AnonymousCruiser69

we booked with an online agent last week on the PACIFICA only classic guarantee available with this agent. no premium so cannot choose where cabin is. i don't mind really where we are provided were not right up front so to speak. we always travel on insides as we are the type of people who do not spent any time in the cabin apart from sleeping.

do costa only do fixed dining?

fixed dining only at dinner - with the exception of the 'neo' ships which one poster has reported is open seating. samasara and specialty restaurants are open - on the ships that have them.

no buffets at night on costa, beyond pizza (and there's a fee). it has been reported that the 'neo' class ships have buffets at night - but even there, the reports have not been consistent.

ignore the costa hater, too.

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cruisetrail, you're lying. you posted pictures of the salmon and croissants you had on costa. the presentation might not be up to your stringent specifications, but please stop posting false and out-of-date information. your opinions are several years old and now irrelevant.

i've been on several cruiselines (carnival, princess, hal and costa) and have never seen the majority of the selections you are continually (several years, now) complaining about.

eggs bene are frequently available in the main dining room (or via room service if you are in a full suite). so are many of the other items.

pics are of the croissants on costa:

Well i e-mailed to costa and quickly had a very nice response, although not the answer i wanted. evidently we have been allocated an upgrade to premium cabin, but because we booked on a classic (don't ask), this was just a guaranteed cabin and no choice of dining. even though we have been upgraded we still can't choose dining, we would have to pay for the upgrade that they have given us for free!! on the agency website we didn't have the option for a premium. we have come across this guaranteed cabin before, having it allocated as we boarded, but in that case there were 4 of us in one cabin so dining difference wasn't a problem. there are two restaurants on the serena (the ship we are on), one aft and one mid ships. our cabins, wouldn't you know are one aft and one mid-ships. if what i have heard is correct due to the location of the cabins we would be allocated to different dining rooms. it seems that the only way to choose our cabin, and choose our dining would be to upgrade, but i can't find a way to see how to do that online. it seems really that our choices are to pay for an upgrade and choose our cabin locations, or risk it and hope we can change restaurants/dining time if we have to when on board. still thinking about it.

i would risk it. i really can't see it being a problem. it does make sense, from a business standpoint, about not getting the benefits of an upgraded cabin beyond the cabin itself (doesn't help you, though).

Not sure why you couldn't pick your cabin, we always have:)

there's a category called 'guarantee' that is usually less expensive than picking a particular cabin. sometimes all that is left in a particular category is a gty.

I presume you are saying that the bookings can be linked and the agent just doesn't want to bother?? I have just logged into our bookings to find that we have been upgraded to an inside premium and the cabins are allocated. Thing is, one is right at the back the other mid to forward, albeit both on the same deck. As i understand it, and please correct me if i am wrong, Costa allocated the restaurant depending upon the location of the cabin. Which would mean one of us in the aft restaurant, the other in the mid ship one. Not at all satisfactory. Now that we are upgraded to a premium cabin maybe this means we can now choose our dining option?? Methinks a call to Costa is required here.

you don't say which ship you are on. some have only one dining room. it can't hurt to give costa a call.

yes, i think your agent just doesn't want to bother. costa may or may not talk to you since you did not book with them. worth a try, though. the worst that can happen is they tell you 'no'.

i still say you won't have any trouble once you get on the ship.

What a total load of crap! the very same people were telling others this would happen hours after Concordia lay on its side and look Costa are doing just fine, how many other cruise lines have poor reviews or Engine fires etc are they still sailing their ships ?

consider the source ;)

I did know that the cabin would not be assigned until boarding, also the dining preference. You are right in that Costa do try to match dining times to the nationality, i.e. british and americans prefer earlier, europeans preferring later. of course what we don't know is the nationality configuration of this particular cruise. i shouldn't imagine there will be many families as it is not a school holiday nor is the weather likely to be so nice for kids. i more or less expected that our allocation would be for earlier but obviously can't be sure of this. my gripe is that four people travelling together cannot book their cabins on one booking therefore at least being allocated dining at the same time and in the same restaurant. i am not so bothered about the cabin allocation, after all we only sleep in it, but dining is a major part of a cruise and it seems crazy to me that the bookings cannot be linked or cross referenced. we have been on other cruise lines and have been able to do so. we booked through an online agent and it is this agency that has told me the bookings cannot be linked. i have not yet been in touch with costa but i may give them a call to see what they say about the situation. otherwise i guess we will just have to wait until we get on board, see what we have got and take it from there.

sounds like you have a lazy agent...

short answer: you get what you pay for.

on costa, unless you book a 'premium' grade cabin, or a suite, you do not get to pick your dining time. fear not, though. i see you are from the UK - costa is very good about matching dining times to national origin, so you will in all likelyhood be assigned first seating (2nd is very late i.e. 8:45 - 9:15). costa is also pretty good at accomodating requests. speak with the dining room manager your first night (sometimes you can do this immediatly when you board, but not always).

i don't understand why you cannot link your reservsations, though. did you use a travel agent or other non-costa website? whomever you booked it through should get these linked for you.

as far as cabin location, pretty much nothing you can do about this since you booked what is called a 'guarantee'. you may not even find out your cabin number until you get to the ship.

Oooh, I just agree with those people who had a bad experience with Costa!!

