AnonymousCruiser69

Bravo Costa. At last those of us who do not wish to suffer air polluted by the inconsiderate others are now to be taken into consideration. My husband has a terminal lung disease and does not need to suffer cigarette smoke added to his other problems. I might add that he doesnt smoke, doesnt drink alcohol and goes to the gym daily.

how many costa cruises have you taken? how many do you have planned? sailing on a ship that allows bans smoking isn't going to save your husband, now.

as for the 'inconsiderate' remark - i find that ironic coming from someone from france. your country has the reputation of being the rudest of all people according to this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2012/04/03/the-worlds-rudest-nations-for-travelers/ and http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/worlds-rudest-countries-travelers-309852. of the 50+ countries i've been to, it is the only one i don't care to return to.

i guessing you booked this without the benefit of a travel agent. ALL cruiselines have cabins over/under public areas - so in the future it will behoove you to look at the deckplans available online for virtually any ship. always, always, always look at what is above and below your cabin. avoid unmarked whitespaces on deckplans, too.

as for italians on an italian line, well, DUH.

Another poster mentioned a new smoking policy on a different thread, but I felt this was important enough of a change to warrant it's own thread.

Sadly, I will no longer be a Costa customer.

From Costa's website:

Is it possible to smoke onboard?

Smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes is not permitted on board, except in the “Cigar Lounge” area. Electronic cigarettes may only be used cabins and in the “Cigar Lounge” area. In public areas outdoors smoking is only allowed in specially designated areas that have ashtrays. We would like to remind you that smoking is not permitted in cabins, but only outside on private balconies. To avoid the risk of fire, cigarettes must be extinguished and left in the ashtrays provided and never thrown overboard when they are still lit. We would also like to remind you that on board the ships Costa Mediterranea, Costa Classica, Costa Atlantica and Costa Victoria there are no indoor smoking areas.

Hello to everyone who has posted on this thread. My wife and I are booked on the neoRiveria's 1/26 Dubai to Dubai cruise. This will be my fourth cruise, but first on Costa and first in the Middle East. This will be my wife's first cruise.

 

I appreciate reading everyone's comments in this posting. Your comments make me feel good about booking this cruise. We were very limited in choices for reasons of scheduling and travel arrangements so this was about the only cruise in the world that we could book this time around, but it looks like we will be happy with the choice.

 

I do have a question. In reading online about travel to Dubai, Americans are cautioned about the need for women to dress modestly and the need to avoid public displays of affection. From what you saw on the neoRiveria, do these cautions hold true for the time on the ship as well? I realize that these cautions certainly apply while in the ports, but what about on the ship itself? I've looked everywhere for an answer to this and haven't been able to find anything so I would be most grateful for comments from those who have experienced this cruise first-hand.

 

Thanks in advance.

you won't have any 'modesty' restrictions on the ship as it is an italian line. the only thing that might raise an eyebrow is if the shoes and the belt/bag don't match.

have you booked it yet? :D:eek::D

I realise that this is quite a late post following on from the others, but having read all the information from other cruisers about this package have decided it is definitely worth it. so, into the costa website, into our booking and try to book it. nothing. the website brings up a window saying request is being processed then nothing. there is a basket showing, which i presume will contain what you have bought and also presume you the checkout and pay, much as you would do with any online shop. unfortunately, the basket will not open so that i can proceed to payment. have tried to do this 3 times, and with two different browsers. no joy. has anyone else had any problems with purchasing anything, drinks or shore trips with costas website. i have made sure i am registered in the correct country (uk), but this simply does not seem to want to work. am i missing something here, doing something wrong, or is the website just useless.

could be anything. website down for maintenance, pop-up blocker on your computer, etc. costa isn't know for their website. it's pretty crappy.

there will be one (or two if in a suite) US style outlet.

I just disembarked the Costa Victoria (which should be re-named to Costa pathetica).

Rubbish from start to finish. The ship has all the charm of a Hong Kong food court.

Cheap and nasty food, tiny cabins and many Chinese staff members have an extremely limited understanding of even the most basic Western service concepts and have trouble communicating in English.

If you are looking for the Italian crusing experience, look elsewhere.

On the upside, the drinks package is cheap and you can numb your mind with a few Martinis before dinner - or breakfast even....

:o

interesting report, thanks. i'm not surprised. it does seem that they are targeting the chinese market with this ship. must be why the OP had such trouble booking it.

how did you book your cruise?

We have found Costa to be the cleanest cruiseline, far superior to Royal Caribbean in particular. Never seen showerheads being unscrewed and washed EVERY day anywhere else.

 

We also haven't encountered any of the other things you mention, either. But have no idea what you mean by magrdaomes???

it is the roof over the pool area that can be opened when weather permits.

i did a quick search on google. there are 4-night cruises before and after the 19jan2014 date available. the 19th is probably sold out. have you called costa (or another agent)?

as for languages, all costa cruises are multi-lingual. at least 5 - 6. italian, french, german, spanish, english and whatever others the demographics dictate.

yet another question. what night's are formal nights and how formal are they.

you'll see a bit of everything on gala festive nights (they don't call them formal nights anymore). i don't even take my tux anymore.

