Just off Magica 12/16 sailing, bottom line, nightmare!!

[cruisedave]

I will write more later but I have to say, I've read these boards for sometime now and I always see people getting upset when people complain about a bad cuirse. I too thought it was better to be on a bad cruise then to be at work. What I experienced this weekend, it's safe to say not only will I ever sail Costa again, I'm not sure if I'll ever put a client on there. It was that bad!! Let's just say if no one got hurt today getting off the ship, Costa should thank their lucky stars. That's how chaotic it was!!

 

I'll write more about my experiences later......

[amoreakitas]

:eek: Oh No! We are going next month for 1st time cruisers on the Magica. When you get a chance please share with me. I need all the heads up as I have never done any cruising before. Sounds like I will need to pay much attention.

Thanks.....Maureen

[cruisedave]

First off, let me say I've been on probably 30-35 cruises, I really don't know the exact number for sure. I also own an agency so I try to keep an open mind for all ships and cruise lines. I also am very laid back and it takes a lot to get me angry. I too would also say just be happy your on vacation and just roll with the punches. Well I rolled with so many on here that I got knocked out and I had to fight back.

 

Since I never sailed Costa before, I thought this short 3 night cruise would be a good time to give it a try. I will go through the good and the bad. It was mostly bad but there was some good.

 

Embarkation: My last cruise was on the Mariner of the Seas and my wife and I got on the ship in no more than 10 minutets, very easy. This was not the case here. As bad as it was getting off the ship today, getting on was another unorganized mess. If you are a U.S. citizen and you were on this cruise, you got on probably in a half hour or so from the line I saw. I am a U.S. citizen but my wife is not, therefore Costa had a special check in for them. Here was big problem number one!!! They had probably close to 20 - 30 people checking in the U.S. and Canadian citizens but only two people checking in non citizens. It was ridiculous. While the citizens were breezing right on, until it got more crowded, the non-citizens had to wait in a line that took us an hour and a half. I couldn't understand why they only had two people doing this. They could have easily got more people to help the line go faster. When I asked a rep at the pier what the deal was, she told me and I quote, "there must have been a bus that just got here because the line before was not long". Yea, like there is a special bus that non U.S. citizens arrived on. I was looking around for Alan Funt because there had to be a hidden camera somewhere. Finally after we got through that mess, you proceed to wait in another line. Costa has mastered the art of creating more lines than one can take. Bottom line, it took us about two hours to get on the ship, just not acceptable.

 

Our Cabin: This was big issue number two. On the first night, we kept on hearing this noise every 20 to 30 seconds but my wife and I couldn't figure out what it was. Finally the noise came to me and it was a toilet flushing over and over again. This was going on non-stop time and time again, some time in rapid fire. I called the Pursers desk to tell them I need to switch cabins because there was no way we could sleep through all the noise. I was told someone would come to our room to listen and to see what they could do. A half hour passed, no one showed up. I call again and about 20 min later, two men come in and I tell them to take a seat and wait for the show. No more than a minute later, they hear the noise with us and tell us to stay in the room and someone would call us. I asked what are we going to do and he insisted that someone would call. This whole ordeal started around 10:30 p.m. and it was now 12:30 and they never called us back. It was then I decided it was time to go down to the Pursers desk to really go nuts. First let me say I was told that I couldn't change my cabin because the ship was sold out. Like I said, I am in the business, I knew this sailing had very good availability up until sailing and I did not believe what they were telling me for a second. I finally got fed up and I told the purser he had two choices, either he finds us another cabin or Costa was going to refund my money and fly me home from Freeport. Well, at 1:30 a.m. Magic happened on the Costa Magica and an empty cabin finally appreard on a sold out sailing. After that trick, I was waiting for the purser to levitate the pursurs desk. What really made me angry is that the whole ordeal could have been avoided hours before if they just would have changed my cabin after the two guys from Costa heard the noise. The fact that the came to my cabin and then just never called back was unreal to me. They could never give me a good reason why they didn't just change my room earlier and made me go through total hell for almost three hours. At one point, the purser even got a little rude with me and asked me if they shold just kick someone out of their cabin so I could get one. I didn't believe the ship was sold out for a second and I was right!!!

 

The Ship/Food: The ship itself is very nice. I have nothing bad to say about that. The food to me was also pretty good. The only negative I have is regarding the buffet. If you like deserts, then you will be very dissapointed in the buffet because they basically only offer ice cream and one or two choices of cake. Oh-yea, Bill Cosby would have been thirlled because they always had jello, however the jello wasn't moving off the shelves too fast. The Pizza was increbible and I must give them credit for that.

