Costa firense

[lynyrd skynyrd]

We are on Costa Firense 12th November doing 7 night's med cruise 

I was wondering what the current situation is as there doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews 

We are British are there many British aboard 

Will the ship be operating at full capacity 

Is it true under 12 aren't sailing 

Can you only go ashore with Costa excursion party 

Any help or advice much appreciated 

[Stefan_Varong]

We are British are there many British aboard - Usually British are aboard of Costas, but not in huge numbers.

 

Will the ship be operating at full capacity - No, not allowed.

 

Is it true under 12 aren't sailing - No. Costa has no age limit and on the Mediterranean there is legally no vaccination needed for EU citizens and EU residents. This is different for Caribbean destinations, Emirates and the World Cruise. But be aware for British citizens living in the UK there are different regulations. They must be both vaccinated and tested to enter Italy, as far as I know tested to enter Spain. This means practically no UK based kids under 12, but for examples Italian children of all ages. Don’t forget to fill the forms for both Spain and Italy.

 

Can you only go ashore with Costa excursion party - Yes, a legal requirement on all ships under Italian flag (Costa is) and all ships visiting Italy.

[latin princess]

On 10/17/2021 at 10:15 AM, lynyrd skynyrd said:

We are on Costa Firense 12th November doing 7 night's med cruise 

I was wondering what the current situation is as there doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews 

We are British are there many British aboard 

Will the ship be operating at full capacity 

Is it true under 12 aren't sailing 

Can you only go ashore with Costa excursion party 

Any help or advice much appreciated 

Hi I am just back from Firenze. I was as far as I am aware of he only English speaker actually living in the UK. The ship was at half capacity. There were some under 12s but not many kids or teens compared to normal . You can only go ashore on a Costa excursions.

Anything else you want to ask? Will try to do a write up later in the week with some photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lynyrd skynyrd]

Thank you so much for your reply 

Yes will look forward to your posting must have been very strange being only English speaker from UK 

Are you happy with new restrictions 

Was anyone ill onboard 

Many thanks 

[dritan]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:26 PM, Stefan_Varong said:

We are British are there many British aboard - Usually British are aboard of Costas, but not in huge numbers.

 

Will the ship be operating at full capacity - No, not allowed.

 

Is it true under 12 aren't sailing - No. Costa has no age limit and on the Mediterranean there is legally no vaccination needed for EU citizens and EU residents. This is different for Caribbean destinations, Emirates and the World Cruise. But be aware for British citizens living in the UK there are different regulations. They must be both vaccinated and tested to enter Italy, as far as I know tested to enter Spain. This means practically no UK based kids under 12, but for examples Italian children of all ages. Don’t forget to fill the forms for both Spain and Italy.

 

Can you only go ashore with Costa excursion party - Yes, a legal requirement on all ships under Italian flag (Costa is) and all ships visiting Italy.

Just a small correction on this one.  Under 12s are allowed into Italy - children if travelling with vaccinated adults just need to have an antigen test.  Equally for getting onto the costa ship, all UK nationals ( along with most others to be honest) will need to do the PCR test at the terminal.  ( had minor heart failure there as we are flying in two days time for our Costa Smeralda cruise 😉 )

[Stefan_Varong]

I don’t want to attack your heart, perhaps you can report about your own experience. I have no own experience in this case, I just know that the official Italian information states that those without vaccination need to go into self-isolation. There are a few exceptions, but children are not mentioned among the exceptions. Here the rules for list D countries including special rules for the UK from the Italian government:
 
https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=english&id=5412&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto&tab=4
 
BTW testing is part of every cruise of not only Costa, but an EU rule, Costa takes samples from all passengers from countries having higher infection rates than Italy by PCR test, right now this are indeed most if not all countries from where may be entered into Italy.
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OQgsAE4SRnlLCo5BstaKs9QxhX5f-OxR/view
 
What should be added is that the rules could change until the cruise of lynyrd skynyrd, just for sure not yours. But since Italy is not loosening rules generally (I think we all heard about the tight rules for employees in force since a few days) they might be adapted to a changed situation in the UK to both the better and the worse in the view of the Italian authorities.

 

[dritan]

1 hour ago, Stefan_Varong said:

I don’t want to attack your heart, perhaps you can report about your own experience. I have no own experience in this case, I just know that the official Italian information states that those without vaccination need to go into self-isolation. There are a few exceptions, but children are not mentioned among the exceptions. Here the rules for list D countries including special rules for the UK from the Italian government:
 
https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=english&id=5412&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto&tab=4
 
BTW testing is part of every cruise of not only Costa, but an EU rule, Costa takes samples from all passengers from countries having higher infection rates than Italy by PCR test, right now this are indeed most if not all countries from where may be entered into Italy.
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OQgsAE4SRnlLCo5BstaKs9QxhX5f-OxR/view
 
What should be added is that the rules could change until the cruise of lynyrd skynyrd, just for sure not yours. But since Italy is not loosening rules generally (I think we all heard about the tight rules for employees in force since a few days) they might be adapted to a changed situation in the UK to both the better and the worse in the view of the Italian authorities.

