Is Costa that much worse than Carnival

[TNCruzer56]

We`re looking at a Venice/Greek Isles cruz on a couple of Costa ships and the reviews are kinda spooky.

Any experience out there that have done both? TIA

[tango55]

try princess 12 day cruises.a couple days in rome and you need to stay and see venice.did a oct. trip

[Tapi]

Costa has become, in many ways, a European version of Carnival (in terms of ship design, decor and budget minded approach). Long gone are the days of it being a truly Italian cruise line. But many of the negative reviews that you read are not fueled by what they actually offer, but by cruisers who simply are not used to cruise lines that don't cater heavily to Americans. The experience can be disappointing for them, but it can be absolutely wonderful for those who understand the differences and embrace the cultural diversity that they will encounter.

 

If you're someone who would feel uncomfortable in something even slightly different, then I recommend that you look somewhere else.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Tapi

[G.M.T.]

Costa has become, in many ways, a European version of Carnival (in terms of ship design, decor and budget minded approach). Long gone are the days of it being a truly Italian cruise line. But many of the negative reviews that you read are not fueled by what they actually offer, but by cruisers who simply are not used to cruise lines that don't cater heavily to Americans. The experience can be disappointing for them, but it can be absolutely wonderful for those who understand the differences and embrace the cultural diversity that they will encounter.

 

If you're someone who would feel uncomfortable in something even slightly different, then I recommend that you look somewhere else.

 

Agree 100%.

[lisiamc]

We've cruised twice with Costa, and would do so again. Their ships are a bit on the glitzy side, but the public space is very well used. The cabins on the Pacifica and Serena, the two we tried, were very big by cruise ship standards. Their entertainment was top-notch, and the number of live music acts in the various bars and venues was impressive too.

 

We really liked the food, although I've seen in reviews that some others do not. They do a pasta course with lunch and dinner, and the meat course tends to feature roasted and slow-cooked dishes, and grilled fish. If steak and baked potato is a favourite meal, you could be disappointed. The drinks package was an incredible bargain. In 2013 it was €19.50 per person, per day, and included bottled water and fancy coffee as well as beer, wine and cocktails. The selection of wine on the package was not extensive, but it was very drinkable.

 

As English speakers, we were far in the minority on both cruises. All of the announcements were in Italian, French, German, Spanish and English, which meant that they took a fair amount of time. There was an English-speaking hostess on both cruises, who had time available every day to help those with questions. We found that most of the crew spoke English, and were very helpful and friendly, especially the cocktail waiters.

 

If you find a good price and a good itinerary, give Costa a try, and go with an open mind. It probably won't be like any other cruise you've been on, but we really enjoyed it.

[John Bull]

Yep, Tapi has got it in one.

 

Excessive bad reviews are from Americans (& Brits etc) expecting a US (or Brit) experience. Gripes include slow (or "relaxed", depending on your outlook)service, lots of little courses and too much pasta at dinner, more-reserved staff, no included coffee served with meals, more liberal smoking regulation.

 

Also (surprise surprise :rolleyes:) they find a high proportion of Italian & European passengers, and announcements etc in several languages (to some extent the same on many US ships on Med itineraries).

Italians have yet to learn the art of forming a line & waiting their turn.;)

 

Beware times in port on Costa - often lots of half-days.

 

Have an open mind and go-with-the-flow.

Or give Costa a miss.

 

JB :)

[SuiteTraveler]

Have you considered the NCL Jade? That's a great ship for this itinerary.

[Hlitner]

One thing we have learned, having cruised with 14 cruise lines, is to be very careful with comparisons. In many cases it is not so much about a particular line as it is about a specific ship, itinerary, length or cruise, etc. When it comes to Costa and some of their port intensive cruises we would have few issues with the line. However (and this is the biggie) we have a major problem with some of the itineraries of both Costa and MSC (and sometimes even Norwegian) when it comes to the Med. So make sure you look beyond the attractive sounding ports to the times and days of the week in each port. Going to a place like Cannes can be a wonderful experience. But going to Cannes from 9 - 3 would be nothing but frustration for many passengers.

 

So we repeat, we think the first thing any prospective Med (or elsewhere) cruiser should analyze is the detailed port schedule. Too many lines have shortened port times to allow them to slow down their ships to save fuel and give them more hours away from ports to maximize onboard revenue. In the Med, a few more hours in a port can have a huge impact on what you can do and accomplish ashore.

