Report on The Costa Neo-Romantica

Not able to post this review in correct section as ship is not listed.

While Costa has taken some stick in the past, with a few tweeks these Neo ships could be a winner.

ACosta Neo-Romantica 17th September 2014.

Savona –Civtavecchia-- Reggio Calabria-- At Sea –Katamata—Izmir—Piraeus—At Sea

La Valletta—At Sea—Marseille—Genoa.

First time back on the ‘Romantica’ after the stretching and adding some balconies to this ship a few years back, boarding was fast & efficient. Our first impressions when walking on board was ‘WOW’ the sheer unadulterated luxury hit us like a brick, everywhere you looked oozed class, attentive stewards soon led us to the lift & towards our cabin on deck six. This was an outside cabin yet showed that even these can be awesome, the cupboard & wardrobes provided ample space, and the design a credit even the bathroom appeared larger than normal. We were very happy with our choice, however having a phone call resulted in even more delight. We were waitlisted for a balcony never expected that one would become free, to our joy were escorted up to deck 12 and cabin1230, well it was defiantly no contest, tasteful, elegant are poor words to describe such a cabin surely one of the best ever even beating the Mini-suite on the old Romantica. Although to be honest apart from the balcony (a must for us usually) both cabins were beyond our expectations & we not hesitate to choose either again. One slight hitch I think a little extra soundproofing between cabins would improve the experience.

On to best part of our cruises, dining, not too happy that we were only informed shortly before the cruise that it was ‘Freedom Dining’ we are fixed in our ways and enjoy the MDR & the first of the two sittings. The Maitre D’ was not willing to try to seat us with English speakers, a must on multi- National ships, the first night proved that this needed to be sorted, as we were on a table of six with no English speaking guests. After our meal we sought out the English host and explained, with 110 English on board surely we should at least try to meet someone who wanted early dining. Now Marta was/is the best host we have ever had on Costa & indeed MSC ships, nothing was too much trouble for her, and soon she introduced us to two American couples who we met up each night outside the Restaurant, with Marta checking tables were okay.

On to the food, while the majority was beautifully presented and extremely tasteful, matched to each regions best dishes with wine also matched to the food. The choices were limited to two each course, making it very difficult some nights to find something you fancied eating, the menu from Veneto was Cabbage Soup/Beef Tartar-Cod fish Stew in milk/roast pork with Maple Syrup sauce, thank heaven for the usual selection of pasta & vegetarian which seemed most people around us choose. Come on Costa where were those wonderful menus of the past for the ships that are aimed at your discerning clients.

Once again the specialty restaurant come to our rescue the two nights later when Cabbage soup was on offer again, what a joy it is to dine in these fabulous Italian Restaurants, well worth the extra costs incurred.

No theatre on this ship but two show lounges, which proved as good as any purpose built theatre, the atmosphere was certainly more intimate and we enjoyed almost every show, for those who have never tried Costa most shows are visual or if musical, in English. We could understand the offering every night.

Although there is a distinct lack of bars on this Neo ship the options were good for whatever your requirements (quiet or noisy) the grand Bar showed all the action each night and was greatly enjoyed by all whatever your Nationality.

Onto the POC while we no longer venture ashore in the ‘Med’ there were some different tours on this cruise which we decided to try, but all were cancelled due to lack of interest, we were offered other tours in these ports, which unfortunately proved to be unsuitable for me due to the amount of walking, but looking at what we could, we did enjoy most of them.

Maybe Costa should think of the use of mini-buses for English speakers even at a slightly extra cost, rather than cancel tours completely. I know this is becoming a problem for a lot of cruise lines that have different Nationalities, & passengers are getting fed up with not being able to see some of the sights that they booked the cruise to see. It is understandable from the Company side but if tours can be booked privately before a cruise in most ports surely these lines could do the same for smaller groups.

