Costa Luminosa review October Barcelona to Barcelona cruise

I have just returned from a fabulous cruise on the Costa Luminosa with my mum. It was my first cruise, but my mum's 8th (she is a loyal royal but has also been on MSC and Thompson). We were both impressed with the food, cocktails, ship, spa and cabin.

Food:

The food was the best thing about this cruise, it was amazing and my mum agreed. She raves about RCI food (independence & liberty of the seas, Navigator).

Breakfast was served in the buffet on the lido deck or in the MDR. The selection in both was good, but you had to order certain things to be cooked fresh in the dining room. I enjoyed italian and French style pastries, American pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, Swiss muesli, eggy cinnamon bread (delicious), fresh fruits (sliced melon etc), cooked fruits (a delicious roasted pear was offered one morning). They had eggs, sausages etc but I don't eat these items. The free coffee was really good. Not as good as the pay-for-coffee which is good as you will find in any small town cafe in Italy. I personally enjoyed buffet breakfast more, it was busier but less noisy than MDR.

Lunch. Again choice of MDR or buffet. I never ate lunch in MDR. In the buffet they had a themed corner each day. German, Spanish, Italian etc. generally they offer pasta, I enjoyed spaghetti with clams and broccoli, lasagne, gratin. It was all very good. Lots of good seafood: We had mussels mouliere one day, large shell on prawns the next. There was always pizza, it was quite decent. The salad bar was fresh and interesting in the selection. There was always lots of bread to choose from, like pumpernickel, white bread rolls, fresh made tortillas. The bread rolls were amazing. The butter is real butter. There were also lots of fillets of meat and fish (I ate fantastic swordfish) pork chops, chicken, salmon etc. lots of veggies and potato options. Next to the swimming pool there was a grill- the burgers were fat and juicy. Deserts were all cold and there is a sugar free option. My mum preferred the layout of RCI buffet, but I thought it was fine. The windows were floor to ceiling with a fab sea view from all tables.

Dinner is only available in the MDR (Although there is a table service pizzeria in the buffet). We were allocated the early sitting (7pm) but were told we could change if we wanted. There is no freestyle dining. We had the same waiter each evening, the service was friendly but what I would call efficient. I'm from the UK so I'm happy with this kind of service style. My mum said she preferred the friendlier service on RCI ('they can't do enough for you' she said). The menu was extensive. 7 courses with 3 or 4 options for each course! The food was consistently very good. It was Italian with a twist. I got married in Italy this year and held my reception in a 5* restaurant frequented by the rich and famous....I only say this because I think it gives me some credibility about my judgement regarding Italian cuisine!

We did not have a bad dish during any of the dinners.

This is an example of what I ate but I can't remember which evening I ate each course. Anyway it's just an example! The portions were very small, but I could still not manage 7 courses most evenings. I left nicely full, not feeling fit to burst!

Starter: Cold seafood and mango lime salad: squid, baby octopus, prawns.

Soup: chestnut cream soup.

Pasta 1st course: lamb stew rigatoni pasta

2nd course: duck a l'orange with gravy, braised red cabbage, potato croquettes.

Salad: a simple garden salad with choice of 3 dressings.

Cheese course: fruits and or nuts with a selection of 3 cheeses: changes nightly. I can remember eating Gorgonzola, provolone. Walnut bread slice.

Desert: semifreddo nougat flavoured with chocolate sauce.

It was all very delicious and came to the table piping hot. The bread rolls were lovely. The MDR is beautifully decorated and tables laid out nicely. Spaced out well. We sat with a lovely couple from Saudi Arabia. There were lots of nationalities on our cruise, it was great meeting people from all over the world.

So that's the food. Tomorrow I'll do the drinks package and go on to ports etc and ship amenities after that.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

Alternative dining options...

This will be short. I didn't try them but there is a 25 euro charge speciality restaurant (Italian food). It looked nice but was empty.

