Costa Magica Nov 26, 2006 Review

[snipboy]

actually, on other lines (HAL zuiderdam comes to mind) they do bring the uncooked cuts of meat out prior to ordering to describe each cut to you and explain the preparation

 

1. What are your ages. I am assuming you are of a certain age if you are getting ready to start a family.

 

2. Career and education levels?

 

3. I see you have also cruised on the Zuiderdam and a RCCL ship. What were your thoughts on them?

 

ps - you don't have to wait 5 years! Our daughter is 7 and we cruise with her a lot (usually one trip per year is grown ups only and at least one trip with her).

 

We cruised HAL and had the exact same experience. And what a beautiful meal. It would outstanding. We are thinking around the age of 5 introducing cruising to our kids as well. I like your idea of one cruise with them and one by yourselves. For us, vacations are crucial to our sanity. We work very hard and treasure our vacations.

 

Here are some answers to your questions:

 

1. Me: 33, Wife 31.

2. Me: Project Manager, Post Grad college; Wife: Teacher, College Grad.

3. Liked RCCL a lot, HAL was OK. Our problem there was poor service. The Zuiderdam itself was a dirty and wreck of a ship, in our opinion. We are considering RCCL again in the far future, we just didn't like the disruptive announcments constantly.

[snipboy]

this is true. while i disagree with some of what snipboy says, i understand that his cruise experience will be totally different than mine. he is doing a good job and i'm also seeing other members trying to do a good job about discussing the information and not attacking the posters.

 

lets not turn this into the carnival forum haha:p

 

I appreciate everyone's support! I want to stress that my wife and I did have a nice vacation. We made it nice to the extent we could. Service was very good for the most part, and I think some good suggestions were made about how to deal with the issues we dealt with. Our disappointment was that we paid a premium for a suite. We expected better.

[snowgal]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to CC, have enjoyed all the advice that people put on here. It's really helpful whether good or bad. I'm like you, we traveled in April on Costa Med. and were fairly pleased that we decided to try Costa again. I'm traveling on Costa Magica 12/23 and we're in a regular suite with 2 kids-1 and 5. First time in a suite, can't wait! I like to travel with my parents-they're great babysitters so we get our "alone" time. Can I ask some questions:

1. different bedding/pillows-how do I know what to request, is there a list or something? Do you tell the butler?

2. packing/unpacking by butler-I heard they do that on some ships, does Costa do that?

3. fruit baskets/extras-my friend was on Celebrity's suite and she said her butler put out fresh fruit for her everyday along with some afternoon tea selections. Is that something they do on Costa too?

4. Any other advice as far as being in a suite? What will the butler do that's different from your usual stateroom attendant?

 

By the way, if you're thinking about RCCL, you may want to think about Celebrity, same owners. RCCL is great with kids, we hated Freedom, just too big for us, Infinity was elegant, and the best service we ever had was on Horizon-a tiny ship we took out of the blue to Bermuda, just to get away. I only had my older son at the time and what I remember the most was the time he was asleep in the stroller after the show and all the elevators were packed. Two officers carried him in the stroller up the stairs. Sorry to go off on a tangent there, but to me that was service!

 

Thanks! :)

ps. this is the first time I listed all my cruises-how do you guys do it? I did a copy & paste from word. Is there an easier way?

 

Costa Magica-12/23/06

Freedom of the Seas-9/06

Costa Mediteranea-4/06

Majesty of the Seas-10/05

Carnival Pride-10/04

Celebrity Horizon-7/04

Monarch of the Seas-04/04

Navigator of the Seas-10/03

Celebrity Infinity-05/03

Grand Princess-10/02

Norwegian Star-01/02

Carnival Ecstasy-12/01

Carnival Jubilee-11/1997

[REVDONAUCTIONEER]

But when I want to drop 80 dollars on a filet, I have certain expectations. My expectation at Club Vicenzo is that the beef would not be of that quality, but something ...:D

 

.......2.I never been in Chicago,but in Europe and most of North America its not normal to ask to SEE your meat)))))its not a Lobster House))))

3.Good luck on your privat Yaht cruise next time,masmedia cruise its not for you:eek:

 

You are wrong. In a resturant like the Xlub Vencnia SHOULD BE seeinthe meat is common or at least it is were I eat.

 

One more thing i wason this crusie. i didn't ave all the problems Snipboy had but the pay resturant was horrible. My wife and I paid $79.00 for our meal. In a land based resturant I have had better for $30.00.

 

Don

[snipboy]

1. different bedding/pillows-how do I know what to request, is there a list or something? Do you tell the butler?

2. packing/unpacking by butler-I heard they do that on some ships, does Costa do that?

3. fruit baskets/extras-my friend was on Celebrity's suite and she said her butler put out fresh fruit for her everyday along with some afternoon tea selections. Is that something they do on Costa too?

4. Any other advice as far as being in a suite? What will the butler do that's different from your usual stateroom attendant?

1. Ask your butler for the pillow menu when you first meet them. Ours did not tell us about it until we asked for feather pillows. Try the MyForms, and if you don't like them, send them back. We LOVED them.

2. Yes, Costa does offer it. But the Butler didn't volunteer the service. Our Butler didn't volunteer any service except meals in the room. She did herself and us a disservice. We would have gone out of our way to tip her had she done so. There are mixed opinions on whether or not to have them unpack/pack. We opted not to since we carry a fair amount of pricey electronics onboard.

3. We got fresh fruit every day in our Suite. Great selections, with slight variations. The constants were: mangos, green grapes, apples, kiwi's. Sometimes we got blood oranges and red grapes. We did enjoy the fruit. Your first night you get canapes and sparkling wine (not champaign!).