Being Multi-National Costa board in different ports for most cruises in the Mediterranean, which to my mind is an excellent idea, cutting down on flying times for some with lots of choices on where you join the ship, this also leads to quicker embarkation avoiding those lengthy waits in the departure halls. The last day is usually hectic, but this again was fairly reasonable, called in groups we no longer had to push & shove, but walked leisurely off collected our luggage and got into the taxi transfer to the Airport.

To sum up the Neo ships (Romantica—Classica—Riviera) if they are all up to the Romantica experience then these are ships to select for those special occasions which you decide on something different. Roll on next year when we hope to try the Neo-Classica.

To add to above review, lots of bad feeling about being charged for water in MDR many were not offered the choice of a glass of tap water, we had the AI package so did not affect us. Also lack of tea or coffee stations in the buffet area, just pots brought round to tables sometimes the wait was long before being served, and indeed none during the lunch period.

Was on the neoRomantica last spring. I agree with tenpin that the MDR food was the best of any Costa ship, but overall, I was considerably underwhelmed. Especially, the dance floor was the worst of any Costa ship I have ever been on.

We'll be on the neoRomantica in two weeks on the same itinerary. Looking forward to seeing how the old Romantica now performs.

What has happened to the Gala Night and the Italian Night? Have these simply disappeared on this ship? No singing and no waiters dancing ? I ask as we just love these dining experiences and wouldn't like to lose them.

Just found my notes regarding neoR last spring, I was able to get water in the MDR by asking for a carafe.

What has happened to the Gala Night and the Italian Night? Have these simply disappeared on this ship? No singing and no waiters dancing ? I ask as we just love these dining experiences and wouldn't like to lose them.

Has anyone traveled on this ship recently?

I am packing for embarkation this Friday and wondered if there are no gala nights and other themed nights as suggested in the post above?

Many thanks in advance :D

Has anyone traveled on this ship recently?

 

I am packing for embarkation this Friday and wondered if there are no gala nights and other themed nights as suggested in the post above?

 

Many thanks in advance :D

Hi:-)

I disembarked today in Savona - after 14 days cruise from Hamburg.

I could confirm that during our cruise there was no gala nights - think it could be related to open-sitting dinners on NeoRomantica.

There are indeed no gala nights on the neoRomantica.

I didn't really impact on my enjoyment of the cruise but glad I didn't take my penguin suit.

There were other themed events though. There was a white party by the pool and also a masquerade 'ball' for which they were selling masks a couple of days before the event. Ultimately it was a bit of a disappointment as it turned out to be just a 45 minute event in the Grand Piazza bar but the masks were only €7.99 so not the end of the world.

The food was so so to be honest, I'm not sure the open dining works as well as on other cruise lines and has quite large queues waiting for various size tables. We got over it by turning up around 9:15 and was usually able to get a table straight away. The staff are quite busy locating tables, changing tables and serving meals to be able to keep a proper eye on topping up drinks.

Overall though we had a good time, took advantage of the drinks package and ate plenty. The staff appear to be quite a happy and friendly bunch which compares favourably to my last couple of MSC cruises where the bar staff were mostly miserable and the security guards were just downright rude bordering aggressive. It possibly reflects the working conditions, I don't know, but I couldn't fault any of the Costa staff for their willingness and pleasantness.

The ship is very nice. Easy to navigate, good size cabins, looks well maintained. The buffet restaurant was the same as any other ship in as much as there aren't enough seats for the most popular times but there are a few overflow areas you can go to and eat. There didn't appear to be any self service tea and coffee machines but I may have missed them. Instead you had restaurant staff pouring coffees at tables or stations from insulated jugs.

Would I do it again? Absolutely, at £199pp for a 5 night cruise why wouldn't you? But not at the original price of £1,019

Hi,

Can somebody tell me if there's a fridge in the cabin? Thx. :)

Hi,

Can somebody tell me if there's a fridge in the cabin? Thx. :)

Yes, there is minibar fridge in the room - full of bottles and cans:-)

They are opening it after registering credit card/payment of deposit in cash and closing in the evening the day before arrival to last port.

