Cruise to "hell" on costa fortuna

[dutrie]

Cruise4Andy

 

We had a good flight back home, although we were delayed a bit by the air traffic at the airport. Once we pulled away from the terminal, we were in a line of 15 planes to take off.

It was raining, but I don't know if that had anything to do with the delay.

 

Returning to the cold is not fun. I will have to retain the memories of sitting in the sunshine, with a cold drink, overlooking the St Thomas Harbor, to get me through the winter.

 

St Thomas was the favorite of the three stops, but this was our sixth time there and my wife says we have done everything. I would not get off the ship again at Grand Turk. We took a island tour and there nothing to see that we haven't seen before. The Carnival built cruise dock is OK, but we thought the prices very high. The beaches looked great, but friends of ours said the bottom was very rocky once they got waist deep in the water.

 

I had read about toga night on the Costa threads and wasn't sure what to expect, but it sure was a fun night. There weren't many in the talent show, but they were good!

 

Another item I forgot. We enjoyed the shows in the Rex Theater and thought that overall the entertainment was very good. Two of the shows, I will have to look up the names, were some of the best we have seen.

 

Again, I wish that Costa would change their smoking policy on only allow smoking on the outside decks. That change would move Costa up our list as the Fortuna was a very fun ship to be on.

[GOLDENBONNY]

dutrie:

Glad you made it back home... although I would rather still be on the Fortuna :D...

 

What was your favorite port? I thought it was a wonderful cruise... and like you said, Max gave his best once again! :rolleyes:

 

LOL Max is the only CD whos name we remember:)

[dutrie]

Max reminded my wife and I of Craig Furgeson of CBS Late Late Show

[KC_Guy]

Is smoking permitted in all public areas, bars, dining areas?

[2Atlantamen]

:mad:

having a gay, out of work, over weight, pervert, impersonating Elton John was totally Ludicress

 

 

And how do you know he was gay? And do you have a spell check?

Bryan & Roger

 

What a racist thing to say, and the "pervert" comment, totally unacceptable. This post should be removed in my opinion.

[dutrie]

Is smoking permitted in all public areas, bars, dining areas?

 

Smoking was not permitted in the restaurants and theater. Smoking was allowed on the port side of the Grand bar; but the smoke drifted throughout the entire bar area negating the effectiveness of the ban on the starbord side.

.

Smoking was also permitted in the casino.

 

 

We did notice smoking in a lot of other areas whether permitted or not and the smell of smoking could be detected in hallways and many other areas of tje ship

 

This may not be a problem at all for some, but was definitely a problem for my wife.

[Dancer Bob]

I've never smoked, and the only place I noticed smoke (excluding the obnoxious jerks walking around smoking) was the lounge just behind the casino, which does get pretty vile.

[dutrie]

DancerBob

 

I knew you were on this cruise but I didn't know how to find you. This was our first Stardust event. We really enjoyed the group and met many, many nice people from all over the country.

 

The smoke wasn't really problem for me. I don't like it but can tolerate it. Not so for my wife.

 

The dance floors were a bit crowded at times, but we really enjoyed our cruise. Costa has a lot of positives.

 

My wife and I made the cut in the waltz contest, but alas, did not win. I think we did pretty well considering my wife had a dislocated toe!

[Dancer Bob]

I think I watched part of waltz contest, but I can´t remember who was dancing.

 

No the Fortuna isn´t perfect, but of all the ships I am personally familiar with or dancers whose opinion I trust, the Fortuna is the best choice for English-speaking dancers.

[hpreece]

I too hated Fortuna. Total waste of airfare.

They destroyed my luggage, held onto it for four days trying to "repair it". Now that I've been home for almost a month, the damage claim for the luggage has only gotten worse. I have never experienced such rude representatives in my life.

I hope that whoever reads this and is pondering booking, changes their mind.

-Heather

[Grumpy100]

We have only been on one Costa Cruise and never again. The food was terrible and people rudest ever.

[Goldryder]

Smoking was not permitted in the restaurants and theater. Smoking was allowed on the port side of the Grand bar; but the smoke drifted throughout the entire bar area negating the effectiveness of the ban on the starbord side.

.

Smoking was also permitted in the casino.

 

 

We did notice smoking in a lot of other areas whether permitted or not and the smell of smoking could be detected in hallways and many other areas of tje ship

 

This may not be a problem at all for some, but was definitely a problem for my wife.

