MishelleMcc

Our travel documents said that we could begin boarding at 13:00.  We arrived at about 13:30 and it was a Zoo!!  It took over two hours to complete!  We were moved by group through three different rooms.  We waited the longest in the last room.  Only 2 crew members to check boarding tickets to board the ship was seriously inadequate.  Then once aboard, crew herded everyone to elevators to go to buffet.  I’ve never boarded a ship and not been allowed to navigate freely.   We were told the cabins weren’t available and an announcement would be made over the PA when they were, which never happened.  We took a chance and went up at about 16:30 and the room was ready and our luggage already delivered!

We had to switch out our cards... as others have said, the previously purchased drink plan (Piu Gusto)   was not listed on them. We used the receipt that I printed off at home to obtain our first drinks.  The bartender said that my receipt showed a cost $30.00 pp higher than the schedule he had.  So we questioned the price at customer service when we went to exchange our cards and she first said she didn’t have the ability to adjust pricing for previously purchased services, and when I said that I would check with Corporate after the Cruise, she asked to look at my receipt again and then stated the bartender was wrong and that the schedule he had was $30.00 pp more than what we paid.  I think she was lying but since I didn’t see the schedule, I can’t prove it.

Even though we knew in advance that the departure was at 23:00 the wait for Bon Voyage was agonizing!  Ha!  I did later confirm that this is done to allow for late flight arrivals from Europe.

We originally booked an Aft Premium Balcony through Costa.  We later found through an online TA, a lower price for an Aft Mini Suite at a savings of $469 pp!  I called Costa to ask if they were okay with my cancelling the first booking to book through the TA and he was very encouraging and said that it was a regular travel partner of theirs and to feel confident in their services!  And that once new reservation was complete, to call Costa back with the new booking number and they would cancel the old booking and move my deposit over to the new booking!  This was accomplished easily and I realized afterward that they would have no problems re-renting the original cabin at a higher price so this was a win – win for both parties! 

We loved our Mini Suite!  Although it does not have the amenities that full suites have, we were surprised that we indeed did have a coffee machine in our cabin!  The pods are $.50 ea so we opted not to use it.  We did not receive the mini-bar price list until the 3^rd day but knew there would be a cost so didn’t use it either. The TV is not interactive and there are no game consoles.  In fact we were unable to retrieve messages and the TV would start flipping through channels on its own. There are no English speaking movie channels but two foreign speaking movie channels.  …About 3 or 4 English speaking news channels... cbs, abc, cnn Asia and another Asian documentary channel that we enjoyed. The cabin was spacious!  Although I’d previously read that the storage was inadequate, we found that for a 10 day cruise we had enough room for our clothes and belongings.  The Head is small but the glass shower stall is a nice upgrade.  The balcony was delightful!  It was not windy (as port or starboard balconies are) well shaded and the balcony chairs were quite comfortable! Our Cabin Steward was responsive and did a great job!

Morning room service is very limited for “premium” cabins / mini suites. (the only benefits derived over “classic” cabins are this limited room service and ability to choose early or late dinner seating and maybe a better cabin location.  You would have to decide for yourself if these meager benefits are worth price difference) Full room service for breakfast $7:00 pp. premium or not. 

Dinner experience (always something I look forward to on a cruise) was delightful! We chose 1^st seating, upper deck.  We liked the variety and pacing of the courses.  Always managed to eat something great and usually ate too much!  Our waiter was excellent and prompt.  Never an empty glass!  We noticed that we consistently received our dishes before those on the main floor!  It may be because of the large dance group presence, but I was pleased to see most diners beautifully coiffed at dinner!

Here is the dress code/themes:  Nights 1 & 2 – Informal.  Night 3 – Gala (formal).  Night 4 – Tropical.   Night 5 – Masquerade/Informal (wear Masks!).  Night 6 – White Night!  Night 7 – Casual. Night 8 – Formal.  Night 9 – Casual.  Night 10 – Green, White & Red!  (Italian night!).

Key West: one ship in port. (Us!) It was cold and windy but we still enjoyed walking around and stopping for appetizers.  Everyone was friendly!  We even saw a newly married couple, in full bridal costume, returning to our ship!  They got married in Key West! What a wonderful memory for them!

1st sea day:  Experienced a little rough Seas but that was the worst of the trip.  There were lots of activities on board.  Lunched at buffet. Octopus was inedible. Other foods were disappointing as well. We avoided the buffet after that.

The great banana hunt! I was getting leg cramps and repeatedly asked buffet, room service and customer service for bananas. They all said they didn’t have bananas. Really? After another agonizing talk with customer service, we got two bananas. Low and behold, on fourth day, buffet had large bowls of bananas! And they were gone at 09:40 – both the bowls and bananas!  Three days later, we received 2 more!  Desperate times call for desperate measures!  I Started each morning with banana coladas (double the bananas NOT the liquor!)