Yes, there is minibar fridge in the room - full of bottles and cans:-)

They are opening it after registering credit card/payment of deposit in cash and closing in the evening the day before arrival to last port.

Thx for the info Greg.

To add to the useful post from tenpin, here are some parts from my review from my recent cruise on the neo-Romanitca in October 2015.

As the price always has an impact on a review, I should say it was booked as a last minute cheap deal (<£300pp including flights from the UK and the price included a couple of nights in Nice).

The trip was 12 Nights from Savona, via Naples to Greece (Kalamata, Nafplio, Volos, Athens), and back via Trapani and Marseille. All the stops were the standard 8am to 5-6pm, except that Naples was quite short (2pm to 6pm) and Nafplio was long (8am to midnight).

I used the Costa coach transfers from Nice, the SNCF station out and then back to Nice airport at the end. Perfect and couldn't have been easier. On arrival at Savona, off the coach and into the cabin within 10 minutes, cards picked up off the bed, and off for food and drink. P&O you could learn a lot.

The customers on board seemed to be about 60% Italian, 20% French, 15% German, and the remaining 5% from all over. There were 138 native English speakers on board, but I only bumped into a couple of them during the whole trip and rarely heard English spoken by any other passengers.

There is an English hostess on board who has a daily rota in the main reception area. Although she was very pleasant, I couldn't really see the point in her role as all the crew spoke perfect English.

Although I didn't think that the ship had the "wow" factor that some of the new mega-ships have,it still had a "that looks nice" feel to it, and nothing felt tired or old. There are a decent selection of bars, so that you could always find somewhere pleasant to sit that fitted your mood.

We were initially in a cabin on deck 4 (an inside cabin, as I don't see the point of spending any time there other than to sleep). Although an inside, good use of mirrors and lights meant that it did not feel like a cave.

The cabin itself was great, both it and the bathroom were huge, so no dancing around each other to get dressed, and a proper king size double bed, not twin beds pushed together. And also no drop down bunks at the side. If you look at the deck plans you can work out which have these and which do not.

The problem with deck 4 is that deck 3 is the industrial crew area with sea tight bulkhead doors that are closed whilst at sea. Whenever the doors are opened an alarm sounds to warn that the doors must be closed. These doors are used periodically throughout the night, and every 5 to 10 minutes from 5am onwards. If you are a light sleeper the alarm will wake you up.

So DO NOT book a cabin on deck 4 of the neo Romanitca if you don't want to be disturbed. We were moved to deck 6, and all was fine.

As mentioned, the ship does not have a theatre, so they use one of the two bars with a dance floor area and small stage to do the evening shows.

Personally I thought that although some of the shows were pretty good, but a lot were quite poor. Obviously the limited space means that they cannot put on the big, almost West End, shows that appear on the mega-ships and the mixed languages of the guests also causes logistical issues. Some of the shows have less Euro-pop than others, but they always manage to fit some in for the Italian passengers.

However I feel for the dancers as they do their best to show of their skills due to the limited space and height (the ceiling is too low to do many of the moves and lifts properly).

Although there is music in the bars, the musicians in the bars seemed to only play for limited amounts of time (15-20 minute sessions) and then disappear for hours, and the daily schedule doesn't say when they will be playing. Quite often in the evening, the only music in a bar was Euro-pop in the Grand Bar.

The gym is free and looked quite good and was never full. All the other spa facilities, including the sauna are chargeable (€35 pp per day, or there was a fee for the whole cruise, I think €119 pp or €199 per couple).

With regard to the food, having been on a previous Costa neo ship I knew what to expect, which was that as far as food is concerned, they operate the ship as if this an Italian line that permits other nationalities to sail, and no concessions will be made. The food is Italian, full stop (and not UK Italian, or American Italian). Not a problem for me.

The service in the restaurants was excellent, and unlike tenpin, I liked that the neo ships are freedom dining not set seated dining, so turn up whenever I wanted. I was asked on the first night if I wanted to sit on a shared table of English speakers, but when I declined and asked for a table for two, that was not a problem.