 

I am starting to wonder if the smoke drift problem is something to do with the ship itself...design/size wise.

 

Costa Allegra is tiny by comparison to Fortuna, she is older too and thus probably more traditionally designed in her internal spaces. Anyway one of the main meeting points on Allegra, and pretty much a throughway when wandering from one end of the ship to the other, is the Murano bar. One side is smoking, one is non-smoking. The bar is the full width of the ship and has a horseshoe shaped bar in the middle, with a small dancefloor on the non smoking side.

 

In the fortnight I was aboard her in 2008 I did not smell or see smoke once in that bar, despite there being several smokers on their side of the room. There was absolutely no smoke drift either across the room or into the public spaces outside each end.

 

Whatever they use as extraction for the bar area is excellent as even in the casino at the stern, there is no smoke drift outside of the room whatsoever.

 

Manybe in the desire to get as many people onto ships as they can, CCL have had Antonio Farcas cut a few corners in relation to how smoking is handled, I don't know, but whatever it is, the smaller/older ships definitely appear to be able to keep smoke from drifting everywhere around the ship.

[lalocajub]

Well, it all depends on what you want to get in a cruise...italians are that way: noisy, but in a lot of aspects they are a lot of fun...I loved my travel in the Costa, and will love to do it again.

[Niche79]

I just got back today from our Fortuna cruise and though we had no fights in the place, the service was very sub par! We were put on there due to the travel agents screw up and was supposed to be on HA instead. Well, I can tell ya the food was boring and always the same, they never would clean the tables up outside for an hour at a time or more....and getting drink refills at dinner was a nightmare. The only good thing we really enjoyed on board was the performances, they were actually good but like so many others, we will never ever do Costa again unless its free. RCL beats them in 90 percent of the overall cruise experience!

[guxu]

As for the tables outside, I am assuming it was referring to the tables outside of the buffet restaurant. I never used those tables since I do not smoke. So I cannot comment on that. But inside the buffet restaurant, they did work hard cleaning up tables.

 

The food was boring, maybe. But I am not sure if they were always the same. The buffet line outside serves hamburger only. So I guess it must be the same for the whole week. There were three buffet lines inside, and they did change food every day. Actually, all three lines were not exactly identical either.

 

I never used buffet for dinner. Yes, I did experience the refill problem in dinning room in the first several nights. And we waited long long time during the first dinner. But somehow our waiter improved in the rest of the week.

 

I believe the whole menu was posted here. You can see the dishes changed every night, unless you only checked the 1st page, which was "always available". Or, maybe the "always the same" means the dishes all taste the same. While I do not cook, I would imagine it is very hard to make crab legs and chicken breast taste the same. :p

[Gloria_mz]

guxu....I totally agree with you!! We never used the buffet at dinner but did go there afew times for breakfast (until we started eating in the D.R.)....Never sat outside with the smokers either. But the food was really good in the Dining Room! Always seemed to be a wide variety and we tried lots of different things. My husband loved the steak and shrimp they served!! :D

[Niche79]

Yes, these were the tables outside on the upper and lower decks. I have pics of it, ALWAYS full of plates and cups, so bad so that they few at my gf and spilled someone elses old drinks all over my gf! :mad: The lunch and breakfast bars were ALWAYS the same from day to day, how boring and bland is that? I have pics of all of the stuff to prove what I am talking about. And heres another thing, why the heck did they drain the pools at around 10:30 as well as the hot tubs???!! Are you kidding me!?? I wanted to go out and relax at night and could not do it, we were very upset about that! And dont get me started on the slide....only open from 10am till 12 noon and then 2pm to 5pm....and only open on certain days!!! whats the point of even having a slide! For the first 2 days you couldnt even get on the slide....yet the Carnival boat was next to us in port on the first day and they let their people on the slide the whole time while we waited!

 

Overall Im sure this cruise could have been a whole lot worse but I am only comparing to the excellence of RCL. We can tell you we wont ever ever do any Costa again and we fully filled out the questionare at the end of the week stating all of the problems that they had. Yah it was a dirt cheap cruise but we get what we pay for!!!