 

 

Thanks for your response Stefan.  Will definitely feedback on my experience and yes  the situation particularly in the UK is changing all the time.

 

It was a big travel news here in the uk when the quarantine requirement was lifted for UK travellers to Italy at the end of August.  I had to cancel our MSC Med cruise in August due to this issue.  As a result many sought clarity on the children situation as 12-15 year olds were not being offered the vaccine.  It was announced that UK children would not have to quarantine when travelling with a fully vaccinated adult but all passengers would need the antigen test.

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements

 

I can see from your email that indeed the italian website does not specify children but I'm pretty confident the above applies ( uk government website).

 

Will feedback on our return.

 

 

[Wiggster]

@lynyrd skynyrdHi I am also on this Costa Firenze cruise departing Barcelona on the 12 November, I am travelling solo, so assume that will make at least 3 Brits on board.

 

I have pre booked the 5 trip package for 150 euros - I think there are some pretty good trips to be had including an all day trip to Rome and another all day from Naples to Sorrento..

i'm having 2nd thoughts about some of these day trips as I will have to get up pretty early and might miss some good parties 😀

 

This will be my 5th Costa Cruise so any questions please let me know.

[lynyrd skynyrd]

Hi Wiggster

We are group of four 2x couples so our numbers are up to five on board now 

We also think the cruise deal excursions of 150 euros is very reasonable and will be booking them when on board .It is the only way to get off the ship in port

We are currently in malaga and had a trip to the port to get a glimpse of costa diadema yesterday which was docked and yes nobody got off unless on a trip. Ship also looked very quiet from the dock 

It's going to be a different cruise from normal but I'm sure enjoyable and things may even change before it sails 

[Wiggster]

@lynyrd skynyrdThank you for responding, I was wondering if your party might like to meet up on the embarkation day at the Bella Bar deck 5, at a time convenient to you?

 

I have booked the Costa PasseparTour - and booked the following trips - Marseilles, Capital of Culture, Genoa From top to bottom (PM), Rome the Great Beauty, Sorrento Land of the Sirens, Palma Gothic Seaside.

 

TBF i would normally choose to go off ship independently but as this is not an option on this cruise i decided to go for a different experience. The Rome and Sorrento tours I think would be 60 euros plus normally so although a full day I think not offers the best value for money but on the other hand I am a little concerned that I have not got enough relaxation time..

 

I also have night in Barcelona pre cruise and 2 nights post cruise.

 

Kind regards

 

W 

[dritan]

Thought I would butt in and give my view on a couple of these tours. ( we were recently on the Smeralda)

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the tours were not bi-lingual as I've found on most MSC and Costa cruises before.  Not that it would have been a big issue and was awed at our European cousins ( mainly Germans and French) who joined the English language tours even though there were only around 20 UK folks on board.

 

The Rome tour was definitely the highlight on our cruise despite the fact we have been to Rome numerous times - it was a great mix of walking tour, bus tour and relaxing lunch.  The kids really enjoyed it.  Personally we weren't big fans of the Gothic Seaside tour in Palma mainly as it had a heavy focus on Gothic architecture and the kids were a bit put off by the long tour inside the cathedral.  But we may have just been a bit tired that day - it definitely felt a lot heavier than our other tours.

All our tours were scheduled for the morning but one got moved to the afternoon - which we were thankful for 😉

[lynyrd skynyrd]

On 11/7/2021 at 5:28 PM, Wiggster said:

@lynyrd skynyrdThank you for responding, I was wondering if your party might like to meet up on the embarkation day at the Bella Bar deck 5, at a time convenient to you?

 

I have booked the Costa PasseparTour - and booked the following trips - Marseilles, Capital of Culture, Genoa From top to bottom (PM), Rome the Great Beauty, Sorrento Land of the Sirens, Palma Gothic Seaside.

 

TBF i would normally choose to go off ship independently but as this is not an option on this cruise i decided to go for a different experience. The Rome and Sorrento tours I think would be 60 euros plus normally so although a full day I think not offers the best value for money but on the other hand I am a little concerned that I have not got enough relaxation time..

 

I also have night in Barcelona pre cruise and 2 nights post cruise.

 

Kind regards

 

W 

Hi wiggster

After discussion with others not sure what we are doing on embarkation day but gladly meet up sometime on board 

We also been in Barcelona last 3 days hope weather picks up for tommorow 

[Wiggster]

@dritanMany thanks for your comments about the tours, I may change the Gothic Palma one to an afternoon your if I am able once on board. 

 

@lynyrd skynyrdI got to Barcelona yesterday not the best of weather but at least it stopped raining once I got through the airport....

 

Hopefully I will see you about once on board, kind regards Wiggster 

[Wansbrough]

Looking forward to hearing about the ship, we are booked for mid January out of Dubai on her.