 

Disembarkation: When I thought it couldn't get worse than getting on, getting off was nothing I've ever experienced in all my cruises. It was a mob scene basically. When I got off the ship at 10:45 a.m. I would say more than half of the ship was still on there. The system they had was a disgrace. They has one exit and two guys punching guests out one by one. There was no structure what so ever. People were pushing and shoving to get out and I just hope no one got hurt. I can't even describe it. Perhaps others who were there can describe what is was like. People were so angry, taking pictures, yelling at staff as they got off the ship. It was as if they never disembarked a ship before. I felt bad for all the older people that had to endure that. I have already put in calls to Costa executives and they will hear it from me.

 

I'm sure I'll get responses from people who think I have it in for Costa or that how could I go on a cruise and complain. Well, like I said, I used to think the same thing when reading reviews but what I went through today getting off the ship was the icing on the cake. I hope that the poeple who are booked on future Costa cruises does not have to endure what we went through. Myself, I wouldn't go on Costa again if they offered me a free cruise.

 

Please feel free to ask questions if you have any.

[mafig]

Your cruise review was interesting, to say the least. I am booked onCaribbean Princess but was looking at Costa Magica's cruise to Bermuda because of the more interesting itinerary. Costa is still more expensive, and when we booked this cruise, we thought it was just a filler between cruises. However, if the Costa cruise comes down in price we would consider it because of Bermuda (even if only for a day).

 

Here's my question. You are a travel agent with many cruises under your belt. How long was this cruise???? I ask because my last cruise was on the Norwegian Jewel and both my DH and I had a wonderful time. Cruise reviews were generally excellent. I say generally because those that WERE NOT were those that were less than 7 days. Do you think that may be the reason. I am asking you as a Travel Agent who is an experienced cruiser, do you think that some of your problems may have stemmed from a shortened cruise?

 

 

PS - I just re-read your review. I remember Mariner of the Seas. Could not believe how quickly we got on board. Fantastic!@

 

My TA went on Norwegian Jewel and experienced some problems, but she knew they would be handled when the ship had settled into its seven-day cruise. I also remember, the RCI ship, Radiance of the Seas, had a horrible TA cruise; and look at her now, she is considered one of the finest ships at seas.

 

I guess my point/question is, have you been on other first time cruises? Are these problems so severe that they will put people off their first Costa cruise? Have you cruised Costa before?

 

Let us know,please. :)

[cruisedave]

I remembered something else I didn't get. With other cruise lines, when you check in, you do everything and that includes setting up your charge account. On Costa, as I mentioned before, they mastered the art of creating line after line. You don't create your onboard account when you check in, that makes too much sense. On Costa, you have to do it on the ship and wait in another line to set up your acct. I can't understand why they don't streamline the process and why they make people wait in another line.

 

If anything else comes to mind, I will post it but my wife reminded me of this.

[cruisedave]

I will answer your questions. This was a three night cruise and it was a regular cruise, it wasn't a free cruise for travel agents to experience the ship. We paid just like everyone else.

 

I don't think it should have made a difference that is was a three night cruise, the things that happened were inexcusable. Also, this was not the first cruise for this ship, it was the first cruise here in the U.S. It has been sailing in Europe since 12/04 I believe.

 

I have been on other cruises like this and never been through anything close. I even spoke to the manager of reservations today who was also on this sailing and he agreed with everything I told him. I was glad to hear they had some executives on there becuase he said they saw everything that happened and was in shock themselves. Like I said, this was my first Costa cruise and after today, I don't think I will be on another one.

[mafig]

I remembered something else I didn't get. With other cruise lines, when you check in, you do everything and that includes setting up your charge account. On Costa, as I mentioned before, they mastered the art of creating line after line. You don't create your onboard account when you check in, that makes too much sense. On Costa, you have to do it on the ship and wait in another line to set up your acct. I can't understand why they don't streamline the process and why they make people wait in another line.

 

If anything else comes to mind, I will post it but my wife reminded me of this.

 

I do alot of research before booking a cruise, especially with a new cruiseline. That said, I know that Costa does some things differently, one of which is opening your account after you are onboard the ship. Jeepers, I'm not a travel agent--I've only researched Costa for a few weeks--I know this. :rolleyes:

[cruisedave]

I heard of this too but I thought I would mention it for those who might not be aware of this. :rolleyes:

[mafig]

Thank you for your review.

