CASPALL

We were there around 12 noon and onboard about 1pm last January and again in March 

We were booked to go on Smeralda on the 10th Nov from Marseille

 I cannot praise Costa highly enough for their efficiency in this matter - they’ve been so helpful. 

Air fare, hotel, rail fare , deposit -  

all refunded and 30pc off a cruise next year ( so we’ve taken a suite)

They are also letting us have the points we would have earned on our 7 day Smeralda cruise

Good old Costa! 

Caryl

Excellent advice fro tenpin - as always 😊 

I could never go anywhere without my straighteners and have never had a problem taking them on board.

Caryl

I can’t believe Costa would take mineral water off the package. It’s the cheapest item!

I had many glasses of water on Deliziosa in March. I always take them back to my cabin and fill up a bottle I keep in the fridge.

2 hours ago, tenpin said:

 

 

I look forward to reading your cruise report tenpin.

We have a midships suite booked on Favolosa for the repo back to Savona late August. It’s a while since we have been on Favolosa so I will be glad to read what experience  you have found with Costa this time

caryl

You could just order a non alcoholic cocktail (included in brindiamo) and order the spirit separately 

having watched them make these cocktails it really puts me off.

I weakened 2 costa cruises back and paid for a Cosmopolitan at the pool bar. How disappointing! It came in an ugly plastic tumbler and was so sweet and sherbety I could hardly drink it!

caryl

We were on the same cruise but got off in Savona - much to our relief after 19 days. 

This was our 4th Transatlantic crossing with Costa and by far the worst one for food and entertainment. 

As we are diamanté we usually get to eat club restaurant or have a designated space in the main restaurant. On this cruise it was the latter and for the first 3 days the food was fabulous as it was one of our favourite executive chefs on board. Then after that everything changed - even the soups were different - tasting like they’d forgotten to put the stock in! 

I asked our waiter what was going on and he said it had been change over time and a different chef was on board. How disappointing!

We had some awful meals and some mediocre meals and had 5 nights out of 19 in the club restaurant. Even in there (where they gave their own kitchen and chefs) the food was not as good as other Costa ships club restaurants.

The service everywhere was excellent. 

The buffet at breakfast was so varied and good as it was geared up for the American guests. Lunch wasn’t so good, but the choices were so much better than in the MDR.

Im really glad you had such a wonder cruise Samiam. You really do get what you pay for so we have given up on our usual premium balcony cabin for our forthcoming cruise in September and booked a suite. 

At least we will get all the little luxuries!

The Deliziosa is a ship we won’t go on again. 3 times in 5 months was overkill! The ship has a very annoying judder which makes me feel a bit seasick so I had to wear bands most of the time. I don’t like the decor much either - just hope they pretty her up on her Refit

Caryl

We were on Victoria for a week last May. 

The Club restaurant is the nicest one of all the Costa ships we have been on. Its just a pity it’s one side of the ship as they turned the other half into. Burger /pizza restaurant 

Its very nicely furnished and the food was the best we have ever had on any cruise ship.

Victoria is an older ship and doesn’t have the glitz and glamour the newer ones have, but we loved our 7 night cruise on her. There was a very friendly atmosphere too.

The front of the ship on the outdoor deck has that green fake grass carpet stuff (yuk)and some pod things to sunbathe on.

Sorry I can’t remember if there’s a special area for suite guests. 

Here are some pics for you. The first 4 are all club restaurant 

Tenpin - I really do indeed how you feel. The upgrade situation is absolutely ridiculous! 

We are loyal Costa passengers but never manage an upgrade and frankly don’t even care!

We stick with Costa now because of our status (diamanté) and the perks we get . We also have Carnival shares so we get the cash to spend every cruise (or we would do more MSC). Costas prices suit us very well as we couldn’t get a balcony cabin anywhere near the price with another Carnival line.

We have certainly seen the decline in service onboard since we started cruising with Costa 6 yrs ago, but we have seen the same with P&O and Cunard. I hated Deliziosas DIY bar system - it makes you feel like you’re on a ferry!

Entertainment, catering, housekeeping - it’s all rubbish. 

These cocktails we have been mentioning are among the cutbacks too - God knows what rubbish is in the mixers! It’s pretty vile and they have a cheek charging extra for a cocktail package

its all sell sell sell when you’re onboard as well. How many places/times can you sit down and have a quiet drink as they are always selling something or doing bingo bingo super bingo!!!!

