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costa newbie

dark star

By dark star,
in Costa Cruises

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dark star

dark star

Posted
Posted

hi all. just booked our first costa cruise, 27th january pacifica out of barcelona.we're not new cruisers just new to costa.

 

i know about the drinks packages thanks to this board. what i would like to know is what's the food and entertainment like, or are we going to be in for some early nights through boredom?

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AnonymousCruiser69

AnonymousCruiser69

Posted
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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.

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AnonymousCruiser69

AnonymousCruiser69

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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.

Edited by AnonymousCruiser69
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dark star

dark star

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when we're in marsailles we are meeting some friends who live in france. my friend likes good scotch whiskey, and i'd like to buy him a bottle.

would it be possible for me to buy it at duty free either at lgw or on the ship and then take it off in marsailles?

WE'RE BUYING THE DRINKS PACKAGE SO NO NEED TO SMUGGLE ECT.

do you think this would be possible?

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AnonymousCruiser69

AnonymousCruiser69

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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.

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AquamarineBreeze

AquamarineBreeze

Posted
Posted

I went on my first Costa cruise this past summer. I admit I'm an Ncl fan, but Costa did a good job. The food was just ok IMO. Nothing to write home about. Dinner took a loooong time (of course I was on in the middle of summer and the ship was packed). Entertainment was pretty comparable to Ncl but they didn't have a final show on the last night. After the show lots of lounges and dancing. Things were very lively.

 

Enjoy :)

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Salve

Salve

Posted
Posted (edited)
another question what sockets do they have in the cabins?110/220 ? round pin or flat?

 

One of each above the desk. A couple more 220 in the cabin. Also, a shaver 110 in the bathroom.

 

Round 220, flat 110

Edited by Salve
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kfowinst

kfowinst

Posted
Posted (edited)

I thought the food on Luminosa was good- you can check out my Barcelona cruise report for details if you haven't already. I mentioned a few dishes and cocktails I enjoyed. I would say 80% of food was very good.

 

However food portions are tiny in the restaurant. This was not a problem for me as there were 7 courses to enjoy. Some people we met doubled up on dishes because the portions were too small.

 

We were not bored. People tended to stay up late. We enjoyed a buzzy atmosphere. The disco starts at 12! The theatre shows are quite basic and 40 minutes long, due to all the languages I think, but still entertaining.

 

We spoke to lots of English speakers in bars and had a good time. I think when you're in a minority, people will speak to each other more! We enjoyed the casino and watching people dance to live music (rhumba etc).

 

I would recommend samsara spa for a real treat!

Edited by kfowinst
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phider

phider

Posted
Posted
thanks for the information. seven courses for dinner??? thats a lot

 

Its not really 7 courses. Its starter, main and dessert. The menu does however make it possible to get to 7 courses. For example, there is a soup and pasta option, so you could go starter, soup, pasta dish, main, cheese plate, desert.

 

We have always just stuck to starter, main and dessert, and never went from the table hungry, but exactly how you are supposed to feal after dinner.

 

Personally, I dont see why people think the dishes are small... but if you really do believe so, youll have all the opportunities to stuff your head until it explodes.

 

Philip

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kfowinst

kfowinst

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I didn't eat the full 7 courses, like Philip said there is a soup course, salad and cheese plate. I usually skipped these, but the choice is yours what to eat which is nice. There were usually 3 or 4 choices for starter main desert and then a menu of 'always available' items.

 

I liked the food and would describe it as italian with a European twist. I don't know which ship you are sailing on, but I was on the Luminosa and would make the following observations about food....

 

- the pasta dishes are usually very good in the restaurant, quite good in the buffet. I loved their lamb ragout pasta

 

- there are very few dining options compared to other lines, but the choice of dishes is good

 

- the buffet serves a lot of meat and fish selections every lunch time. We had some fillets that were better than what was served at dinner. However the carvary meat was never very good - quite fatty, but maybe we were unlucky!

 

- the dinner portions are small. Maybe not the pasta and soup, but the meat servings are very small compared to what say, you get on US cruise lines (according to my mum who is a seasoned cruiser)

 

- the cuts of meat served at dinner do not include fancier cuts, such as beef rib, prime steak etc. there is no steak available on the 'always available' menu. We enjoyed duck, roast beef, veal. There was fish available too.

 

- the deserts were very good at dinner, they were ok in the buffet. We noticed only cold deserts were served in both venues.

 

- the appetisers (starters) were always good, but small. We had things like seafood salad with baby quid and muscles, prawns. A Gorgonzola and spinach pastry pie with tomato sauce. Mango lime and prawn Eastern inspired noodle salad. There is no escargot, scallops etc which you might find on a Celebrity and RCL.

 

- there are some ubiquitous food items many people enjoy such as burgers, hot dogs and pizza available at the buffet until Late afternoon. There should be something to suit everyone's tastes.

 

- a pizzeria opens up in the late evening (around 9) there is little choice of toppings (menu changes daily) but the made to order pizzas were better than the buffet slices.

 

If your ship is anything like the Luminosa, I don't think you will be disappointed with the food if you have the right level of expectations going in. Don't expect the most expensive cuts of meat and lobster and you'll enjoy it. If you don't, enjoy the drinks package instead because the cocktails are awesome!

 

Have fun! :)

Edited by kfowinst
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dark star

dark star

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thank you for the information. we're on the pacifica, doing a western med loop out of barcelona.

will book drinks package when on board. glad to see cocktails are good as we're quite partial to a couple of cocktails before dinner.

food is quite subjective and as i used to live in italy, i'm sort of keen to try costa's twist on it.

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