Luffe

I think I got the case number in the first reply about receiving the form. Next day I got an email that it had been approved. And a day after that email I received another email "Amenity Confirmation for Reservation XXX" where the OBC credit was listed. I submitted it via the online form. The person reading that stock broker statement was probably just pressing buttons. As the statement was in Finnish language from nordic bank (Nordea) with certain areas blacked out so not much to read or to understand. Usually stock holder benefits have to be cleared thru main office so I think the guest relations onboard cannot do anything about it. Of course, you could try asking. You never know. Or try sending the form again? The first email came from generic guest relations address.

At least on our cruises: 1. Not true. On outside deck areas the enforcement is lacking depending on the crew members working there. Some were bit stricter than others. And highly enforced near any bar. Inside areas it was enforced as in any other cruise line. 2. See attached picture of a Costa Toscana food hours. I don't consider those short times. Never went to buffet for dinner so no comments on that. But there was plenty of choice during lunch - italian style food so smaller portions, beef choices lacking etc. However cold cuts, cheeses, bread, salad were excellent. And pasta was delicious and cooked to order. True, sometimes crowded but nothing bad. 3. Correct, but a grill burger was 5 €, Nutella crepe 2.5€, 10€ pizza... So not that expensive compared to other cruise lines. Never tried the Archipelago due food allergies. 4. We took cakes, coffees, fruits etc from the buffet to our cabin for late night snacks etc. No one stopped us or said anything about this. 5. depends, August mediterranean cruise will be packed as in any other cruise For us costa is good value cruise line, 2 adults+1teen +balcony+drinks is 2500 € for whole family. I can tolerate certain problems such as bit slower drink service etc due to that price.

Viva July 13 cruise has a change too. I got the email yesterday about the changes. Thessaloniki has been replaced with Volos. Also Santorini port times changed from 8am-10pm to 7am-10pm. Funny thing that the arrival time has changed on the Santorini port website almost on weekly basis it is either 9am or 7am arrival for last few months.

So the magical NCL IT fairy fixed it during the night. So ncl.com and old app are happy for now. I won't be touching that new app. But I will still contact NCL and check everything is fine on their end. Far too many stories on this board about these issues. And do note that I was not buying or adding items to the cart in the new app. I was just browsing and clicking around the new app. Itself the new app seems to be "minimum viable product". It loads after some time, does not change anything compared to old app. Probably there is a nice internal roadmap how this new app evolves into better version in the future but then the budgets get slashed etc and it dies slowly. Blah, I cruise for relaxation not for seeing work related stuff. My work brain needs to stop wondering about how bad their systems are...

Earlier today I was checking the NCL web site for some possible excursions, the payment sum was ok, the final payment date was same as before. Everything is so far fine then I opened the new app. Clicking thru the menus etc then I realised that something was utterly wrong. Last payment date has changed from 13 Jun 2025 to 15 March 2025, the remaining payment is 4500 € instead of 5200 €. Then I checked the old app and presto, there was strongly worded message about approaching final payment. Final check is the web site, yep, guess what everything has changed there too. I will wait until tomorrow and see if the magical NCL IT fairy fixes stuff during the night if not then time to contact NCL. For me this is not funny at all and this tells me that NCL has not tested properly their new app. And I won't be touching the new app for some time some one else can be a tester for NCL.

With the removal of buying extra dining packages this makes our life bit harder. 2 Adults and one kid that does not eat much. So previously we would have bought 1-2 credits for the kid and payed ala carte price for certain places. Now if the kid pays full coverage charge for munching few deserts and nibbling on the main course I am not happy. And the kid is not under 12 so no children menu either. Removal of the extra shore ex credit -> less NCL shorex bought. And I am very sure that in the future the drink package will change. More basics included but then there will be a limit or some "small" change that will bring NCL more money. See the Celebrity cruises classic package limit pricing for an example (ie drink price limit 10, but drink costs 12) On the bright side we just saved lots of money as with these changes: no Free Sea Plus, not buying extra meal credits nor shore excursions.

For those curious about VIP More at Sea package. Check the earlier linked pdf - There are no differences between VIP More at Sea or More at sea. The VIPATSEA is just a NCL code for Suites and Haven categories. From that linked pdf: NCLATSEA (Beverage Package, Specialty Dining, Excursion Credits & Wi-Fi package) Or Suites and Haven Categories VIPATSEA (Beverage, Specialty Dining, Excursion Credits & Wi-Fi package)

There is no official on anything until tomorrow. But using google translator on the Slovak Cruise page https://www.luxusneplavby.sk/lodne-spolocnosti/norwegian-cruise-line/ you can see some details on More at Sea. And browsing thru those pdf/web pages I can't see any indication that there is "More at Sea plus".

