Sailing soon

[boricua72]

On December 21, we will be sailing on the Costa Atlantica. Considering what I have read so far. there seems to be lots of conflicting opinions about this cruise ship, some terrible and other wonderful. I'm afraid of what I will find. Is there someone who has recently sailed, that can offer a little help in how to make the experience better? Also, I will like to have some pointers about the tours on land on the ports of call. I really don't know if I should forward to sail.

[zaq42]

Well, my fiance and I just shelled out a boatload of money for the Costa on 12/26. I'm pretty upset after reading these reviews. My travel agent said they did not market the caribbean cruises to Europeans anymore and have axed the smoking.

 

He also said I could order room service for free.

 

Please post how your experience was, because it is supposed to be different this year. We shall see!!

[Cruise4Andy]

I know that there are several "horrible" reviews about the Atlantica and the Mediterranea, but in my opinion these postings are from people who are not open minded and find negatives to complain about regardless where they go, what ship there are on or what countries or islands they are visiting.

 

I still hold on to my opinion, that Costa does an outstanding job in reference of cleanliness (that's why both ships are one of the highest ranking in the CDC Score, Atlantica 98, Mediterranea 100 out of 100 possible points). There is simply no cleaner ship than the Atlantica and her sister ship.

The food is delicious, excellent and reflects the true italian cooking, the crew is friendly, courteous and helpful, and the cabins are comfortable, quiet and welcoming. Again, I wrote a detailed review about our cruise and still stand strong with my opinion, that Costa deserves a true "10" rating!

 

About shore excursions:

We (my wife and I) looked through several websites in order to get some good ideas about the port of calls. We did not book any ship excursions, but rather went out by ourselves and picked activities we liked.

 

COZUMEL: We rented a Jeep (from Avis) ahead of time through the internet. Costed us about $90 incl. all miles, taxes, fees and the optional insurance, which I would really recommend there. We had a blast, as we could explore the island at our pace and our leisure. We stopped for lunch at a beach bar (no electricity, just grill) had wonderful meal and drinks and visited a deserted beach (just ourselves), went to the national park and historic sites and went shopping before returning the car and got back to the ship. The car rental places are right at the cruise terminals, not even 5 minutes to walk.

 

OCHO RIOS: Know where you walk, otherwise you will be surrounded by all kinds of vendors and other professionals (if you know what I mean). We hired a private cab with guide. Costed us a total of $80 (for 4 persons) for the entire day, Alicia (our guide) went with us to the falls (definately a MUST see and do!), she showed us where to shop (had about 3 hours of shopping), and relaxed on a private beach (no vendor which are bothering you). Truly enjoyed her and her professional expertise. We picked them in front of the cruise terminal where the taxi's are located. Great experience for the price!

 

CAYMAN ISLANDS: As we got off the tender, we looked around for a tour to Stingray City. Located a private vendor and booked. Got on a mini bus, which transported us the the marina, where a smaller boat (total 20 people) took us out to Stingray City (what an experience! Another MUST do!). All snorkel equipment is included, but you can bring your own if you like to. We also had a professional photographer on board (younger guy, originally from NY) which took pictures in the water with the stingrays! Great pics! We purchased several! As we came back we stopped at 7 mile beach and relaxed, before doing the obligatory shopping trip down town (Took a cab back for that... $3/person). Beautiful island!

 

So we were very happy having it done that way! Again, your pace and no pressure! We loved it and would do it again that way!

 

We are going on the Mediterranea on January 30, 2005 for the Eastern Caribbean, and are not planning to do any shore excursions through Costa, rather exploring the destinations by ourselves again! We love it!

 

Hope that helped a little... Any questions, feel free to contact me at PPPOWER96@aol.com....

 

Have a wonderful Holiday Season and a safe and wonderful cruise!

[rocktheboat]

Costa Mediterranea is a wonderful ship and very clean. Service was also very good. Room service was free. It is not a smoke free ship.

Food was not very good, We always found something to eat but the food was not what we were expecting. It was Italian style not Italian food.

When cruising on Costa from the states you are not going to get the Italian flair when it comes to the food.

 

As far as not marketing the caribbean cruises to Europeans anymore, I don't think that's true. In April I'd say a little more than 50% were from Europe.

Everyone working on the ship spoke English. Only the life boat drill was in 5 different lang. Shows were mostly English. 2 Shows were Italian.

 

We stayed in a PS cabin, the cabin was great and the bathroom was bigger than the whole cabin we had on RCCL. Cabin steward was very good.

 

Despite not caring for the food we still had a wonderful time.

 

 

Cruise4Andy, I am very open minded. If I wasn t I would never have cruised with Costa. You liked everything about your cruise and thats great. I didn t care for the food. Which doesn t mean I'm not opened minded. I am not a complainer. The food was not great but The food did not ruin my vacation. I still had a great time.

People ask and others tell. This was not my first cruise. I do have others to compare it too. Some better than others.

 

 

Reviews of the Atlantica are alot better than on the Med when it comes to the food.