There is also the Samsara dining room for Samara room guests. The brochure price for the cheapest Samsara rooms run at £1000 pw/ pp (approx). You get free spa access, 2 massage treatments (these are over 100 each) and the special restaurant every evening. For 420 euros pp you can get the same samsara perks for a week without booking a samsara room. Ask at the spa for this package.

The table service evening pizzeria was free of charge. There were at times free pastries at bars and free snacks with drinks.

Thank you so much. I'm on a Luminosa transatlantic Barcelona - Miami in just a few weeks so it's very exciting to read your comments. Please keep them coming!

Do you recall if there were any specific solo traveler activites, meals, etc?

thanks for taking the time to write a review. glad you enjoyed it.

I don't recall any activities for solo cruisers but I wasn't looking out for them. As an English speaker if was very easy to get chatting to people as you are sort of drawn to each other when you're in the minority.

Activities & Entertainment

The daily programme listed a range of activities. We didn't do anything besides the spa because we were so busy!

They offer morning stretch and walking sessions, yoga for a reasonable charge.

Free dance lessons everyday - I recall seeing people learning the rhumba by the pool. These sessions were busy. There were dance sessions in the mid ship bar every evening where you practice your moves.

The 2 pools were small with salt water. There was hardly anyone on them and I swam daily. The 4 jacuzzis are generous in size and at a nice temperature.

They had an ideal couple contest one evening, karaoke and staff surprised us with a flash mob in the atrium to Mama Mia. There was bingo.

There is not much to say about the casino. It was fairly standard and tables got going around 10pm. Smoking is allowed and a sealed cigar bar attached. A long bar runs along one side, it is well stocked but only one barman serving all. He worked so hard and looked a little frazzled poor guy.

The shows: 2 sittings perfectly timed for your meal time (9:30 for us). Very easy to get served in the theatre if you're on the ground floor. Very comfy seats, little table. The lighting and sound was very impressive.

The CD Max was nice, impressively rattled through intro and thanks (and jokes) in 5 languages so no one got bored. People were respectful and most stated seated til he finished. The guests were very polite and respectful on this cruise.

Vic Vickers sang one night, solo show. He was AMAZING! Everyone loved him. He sang in all languages - mainly English, but he even rapped Caribbean style for the Jamaicans in the room and sang and danced African style which everyone loved. He was popular. The lighting was good. It was very entertaining and I thought it was going to be boring with just one singer.

We also saw the Russian dance troupe twice - they were good, a little cheesy in places but could give strictly a run for their money with all the outfits, themes and classic dances as well as show dances. All eras from 20s flappers to 50s rock n roll and 80s hiphop. It was fun. One night they danced to a laser show.

Ship design and layout

This was the biggest negative for me of this cruise and would encourage me onto other lines. I have a real passion and interest in art and design so I realise I'm quite fussy, whereas my mum loved the ship's design. I am very attracted to celebrity's contemporary style which looks fresh and bright. I have booked celebrity for our belated honeymoon and am very excited about the art collection (they have some really good modern art that wouldn't look out of place in Tate Modern.

The artwork on Luminosa is terrible - the centrepiece is a big bronze fat lady that reminds me of Beryl Cook's art, not the sort of art I would choose to put on a fabulous ship. This is just MY opinion of course. I know lots of people like it! All the other artwork is based on the artist who created the sculpture, apparently one of Italy's top artists but I'd never heard of him. There were huge pictures of his paintbrushes, his studio etc. It looked like his ship! But if that's the biggest negative i think we did quite well! My mum thought I was being silly, but then she is not a fan of Tate modern, we have different tastes. I am attracted to NCLs modern style too but I heard the food is not great, and Celebrity is expensive - so there are always trade offs!

The layout of the ship was good. I didn't experience any problems even though it was full (2800 people). My mum didn't like the buffet layout but I had nothing to compare it to, I thought it was fine. I loved the big picture windows. Every table had a sea view. Most stuff of interest was on deck 2 and 3 (food & ents) and deck 9 (lido deck).