I think she was just referring to another posters review, and was looking for more reviews of TA cruises. She wasn't the one that posted the review about smoking.

 

Philip

then please accept my apologies. the way i read the first post i thought it was the OP's review. i was wrong.

Luminosa should have completed two Caribbean cruises now and I haven't yet seen any reviews. The TA crossing is the most recent member review (Smoking, smoking!) here in Cruise Critic. I'm still looking for dancing and entertainment details before our Feb 5 cruise.

I didn't write anywhere in that last post I was bothered by smoke.

 

Only stated I'm hoping to see some entertainment reviews for the dance bands and shows.....

why do you lie about it? easy enough to prove you a liar:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=244815

"This went rapidly down hill when we realised Costa had such a bad Smoking Policy. All areas had smoking areas, but the problem was that non-smokers were overwhelmed by the smoke from these areas. Every night we went to our cabin smelling of smoke. I caught a cold after a couple of days, which was made worse by cigarette smoke."

pathetic or would that be pathological?

costa will let you keep your luggage with you and 'self debark'. you must be able to handle your luggage without assistance to do this. you will be among the first off the ship when you do this.

you should post a couple more statistics like the time the ship is scheduled to arrive and your flight time for answers to the other questions.

Luminosa should have completed two Caribbean cruises now and I haven't yet seen any reviews. The TA crossing is the most recent member review (Smoking, smoking!) here in Cruise Critic. I'm still looking for dancing and entertainment details before our Feb 5 cruise.

if that's the title, i won't bother to find and read it. thanks for the warning.:p if you are so bothered by smoking, a little research would've saved you the trauma. wishing you more of the same on your upcomming cruise...

with four people, you can probably book private guides for your tours for the same or less cost as the ship's tours.

do take a look at the ports of call section here on cruise critic for suggestions/questions about specific ports.

excursions are usually posted 3 - 6 months before sailing. as another poster said, you can purchase the AI package onboard, but i'm surprised you can't buy it now.

How many cigarrettes can I embark in singapore without pay?

not sure if you are talking about arriving in singapore via plane or not. :confused:

on my excursions off the ship in singapore, i took less than half a pack. i went through the 'red' line (items to delcare) and they did let me pass.

you aren't allowed to bring chewing gum in the country, either.

singapore has LOTS of laws that result in jail time/fines that anywhere else would be ridiculous (i.e. jaywalking). do some research before you go - or else :eek:

Which ships is Samsara on? We're going to be on Mediterranea and I don't see anything on the website thats offers this.

mediterranea has it.

i've been on hal a couple times. their itineraries are boring and the clientle is largely old, cranky people who are genenerally too fat and/or infirm to get off the ship. they can get their wheelchairs and scooters into the buffet and eat like it is their last meal (it may be).

i cruise for the itnierary - not to stuff my face.

thanks for the information all welcome. seems there are a lot of similarities between NCL and costa.

is costa still fixed dining? something i'm not to keen on.

fixed seating only on your ship. exceptions would be the specialty restaurants.

So Royal Caribbean ships, Princess ships and other companies ships where we did not find any eggs benedict on particular cruise were not real cruise ships?

 

On Grand Princess for example there was no salmon in buffet. Not a real cruise ship?

 

I can easily dissect each of your statements.

nope. you were only imagining you were on a ship. :eek:

you are right - they are not made to order but sitting there drying out, yuck.

look on the bright side, at least on costa we won't bump into certain posters:)

lol!

if you ever run into someone demanding salmon benedict made with a croissant, you'll know who it is.

costa (like all lines) goes where the money is. the best thing about costa for me is the unusual itineraries.

maybe CCL (the parent company) doresn't want them competing with carnival here in US waters. as you say, they are pretty similar anymore.

Yes apparently two fixed dining times 7.30 and 9.15 or something like that. i have been advised that if we upgrade to the premium at a cost of £27 per person more we can then choose our cabin, dining time, restaurant etc. and they CAN cross reference these two bookings to ensure people travelling together can sit at the same dining table. or so the agent told me. costa told me something different and that they don't have the facility to cross reference. then again, we were discussing the classic booking. a little misleading to say they are not able to cross reference, it's just that the classic bookings do not allow anything to be chosen. we find we have been upgraded to a premium cabin, i.e. in terms of location but not in terms of the 'extras' that go with it. given that we like our early morning tea and in classic this has to be paid for and premium it's free, i really think the upgrade would be worth it especially as the agent doesnt have a fee for the change. on a separate note, but related to dining (or drinking anyway), is the 19.50 euro drink package worth having. we are not big drinkers, usually have 3 or 4 cocktails at night. cannot seem to find a definitive description of exactly what drinks can be included in this package. the words alcoholic beverages, beer, wine are mentioned but very basic information.

i think you answered your own question. upgrade - especially since the agent doesn't charge for a change.

drinks package is well worth it (i don't drink alcohol, but still feel like i got full value). costa used to have a PDF on their website with specifically what was included. they do not, now. well drinks (non-premium) think vodka/tonic NOT grey goose/tonic. wines (their choice of brand). beer will most likely be carlsburg. soft drinks, coffee/esspresso, virgin drinks. no need to book ahead. you can book it on the ship and see exactly what is included.