggy, so we could not dock right away. We were about an hour late getting in, but it still went very smoothly.

One item I must comment on is the women making PILES of sandwiches during breakfast. Once they finished their meals they went back to the buffet and loaded plates with piles of meat and cheese. The plates looked like deli trays. I am not sure if they were taking sandwiches for their train rides home or what, but it was surprising to see. This was happening at a few tables.

[angelina46]

hi, i was on the serena in january from savona. on our last morning i saw the same as you. women making piles of sandwiches and i saw one, she was french ,fill a bag with apples. it was amazing. they must have been hoarding food to eat for the next few days!

good review by the way

angelina46