I also would not book them again and only recommend to people who I don't like! :D

 

You have the impression that the crew is not allowed to be friendly to the passengers and to fulfil their wishes, the breakfast biffet is very, very, very poor, no buffet in the evening and so on...

 

And just compare the prices: A 14 night iceland/Norway cruise on CELEBRITY ECLIPSE, an outstanding ship, is cheaper than a 16 night Iceland/Norway cruise on COSTA PACIFICA, which is definitely not as good as CELEBRITY ECLIPSE - there are also a lot of other examples, just compare the Caribbean cruise fares of COSTA MAGICA with those of CELEBRITY SUMMIT!!! The cruises on SUMMIT are cheaper, and CELEBRITY SUMMIT is an awesome ship, COSTA MAGICA (I have been on FORTUNA, her sister ship) is awful, especially compared to SUMMIT!!!

 

Costa is just a waste of money - never book it! :mad:

i see you have 3 previous costa cruises in your signature - they must have done something right :confused:

liqour bought at the duty-free on the ship will be held until the end of the cruise.

as for bringing it onboard, you aren't allowed to do it openly. one bottle stashed in your checked luggage should go undetected. i've not read reports of confiscations, like NCL does with their aggressive bag scanning. i've never been searched getting off the ship.

also was the food that was shown available in the main dining rooms?

that was all available from the MDR with the exception of the french onion soup and one of the steaks which were from the steakhouse. i happened to be in a suite on that cruise so i had almost every meal via room service (when in a full suite ordering from the MDR menu is a perq) - such a treat.

great photos. thanks for posting them.

food is very subjective. most people like it, ones that go with an open mind. there are some haters that think the food is horrible.

i photographed most of my main meals on mediterranea. the pics can be seen here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1748219

costa is a very lively cruiseline at night. there will be a lot of live music in the lounges and lots of dancing late into the night. the main shows will be geared towards non-spoken entertainment since costa caters to cruises from many nations.

Thanks chino

I've tried to book the drinks package online but it won't allow me too , my wife doesn't drink and I can't book 1 only

when costa first introduced the drinks packages, there was not a requirement for all people on the booking to order it. unfortunately, cheaters abused the policy - getting drinks for others in their party. costa was forced to change the policy.

i don't drink alcohol, but i did feel like i got full value. i drink lots of coffee (their esspressos are divine). between the coffee and sodas (other non-alcoholic drinks are included) and waters i still came out ahead.

We have sailed Costa a few times (I'm now Pearl :)) but have never purchased an All inclusive drinks package, in the past we have opted for a package which included several bottles of water and wine. I forget the amount of each and were also able to buy another package mid cruise when we had used it up.

Are these type of packages still available?

My wife doesn't drink alcohol so this method worked perfectly for us in the past. I don't like what I have read about not having a bottle on the table for dinner if you go all inclusive.

The rest of the package looks good though I just wouldn't want to left waiting for a top up when dining in the evening.

you can look through what packages are available here: http://www.costacruise.com/B2C/USA/before_board/services/SpecialServicesCategories.htm#anchor-ss

if you look under the 'special gifts' section, i believe you will see the package you mention.

okinawa. easily my least favorite port stop, ever (not just costa). nothing of value to see or do there.

I WOULD purchase the all inclusive on a port intensive cruise actually, it is such a bargain that it only takes 2 cocktails and a cappuccino to break even! It would be very easy to drink at least this amount on a port intensive cruise....

 

Water and latte for breakfast - €4 - nicer than the free stuff

Aperitif - €7 (+service charge 15%)

2 glass wine with dinner - €11 (+15%)

Cocktail with show €7 (+15%)

 

That's well over €30 with service charge, so €19.50 (inc service) is a steal!!

i shouldve specified i don't drink alcohol. makes a difference. when i book a cruise with the ship being the destination, i can get full value.

hi and welcome to cruise critic. there's a 'ports of call' section here on this site. you may want to check that out for port specific info. the costa board does not have a lot of activity.

Does Costa still call on Port Said and Alexandria?

costa, and pretty much all the major lines, have cancelled all stops in egypt for the forseeable future: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5482

such a shame. keep in mind, if the stops are ever reinstated, they may be cancelled again at a moments notice.

That may be, but from what I am reading here it doesn't appear to be written in stone. Either way I don't mind waiting, we are on a port intensive cruise, in some ports as late as 11:00 pm so I am not sure if it will be needed.

i don't see any reason to order it far in advance, either. nor would i order it on a port-intensive cruise.

they people were 'surprised' didn't seem to do their research, however it does seem to change from ship to ship. i remember one poster ordering a 60 euro bottle of wine, thinking it was included. common sense would dictate that is not the case.

i do recall on mediterranea, there was a list of what and was not included. i think it is a case of the staff not being properly trained (management problem).

Not to mention that based on this thread, you might want to get there and find out what it includes first before buying the package.

it is clearly posted on the costa website what is included. no need for surprises.

check this thread for your answers: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1940402

pizza varies widely around the world. if you like italian pizza, you will like costa's. it is italin-ish (emphasis on the 'ish'). thin crust, not an over-abundance of cheese and toppings. i like it.

generally, the people who slam costa's pizza fall into one of two categories:

1. costa haters
   
2. people who want deep-dish with lots of 'stuff' on it
   

special pricing, indeed, for costa club members. LOL!