Their so called duty free shops are far more expensive than our shops at home. People go for it though.

We do not - our bill at the end of the cruise is for daily service charge. We use Costa the best way we can. I don’t know for how much longer - I already regret booking 3 cruises on Deliziosa as I don’t like the ship - it shudders and judders a lot as well as the interior furnishings having no appeal.

Never mind! We are on again on 3rd March!! 🥴

Caryl

I would love to have the Intenditore package but I just can’t afford it - especially on our 19 night Transatlantic!

Our friends got their free suite upgrade last November for cruising one more cruise than previous year ( I can never get over this one!) and they had the intenditore package included. All for the price of an inside cabin!

They enjoyed the premium whiskey and top brand spirits, but by day 3 or 4 they were thinking it would be a waste of money if they had to pay for it. They hated the cocktails so gave up on them on day 2. It was good to be able to get a bottle of water to take back to the cabin. We usually teeter along with a couple of glasses, but I do take a wide necked empty bottle on board, pour the glass of water into it and put in cabin fridge during the day. 🤗

They had red and black night on a recent Costa cruise which was a new one on us 😯

I paid to have a Cosmopolitan on my last cruise, being on Brindiamo package.

it was not worth the money as it tasted so sweet and sherbety.  

Our friends always used to upgrade to the cocktail package as they really like cocktails, but even they went off them as they find them too sickly.

what puts me off is seeing the cocktails made begins the bar - slop coming out of plastic containers.

Yes the buffet on Deliziosa had the same food as the restaurant. In fact there was a far better choice of vegetables that we never ever saw in the restaurant!  

On our recent Fort Lauderdale cruise on Deliziosa we have never seen so many females wearing short denim shorts in the evening.

Tenpin is 100% correct in saying that rules are 😎 relaxed!

When we were on from 2-14 January the times were 6.30 and 9 pm. Many of the 6.30 people were going on at 6.45

If you buy the club restaurant dinner package you can eat between 6 and 9pm

Great to hear this - thanks!

Good to know you have plenty of space for dinner. Hope it’s not all ruined when the “holiday” people get on. That happened to us when we did Transatlantic to Guadeloupe and then stayed another week. The dynamics changed completely.

keep having fun and keep us informed please!

caryl

Kremerlorraine - that is not good news at all!  

Another good reason to keep my diamanté status. 

Where did you join the ship?

caryl

Chong67 - I am hoping that the next 2 cruises on Deliziosa will be completely different 

A different executive chef on board, a different cruise director - it makes big changes 

I have had some fantastic Costa cruises in the past and I hope to have even more in the future 

caryl

15 hours ago, chong67 said:

I am thinking of getting on this ship in Jan 2019.  The price is good.

 

Are you sure Costa is this bad?
 

15 hours ago, chong67 said:

I am thinking of getting on this ship in Jan 2019.  The price is good.

 

Are you sure Costa is this bad?
 

Hi there

No need to worry about anything here - it’s all good!

We cruised from Venice last November (mid to late) and got nice blue skies. You could also be lucky!

Italian public transport is very efficient so you really don’t need a car to get to Savona. There are some great places to visit on the way. Verona is a fantastic town to spend a night or 2. Milan is just a busy city but you might like to take in the sights there. If you stop at Genoa for a couple of nights you can take the train down the coast and see some very pretty little towns. We especially love Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino. Both doable in one day.

if staying in Genoa I would highly recommend the Grand Hotel Savoia as it’s just across from the train station.

We always stay in Savona the night before a cruise. The NH Darsena is right at the cruise terminal. 

You’ll get on fine on Costa. They’re very laid back - no fuss!

Caryl

Please let us know how you get on Janet &Carl 

Enjoy every moment

Victoria has a beautiful club restaurant. One half has been taken away for a burger /pizza restaurant but it’s too far away to spoil the ambience 

Our friends had a suite recently and only had soft drinks and 2 beers in the mini bar. 

Our cruise on Deliziosa was so disappointing after such a happy time on Victoria.

you will have priority boarding at Venice . When you drop off your luggage you will be given a card with number 1 on it. Make sure you join the scrum to get in there as people with 7 or 8 will be trying it on! 

Please please let us know how you all get on as I’m considering this cruise for 2020

Wishing I had the March repo booked instead of Deliziosa Transatlantic !