The Diario di Bordo. Comes late evenings for next day. Found out what time excursions are at that time. A bit concerning to me as there is no coffee available on board ship before 07:00. Had to call customer service as soon as I realized this and insist on 06:00 coffee service for following morning! Very upsetting to me as I did not expect the timing issue or the reluctance of customer service to help me. I did manage to get this done after raising my voice and insisting. Totally not necessary for them to allow the issue to escalate like that.  We later spoke with Ciara during “hospitality time” and she told us that the room service time adjusts depending on ship’s arrival time in port. So if reaching port at 08:00, then room service is available at 07:00. If ship arriving at 07:00 then room service available at 06:00. If arriving at 06:00 then room service at 05:00.  HOWEVER, we attempted to get 0600 coffee room service the morning we arrived in Roatan ( 07:00 arrival time).  Room service DID NOT deliver until 06:50. Also, we always ordered 2 coffees, 1 hot milk, 2 hot coco packages, 1 OJ and sometimes croissants each morning.  They had 9 mornings to get this right and they never did.  So my conclusion is that this department is not customer oriented and needs a robust overhaul!   (btw, we continued to tip the delivery person each morning in spite of this)

Grand Cayman: Five ships in port. Very crowded. Turtle farm and rum cake factory tour. The turtle Farm was very crowded and I felt we didn’t get the full sea turtle experience I had on a previous cruise 15 yrs ago but it was still entertaining thanks to our guide! Made for an interesting trip and we made great acquaintance with our bus-mates!

Sea day... warm and raining! Pool/hot tub pump problems...  We were aft deck 8 and that is where these pumps were located.  They opened the doors and the compartment was flooded and hot!  They managed to fix the problem that day.  The Next morning, they were going to perform an electrical system test.  Don’t know if it was related or not but The Diario di bordo stated that areas of the ship would be without electricity for several minutes.  This would effect elevators, air-conditioning, etc.  They even made an announcement 15 minutes prior to the scheduled test.  We made sure any electrical needs we had were out of the way prior to that.  Ultimately, the test was cancelled.  It was an ominous sign when the hall lights outside our door started flickering after the cancelled test!  Ha!  But that was rectified that day!  Ha!

Roatan: one ship in port.(Us!)  It stormed all the previous night and it was truly torrential! Amazing experience! It’s been said that there are two kinds of people when it rains: some who get wet and some who FEEL the rain!!  The port was very nice.  It rained lightly through the morning and was cloudy during day. You don’t need to pre purchase “swing” tickets. They are same price ashore. It’s actually a ski lift. We took a lot of pictures on there. We really enjoyed the beach... walked to the end and had a nice spot to ourselves.  

Sea Day:  Warm and beautiful!  We made acquaintance with many couples on this trip (4 of which we exchanged emails and addresses with!)  We very much enjoyed the mix of Europeans and a few Americans.  We socialized, gambled and napped.  It was a great day!

Belize:   one ship in port.(Us!)  20 minute tender to shore. Diario di bordo warns of crime and to be vigilant. Sure enough... went to shops and restaurant in port. Ordered cocktail at entrance of a restaurant to the right.  Then went in for an appetizer and more. When we settled the bill, we walked out on dock for pictures and as we walked back, a restaurant worker said we still owed for the first drinks ordered at entrance. We knew that was b.s. but paid it with no extra tip. We had observed another table having problems with a credit card and one of the gentleman went back to ship for cash. In hindsight, we wonder now if there was another fleecing under way.

Costa Maya: two ships in port. (HAL arrived at 12:30.) Very nice port area. Dolphins, flamingos, & parrots. Lots of shops and restaurants/bars. First one we ate at watered down the wine! Hope they used bottled water! Second one, down by the little beach wonderful spot! Started raining on way back to ship and we were drenched! Had to take off my glasses to see!

Cozumel:  2 ships in port.  We docked at the “down town” port and walked throughout town with another couple we made acquaintance with on the ship.  The other couple had been there before and also to other areas in the vicinity. It was a sleepy Sunday and enjoyed the park and appetizers at a nearby restaurant.    We really did enjoy this port.  It had an “Old Mexico” feel.

Sea Day:  Last day of the Cruise.  Seems like everyone was out and about the ship this day!  This was the most crowded we’d experienced even compared to the other two sea days.  It felt festive and busy!  We took lunch in the dining room.  Not many people chose to do this that day.  The food was COLD.  So sigh, another disappointing meal.  We missed dinner but met up with friends that evening!

Disembarkation:  The ship arrives in Port Everglades at 06:00.  The airport is only a few miles from the port.  There is no room service this morning and they did remove the coffee machines. The Buffet is open 06:15 – 09:00.   If you desire to self-disembark, the earliest time would be 07:15 and you must manage your own luggage and transportation.  If you want to utilize this method, you must register with customer service the last 2-3 days of the cruise so that they can arrange your immigration clearance prior to the rest of the passengers.  General disembarkation starts (by color coded groups) at about 07:30 to 11:30.  Cabins must be vacated by 09:30.  As we were not flying out until the next day, we left at about 09:30.  Luckily we’d been assigned 08:30 so they let us go right away whilst there was a very long queue for the other groups of that time.  U.S. Immigration was about 30 minutes since there were so few of us.  The Europeans were not so lucky….  Their queue was horrendous and I have no idea how long they languished.

Overall impressions:  We really did have a wonderful trip!  We spent 4 days in Lauderdale by the Sea prior to cruise just to relax and unwind and were ready for adventure when we boarded Costa Deliziosa!  The ship is bright and shiny!  The public areas (including restrooms) were very clean and well maintained.  Our cabin showed its age and desperately needs the mattresses and TV replaced.  We enjoyed the entertainment and music on board even though there is no way to experience it all.  The Piu Gusto drink package was a great bargain as it includes Cappuccinos and ice coffee – delicious as well as alcohol!!  I had 2-4 of those a day! I am going through caffeine withdrawals as I type!  Ha!  If you can, book an Aft balcony, it was wonderful!! Customer service and room service departments desperately need an overhaul.  It felt like they would find ways to say no before trying to find a way to say yes.

Would we sail Costa again?  DW says no but I say Sure!  There are no bad days cruising!!  If you have any questions, just ask away!  Happy Sailing!!"