4. The butler is supposed to offer personalized laundry--that is they will personally handle it. Not sure what that means. They work somewhat as a concierge as well.

 

Our butler seemed tired and frustrated with us. She was pleasant and at times very friendly. For two days she was out sick and we had a butler who was outstanding. Wished we had him the entire time.

 

Regarding your signature, use the USER CP setting on the page to setup your sig.

snip

[snipboy]

but the pay resturant was horrible. My wife and I paid $79.00 for our meal. In a land based resturant I have had better for $30.00.

Don

Man, Don, that is horrible indeed! I would have demanded a refund for the meal had I paid for it directly. That is outrageous. What did you order?

snip

[snowgal]

Hi Snip,

Thanks for answering the questions, just one more-is there a dvd player in the room? Does it cost anything to use or check out movies?

Snowgal

 

 

Costa Magica-12/23/06

Freedom of the Seas-9/06

Costa Mediteranea-4/06

Majesty of the Seas-10/05

Carnival Pride-10/04

Celebrity Horizon-7/04

Monarch of the Seas-04/04

Navigator of the Seas-10/03

Celebrity Infinity-05/03

Grand Princess-10/02

Norwegian Star-01/02

Carnival Ecstasy-12/01

Carnival Jubilee-11/1997

[cruisecraw]

SNIPBOY,

 

Thanks for your review. Do you recall if you had a VCR or DVD player in the Suite? I am travelling with children in the next two weeks and would very much like to know if this is an amenity that should be available in the suite.

[snipboy]

There wasn't a DVD or VCR player in the Suite. There might be one in the Grand Suite though. I am not sure.

[Debi_D]

Snipboy - wondering what time did you get to the port? Also what if I showed up later for check-in (around 2:30) would that eliminate some of the problems. I just returned from 2 cruises on 2 different lines and neither one of them required my luggage to be screened does this only happen with Costa?

 

One more thing and maybe some else that is reading this thread will know, when should I expect my Doc's and Luggage tags?

 

Deb

[Lew's cruise]

I think they usually come about 30 days prior to sailing.

[joetrizeo]

Snipboy - wondering what time did you get to the port? Also what if I showed up later for check-in (around 2:30) would that eliminate some of the problems. I just returned from 2 cruises on 2 different lines and neither one of them required my luggage to be screened does this only happen with Costa?

 

One more thing and maybe some else that is reading this thread will know, when should I expect my Doc's and Luggage tags?

 

Deb

 

if you showed up late around 2:30 you would be outside the prime time of 12-2 and get reduced lines.

 

do you mean they did not scan your carry on luggage?

on my costa cruise (FLL Port) all carryons were scanned. security is important.

 

docs approx 30 days before. check your email, apparently some docs are coming via email. luggage tags at baggage claim or port.

[snipboy]

Snipboy - wondering what time did you get to the port? Also what if I showed up later for check-in (around 2:30) would that eliminate some of the problems. I just returned from 2 cruises on 2 different lines and neither one of them required my luggage to be screened does this only happen with Costa?

 

One more thing and maybe some else that is reading this thread will know, when should I expect my Doc's and Luggage tags?

 

Deb

I can only speak for myself, but we were just leaving the line around 2 PM. The line behind us was extremely long. So, i'd assume earlier is better than later.

 

When I discussed screening luggage, I meant carry ons.

 

Depending on how you bought your tickets, you may receive paper delivered or e-tickets (via email). Mine were e-tickets and Microsoft Outlook determined they were junk and stuck them in that folder. Never got luggage tags or directions on how to deal with luggage. Disappointing. As you read in the review, the result was chaos.

snip

[REVDONAUCTIONEER]

Man, Don, that is horrible indeed! I would have demanded a refund for the meal had I paid for it directly. That is outrageous. What did you order?

snip

 

I had Lobster ala carte and my wife had the taster meal.

 

We both had dessert which was $7.00 each.

 

My lobster was horrible. I couldn't even finish it. I sent most of it back. My wife has a New York Strip and it was tougher than shoe leather.

 

I am not the kind of person who likes to complain. I would rather pay and then decide if I want to it again.

 

I will say the overall cruise was good. We will cruise again on Costa probably the week after Thanksgiving, where else can you do a 7 day cruise for $299.00 so with that in mind the food wasn't something I would make a fuss over. But I will NEVER again go to the pay resturant.

 

Don

[Debi_D]

Thanks for the replies! I think we will shoot for 11:30 AM maybe that will put us close to the front of the line. We are staying in FLL the day before and I am sure the other couple will want to get on ASAP...

 

The info on the Club restaurant has been interesting and I think we will not be spending money in there.

 

Really looking forward to the shows, we are no much for the entertainment but the other couple is so this will be a good thing if they are as good as everyone says.

 

How is the disco's? We enjoy dancing and the last 2 cruises the disco's were dead...

 

I will keep an eye out in the emails in the next 2 weeks and watch for e-tickets. We do not use Outlook so maybe we will get them..

[joetrizeo]

How is the disco's? We enjoy dancing and the last 2 cruises the disco's were dead..

 

disco was hoppin' every single night cept the first one.

 

it got started about 11:30 and went 'till 2-3am (it got progressively later as the cruise went on). Teen events were in the disco from 9ish till 11ish while the adults were at the shows.

[ORV]

Debi D, does your documents have a boarding time on them? Ours does.

[Debi_D]

OVR - We have not received out doc's as of yet:o Probably won't get them until after you leave. Let me know how your trip was.

 

Also if you have time try and check out cabin 7422, I have heard mixed bags about the size of the cabin.

 

Deb

[tedwin3]

hmmmmm...u sound a little whiney....nahhhh..a LOT whiney!