The decor was not really to my taste either. It was very heavy and dark in style and so very brown. The quality of the materials used was beautiful however, I couldn't fault the finish, it was just the design I did not like. There was marble, beautiful dark wood, mosaic tiles, lots and lots of stunning murano glass and chandeliers. But overall it just looked so brown! They have clearly spent so much money on this ship, so it's a shame the result isn't that pleasing on the eye and more relaxing in places/ stimulating in places. The pool area and spa were a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed these surroundings greatly.

However, the ship decor did not affect my experience so much that I wouldn't cruise her again, because everything else on offer was fantastic and it was very comfortable. Also my mum completely disagrees: she thought the ship was beautiful!

Our cabin was fantastic. Really nicely decorated (again very brown) and a big picture window, with no view (lifeboat floor to ceiling) we paid for an inside. The cabin was huge, the bed very comfortable, loads of storage, LCD tv, table, sofa. The bathroom was fab, lots of shelves for our stuff, well designed, good shower well thought out, no wet floor, no shower curtain sticking to you! It was perfect. Our attendant Angelito was very sweet and helpful.

The area of the ship I like the design of the most is the Tauras restaurant, it is beautiful and I love the chairs (yes I am that sad that I enjoy admiring furniture, but like I said I like art and design!)

Bars & drinks

We bought the all inclusive drinks package (€19.50 inc service pp/pd).

If you can, I would recommend buying it before you travel, getting it on the ship from guest services was a challenge, you might be better getting it from a bar. It was strange that they did not have a stall selling the packages before we boarded. Costa clearly doesn't bother much with marketing (more on this in my comment on service later).

When we finally got the package it turned out to be incredible value.

These are the kinds of cocktails we enjoyed, some off the menu.

Cosmopolitans, Gin Fizz, Baileys Alexander, Pink lady (my favourite), mohitos, caiprinha, Harvey wallbanger, sidecar, Bellini, Rossini, White Russians. They used a mix of standard and premium brands, such as Cointreau and Kahlua.

The drinks varied depending on bar, some staff were highly skilled cocktail makers. The head barman working in the atrium bar (Panga) and the hub dancing bar mid ship where there is live music, were incredible. The speed and precision - they made fab drinks and 3 at a time! I never had to wait more than 3 minutes. My mum (RCI fan) said they are the hardest working bar staff she's seen!

The wine free in MDR is by the glass but they give you the bottle in reality, it changes nightly and was all quality DOC wine. It was all good italian white and red and I am quite fussy about the wine I will drink, not a connoisseur by any means but I won't drink cheap wine, I was happy!

Still or sparkling water was free. As was beer and soft drinks in the MDR (you cannot order cocktails or mixed drinks in here).

There were around 10 different bars on the ship, my favourite was the atrium bar because it was always buzzing and I really liked Panga and his team. But all the bars were good, I was a little disappointed we never made it to the wine bar which has live jazz music, but we were too busy winning and losing in the casino!

There was always live music in the large mid ship bar, this is the heart of the entertainment on ship and if you like proper dancing this is the place for you! The band will shout out the dance at the beginning of each song, like 'rhumba' . I enjoyed watching some talented dancing guests and professionals accompanying singles/ or ladies whose husbands don't dance! It was great to see. There were also a lot of sweet kids showing off their moves. The decor in here is a little old fashioned and has an air of holiday camp about it, but it was a fun place to be. It was also the bar which is 30% smoking. I don't smoke neither does mum but I like the fact Costa provide an area for people who want to smoke, after all they want to enjoy their holiday and not smoke on a windy deck! I know it's controversial but it is well ventilated so didn't impact on us. You notice the smell in the space more the next day.

The other bar I enjoyed is the chocolate bar. You can drink hot or cold chocolate for free on the package otherwise it is €3.50. There are lots of flavours: orange, mint, chilli, pistachio etc, it's really good stuff! The hot choc is so thick you eat it with a spoon! You pay for their chocolates. We found the drinks delicious and liked the atmosphere and lounge/ swing music... Although I found it very brown! The smell of chocolate here is intoxicating.

