Ibis

As has been previously posted, restaurants opinions are so very subjective. We dined in Osteria twice during our November 2023 cruise and we thought it was a tremendous improvement over Prego. The last time we dinned in Prego just before Covid we agreed we would not return on our next cruise. It was just so ordinary, in our opinion, and there are other places on the ship, to dine that suit our taste better. Just our opinion.. that is the key here. Every one is entitled to their  opinion and the opinions are sure to differ. We never considered making a big thing of it or demanding the owners change because some of us no longer found Prego appealing. We realize there is more to life than just one flavor.

So far on this trip we have dined in Osteria and greatly enjoyed the lobster starter, hand chopped Piemontese beef tartar, tortello di manzo, sea bass, and beef tenderloin. But those are things we enjoyed and would never assume they would please everyone so I hesitate to recommend. We hope to return before Miami. Just to remind everyone, a new partnership with a three star ITALIAN chef has been announced so there will be changes. Hopefully, they may satisfy some of those current unhappy campers. For us, Osteria provides the most authentic Italian dining experience we have found outside of Italy. It reminds us of being in a restaurant in Italy and that is one of the reasons we enjoy it so much.  The Crystal service and great atmosphere are two other reasons. 🥰
 

please excuse typos as we are rushing to get ready for another terrific Waterside dinner tonight! 

Bistro question.. yesterday asked a server in the Bistro about after dinner hours and he said that currently the evening hours were only planned to continue to Miami but would let me know if or when there is an update. Will check back in a day or so. 
 

Too many good things to do here today! Very pleased there will be an “easy  Italian” class this afternoon😍 

Neil Diamond Tribute show last night was good!

Love that Crystal keeps the library going! 
 

Dinner in Osteria was super with great service 😋🥂

Super day yesterday on board! Very impressed with the question and answer with Christina Levis, Jacqueline Barney, Bernie Leopoldo and Manfredi D’Ovidio. Overall, the session was well handled and covered a myriad of subjects. As for a schedule for new ships, there is to be an announcement in June but the indication was 650 passengers, all balcony rooms and a promenade (3/4) round not 360. Also great emphasis on the financial stability of A&K and Crystal going forward as the current low passenger count question was raised. There was appreciation expressed by cruisers for the offer from Crystal for future cruise credits for those who had money down at the time of Gentings demise. Menu changes such as availability at any time of some previous Prego dishes in Waterside. Also some further improvements to be announced for the Osteria; and they will be following Italian cuisine; not American Italian. Appreciation expressed by many cruisers for the return of Crystal, thanks to Manfredi’s desire to return to the cruise industry. In a nutshell, we were both very impressed with all who spoke, very encouraged with the future of Crystal as these are people who are financially solid, very knowledgeable and capable and in for the long haul. I missed a bit at the beginning and also last comments so hopefully others will report as well. As for the rest of the day, it only got better and better. Gala in the Cove with world class opera and accompanying music while cocktails and beautiful appetizers were served, followed by the World Cruise Farewell Dinner. Waterside never looked so beautiful with large white flower arrangements on every table, super service and a great menu. It was greatly appreciated that obvious care had been taken to include all of us  in this final World Cruise extravaganza and not just World Cruisers. We were pleased to have the opportunity to speak with Christina Levis as she circulated and mixed from table to table. Later in the Avenue she and Jacqueline were enjoying themselves with the rest of us as Neil did a great job, as usual.  At the end of the day, we felt that those of us who have loved Crystal for many years are very fortunate to now have this team at the helm. 
 

There is more to be said, but the day is slipping away. We are also looking forward to dinner tonight in the Osteria, as we are among those who think it is a truly wonderful Italian restaurant! All is well here🤗

Will try to ask someone if these Bistro hours are planned to continue.😊

Thanks for the welcome on board! All is well thus far; warm greetings from everyone, good lunch in The Marketplace (Waterside closed..:no Cobb salad), 2 of 3 bags already in the room🤗. We are very happy campers! Is there a Cruise Critic get together planned?

You said last presentation; does that mean he is disembarking tomorrow? 
Any idea who else on staff or entertainment is leaving? Also wondering how many passengers we might expect on board to Miami. Thanks for any news! 😀

Arrived on Wednesday in Las Palmas and looking forward to boarding Serenity on Monday. A side note.. the Aquarium here is amazing and definitely worth a visit. We were totally surprised with the size and quality of this very unusual facility.

We have just received boarding passes and final documents for next Wednesday 15 May boarding Fascinosa in Marseille and very surprised to see a boarding time of 14:30  with the notation it was important to follow this instruction. We had planned to arrive between 13:00 and 13:30. Does anyone know how imperative it is to arrive no earlier than the stated time? Obviously, we would not look forward to a long wait in the terminal, so if this is written in stone we would try to adjust our arrival time. Just can’t ever remember boarding so late but then this is our first Costa. Often, on other lines boarding times are a bit flexible so look forward to info from Costa veterans:-) Thanks in advance!