Googling for NCL More at sea... Brings up this flyer (https://www.luxusneplavby.sk/na-stiahnutie/31/more_at_sea_podmienky_2024_09_27_13_39_46.pdf) From that there is one more special dining credit depending on cruise length+cabin, drink package won't contain any more Starbucks and freshly squeezed juices. So does this mean we have more drink package naming issues ( unlimited, premium plus, more at seas beverage package) or is there only one drink package? Also the 2nd guest shore ex credit goes away as there is no mention of it. Then there is this interesting line "Guest’s onboard account may reflect applicable VAT and/or taxes for certain ports or itineraries." so more VAT related oddities coming in EU ports. Going to be interesting tomorrow when the official details are released. We were planning to upgrade to "Free At Sea plus" at some point but with these details/changes I can't see any reason. Or if they keep already bought "Free At Sea plus" perks as is then I will be bit annoyed as that extra shorex credit would have been the major reason for our upgrade decision.

Yep, NCL has crossed the line for our family. Still waiting for our next year med cruise with NCL high hopes and fascination as it is our first NCL cruise. But I have been looking these asian cruises for possible future trip. Now with these changes it will be certain that if we take an asian cruise it won't be with NCL. A Basic med or Caribbean cruise I could still use NCL but any exotic port is no go. Which is sad as that cruise itinerary was really interesting.

Correct. We got two half litre bottles or one litre bottle per person depending on the place where we were picking up the bottles. We never asked for a mineral/sparkling water so no idea if you could have that kind of water.

Funny thing... We were doing some preliminary cruise shopping for 2026. Celebrity had some nice 6 day Caribbean cruise on Silhouette in a concierge class balcony for 780 € per person. With "all-inclusive" it was 1400€ per person. We are three persons ie me, wife and our daughter (at that would be 14 yrs). Now the even more funkier web site stuff happens... That 1400 € All included had classic drink packages+wifi for three of us so total 3*1400=4200. With non ai aka basic cruise was 780*3= 2340. So with our Captains club discount the premium drink package would be about 1000€ for two of us and classic drink package about 900€... Why on earth I would take a classic drink package when the price difference is that low? And taking either of those drink packages would be still cheaper than the "All included" version... The kid does not drink soda etc so no need for a drink package for her. And wifi does not matter that much to us as we both have company provided mobile phones with big data usage plans (even if roaming outside of EU) This pricing was Celebrity Cruises Finnish/EU website from about two weeks ago. Sadly I didn't take any screenshots because this was so utterly idiotic that my brain died at that moment.

And as seafood allergic that annoys me a lot. There should be a non seafood variant in the appetisers in all restaurants -that would cover some of the allergies and preferences.

Another change is that Entourage has its own space on deck 14 and Splash Academy has its own space on deck 15. That should help a lot compared to Prima/Viva.

It is Italian line... So food is italian, most likely passengers will be Italians etc. However the crew will be multinational so announcements will be in several different languages. Usually cruise lines don't change the dinner times due to the itineraries. Early dinner is bit late for Finnish but it is doable at 6:30pm. If you get the late evening seating ask cruise line for early seating. Most likely you will get it because later seating is much more crowded than the earlier. Of course no guarantee and will depend on the nationalities on board. But on previous Costa cruises the earlier seating is not that crowded compared to the later seating which was packed full. And there will be parties all around the ship. But the noise level will in the theatres etc. The cabin areas are quiet depending on the location. Just don't take the cabin next to pool area... 😁 It is Italian but I say it is good value for Europeans as the experience is European/Italian. But for those coming from US based cruise lines it is very different. And I think Costa cruises are good value when comparing the prices against RCL, NCL etc.

At least it used to be 99€. For us it was worth it as it included all pictures they took. Next day you could pick/select the pictures from a terminal and they would print those out for pick up. Main issue was that you had to "teach" the system that who you were. So those picture would show up in the terminal when you swiped the key card. But due to EU privacy laws the children pictures were not tagged so you had to search those in the terminal which was a chore. The camera people would be all around the ship during the evening. In the MDR they would take several pictures people in that table then in the terminal there would different backgrounds+styles (portrait, landscape) etc for selection. On some evenings there would be props like a scooter where you would sit and get some nice shots of you. Note that there were also formal proper studio picture(s) which would not be included in the Photo package.