 

Hank

Edited July 18, 2015 by Hlitner

[TNCruzer56]

One thing we have learned, having cruised with 14 cruise lines, is to be very careful with comparisons. In many cases it is not so much about a particular line as it is about a specific ship, itinerary, length or cruise, etc. When it comes to Costa and some of their port intensive cruises we would have few issues with the line. However (and this is the biggie) we have a major problem with some of the itineraries of both Costa and MSC (and sometimes even Norwegian) when it comes to the Med. So make sure you look beyond the attractive sounding ports to the times and days of the week in each port. Going to a place like Cannes can be a wonderful experience. But going to Cannes from 9 - 3 would be nothing but frustration for many passengers.

 

So we repeat, we think the first thing any prospective Med (or elsewhere) cruiser should analyze is the detailed port schedule. Too many lines have shortened port times to allow them to slow down their ships to save fuel and give them more hours away from ports to maximize onboard revenue. In the Med, a few more hours in a port can have a huge impact on what you can do and accomplish ashore.

 

Hank

Perhaps one of the best answers I`ve ever received-THANKS for all the responses -Yes I did notice some of the short port times like Santorini-which I also believe is a tender port

 

I wish the admin would leave this here, as more and more CCL cruzers are spreading their wings, once they been to every island in the Caribe...twice!

Edited July 18, 2015 by TNCruzer56

[TNCruzer56]

Have you considered the NCL Jade? That's a great ship for this itinerary.

Thanks-Yes but all the balcs are gty-which we`re not fond of.

[Hlitner]

Perhaps one of the best answers I`ve ever received-THANKS for all the responses -Yes I did notice some of the short port times like Santorini-which I also believe is a tender port

 

I wish the admin would leave this here, as more and more CCL cruzers are spreading their wings, once they been to every island in the Caribe...twice!

 

We recently responded to a post where somebody on a MSC Cruise (I think it was the Divina) asked how to see the Amalfi Coast in 5 hours (all the time they had with a short Naples port call). We (and others) had to tell them they could reasonably do this in the time allotted. These folks were obviously disappointed but explained that they booked the MSC cruise because it was a "good deal." My thought was that they saved some money on their cruise booking, but were now finding out that they could not see several of the sites they had planned. I suspect they now regretted jumping at that "good deal."

 

Hank

[Talisker92]

-Yes I did notice some of the short port times like Santorini-which I also believe is a tender port

Aside from Santorini being a tender port, which slows things down, the cable cars can move around 700 people an hour, in one direction. There are 6 cars per train and each car can hold 6 people, so that's 36 people per train. Then a single journey takes about 3 minutes, maybe a bit less: that's 20 journeys an hour, maybe one or two more. So 36 x 20 = 720 people in an hour.

If you are on a ship with 2000 passengers, that means 3 hours up and 3 hours down.

[Velvetwater]

We were always attracted to Costa for an Italian cruise experience with a Carnival spirit class ship (our fave). We were very close to booking the Mediterranea (sp?) for a 7 night cruise out of Venice for £399 ($600) pp.

 

 

Then I read about the only assigned dining, tips being mandatory (even if you had a genuine complaint), no free soft drinks, limited food options and many problems with the customer service desk I stopped.

 

Now maybe that was a mistake but unless its a steal I have decided Costa is not for me for now. Its a shame as I enjoy Italy and I sort of like the briskness of Italian hospitality.

[barante]

I think posters on this thread -- you know who you are -- have posted some of the most level-headed advice. Everything is relative, and you need to study.

 

Our only experience with Costa was a month on the Victoria in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia four years ago. We had a depressing inside cabin, but that's for us being cheap charlie. And let me tell you, this cruise was cheap because it occurred just after the Costa ship sank off Italy.

 

We subsequently took a trans-Atlantic on the MSC Poesia and a Baltic follow-up on another MSC ship. The bottom line assessment is that I much prefer American-formatted cruises to Costa or MSC. But that's me. I don't want to haggle about getting water with my meals (as North Americans, we had vouchers on MSC; others had to buy it). And consider this: It was impossible to get coffee in the dining room during dinner. If you wanted some, you had to go to a bar and buy the java.

 

But I have to give this to Costa. The Saigon tour they offered was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We had a lunch, with folkloric entertainment in a restored Art Deco hotel's restaurant overlooking the Saigon river. It was Graham Greene stuff. And the young Vietnamese guide had an iPad. When he explained downtown Saigon, he culled pictures from the American G.I. times. It was terrific. We even saw a North Vietnamese water dragon show.

