HAL versus Costa

[travelingman]

I know there is no comparison between HAL and Costa; however, we would like to do an Eastern Caribbean cruise in 2006 and are looking at different options. I would like to get some feedback on Costa and in particular the ships that do the Eastern Caribbean cruise.
Thanks.

[jhannah]

The only experience I have with Costa is being berthed across the harbor from one of their ships in port. All I can say is that there was one heckuva party going on. The cruise director (I guess) was blasting over the ship's PA system and it became irritating because we were trying to relax on our veranda and enjoy the local scenery before we set sail. Carnival has a reputation for party ships ... but I've never heard this kind of noise from a Carnival vessel.

[kelmac]

I know there is no comparison between HAL and Costa; however, we would like to do an Eastern Caribbean cruise in 2006 and are looking at different options. I would like to get some feedback on Costa and in particular the ships that do the Eastern Caribbean cruise.
Thanks.

travelingman,

My wife and I have been on 17 cruises (two with HAL) and have six more coming up in the next 13 months; one of those will be on the Costa Mediterranea. We have never cruised Costa and just thought we would try something different?? They do have some great rates right now! Celebrity and HAL are our favorite cruise lines, but we like to "test" the waters!:rolleyes:

Hope you get some feedback on this thread!
Enjoy!
Kel

[wwinfl91]

HI

We did a Costa cruise in the Eastern Caribbean in December 2002 on the Atlantica. It was our first Verandah cabin and the ship was relatively new and very flashy. Their version of the Florian cafe from Venice actually looked better than the original (of course it is a lot newer and didn't over look St Mark's square) but it was a very good recreation. The speciality Italian restaurant was excellent. The ship was in excellent condition and our room steward did an excellent job of keeping our room looking good. The verandah was a nice plus, we have had them on several cruises since but not all. The last night at dinner they encourage people to wear togas. Most people actually do and it makes for an interesting last nights dinner. Probably the biggest negative we found on the cruise was the lack of Italian food on the regular dinner menu. It was there occasionally but even then it wasn't as outstanding as you would have expected. In general the food was decent cruise line food. We were told by a TA who happened to be seated with at dinner that if you take a Costa cruise in the Med you get more traditional Italian food but in the Caribbean the cruise line does food similar to other cruise lines to satisfy American tastes.

All in all I would take another Costa cruise if the price and destination were right. We have been on HAL 7 times, Princess 2 times, Celebrity, RCCL and Costa once each so we have tried a few cruise lines.

I'm not sure I would want to cruise on some of the older Costa ships but the newer ones would definitely be worth a try in my opinion.

Have a great next cruise.

[wwinfl91]

By the way CruiseCritic has a review of the Costa Atlantica currently on the main page.

Have a great next cruise.