Costa vs Celebrity in the med

[tcocktail]

Good day all,

 

Has anyone been on Celebrity in med that can compare Costa in the Med?

 

Food quality

service

cabins

 

If not Costa what is your preferred cruise in the western med.

 

 

Thanks

[j2ink]

This question cannot be answered without more information. Is the price of the cabin irrelevant? Do you like large ships or small ships? Are the ships the same size on the itineraries you want?

 

Costa has a number of small ships, and the amenities are far fewer than on larger ships. Costa also has some large new ships and, in general, newer ships will look newer and fresher.

 

Other things being equal, Celebrity probably will have slightly better food and service, but it will also be more expensive, unless you get a special deal.

[tcocktail]

This question cannot be answered without more information. Is the price of the cabin irrelevant? Do you like large ships or small ships? Are the ships the same size on the itineraries you want?

 

Costa has a number of small ships, and the amenities are far fewer than on larger ships. Costa also has some large new ships and, in general, newer ships will look newer and fresher.

 

Other things being equal, Celebrity probably will have slightly better food and service, but it will also be more expensive, unless you get a special deal.

 

Example would be Costa Magica, Luminosa,Deliziosa, compared to Celebrity 'M' class ship, Summit, etc.

 

The itineraries are not important at this time. Although it will be when it comes time to choose. Does Costa do anything special in certain ports that Celebrity doesn't do? How is the service different on board . How is the food different. Will I get more regional food on Costa. Is smoking allowed on board? Is it limited to port or starboard? How many courses are there at dinner? Is service rushed in the main dining room? Does the staff speak english. Are they mostly Italian staff or mixed crew? Will I feel like I am on a foreign Carnival cruise or is it more European and refined? Will I stand out because we are American. Will we get the same service as the Europeans?

 

What would make you sail Costa over Celebrity?

 

Thanks

[Morgsmom]

We did the Costa Concordia in the Med last November. There were about 75 Americans onboard. The crew is European/International.

 

Pluses: The price. The ship was new and well kept (except for our cabin which had a picture with a cracked plastic cover and a big stain on the carpet). Food was "ok" except for the pastas which were lovely. My daughter (12 at the time) had no desire for any kids programming so that was not an issue. The itinerary was what we wanted.

 

Minuses: Customer service, as mentioned many times, was lackluster at best. No "plan b" -- we missed Malta due to really rough seas and they did not pull out any "plan b" activities so everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) went to formal lunch and sat there and ate and drank for 2 1/2 hours. The kitchen was completely overwhelmed because they are only accustomed to a small onboard lunch when the ship is supposed to be in port.

 

I'm thinking the Century for this year's trip, but would do another Costa if it was on the new class of ships at a very good price. In the Med the ship is but a floating hotel with breakfast & dinner service, in my opinion, since we didn't use the pools/clubs/kids program, etc.

[ItalianGuest]

Good day all,

 

Has anyone been on Celebrity in med that can compare Costa in the Med?

 

Food quality

service

cabins

 

If not Costa what is your preferred cruise in the western med.

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Buon giorno Tcocktail,

 

I'm Italian and have been on both; although It can seem bizzarre, I absolutely prefer Celebrity to Costa.

 

Even the cuisine, that should be a strenght point for Costa, is -accordin to me- better on Celebrity.

 

X usually offer more time to spend in ports then C and, believe me, in the Med that's very important... there is so much to see!!!

 

Moreover I noticed that, ahimè, Italians are often less deferent to rules. It means smoke all over; hubble-ubble; people that don't respect queue, hours, etc...

 

That my opinion... the choice is your!!!:)

 

Ciao

 

ItalianGuest

[leoandhugh]

I agree with the Italian poster above - Costa in the Med. tends to be much more Italian pax than X; that said, they tend to smoke a lot more than Americans, do not observe lines much and most do not attempt to speak English even though they might. Dinner seating with a table full of non-English speaking pax is a fiasco in my book.

While the food is good, it does not compare to X unless you like a lot of pasta and antipasti. Note that my comparison is specifically for Med cruising; we found it very different on Costa in the Caribbean where the pax were overwhelmingly US.:)

[Capricruiser]

Seems to me that if one wants to either visit a foreign country, or in this case, travel on a foreign cruise ship, one might assume that people, life styles, and food will be different. The passengers on Costa ships in the Med tend to be Brits, Germans, French, Spanish, and of course also Italians. Not many Americans. If one is not willing to accept such differences perhaps they should stay home...

[DGF]

Thanks for the info. Have been on Celebrity twice and yes the food was slightly better than the other Premium Cruise Lines; but not enough to be a factor. You need to get up to the Oceania and one notch above- Crystal, QM2- Grill Class, Seaborne, Regent to mention a few to notice the difference

 

Our challenge is to pick a ship for a cruise thru the Suez Canal and any experiences welcome

 

Respectfully differ with Capricruiser. I found the info on smoking of great importance, being a non smoker

 

DEAN