Disappointed with Deliziosa

[CASPALL]

There were a few things on our 7 night cruise from Venice that put a dampener on our cruise

We were cruising with our friends and determined to have a good time anyway.

Our friends were in an aft suite with wraparound balcony - it was sumptuous. This was their free upgrade. We cruise too many times to get this 🤔

We were happy with our midships balcony cabin apart from the noisy family next door who bounced off the walls and slammed the doors every few minutes - but apart from that.....

We ate in the club restaurant with our friends. This was the nicest place on the ship. Comfortable chairs and beautiful decor, wonderful waiters and delicious meals. All perfect except for one night when they had a noisy party in the atrium and boy did the sound carry all the way up to deck 10! 

The head waiter was going around apologising as he was getting all the complaints. 

I blame this entirely on the cruise director who never seemed to get anything organised properly. This noisy disco party with balloons popping should’ve been held in the disco surely!

The chocolate bar was never open through the day  - only from 4pm!

A waste of a good bar.

We would have coffee in the Grand Bar ( usually a noisy dance class or quiz taking place) or the Atrium which was mostly hi jacked by the shops. The chairs in the Atrium are so low and laid back that you fall into them and need a hand to get up again! 

Getting served was usually a problem as there seemed to be a severe staff cut. Never seen so few bar staff on any Costa cruise! 

At the pool bar they were cutting off the bar stools ( what a stench of burning metal!) supposedly so more people can queue at the bar as there was NO bar waiters there at all - ever!! Get your own or do without! It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt as people are walking off with cups of hot drinks trying not to knock into someone in the crush.

it seemed strange that the bar was open with the sparks flying from the machinery cutting the metal ( I will add picture)

Elegant night confused a lot of people who thought it was Gala so there were a few tuxedo clad folks out but no gala dinner which must have puzzled them.

The Diario was reduced to a small news sheet folded in 3. It never had the info we wanted eg who was playing in which bar at what time. 

Again this was the cruise director to blame.

There was only one lot of musicians worth listening to and that was Sweet Sound Duo. They had the crowd in their hands then they go off and the animation team come on doing some ridiculous childish nonsense. It really annoys me that they try to take me up to dance when I am sitting with my husband and 2 other people having a conversation. So ignorant and rude!

On the second last night just as we were about to have dinner the captain made an announcement to inform us that we wouldn’t be able to go to Venice as the port was closed due to fog. Instead we would be going to Trieste. A letter would be sent to our cabins.

Well that spoiled our night a bit and the next morning as we had to find out how to get to Venice Marco Polo from Trieste ( 2hr bus journey)Costa would put buses back to the port but would not put us to Marco Polo Airport. 

So our last day was quite stressful. We had booked a private transfer from the port of Venice to the airport but we wouldn’t get there for an hour later. 

We decided we would take our luggage off ourselves and thank heavens we did or our friends would’ve missed their flight to LGW. 

Nobody on Costa Deliziosa was helpful with this matter and the English host Gemma was completely useless. 

We have another 2 cruises booked on Deliziosa (mistake?) I just assumed she’d be much the same as every other Costa ship but she wasn’t. The decor was very brown and dark  and I just felt there wasn’t much to do except eat and drink - though finding a nice spot for a pre dinner drink was hard. Do the spa girls have to be in the Atrium selling their products at that time of night! 

The library was really small and not manned when it was supposed to be. 

I think Deliziosa staff need some direction .

The itinerary and the company made this cruise for us. Pity we only had a half day in Santorini but  never

mind.

Hope I haven’t bored you all too much - for those of you still reading! 😴

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by CASPALL
It’s all gone wrong!

[Dancer Bob]

Was there only one group playing in the Grand Bar? They tried that for a while, I thought they went back to having two.

I  agree about the childish animation, I usually head upstairs to the Deck 3 lounge. In the Caribbean the last few years, the CD, has always tried to schedule alternatives.

 

[CASPALL]

I’m just hoping that things will be different (better) in the Caribbean.

There was another group that came on in the Grand Bar - late at night. They weren’t very good and the dancers quickly cleared the floor either to the disco or to bed.

[CASPALL]

Edited November 15, 2018 by CASPALL
Trying to delete as already posted

[tenpin]

or not Caspall,

              Sorry it turned out so poorly on the Deliziosa, I think that Costa is cutting down so much on staff that soon we will have to serve ourselves from drinks machines. No service in the buffet, my wife and I are both disabled and had trouble carrying our drinks to the table on the Diadema on the one & only time we ventured up there.