 

We are equal-opportunity cruisers and go by the itinerary and price. In recent times we have have heavily patronized RCL because the Grandeur sails from Baltimore. But the prices for tired itineraries in an old (but nice) ship are no longer competitive and we will take future cruises on RCL and Celebrity from FLL.

 

However, Carnival is the one line that I really like. It isn't luxury but it's pretty darn good for my money. Spacious cabins in every category; our fave is 4K, the obstructed OV with french doors opening but blocked by lifeboats that are sold as insides. An excellent category. It's like a nice hotel room really; you keep the drapes closed unless you want some natural light (little) or air. But if interested, study deck plans to determine the use underneath. Sometimes loud lounge music may penetrate.

 

To sum up, I thank members for a nice discussion.

Edited July 19, 2015 by barante

[John Bull]

Aside from Santorini being a tender port, which slows things down, the cable cars can move around 700 people an hour, in one direction. There are 6 cars per train and each car can hold 6 people, so that's 36 people per train. Then a single journey takes about 3 minutes, maybe a bit less: that's 20 journeys an hour, maybe one or two more. So 36 x 20 = 720 people in an hour.

If you are on a ship with 2000 passengers, that means 3 hours up and 3 hours down.

 

Your 700 per hour isn't far out, the cable car's own site quotes 600 ph in each direction :)

 

But then your calculations all unravel :p

 

Those on ship's tours are tendered to the ferry harbour further down the coast, so don't have to negotiate the cliff. At a very vague guess that removes from the demand 400 to 500 of those 2000?

Those taking the "speedboat" to Oia don't ascend that cliff either. Got to be about 200 of them.

Leaving mebbe 1300 - 1400 to ascend the cliff. I'd guess around 200 per hour of them go up by donkey or down on foot. And about 600 per hour by cable car.

So a couple of hours at worst from the first to the last. :)

 

But then there's the effects of other ships on the same day. They do tend to stagger their arrivals & departures pretty well, but if another of similar size arrives/leaves at a similar time it can double the demand. :(

 

JB :)

[OCruisers]

No way Costa is worst than Carnival!

 

LuLu

[lisiamc]

Your 700 per hour isn't far out, the cable car's own site quotes 600 ph in each direction :)

 

But then your calculations all unravel :p

 

Those on ship's tours are tendered to the ferry harbour further down the coast, so don't have to negotiate the cliff. At a very vague guess that removes from the demand 400 to 500 of those 2000?

Those taking the "speedboat" to Oia don't ascend that cliff either. Got to be about 200 of them.

Leaving mebbe 1300 - 1400 to ascend the cliff. I'd guess around 200 per hour of them go up by donkey or down on foot. And about 600 per hour by cable car.

So a couple of hours at worst from the first to the last. :)

 

But then there's the effects of other ships on the same day. They do tend to stagger their arrivals & departures pretty well, but if another of similar size arrives/leaves at a similar time it can double the demand. :(

 

JB :)

 

And you have outliers like us messing up the calculations. :p We dodged the donkeys and walked UP the steps and took the cable car down. Taking the cable car down is often less crowded because people return to the ship at different times. People who wait until fairly late can find a crowd there too, however.

[John Bull]

We dodged the donkeys and walked UP the steps and took the cable car down. .

 

Hi Lisiamac,

 

My calculations didn't include you.

Since the figures are only vague I didn't worry about the occasional loony-tune that walks up :D

 

How long did it it take you?

Did you need oxygen?

Why didn't anyone take pity & lend you 5 euros? :p

 

JB :)

[lisiamc]

Hi Lisiamac,

 

My calculations didn't include you.

Since the figures are only vague I didn't worry about the occasional loony-tune that walks up :D

 

How long did it it take you?

Did you need oxygen?

Why didn't anyone take pity & lend you 5 euros? :p

 

JB :)

 

It was October, so it didn't prove fatal. I remember it taking about 40 minutes. We had some banter with the donkey riders, and one of the wranglers kindly offered us a bit of donkey poo as a souvenir. :D

[G.M.T.]

Aside from Santorini being a tender port, which slows things down, the cable cars can move around 700 people an hour, in one direction. There are 6 cars per train and each car can hold 6 people, so that's 36 people per train. Then a single journey takes about 3 minutes, maybe a bit less: that's 20 journeys an hour, maybe one or two more. So 36 x 20 = 720 people in an hour.

If you are on a ship with 2000 passengers, that means 3 hours up and 3 hours down.

No way.

 

First not every passenger will go ashore, those passengers who have booked ship excursions are tended earlier at another Santorini port, passengers can some and go as they please. The cable car is not the on way up or down, there are the donkeys and using your own feet.