[mikensuenfl]

Maureen, those of us who have cruised before found this cruise very bad. However, all the first time cruisers I spoke with enjoyed it very much. When you have nothing to compare it to, it is good. Suggestions - in the dining room, try to get a table in the middle of the room (service seems to be better there), also be very very careful around pools areas - very slippery. You will enjoy the cruise, just be prepared for a delay getting off the ship, don't book a flight too early. And if you can get to the dock early, getting on is easier before the crowds show up. We had no delay boarding.

[Tern]

My friend and I saw the long line for giving your credit card and decided not to wait in it. We gave our card numbers three days later. I'm a bit confused. Why did everyone feel the need to stand on line to provide the credit card number right away?

[mikensuenfl]

Just want to tell you about empty cabins. We rode an elevator with a couple moving on Saturday. They had a cabin on 6 with bunk beds for kids. Magica managed to find them a new cabin. He had slept on the floor the night before.

[mikensuenfl]

Interesting. Costa, of course, has been around for years and isn't new, but most of us trying to get our onboard credits set up had no idea it was set up like that. In fact, no one mentioned what you've just told us. Fortunately, the credit lines moved quite quickly when we were in them.

[CrusinGroupie]

Thanks for the review. What I am discovering is that it seems that reviews on Costa as well as those on other cruise lines vary from one sailing to the next with little if any consistancy.

 

I sailed the Mediterranea on and Eastern Caribbean 7 day Dec 4th sailing and one of the things that was the smoothest was embarkation and debarkation. Getting on the ship took all of 15 minutes and I was there with 206 passengers in my group. Debarkation was very speedy. We had everyone off the ship, through customs, bags claimed, and the charter busses loaded and on the road in less than 30 minutes. And that included one passenger who we had to wait on because he was having a problem locating oner of his bags.

 

Last December '04, I had a small group of 40 passengers on the Holland America Westerdam, at the same pier in Ft Lauderdale as the Mediterranea this year. It took us almost two hours to board, and 6 of my sneiors who we ordered wheelchair pier assistance for had to waist on a bench while the Holland folks managed to come up with some wheel chairs.

 

This is not to say that I don't like Holland America. It indeed is a favorite among my older passngers, and the Westerdamis lovely.

 

But still, the December 12, 2004 embarkation on the Westerdam was a complete disaster; although the rest of the cruise was lovely.

 

I think embarkation has less to do with the cruise line, than how many people are arriving at the pier at any given time, and how efficent a particular staff is.

 

I plan to sail the Magica to Bermuda in April of '06, and I must say that I have also not taken my last cruise on Holland America.

 

Each cruise experience is different, no matter wehat line you are on. :)

[lvh2260]

We also returned from the 12/16 sailing today. It was my 42nd cruise and I won't be returning to Costa. Embarkation was lengthy and disembarkation was extremely lengthy. We weren't the last to be called off the ship and were not off until 11:30 a.m. Complaints were numerous.

 

I realize that it was the first cruise in the US and an inaugural, but the service left a lot to be desired, along with the food, in the buffet and dining room as well. Although the Magica is similar in layout and deck plans to the Carnival Conquest class ship, the buffet area on the Lido Deck doesn't have the same variety. There's no comparison.

 

I was also to receive an onboard credit, which didn't happen and after providing all the documentation that an onboard credit was due, was still informed that the ship and Costa Cruise Lines were two separate entities and the ship would not honor the on board credit from Costa.

 

As mentioned above, I'm an experienced cruiser and also in outsides sales. I really do try to keep the negatives in perspective as all cruiselines have their pro's and con's. I was on this cruise with my grandson and my co-worker of 23 years. But I felt that I had to keep apologizing for the cruise or explaining that the circumstances were due to an inaugural sailing.

[CrusinGroupie]

lvh2260,

 

Just curious as to how you came to the conclusion that an onboard credit is "due" to you?

 

If you purchased your cruise directly from Costa and they offered you an onboard credit as an incentive, then I would contact Costa and request that your onboard charges be adjusted, or that a credit be issued to your account.