Keith, thanks for your reply. I think your guess of two formal nights is correct and I will email OBGS to verify. Also will mention our interest in Vintage Room reservations. We just made our specialty dinner reservations and the excitement mounts! Always love UmiUma and can’t wait to return to the Osteria. We are among those who think it is leaps and bounds above Prago! Thank you again😊

For the crossing from Las Palmas to Miami, I have just accessed the itinerary dress code on Crystal and it shows every night as resort casual. We are very surprised and disappointed there are no formal evenings scheduled on 12 night Transatlantic. Also surprising since this is the last segment of the World Cruise and passengers on board would already be prepared for formal evenings. Perhaps I missed previous conversation about this?? Do I remember this was mentioned earlier🤔

One other question, is it possible to reserve Vintage Room lunches or dinners before boarding? 

And for those currently on board, do you have any indication of what the passenger count might be on this segment from Las Palmas to Miami? Just wondering many World Cruisers are currently on board?

Thanks in advance for any information 😄

Thank you very much for this interesting information!

Thanks so much! Hoping someone will have a more recent experience and can give us info on the availability of Franciacorta. Once again, thank you for your comments.

We look forward to boarding Serenity on May 27 in Las Palmas to Miami. Anyone else? Would love to have more reports here from those currently on board but we understand not everyone posts here whereas we are not on Facebook. In any case, counting the days😊

We are looking forward to our first Costa cruise departing Marseille on May 15. Just wondering if others who have cruised on Costa before remember seeing Franciacorta on any of the wine lists either for purchase by the glass or by the bottle. Franciacorta is good quality Italian sparkling wine produced in the Champagne method that comes from, you guessed it, the Franciacorta region of Italy 🙂   Thanks in advance for any information!

Yes, FetaCheese, that is the Champane that we referred to as being the only one available on the beverage package. Just our opinion, but if you are willing to spend the cost of the package we would say spend $10.00 more and buy a sort of decent bottle of the Jacquart instead. Everyone has their own preference and we enjoy hearing everyone’s opinion😊

In any case..Cheers!

Totally agree about asking and we did ask. Only sparkling wines in The Restaurant being offered are a rather low quality sweet  Californian sparkling wine and a sweet German sparkling wine. In Manfredi’s we were offered a sparkling wine with a Viking label, also, in our opinion, below even just an average standard. We said no thank you to all three.

We’ll ask again and see if anything else surfaces. I’m not surprised someone tipping  the sommelier with cash early on in the cruise might just be offered other options, but what a pity that’s the way the game is played on Viking. We are just more comfortable knowing up front what is available to all of us, since Viking does advertise wine included at dinner.

Currently on board Star as well and we both agree with the OP that the wine selection currently being offered on board is very disappointing. First of all, the included wines, just in our opinion; others may disagree, are totally uninteresting. We asked to taste the included sparkling wines and found them both, one from Germany and one from California to be sweet and for us, undrinkable. If we had chosen the beverage package we would have access to only one of the three Champagnes offered on the list. It is the lowest price Champagne on the list and one we have never heard of before.  We have been around a few years ;-). We are very glad we decided at the last minute to purchase a wine suitcase and we have brought our own bottles. There was a Jacquard Champagne in our mini fridge on arrival. We asked the room steward to remove the four mini bottles of liquor and all soft drinks as we don’t drink any of those and could those, since they are included, be substituted with a second bottle of Jacquard?  The steward checked with his supervisor and the answer was a definite “no” but we could have one bottle of the included wine. We said no thank you. Seems Viking is making out well with us.. we drink none of their included beverages. We have cruised enough to understand that ship location can effect variety and availability but decent wines are available world wide. Having said that, there are cruise lines that manage to have plenty of reliable, decent stock on board, no matter their location; ie, Crystal always has plenty of the included Jacquard and Regent and Seabourn are not known to run out of their included Montaudon. 

 Many thanks for the helpful responses. As we are local, we can keep our plan to arrive around 12:15 without worries of flight delays. Does any one know if this cruise is fully booked? Thanks again!

That should read Star! 

For Monday’s departure we were planning to arrive in the port around 12:15 to 12:30 but just noticed our confirmation mentions 1:00 PM. How firm is that? Should we delay our arrival in Port Everglades to avoid a long wait in the terminal or will boarding actually start earlier? Thanks for any information. 

Thanks for your reply and so sorry about your Red Sea Cruise cancellation.  We would still love to hear about a recent experience if there is anyone out there:-) 

Very happy with Symphony and Serenity! And thrilled they are back😍. Our experience on Serenity in November 2023 was so far superior to any other cruise line it “makes you sorry for the rest”! No comparison and it was wonderful to be reunited with the amazing crew. It’s the people that make the difference. Eager to rejoin her in May😊

We are considering May 15 cruise from Marseille and would greatly appreciate any information other cruisers can give us about the current condition of this ship, quality of food, room service charges, drink prices, etc. We are veteran cruisers of Holland America, Cunard, Crystal, Oceania, and many other lines of various levels but this would be our first cruise on Costa. We are not very concerned about language being predominantly Italian, which we do not speak, but rather about the level of service and quality of food. All responses will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for that response CDNPolar! Coming from Fort Lauderdale we plan to arrive from home by car so no problem 🙂

Thanks again to all for prompt and helpful info:-)  Looking forward to hearing more news about cuisine and everything in general  from those on board. One more question… if we do carry on several bottles, as it now seems we will be doing, can those be checked, properly wrapped and packed of course, or must they be in hand luggage?