 

And dont even let me start on how everywhere I go people were talking about how bad they thought it was without me even saying anything and just listening...heard one guy at breakfast dropping the "F" bomb left and right to his friend on the cell phone complaining! I thought that was a bit much but its his opinion. We will gladly pay a bit more from now on to go on RCL and never let our cruise agent slip us on the Costa again! :mad:

[Cruisin D]

I cruised on the Costa Mediterranea in September, it was my first time with Costa and didn't find anything to complain about. I've cruised over a dozen times with other cruiselines and was always satisfied with my experiences. I'm cruising again with Costa in April to the far east on a smaller ship, the Romantica, and am looking forward to it. I guess you have to have an open mind when travelling, be it cruising or anything else. I think my philosophy for travelling is that those of us who are able to travel should be grateful that we can do so and stop complaining for all the little things that might go wrong, after all isn't vacationing ment for relaxing so why stress out!!!! Just go with the flow:)

 

Hi Carol1

 

We where on the Costa Mediterranea in September 09 also. It was also our first time wilth Costa and we had the best time. We are sailing on the Costa Deliziosa in September this year. CAN"T WAIT:D

[hpreece]

And heres another thing, why the heck did they drain the pools at around 10:30 as well as the hot tubs???!! Are you kidding me!?? I wanted to go out and relax at night and could not do it, we were very upset about that! And dont get me started on the slide....only open from 10am till 12 noon and then 2pm to 5pm....and only open on certain days!!! :mad:

 

I was thinking the same thing. One time they turned the jets off on us just minutes after we got in the hot tub!

The questionaires is what was on everyonese mind by the last day. The questionaire box was so full, that it couldn't hold anymore.

Definately got what we paid for...and like I said before, a total waste of aire fare.

[EJKorvette]

I realize that this thread is long gone, but I enjoyed reading it. If the cranky posters were sincere and not trolls or shills, any credibility they might have had was ruined by the atrocious grammar and spelling. I realize spelling only counts if you are being graded or paid, but it isn't hard to push the F7 key (on your PC) and check the spelling.

 

Also if they were sincere they are being the typical xenophobic "Ugly American" that makes it rough for the rest of us who are open-minded and easy-going, especially when on a supposed vacation.

 

EJKorvette on the boards

[Capricruiser]

You should have just let this thread die a natural death. You'll note that it was started by a poster who's never been heard from since - the classic "one post wonder" but unfortunately not the only one on these forums.

[sidari]

Costa does appear to have its ups and downs, and having read the reviews available for our next cruise on the Deliziosa it would appear that people either love or hate Costa with little or no inbetween.

 

With regard to rudeness i guess that if you are rude to the staff then they in turn will be rude to you! regardless of which line you cruise with.

 

We have found that a smile from you can sometimes stop any ill feelings from the staff right from the start and does not hurt.

 

Also there are some people who are never happy no matter what is done for them.

[G.M.T.]

I realize that this thread is long gone, but I enjoyed reading it. If the cranky posters were sincere and not trolls or shills, any credibility they might have had was ruined by the atrocious grammar and spelling. I realize spelling only counts if you are being graded or paid, but it isn't hard to push the F7 key (on your PC) and check the spelling.

 

Also if they were sincere they are being the typical xenophobic "Ugly American" that makes it rough for the rest of us who are open-minded and easy-going, especially when on a supposed vacation.

 

EJKorvette on the boards

Open minded! Really.

 

CC is a world wide cruise forum, so not every CC member has English as their mother-tonque - how many foreign languages do you speak??? If someone is using say an Italian language operating system adn keyboard how would using F7 be helpful in checking English spelling. As you may know there is even differences in spelling between UK English and American English, i.e humour /humor, colour / color etc etc.

 

As a fairly new member have you read the Community FAQ, if not:

 

Spelling & Grammar Errors

 

It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes at one time or another, and that there are many users who use English as a second language, especially on our Cruise Boards. There are also a number of people who suffer from learning disabilities and who have difficulty noticing their spelling mistakes. Do not make comments on the spelling and grammar of other users. It is simply not a productive expenditure of energies.

 

Ron

[EJKorvette]

I think I mentioned somewhere (if I didn't then it was another post) that spelling only counts when you are being graded on it, or being paid for it. But I understand your point also.

 

EJKorvette on the boards

[sandymon]

Just trying to get my post numbers up in case I ever need to say something negative.:) I wonder what the magic number is?