One final thing, I have to give a shout out to the musicians, they play for hours and hours and maintain a smile and enthusiasm even when the dance floor is empty, they are real troopers and add a lot of atmosphere to the ship. Thank you to all the musicians on board, especially the guy playing piano in the wall of the atrium who I bet most people don't notice!

Service

Our experienced was mixed, there were some real gems, there were some very unhelpful staff. Most were good

All of the bar and food staff we encountered were very efficient and fast, delivering an excellent product. It was definitely European level of service, quite standoffish at times, but lots of staff made an effort to talk to us so we couldn't generalise.

Some other staff didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about customer service. The most shocking was the lady who worked on the future cruise sales desk. She was awful! I would ask a very basic question about another costa ship and she would reply ' I don't know, I have not been on it"! She sighed when I asked her questions, when I asked prices for samsara suites she chucked the brochure at me without helping me! Her knowledge and interest was minimal, I hope she was just filling in for someone because she should not work in sales!! She was the rudest person I've ever been served by. I feel bad for saying this, as she may get in trouble, but she needs to be relocated to another department. I would definitely have booked another cruise there and then if she had helped me just a tiny bit!

I found it quite shocking actually, the lack of marketing that costa does. It is minimal. No advertisement for the drinks package. No selling of the speciality restaurant or spa. There were no pictures of the neo-romantica which I could be interested in, no information. There were no brochures to take away, nothing on the brand, other ships. The most info I got was from the spa staff who were lovely.

We did get a LOT of info from the English rep, but her talk (compulsory muster) was 1hr 15 mins and after travelling all day, we were falling asleep, she delivered it well but it was too long and loads of unnecessary info on the casino etc which is obvious to most people.

The guest services staff were mixed, one lady was very helpful and patient, another wasn't.

Overall, I thought the staff were lovely and kind but, Costa is not helping them deliver excellent customer service as there is a lack of information for guests, some confusion and their website is rubbish- we couldn't check in online. A lovely lady a check in was surprised by this as we turned up with just passports, but she immediately said "don't worry, you will be going on vacation" before trying to sort it out.

Samsara spa

This is the best spa I've even experienced and far cheaper than on land. It is €38 for day pass. We got some money off for going on an off-park day (€25). I would pay the full price if I were to go again. It is €90 per couple for 4 day passes. Great value.

The decor and atsmophere is stunning. It is a rebalancing, beautiful spa.

This is the order we did it all in...

1. Rain shower which has mist, rain fall and massage settings.

2. Thassotherapy pool: hot pool jacuzzi with massage taps, fab sea view.

3. Heated spa relaxation room with heated loungers and seats.

4. Steam room with waterfall fountain and cold spray...pure bliss! There is a sauna, the view is incredible, but we don't like saunas.

5. Rain shower again. Too cool, down and dry off we went into the trepidarium next, a cool room with heated loungers.

6. To relax more next we went to the relaxation room which is very cool and drank water and slept on the day beds (sea view, beautiful room).

7. Lastly enjoyed averyerdic tea (very refreshing) in the spa lounge, again fantastic view and very calming.

8. 3 hours had gone and we showered and changed in the lovely changing a area.

I was suffering a bad back for 2 weeks (get thus periodically), going to that spa healed it, now I'm still pain free so I think the price was totally worth it.

Thanks again for taking time to inform us about the Luminosa. What was your experience with getting on and off ship for ports?

The ports

Marseille: this was quite a trek. We walked to the local bus stop (2 km) paid 1.80 each to take a bus (35) then changed for another (55) to the port waterfront. It is a lovely port, there are lots of restaurants and shopping. We didn't find too much to do though except walk as all the markets were closed on Thursdays.

Savona: the ship docked in the heart of this small Italian town, which is picturesque, lovely to wander, beautiful church with stunning paintings. Good shopping in town, buzzy streets. We also walked 2km to the beach which was lovely.