 

If you purchased your cruise from a travel agency, often times the agency will offer their clients the onboard credit. The travel agent generally uses the onboard credit as a gift to their clients, (this is very common when travel agents are selling cabins within a group). Cruise lines offer agents a selection of amenities to keep as bonus commissions for working a more labor intensive group booking. This is done in the form of GAP or Group Amenitiy Points. The agent may use these points for extra commission, group cocktail parties, wine in their clients cabins, drink cards, and most often onboard credits.

 

When the latter is done, the onboard credits are a gift from your agent, and not something that is "due" to the client.

 

Nevertheless, the agent selects the amenities for their client/s, and then the Cruise Line issues them accordingly.

 

If you booked through your travel agent, tell them. If the agent was able to order an onboard credit for you and it was not received, the agent should know, since in an indirect way, they paid for it. You agent may be able to contact their group sales department and request an adjustment on your behalf.

[lvh2260]

Hi Crusingroupie,

 

The OBC was through a special one day promotion that Costa offered on July 7th, 2005 for this sailing. It wasn't through a travel agency. As mentioned earlier, I had all the documentation with me to verify my booking on this date and sales flier offering the OBC. So, yes, I will follow through with a call to Costa as I booked directly through Costa. I did confirm through Costa Cruise Lines reservations that the OBC was applied to my booking. However, after arriving on the ship, I checked with Guest Relations and found the OBC wasn't there.

 

Lu Ann

[CrusinGroupie]

Hi Lu Ann,

 

In that case it appears that the OBC is indeed due to you. Hopefully Costa will sinply credit your accound for the amount of the OBC that you did not receive on the ship.

 

Best of luck to you.

 

Jeanne :)

[demonR6]

Thanks for the review. What I am discovering is that it seems that reviews on Costa as well as those on other cruise lines vary from one sailing to the next with little if any consistancy.

 

I sailed the Mediterranea on and Eastern Caribbean 7 day Dec 4th sailing and one of the things that was the smoothest was embarkation and debarkation. Getting on the ship took all of 15 minutes and I was there with 206 passengers in my group. Debarkation was very speedy. We had everyone off the ship, through customs, bags claimed, and the charter busses loaded and on the road in less than 30 minutes. And that included one passenger who we had to wait on because he was having a problem locating oner of his bags.

 

 

Agreed.. I just got off the Mediterranea this week.. embarkation took no more than fifteen minutes from check in to boarding. Granted there were probably 50 or more agents checking people in but only two lines for security and it was still smooth. I agree that taking the credit card in advance would probably make things flow more smoothly and cause less pain and aggravation but why are some people so hell bent on having to do things right now?! We waited until the fourth day before I took my card to them and there were people that had not checked their cards in until almost the last day. You could practically take the card to them anytime during the cruise. There was no message blaring over the speaker all cruise long saying "You have to bring us your credit card right now or your luggage will be thrown overboard!"

Debarkation was smooth.. everyone had a colored tag on their luggage issued to them and it was clearly noted in the Today as to where and when to meet. Remember that US Customs dictates the pace and determines when and how many passengers to allow through the line, not Costa. Also, try to remember that they have to turn around the ship and have it ready for the next passangers to arrive for the next cruise that day. The entire ship has to be cleared out and cleaned before they next group of passangers arrives and you hanging out in the stateroom lounging about in your underwear will not help matters any for those who have to get the stateroom ready. In most cases they are taking in guests by noon or earlier so they have approximately four hours to get the entire ship ready before the next set of guests come aboard.. people need to realize that. It is no different than a hotel.. then again people seem to think they have the right to lounge about in their hotel room on check out day until noon and then they bitch, whine and moan when they cannot check in before noon. I wonder why? I used to work in the hotel industry and this was common place.. no one appreciates what has to happen to turn over a room in time for the next occupant.. some people don't take any of this into consideration, it is all about them all the time anyways so why bother arguing.

[WeBeGone]

Debarkation was smooth.. everyone had a colored tag on their luggage issued to them and it was clearly noted in the Today as to where and when to meet. Remember that US Customs dictates the pace and determines when and how many passengers to allow through the line, not Costa. Also, try to remember that they have to turn around the ship and have it ready for the next passangers to arrive for the next cruise that day. The entire ship has to be cleared out and cleaned before they next group of passangers arrives and you hanging out in the stateroom lounging about in your underwear will not help matters any for those who have to get the stateroom ready. In most cases they are taking in guests by noon or earlier so they have approximately four hours to get the entire ship ready before the next set of guests come aboard.. people need to realize that. It is no different than a hotel.. then again people seem to think they have the right to lounge about in their hotel room on check out day until noon and then they bitch, whine and moan when they cannot check in before noon. I wonder why? I used to work in the hotel industry and this was common place.. no one appreciates what has to happen to turn over a room in time for the next occupant.. some people don't take any of this into consideration, it is all about them all the time anyways so why bother arguing.

