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Considering Costa


Giantfan13
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We are looking at a Costa cruise from Singapore to Rome for the beginning of next year. We are American experienced cruisers but never on a non 'cater to Americans' cruise line.

We were just wondering what would we expect?

We are not fussy people but we are completely in the dark as to what we can expect on a cruise like this?

 

Does the crew speak English?

Would most of the passengers be non speaking Americans?

What would we expect in service, like is there water at dinner"

Are the menus in English?

We are non meat eaters, so is there an ample menu of seafood dishes?

Is the entertainment in English?

 

I am so sorry is some of these questions sound silly, and maybe they are, but again, we are in the dark on something like this. We cherish new experiences, and some of the reposition cruises look fantastic, but we just have minor concerns.

 

Any info would be much appreciated.

 

Cheers

Len

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Hi Len,

From top to bottom;

Yes

Yes I would expect between 60 to 200 English speakers as guests, but you will be seated with some in MDR's

Maybe a few more getting on in Singapore as a starting point.

Yes for Americans only.

Yes your menu will be in English with a few Italian words'

Shows are mostly visual, songs mostly in English except Italian nights, all are understandable.

 

Costa is multi-cultural with at least five language's spoken over the tanoy, If it ain't in English it does not concern us.

Menu's are limited but quite nice, sea food is again limited but you can request fish if not on menus by speaking to Maître d' the night before, they do try to cater from most food requests.

Daily activities are again in several language's, but can be fun, the English hots sometimes arrange things just for English speakers.

 

Costa is not everyone's choice but we enjoy them just because they are different to most American lines.

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I am booked on the Costa Fortuna next March Singapore to Rome.

About water with meals I do believe most bookings now seem to include wine and water with meals.( Pranzo & Cena )

USA bookings do include water with meals anyway.

 

 

This will be my 3rd Costa cruise and have this one and another one booked March 2020. I like the fact that solos don't always have to pay double.

 

 

 

I don't go to a lot of shows on any lines so can't help you on that one. There is usually an Italian tenor on board. Lots of music for dancing around the ship.

 

 

English speaking guests are usually seated together in MDR and there is an English speaking host always available for any concerns.

 

 

There was always a fish dish on the menu. They are very accommodating to any diets.

 

The crew all speak English. Mostly Filipino Indian and Indonesians same as other lines.

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Thank you both for your answers. It will help us decide.

 

 

Is Costa similar to MSC?

 

 

Cheers

Len

Very similar.

I find the MDR on MSC very cramped with tables close together. I rarely eat in buffets and have all meals in MDR.

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I believe they still offer options in the Club restaurant for single or weekly meals at a cost, as do the Samsara, or if you have a suite you can eat anytime in both.(Samsara with prior change arranged) They are bringing in table numbers for the evening meal with both early at late sittings, but not yet on all their ships.

 

The Neo ships do have anytime dining, but arrange times with other English speakers or you may end up with people you can't talk to.

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I believe they still offer options in the Club restaurant for single or weekly meals at a cost, as do the Samsara, or if you have a suite you can eat anytime in both.(Samsara with prior change arranged) They are bringing in table numbers for the evening meal with both early at late sittings, but not yet on all their ships.

 

The Neo ships do have anytime dining, but arrange times with other English speakers or you may end up with people you can't talk to.

 

 

Great point. Thanks

 

Cheers

Len

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  • 2 weeks later...
Great point. Thanks

 

 

Cheers

Hi Len

We just got off of a Costa Cruise and really enjoyed it. We usually sail RCI, Hal, or Celebrity. Costa will be more of a European experience but the staff all speak English and many of the guests as well, even if it is not their primary language. There was a woman dedicated to assisting English speakers and every time we saw her onboard she made it a point to come over to see how we were getting along.

If you don't have access to the Club restaurant as an amenity, you can purchase a package to dine there as others have posted. A vegetarian option in all courses was offered each night on our sailing.

Some things will be different, even better;) and you won't go hungry either!

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  • 1 year later...

Thank you everyone for replying my post. I am searching up all these sequence dances that are mentioned on YouTube!

Is there someone who "regulates" how many dances are going to be sequence dances and how many are regular ballroom or Latin dances. When a new song starts, how do people know if they are supposed to do a sequence dance or a regular dance? 

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 I can't find the Youtube video that gam888 mentions, but I cannot recall seeing sequence dancing anywhere except on Cunard. The music is pretty much the same as you find in dance places around Toronto.

A Singapore to Rome will be much different from most cruises. My experience on repositionings is a much older demographic than normal, but even then, far more nightlife than HAL or Celebrity. Meal times are often adjusted, usually lots of seafood but menus may depend on what's available in the various ports.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

"We are non meat eaters, so is there an ample menu of seafood dishes?"

 

I do not eat meat either.

We were just on a 18 night transatlantic from Italy to Argentina. On the menus there was always an alternate set of dishes  - the same pretty well each evening. I had read that on the shorter cruises  there was usually a  salmon option but on ours it was almost always salt cod.

 

Generally I found sufficient seafood at both lunch and dinner in the DR - sometimes I picked the vegetarian option as I am not fond of squid or octopus or salt cod. There was always an appetizer, then a pasta or rice dish, a main course, a salad, a cheese plate and a dessert  at dinner and similar at lunch but fewer courses. I never felt hard done by not eating meat.

 

In the DR for breakfast besides the buffet where there was eggs, cheeses, a pickled fish dish as well as the usual fruits, cereals, yoghurt s etc. there was a menu on the table where you can order a Norwegian breakfast with smoked salmon or an omelette with cheese. One morning I ordered the Full Monty and just did not eat the ham and bacon but enjoyed the egg, beans, mushrooms etc.

Edited by Lunenburg
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Thank you everyone for replying my post. I am searching up all these sequence dances that are mentioned on YouTube!
Is there someone who "regulates" how many dances are going to be sequence dances and how many are regular ballroom or Latin dances. When a new song starts, how do people know if they are supposed to do a sequence dance or a regular dance? 
Depending on which song the live band is playing, the entertainment team along with active Italian Cruisers on the dance floor, decide whether they will do a sequence dance or not.
The rest may or may not follow the entertainment team and group of active dancers.


Sent from my Lenovo K8 Note using Tapatalk

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