Barcelona: we departed to/from here and stayed with family, spending time in non tourist areas. I've been three times before so 'seen it all' but still love BCN. There is just so much to see. Just be careful with your bags!

Conclusion

To summarise the cruise was very good and I would recommend the ship and Costa. But my mum said it was very different in terms of service to RCI.

If I was to travel Costa again I would consider a Samsara room as I think it offers excellent value for someone like me who loves spas.

Pros:

Food: the taste, quality, variety, temperature, freshness. Maybe my expectations were low, but I cam away very impressed (and full). Dinner was a joy each evening.

Cabins: very good design and comfortable.

Drinks: excellent value drinks package and superb range of cocktails and good wine. This alone would encourage me to book costa again.

Samsara spa: pure bliss.

Cons

Ship decor and art: design and colours weren't to my taste, even though it was beautifully executed. I would love to hear from someone who has been on Neo-romantica as it looks more in line with my tastes, but it is small and has no theatre.

Mixed service: this didn't bother me too much, as most of the staff were lovely, there were just a couple of rotten apples but this is definitely an area for improvement.

Thanks again for taking time to inform us about the Luminosa. What was your experience with getting on and off ship for ports?

My pleasure!

Our experience was pleasant - very quick getting on / off the ship. Security scans going in, but my mum was surprised there was no enforced hand washing.

Disembarkation was painless, I was still drinking a cocktail as we left the ship at 14:30! Very civilised.

That's the end of the review.

If I figure out how to, I may add some pictures

P.s. Ask away if you have any questions!

Thank you for the review.

So it appears that food wise the Luminosa is still where Costa's 110,000 tonners are:

From your verbal description of the buffet lunch - good to hear some positive notes.

Pictures will be very helpful.

Celebrity Reflection - worst choice of the Solstice class. In a few words: signature solstice features removed/ruined, more passengers added. An ideal ship for the retirees.

The Reflection is much larger than the Luminosa. Thus the difference in internal volumes.

The Luminosa, however, is a better designed (decor is not design, only a fraction of it) ship with exception for observation lounge - the Luminosa is lacking it badly.

Although not the best at sea, Celebrity food is way above.

Celebrity spa way below Samsara, no comparison.

I would close my eyes on crazy decor.

Had Costa offered dining concept comparable to Celebrity, I would have immediately recommend the Luminosa over any of Celebrity ships.

Thanks again.

That's the end of the review.

 

If I figure out how to, I may add some pictures

 

P.s. Ask away if you have any questions!

Thanks for an excellent review and the time spent sharing your experience.

Regarding neoRomantica, Blondie008 on these boards is probably the best one to ask.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/member.php?u=651991

Philip

Thank you for the review.

 

So it appears that food wise the Luminosa is still where Costa's 110,000 tonners are:

 

 

 

 

For god sake, you have been told numerous times and keep showing that silly comparison of yours.

Costa does provide free Room Service. It is only if you choose the absolutely low budget faire that you don't get free Room Service, so stop that.

Also, there are two specialty restaurants available besides the MDR and buffet - the Club Restaurant and the Samsara Restaurant. And as you have been told again and again, the Samsara restaurant is not reserved for guests with a Samsara cabin, it is available to all passengers for a sur-charge of 20 euro, whereas for Samsara guests it is free.

You where even provided evidence on that, to official costa websites. Costa have confirmed this and they have also confirmed that this has been the standard since 2010.

Philip

For god sake, you have been told numerous times and keep showing that silly comparison of yours.

 

Costa does provide free Room Service. It is only if you choose the absolutely low budget faire that you don't get free Room Service, so stop that.

 

Also, there are two specialty restaurants available besides the MDR and buffet - the Club Restaurant and the Samsara Restaurant. And as you have been told again and again, the Samsara restaurant is not reserved for guests with a Samsara cabin, it is available to all passengers for a sur-charge of 20 euro, whereas for Samsara guests it is free.

 

You where even provided evidence on that, to official costa websites. Costa have confirmed this and they have also confirmed that this has been the standard since 2010.

 

Philip

No-one has to be told.