So both have to have the package... A Coca Cola is about 5€, a basic drink is about 9 €. So let's say 55€ for that 6-7 drinks. Seven day cruise is 7*55 = 385 €. And the other drinks only water on the breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The question is how much the drink package costs for you? Note that I am using costacruises.fi pricing so taking our previous cruises the whole "all-inclusive" package was 480 € total for a 7 day balcony west Mediterranean cruise. So 240 € per person which is 35 € per day. I can easily consume that amount... A few glasses of wine, few coca colas, a Prosecco glass at sail away, few expressos and after dinner cocktail... And Mrs. Luffe also enjoys her wine glasses and cappuccinos. And our daughter got the non alcoholic version for free. For us the drink package is a must - no need to be surprised when the cruise ends. But that it is for our family. Each person/family has their own needs or requirements.

There is spa but I didn't visit the spa so no idea on the details.

Beautiful ship inside and outside. We did Mediterranean cruise 2022 on Smeralda. No complaints. Just understand that it is an Italian ship marketed to the Italians. So lots of pasta dishes, euro food etc. The crew speaks English but the announcements are usually Italian, followed by multi language barrage. 2023 Toscana was running close to max capacity and it was approaching the upper limit. So if there is lots of passengers the queues will long, the elevators crowded etc. For Finnish market the drink package is very cheap and highly recommended as it contains not only alcoholic drinks but also the expresso, cappuccino, sodas, juices, daily water bottles etc. Do the math and see 2023 Toscana drink price list(s) (which was about same price as in 2022 Smeralda cruise) in my previous post:

On 2025 cruise there is a FASDISC which is most likely related to currently running FAS discount campaign in Europe. And shows as Free at Sea Discount in the confirmation document.

Used to cruise with Celebrity - did few Costa cruises lately as those are cheap. As our anniversary was coming up I started to compare pricing for a bit more up scale experience than Costa for our family (me, wife and 12 yr daughter). As I had previous positive experience with Celebrity I started there doing some test bookings and reading Cruise Critic posts. The negative amount of changes mentioned in the posts and pricing forced me to do some alternative searching for more options. NCL came up, did some booking tests, read even more Cruise Critic posts. At first the Celebrity seemed cheaper than NCL but then I realised that the ship was Summit and for bit more modern ship the price tag will be much higher. Add few requirements such as a balcony, drink package and price was out of question. NCL has a modern ship (Viva) and some perks are included like special dining. The price tag was still expensive but doable as NCL does not charge full cruise fare for the daughter. Funny thing that RCL was most expensive for us as they charged full adult price for the daughter. So now we are in a long wait for the Viva Greek Isle cruise to start but it is going to be interesting comparison between Celebrity, NCL and Costa... In the end Celebrity lost a customer booking simply due to all late changes, Cruise Critic posts, pricing etc.

The usual route for Costa Toscana/Smeralda is a west Mediterranean roundtrip where passengers are embarking/disembarking on almost all ports. So there is no traditional embarkation day for all passengers. After the buffet closes at 16.00 there is a coffee, tea and dessert buffet starting at 16.30 and ending at 17.30. This summer on Toscana the buffet closed ie they removed the lunch food, cleaned it for 20 minutes then setup the snack food offering but the actual restaurant was open whole time so some passengers just took the last minute food from the lunch buffet and just waited for the dessert for 30 minutes while the waiters were trying to get the empty plates, tables cleaned from the restaurant.

I haven't used it but a slight warning. One cruise(-22) was during covid so it might be just an exception that green train was downgraded but this summer with fully loaded Toscana the Green train excursion was also downgraded to a bus service. The amount of busses in the morning was astonishing - the port was packed with the busses. And the earlier busses had already left the port. The end result was that when Toscana left the port it was delayed 1 hour due to busses being stuck in Rome traffic etc. We had a balcony view on the show 😂

Never tried to order drinks from room service. We just carried the drinks with us to the cabin balcony. The MyDrinks Plus is very limited and expensive compared to the basic MyDrinks - some "premium" drinks are included and you can order a drink made of a specific brand instead of a generic "gin tonic". See my older post about Toscana menus. Even if the ship is not same it should be similar enough to give a rough idea what are the differences in those two packages. However if there was a minibar in the cabin I might consider the Plus package just for the convince factor. Last time I needed ice I just walked to the bar and asked if I could have some ice cubes. The bar tender asked then "How many?" I answered that "a few for some medical usage". The bar tender grabbed a glass and filled it with ice and gave it to me.

Hello, Often there is a discussion about wine lists etc so I gathered following Costa Toscana drink, food, bar menus from our summer cruise. Also there are 3 MDR menus from July 5th, 6th and 8th. pizza_en.pdf bar_list_standard.pdf teppa_en.pdf aperol.pdf kartell.pdf pool.pdf mdr_en_6_7.pdf mdr_en_5_7.pdf mdr_en 8_7.pdf