 

In this case of the Magica disembarking almost 3,000 passengers on 12/19, the problem was not with U.S. Customs, nor with people clearing their cabins, but with Costa who, when I finally cleared at noon, had only ONE person scanning the Costa card which lets you off. Getting through customs was a breeze. There was no excuse however for only one person trying to exit 3,000 people through one door with people standing on stairs 4 decks up. Costa is lucky no one was seriously injured or killed in the riot at the door.

[fireofficer5]

We stand on line during a cruise, because thats what we are supposed to do. See a line, you stand on it just in case we think we are missing something.

[CruiseFever]

I hope these concerns get passed along to Costa so they can fix thier problems as they continue to adjust to the American market.

 

Now I feel challenged. I've never had a bad cruise but it sure sounds like this one would give me a run for my money!

 

La fortuna migliore prossimo tempo

[greasemonkeywife]

Saw from your post that you were on USS Constellation - CV 64 (06/86~06/89). My brother was also on that one. Just interesting to see someone else out there on that ship! :cool:

[GOLDENBONNY]

First off, let me say I've been on probably 30-35 cruises, I really don't know the exact number for sure. I also own an agency so I try to keep an open mind for all ships and cruise lines. I also am very laid back and it takes a lot to get me angry. I too would also say just be happy your on vacation and just roll with the punches. Well I rolled with so many on here that I got knocked out and I had to fight back.

 

Since I never sailed Costa before, I thought this short 3 night cruise would be a good time to give it a try. I will go through the good and the bad. It was mostly bad but there was some good.

 

Embarkation: My last cruise was on the Mariner of the Seas and my wife and I got on the ship in no more than 10 minutets, very easy. This was not the case here. As bad as it was getting off the ship today, getting on was another unorganized mess. If you are a U.S. citizen and you were on this cruise, you got on probably in a half hour or so from the line I saw. I am a U.S. citizen but my wife is not, therefore Costa had a special check in for them. Here was big problem number one!!! They had probably close to 20 - 30 people checking in the U.S. and Canadian citizens but only two people checking in non citizens. It was ridiculous. While the citizens were breezing right on, until it got more crowded, the non-citizens had to wait in a line that took us an hour and a half. I couldn't understand why they only had two people doing this. They could have easily got more people to help the line go faster. When I asked a rep at the pier what the deal was, she told me and I quote, "there must have been a bus that just got here because the line before was not long". Yea, like there is a special bus that non U.S. citizens arrived on. I was looking around for Alan Funt because there had to be a hidden camera somewhere. Finally after we got through that mess, you proceed to wait in another line. Costa has mastered the art of creating more lines than one can take. Bottom line, it took us about two hours to get on the ship, just not acceptable.

 

Our Cabin: This was big issue number two. On the first night, we kept on hearing this noise every 20 to 30 seconds but my wife and I couldn't figure out what it was. Finally the noise came to me and it was a toilet flushing over and over again. This was going on non-stop time and time again, some time in rapid fire. I called the Pursers desk to tell them I need to switch cabins because there was no way we could sleep through all the noise. I was told someone would come to our room to listen and to see what they could do. A half hour passed, no one showed up. I call again and about 20 min later, two men come in and I tell them to take a seat and wait for the show. No more than a minute later, they hear the noise with us and tell us to stay in the room and someone would call us. I asked what are we going to do and he insisted that someone would call. This whole ordeal started around 10:30 p.m. and it was now 12:30 and they never called us back. It was then I decided it was time to go down to the Pursers desk to really go nuts. First let me say I was told that I couldn't change my cabin because the ship was sold out. Like I said, I am in the business, I knew this sailing had very good availability up until sailing and I did not believe what they were telling me for a second. I finally got fed up and I told the purser he had two choices, either he finds us another cabin or Costa was going to refund my money and fly me home from Freeport. Well, at 1:30 a.m. Magic happened on the Costa Magica and an empty cabin finally appreard on a sold out sailing. After that trick, I was waiting for the purser to levitate the pursurs desk. What really made me angry is that the whole ordeal could have been avoided hours before if they just would have changed my cabin after the two guys from Costa heard the noise. The fact that the came to my cabin and then just never called back was unreal to me. They could never give me a good reason why they didn't just change my room earlier and made me go through total hell for almost three hours. At one point, the purser even got a little rude with me and asked me if they shold just kick someone out of their cabin so I could get one. I didn't believe the ship was sold out for a second and I was right!!!