What has to be done is information.

These are just words that were not confirmed.

The person who spoke about 20 euro was in a suite on a small "special" ship, not on the ships this table related to. And even for that case only assumptions were provided.

Free room service is not available for all passengers.

Samsara restaurant has never been considered a specialty restaurant.

No link from Costa says it's accessible for everyone for 20 euro.

All you provided - just speculation.

It would be great to hear from someone who is able to provide updated information.

No-one has to be told.

What has to be done is information.

These are just words that were not confirmed.

The person who spoke about 20 euro was on a small "special" ship, not on the ships this table related to.

Free room service is not available for all passengers.

Samsara restaurant has never been considered a specialty restaurant.

No link from Costa says it's accessible for everyone for 20 euro.

All you provided - just speculation.

 

It would be great to hear from someone who is able to provide updated information.

This is simply incorrect, and you know it.

1) The Samsara Restaurant is considered a specialty restaurant by everybody, except you.

From Costa's website

Welcome to the Samsara Restaurant

Treat yourself to the pleasure of a truly special dinner: every evening, the Samsara Restaurant's à la carte menù offers a selection of creative and delicious dishes, food with an international flavor, seductive and enriched by the exquisite flavors of the best Italian tradition. Natural ingredients, light, healthy and balanced recipes accompanied by excellent wines and delightful little treats for dessert. For a five-star dinner while cruising.

Costa menus for a five-star dinner on your cruise.

Combining pleasures at the Samsara restaurant

Physical well-being has to be combined with the pleasure of good food. Guests travelling on a Samsara cruise have the privilege of dining in a dedicated restaurant without sitting restrictions. The restaurant provides a private, refined and peaceful environment, high quality ingredients, light and imaginative dishes prepared with rigorously precise cooking techniques.

Subject to availability, other Guests can dine at the Samsara Restaurant by booking and paying an additional charge.

2) The comparison is exact, based on your own terms

• Fascionosa
  
• Favolosa
  
• Deliziosa
  
• Pacifica
  

http://www.costacruise.com/B2C/USA/MiniSites/CostaBenessere/samsara/ristorante/samsara_ristorante.htm#start

3) Free Room Service is available to ALL PASSENGERS - all it takes is that you book a cabin as Premium instead of Classic, and you get the following perks

• Free continental breakfast in your cabin (on request)
  
• Free service in your cabin
  
• Option to book dinner for a specific time in the restaurant
  
• Extra 10% discount on your next cruise in Premium
  
• Enjoy all the services and facilities available on the ship
  
• CostaClub: accumulation of twice the usual number of points.
  

I love the fact that you can choose a service level that does not include this, if it isn't important to you. Why pay for free room service as part of your cruise fee, if you never will use it? Much better to provide the option to go Classic for a lower price with few perks, or Premium for a higher price with more perks.

Philip

1,300 sq. ft. cabins are availabale to all passengers.

"All it takes is that you book"... a penthouse.

What are you doing?:)

Subject to availability, other Guests can dine at the Samsara Restaurant by booking and paying an additional charge

How do you imagine "availability" in a restaurant with open seating (no reservation) assigned for uncertain number of guests?

Availability of seats physically available at a given moment?

Availability calculated from the number of Samsara cabin actually sold?

Availability calculated from the number of Dream packages sold additionally?

"By booking" what?

Samsara Dream package?

Samsara 2 days pass?

Booking by calling (whom?) and booking a dinner only?

What is "additional charge"?

Thank you kfowinst for your great review!! My DH and I are cruising on the Luminosa this December and was happy to hear positive comments about this ship!!

I have a question to ask, what type of toiletries do Costa provide such as shampoo, conditioner, etc? Did they provide a blow dryer? We are flying into Miami and have to worry about luggage restrictions, lol!!:)

Would love to see some pictures if you would like to share!!

Some additional information to take some of the heat out of Cruisetrail and Phrider comments. As our Dave Cameron likes to say "Calm Down, Dears!!!"..........