The food in the main restaurant was mostly good, but was a bit erratic. 25% of it was absolutely excellent, 65% good, but unfortunately 10% poor. The 10% poor was because it had been overcooked, bought cold, or not correctly seasoned. However no problems to exchange if you wished.

What was slightly irritating was that the English version of the menu was never displayed on the boards outside, because of the order the languages were printed on the menu, so you needed to wait until the restaurant opened to see what was being served at lunch or dinner.

Unlike tenpin, I didn't have a problem with the selection at dinner, but at lunch there were a number of occasions when nothing took our fancy so we used the buffet.

I thought the food in the self-service buffet was very repetitive, and like all ships buffets the food luke warm at best. As I tend to eat late, and avoided the absolute peak times, getting a table was not a chore, but walking through at peak times, it did seem too small for the size of the ship. As with the main dining room, there are lots of tables for two.

We were given a complimentary meal in the Club restaurant due to a problem with the room. Although it is a better atmosphere, I thought the food was very underwhelming and was no better than the main restaurant. It is certainly not worth the €28pp supplement, and is nowhere near as good as the Marco restaurant on P&O or Le Bistro or Cagneys on NCL.

We had bought the alcoholic drinks package, so worked our way through the drinks menu, and very good it was too. Service was excellent, with waiters actively seeking customers even if they knew they had the paid for drinks package.

As a neo ship, the main dining room serves a different white and red wine each lunch and evening that is included in the drinks package, and has theoretically been matched to the food. The wine was certainly better than some of the wine by the glass served in the bars.

One thing that was crazy was the Enoteca wine bar that was staffed by an Italian Basil Fawlty. A lovely area with no customers at all, partly because none of the wines served were included in the paid for drinks package. So on an average evening there were two customers, and a handful of senior crew who seemed to use it as their private drinking club. However if you dared take a drink in there from another bar, and god forbid if it was a coffee or a spirit, then Basil Fawlty would make snide comments as he walked past to dust the bottles (there being no customers to serve). He would not directly tell a customer that they could not be there, just mutter under his breath "wine only" (I checked with the senior manager of the bars, there was no restriction that Costa imposed on what could be drunk in that bar, it was only Basil's view).

I was amused by the posh paid for (€15pp per day) area at the rear of the ship, that precisely zero people used during the whole 12 days.

In summary, I booked a cheap cruise, but one that enabled me to travel in comfort with Italian food and style, and I was not bothered that I did not speak to any other English people for a fortnight. Costa delivered that for me.

Thank you Rool, Tenpin and Insanemagnet. Do you remember what brand the cabin expresso machine is? Some people say it's Lavazza, others say it's Illy. Also, does it provide hot water to make your own tea? Thanks!

Having spoken to Costa about several concerns I had about this cruise they have said there will be some changes made to menus on the Neo ship & hoped that more local food would be served during the cruises.

Although the charge for a glass of water in MDR was mentioned it was thought that as most were on the AI package the few that was not would probably buy a bottle which released waiters to perform better (?)

As is usual with Costa I think it will take some time before they get it right, but overall I think these type of ships will be a great addition to their fleet.

A couple of good reviews since I wrote mine so perhaps the are trying to improve.

Thank you Rool, Tenpin and Insanemagnet. Do you remember what brand the cabin expresso machine is? Some people say it's Lavazza, others say it's Illy. Also, does it provide hot water to make your own tea? Thanks!

The machine in my cabin (a classic inside), was an Illy machine, and I *think* it was this machine -

http://www.illy.com/wps/wcm/connect/en/coffee-at-home/capsules-coffee-machine-y3-iperespresso

I have no idea if it provided hot water as I didn't even turn it on as I had the AI package and could get free coffee and drink made for me.

Thank you Rool, Tenpin and Insanemagnet for the extensive reviews.

Now we know what to expect in Februari.:D