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Perhaps the "many tourist opportunities" that Fred sees in Cobh is along the lines of spending opportunities to buy Fred's tours! In our experience Fred seem to have done a lot of changes over the last year and the ones we have experienced were known about long before they told the prospective passengers. Sorry to hear about your experiences though and hope the cruise is not too bad.

 

I am feeling quite insecure about a cruise in November as there have been no changes to the itinerary announced as yet!

Thank both for your answers. Frustrating when itineraries change like that. I also heard that the ship will go for a refit in November 2016 so wondering what might change, although I have read some comments on posts here

Thanks! Indeed most of the time the noise that bothers is the one from above but i recall a cabin I had once above the theater and one could hear echoes and music when they were rehearsing (which was overnight...) thus my question, but thanks

Having a similar problem as have been offered an excellent rate on Favolosa cabin 6303, but also wondering about possible noise from the Grand Bar below it...

Booked cabin 12185 on Orchestra for a cruise in November. Could not resist the excellent price but now wondering if this cabin would be affected by noise coming from the buffet above. Has anybody sailed on one of those cabins? Thanks

She was always scheduled for dry docking the first fortnight in December. It now looks as if W1622 Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands scheduled to sail on the 18 November has also been cancelled to extend the time in dry dock.

 

We are due to go on the following two cruises, German & Danish Christmas Markets and Tinsel & Hogmanay. Hope that Black Watch is back in time for the first of these [and that Fred don't mess around with the itinerary like they've done with the Christmas cruise and ruin it.]

 

Will make sure that we leave her in good condition for you next year!

Hi, as we are considering a Christmas cruise on Fred, could you possibly elaborate on what were the changes to the itinerary? Thanks

I agree that the experience and exclusivity of the YC has to have a price but still find it odd that the all-inclusive is restricted to the YC areas and restaurant and not valid in the rest of the ship. I sometimes enjoy a coffee at the atrium so it would be good if the benefits of Aurea cabins also covered YC ones

Boarding the Mediterranea in Trieste and wondering if anybody else would also be on board for this Adriatic cruise :-)

Many thanks. Wondering if they would open that separation if there is a family occupaing both cabins (including the intern one)

Dear All,

Costa is offering me a kind of upgrade to cabin 6115. On the deckplan I could see that it links with a neighbouring inside cabin but looking at images of the ship it looks as if it has an extended balcony (going forward). Would anybody know this cabin or the balcony configuration on that part of deck 6?

Many thanks

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Will be doing similar cruise in November. I thought Split had a bit more to offer (heard there are the remains of a Roman Emperor's palace there.

Trieste... well, I was there last year to board Diadema and it has less attractions than Venice, etc but I liked the two days I spent there. Attractions are not obvious but the city is also quite unique (if compared to other Italian cities), but agree that, it cannot compete with Dubrovnik. etc.

I felt something would change. The Costa Club cocktails were becoming crowded events and it was not that difficult to climb to the next level if one cruised regularly, but ignoring the points one accummulated before the last three years is a slap on the face of loyal customers...

As for teh Golden Pearl, that is the rule now: if one does not take a cruise within three years, it goes back to Pearl, but who knows how it is going to be in the future.

Costa has been making mistakes since before the Concordia incident... as one of our peers said, there are too many cruise lines in this world with beautiful ships (and often with better service than Costa...)

Valid point, thanks!

Also to be considered is that, on that level of prices, one cannot expect too much but Costa generally surprises. It is a nice cruise experience, with all the basics right. The ships are (just like with MSC, Royal, etc) state of the art when it comes to navegability, etc. Inernal decor? Well, that is subjective but lets say Costa is colourful when not a bit extravagant, but cabins are, in my experience, comfortable, with good space and all that one needs. It is not glamorous, but it is not bad. Treat the staff well and you may be treated like royalty :-)

Sometimes, on some cruises, there is an offer (I think 21 Euros per day) if booked online up to three weeks before the cruise. But only sometimes.

Although I passed through Savona a couple of times (embarking/disembarking) last June I decided for an overnight stay there and did not regret it. Stayed in the NH Darsena Savona which is steps from the cruise terminal and also located in the 'new' area around the old port which has some nice restaurants and is very near the historical city centre (some nice churches and a palace (part of the University and Library now) which once belonged to a Pope) as well as the fortress (nice views, small but interesting museum).

As mentioned the trip along the coast towards Nice and Monaco is amazing. beautiful towns, breathtaking scenery. On the other direction Genova has much to offer (spent once two days there and still did not see it all). Train from Savona to Milan takes about 2 hours. Milan I also find interesting (and till October there is a World Expo there). I feel that actually you may have more options from sunday to Tuesday than time.

Thanks for that. Actually the taxes I was told would be a problem were local sales taxes (or VAT even in some cases) rather than the port taxes.

I certainly will try that with Costa in the UK as their prices for November are even better than the ones offered in Austria.

When I did Diadema with a friend last year, we got a good offer here which was more or less the same as the UK price. He is a UK resident and we booked through here without a problem but I was the 'main' pax.

Is there another reason why people seem not to like the metal ones?

Interesting option. I have never booked while on board. Did you have to pay a deposit?

The Aurea Suites forward were part of the YC to start with. That all changed in 2011 or 2012, but cabins like 11010 used to be YC Royal Suites. A bit confusing but.

Pete explained superbly well but worth mentioning as well that Aurea cabin passengers have free access to the Thermal Suite at the spa.

YC pax not having an all inclusive on all areas of the ship still seems odd to me...

Just noticed the table was from 2012. But found this on Costa site: http://www.costakreuzfahrten.de/faq/faq-inhalte.28474/faq_subcategory/wellness-1.html

And also a smaller, not so comprehensive table: http://www.costakreuzfahrten.de/reisen-mit-costa/wellness-und-sport/pools-sauna.27897.html

Thanks

Many thanks! Very useful. Quite surprised that a few of the ships seem to offer so much for free. I was sure the Thalassotherapy (or similar) on the Atlantica and Mediterranea was charged for. Interesting that they seem to have a steam room too on the changing rooms.

Hi all, just noticed that this thread is from some years ago, so would like to know if it is still the case that, even with Samsara Spa, there is still a 'free' sauna for pax (I know some have it in the gym but not sure if still free). I am considering Costa Mediterranea for November, thus the question :-)

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried but apparently, in the case of travel packages, etc, because of taxes, one has to be a resident of the country :-( Either way, I think I will book it, on German more expensive prices. What makes it worse is that I am travelling alone so, the annoying supplement is also more expensive than in Austria... But many thanks!

Thanks but problem is that my Costa Club card has a German address, so could only book without it and would need an address in Austria.

I can understand promotions to gain market share but the difference sometimes is really great and one feels like been asked to pay more to subsidize the cruise for those who pay much less, etc.

Actually not sure anymore if booking Mediterranea. By mistake Costa gave my travel agent the rates if the booking was made in Austria, but as I live in Germany they are asking for 200 Euros more. I find it annoying that somebody with an address 300 km away can get a much better price so now reconsidering. Mostly do Costa because of the Club benefits, but feeling cheated on this occasion.