After almost 300 days with Costa we have just tried MSC from Genoa unfortunally this proved much better than Costa but without the perks we get on Costa.

Have looked at four cruises for next year but unable to get a suite as all sold out, surely these up-grades are stopping anyone willing to pay full price for a suite, and making us look elsewhere.

I loved the Costa of old but with all these new rules coming in in the new years suites will be booked up early regardless of they will cancel nearer the cruise. (losing just £50 each)

Back to Princess & perhaps a longer on with MSC for us next year.

Edited November 16, 2018 by tenpin
spelling

[Dancer Bob]

Thanks, the group won't be sailing til 01 Feb, so the contracts will have probably changed. The organiser brings on her own DJ's (ballroom and salsa) for private parties, so there's a contingency plan as well.

I've been on Princess and MSC once. Princess, just as bad as any other American line. MSC, music not much better than Princess, tile dance floor, and the most uncomfortable lounge furniture I've ever seen on a ship.

[chong67]

I am thinking of getting on this ship in Jan 2019.  The price is good.

 

Are you sure Costa is this bad?
 

[CASPALL]

15 hours ago, chong67 said:

I am thinking of getting on this ship in Jan 2019.  The price is good.

 

Are you sure Costa is this bad?
 

 

15 hours ago, chong67 said:

I am thinking of getting on this ship in Jan 2019.  The price is good.

 

Are you sure Costa is this bad?
 

 

[CASPALL]

Chong67 - I am hoping that the next 2 cruises on Deliziosa will be completely different 

A different executive chef on board, a different cruise director - it makes big changes 

I have had some fantastic Costa cruises in the past and I hope to have even more in the future 

 

caryl

[Dancer Bob]

Port Everglades doesn't have Venice's problems with bad fog and worse politics, so a diversion is pretty unlikely. But it does have US CBP which is a real pain in the butt for non-US.

Demographics vary considerably in the Caribbean from the Adriatic, noisy families are far less common.

I find the photographers far more obnoxious than the spa staff.

In the Caribbean the last few years, the CD/Asst CD have been Max and Manuela from Montreal, they try very hard to please, especially scheduling an alternative in Excite during the silly animation games.

I find it's Mediterranea that has the dull brown decor, Deliziosa much brighter.

I find the food to be comparable to 4-star resorts I have stayed at in Spain. Personally I don't think premium dining is worth the money, but some people really like it. If you're looking for 6,000 calorie feeding troughs, then definitely stick to American ships.

Bar service tends to be more discreet, European style, not in your face, drink of the day hype. Can be quite slow at peak times. I don't use alcohol so I never use the deck bars.

If you're only buying on price and want an American experience, probably not a good choice. Most travel agents are completely ignorant of Costa, be wary of anything you've been told, especially if you've been sold a "Basic" fare.

[kremerlorraine]

We are on Deliziosa en route to Port Everglades. Somewhat disappointed in the food offerings having been spoiled with great choices and menus on the Victoria in the Indian Ocean.

The big cost-cutting change is that the evening cabin service has been removed except for suite and diamante guests. Now the stewards have additional cabins to clean during the morning. Our steward said this new policy had begun on Diadema and Deliziosa was the second ship to roll it out.

[CASPALL]

Kremerlorraine - that is not good news at all!  

Another good reason to keep my diamanté status. 

Where did you join the ship?

 

caryl

[kremerlorraine]

We joined in Marseille and will stay on board until the 26th. I understand that most of the passengers will be disembarking at our first call into Port Everglades next Wednesday - presumably to be replaced by American families on their Xmas break. We enjoyed a very smooth crossing and today visited the British Virgin Islands - a first for us. The ship is not at all full - maybe 1800 or so instead of the maximum 2800. There is no rush for the sun beds in the mornings! And because the second sitting for dinner isn’t popular, we have a table for eight all to ourselves.

 

unfortunately we aren’t diamanté yet - got another four cruises to go before we reach that, and hoping that Costa don’t move the goalposts in the mean time!

 

Max the cruise director has gone to the Pacifica. The new guy is called Alejandro and is fine. The evening entertainment has been good, in our opinion.

[CASPALL]

Great to hear this - thanks!

Good to know you have plenty of space for dinner. Hope it’s not all ruined when the “holiday” people get on. That happened to us when we did Transatlantic to Guadeloupe and then stayed another week. The dynamics changed completely.

keep having fun and keep us informed please!

caryl