There is only 1 speciality restaurant. The English rep Lucy told us at the welcome meeting that we could not eat in Samsara restaurant unless we had a samsara package. It is a private 'club' restaurant therefore much like Blu on Celebrity. But confusingly the name of the speciality venue is called 'Club luminosa'.

I am guessing the 'Dreams package' is the one I referred to earlier which is available for any cabin and costs €420 pp p/w.. This gives full acces to Samsara perks plus 2 free massages. Seems like a good deal to me, especially if you get a good price on a cabin.

Cruisetrail, you are wrong about the buffet not being available for dinner. As I said the salad bar and pizzeria are open for dinner until 1am. Ok so it wasn't the full buffet, but still somewhere to eat if you don't want MDR experience. The pizzeria turns into table service (personal pizza cooked to order) at 7.30. It was very nice - much better than the sliced pizza. They rotate the available pizzas depending on day of the week, I had Hawaiian on a Thursday.

The buffet grill is also available for food until 5pm. However Lucy told us opening times of venues change day to day, so you need to check your today programme.

You are right, there was no afternoon tea but the tea / coffee machine was available 24 hrs. Ice cream was only available when the buffet was open, you could have hot drinks and deserts at the chocolate bar all day and night.

Waiters would also walk around the ship in the evenings offering free mini pastries.

I think the comment about room service is misleading. It was available in our classic cabin (lowest grade). The menu was not extensive however. The service charge was €2.50 I am confused as to how this is any different fro the tip I have been told is necessary to pay on Celebrity?? It's basically a service charge, and you'd have to be a Scrooge not to pay a tip on Celebrity or the other US lines! However I expect the menu for room service to be far superior on Celebrity etc.

The mini bar in our cabin was locked. You have to pay to have this available (I think additional €16.50 per day per person on top of drinks package).

There was no extravagant buffet on our cruise but then it was only a Wed- Sat cruise. Maybe it is on a Sun - Tue and we missed it! One evening there was a midnight pastry buffet in one of the bars.

Thank you kfowinst for your great review!! My DH and I are cruising on the Luminosa this December and was happy to hear positive comments about this ship!!

 

I have a question to ask, what type of toiletries do Costa provide such as shampoo, conditioner, etc? Did they provide a blow dryer? We are flying into Miami and have to worry about luggage restrictions, lol!!:)

 

Would love to see some pictures if you would like to share!!

My pleasure!

Oh you must be excited, my mum is now considering this trip for a Christmas Caribbean cruise!

The toiletries were basic - just a 2-in-1 shower gel & shampoo. Soap bar. I think that was it, but we were in the cheapest cabin. It may differ depending on cabin.

Yes there was a hair dryer, in drawer below mirror. It was ok, you hold button down. I didn't bring my own and I think my hair looked ok :)

You can buy toiletries in the shop, they aren't the cheapest, but not expensive brands.

Have fun!!

How does one Luddite post pictures on here please?!

There is only 1 speciality restaurant. The English rep Lucy told us at the welcome meeting that we could not eat in Samsara restaurant unless we had a samsara package. It is a private 'club' restaurant therefore much like Blu on Celebrity. But confusingly the name of the speciality venue is called 'Club luminosa'.

This is true for the Luminosa, I was specific and stated that the Samsara restaurant works as the second specialty restaurant, besides the Club Restaurant, for the following 4 Costa flagships (which fits the Princess GT comparison - these ships has almost 1000 more passengers than Luminosa):

• Fascionosa
  
• Favolosa
  
• Deliziosa
  
• Pacifica
  

The problem is that cruisetail provides misleading and incorrect information with is home made wiki comparison charts, and it is not helpful in any way.

Availability to the Samsara restaurant is exactly on the same terms as the Club restaurant - if there are tables available for the day you desire at the time of your booking, you'll get the table. Just like in any other restaurant and any land and cruise line. And you don't need to have a Samsara cabin.

Philip

How does one Luddite post pictures on here please?!

See the following two screenshots.

Philip