 

The Ship/Food: The ship itself is very nice. I have nothing bad to say about that. The food to me was also pretty good. The only negative I have is regarding the buffet. If you like deserts, then you will be very dissapointed in the buffet because they basically only offer ice cream and one or two choices of cake. Oh-yea, Bill Cosby would have been thirlled because they always had jello, however the jello wasn't moving off the shelves too fast. The Pizza was increbible and I must give them credit for that.

 

Disembarkation: When I thought it couldn't get worse than getting on, getting off was nothing I've ever experienced in all my cruises. It was a mob scene basically. When I got off the ship at 10:45 a.m. I would say more than half of the ship was still on there. The system they had was a disgrace. They has one exit and two guys punching guests out one by one. There was no structure what so ever. People were pushing and shoving to get out and I just hope no one got hurt. I can't even describe it. Perhaps others who were there can describe what is was like. People were so angry, taking pictures, yelling at staff as they got off the ship. It was as if they never disembarked a ship before. I felt bad for all the older people that had to endure that. I have already put in calls to Costa executives and they will hear it from me.

 

I'm sure I'll get responses from people who think I have it in for Costa or that how could I go on a cruise and complain. Well, like I said, I used to think the same thing when reading reviews but what I went through today getting off the ship was the icing on the cake. I hope that the poeple who are booked on future Costa cruises does not have to endure what we went through. Myself, I wouldn't go on Costa again if they offered me a free cruise.

 

IS THIS ALL WHAT HAPPEND?HUUUUU I FILL BETTER))JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION ANY CRUISE LINE HAVE 2 LINES FO US CITEZEN AND NOT US.LAST CRUISE ON NCL OUR US FRIENDS COME ON BOARD IN 20 MIN,TOOK US 1.5 HOUR(TOO MANY NON US)WHAT CAN YOU DO?YEAR BEFORE ON COSTA IT WAS OPPOSITE,TOOK US 10 MIN,FOR US CIT. ABOUT 1 HOUR)10:45 OFF SHIP ITS GOOD ITS A BIG SHIP AFTER ALL,IF YOU DONT FLIY,WHATS A RUSH TO GET OFF?

DID YOU GOT CABIN EXCHANGE AFTER ALL?OR THEY FIX PROBLEM?

[cronestein]

I was invited on a -sold out -ship.

Late in the evening they came to beg

me to change cabin for a guest with a problem !

3 stewards cleaned my luxury suite that was changed for an inside..

Horrible,since that episode I never never take an inside.

The next evening I changed cabin again ,my luxury suite was back !

The guest was again in his formal cabin.

Problem solved. (17 daycruise )

 

I think a 3 day cruise is too short to get an impression.

After a week you are settled in and you and 2400 other wishes can be solved.

Embarkation and disemb.. last year with RCl was more a disaster than yours.

I am disabled and they put me on hold for more than 2 hours.

 

With a lot of complaints at last, they --wheelchair -- me to my cabin

It spoiled for a few days all my fun.

Lucky it was a 15 days cruise and my last impression was reasonable.

The HAL was OK

But there where only 15 passengers to board in Fort Lauderdale

 

I believe that F.L boarding makes the mistake.(the building not fit for so

much passengers) I mean the desks etc. old fashioned

Even Cunard was not so smoothly as wanted.

Chapeau for the wheelchairassistence on the airports.'

 

And dont forget it takes an awful lot of time (sometimes misunderstanding ) to --enter-- your country as a non citizen

I believe it is a governementrule after 9-11 and the rules are

as you know necessary So going out takes time too.

We foreigners have learned to live with.

I try to explain why your waiting was exteemly long.

As a TA agent you can tell your clients now that they must have a little patient.

Hurry hurry hurry all over the world (me too)

 

Friday I start with a 20 hour fllight with stopovers to F.L.

And sure I am afraid of a long embarkationline.

When I am back in May I will write a review as well.

Afterall I was on that --changing-- ship as a trouble-shooter !

A very long time ago when I was young and-------------------

flying Dutchwoman

 

*I am not COSTA addicted its my first time since years on that line !