Considering Costa Fortuna

[Mypka]

Dear fellow cruisers! First of all, I'd like to proclaim an eternal love to this message board: it is always very friendly and informative :) Second of all, I am here again with a few questions hoping to get some help in the decision-making. We're considering Costa Fortuna for the Carribean New Year Eve cruise. In the past we sailed with Celebrity Cosntellation, Holland's Zuiderdam, NCL's Pride of America and, many years ago, RCCL 's Majesty of the Seas. I have read the reviews about Costa Fortuna, and they were somewhat controversial. What actually concerns me - the ship rating is 4.5 on the 6-points scale. It makes me a little uneasy - I am thinking about the potential flaws, which could ruin my mood during the cruise. If you can enlighten me about your experience on this ship I'd be very grateful. How is the service? (We are generous tippers, so I foresee if the problem will arise, we probably can fix it with a bit of extra dough). We are considering booking a mini suite - how is it comparing to other cruise companies? How is the food quality? And the last question - how did you like the spa services? Thank you beforehand for you helpful answers and recommendations.

Marina.

[travelinjo]

Hello,

I just came back from an 8 day trip from Venice, Italy and the Greek Isles on the Fortuna. This was my second cruise and I will not cruise with Costa again. Most of the staff were cordial...not overly friendly. I had encountered a couple of rude staff. The food was nothing to brag about except for their cold soups! All the announcements were first in Italian, then French, German, Spanish and finally English. There were a couple of times they didnt even translate! All the shows were this way. I did not try the spa services. I would reccomend going with another cruise line.

Best to you.

[CMWWest]

I would not go again either -- just back from Grecian Splendor crusie on Costa Fortuna and despite our generous tipping, the service was overall mediocre and the food was also very mediocre. For a great experience try Celebrity. We have never been disappointed by Celebrity. Also see my review of Costa Fortuna under Reviews ont hsi website.

[HotRoot]

Just a guess, but I would think the Costa experience in the Mediterranean is different than in the Caribbean. When we cruised with them in the Caribbean a couple of years ago the announcements were all in English first and the food was as good as Carnival. We sail next month in Europe and expect it to be a different experience. I wouldn't let any comments about Costa in the Med effect your decision in the Caribbean.

[Lingoss79]

Compared to Celebrity food on the Costa Fortuna is really low level. We must consider that Costa Cruises is part massmarket.

Definitely better are RCCL and Celebrity.

[captaincrash]

Here are a few images from our December Costa Fortuna sailing. There are menu shots, pictures of the various dinner servings, desserts, shots of their lunch buffett arrangements, and shots from a gala midnite presentation that passes for a midnite buffett thing. Plus some images from thier kitchen when they put on another event with servings made from inside the kitchen. Plus there are a few images sprinkled from the cruise itself.

 

Try these links - one is a slide show that appears in a pop-up window ... and a 2nd link to a thumnail field of images - which you can click upon to enlarge to a bigger image as desired.

 

http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=nma4cnc&P=%2Cjhb67%2E%2C&AID=5295782&T=1

 

http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=nma4cnc&P=%2Cjhb67%2E%2C&AID=5295782&Show=Y

[laycj18]

I sailed on the Fortuna this past March in the Caribbean and will never go with Costa again.

 

The service was good. Our room steward was excellent, always friendly and kept our room in tip-top shape! Our dining room staff was...allright. Not as good as what I had experienced on Carnival but not horrible either; our waiter didn't talk much..or smile much for that matter, but our maitre'd was a hoot. Bar service was normal. Staff in the buffet areas were very friendly and kept it clean...BUT don't ask for anything that isn't on the buffet because they won't give it to you!! If the chocolate milk runs out that's it, don't think they'll go in the back and get you one. Or, if they are starting to close the line and partition is just past that piece of fruit you want, forget it! The shows were very good but like posted before in an array of languages. I don't know about how it will be for a New Years Eve cruise but on our cruise children were running rampant. Even at 2AM, and I mean 7-10 year olds not teenagers, through the public areas, on the elevators (up and down, up and down, up and down), through the hallways. The Officers on the ship were very unfriendly and seemed snotty. And as for the food...I know it's an Italian cruise line but be prepared to eat pasta. Pasta, pasta, and more pasta...but crappy pasta.

 

As for the ship herself.....I don't think she would rank to anything HAL has or Celebrity. It's a nice ship don't get me wrong...just not anything over the top. The casino is very small. Dancing seemed to be the big thing, the lounge with the dancefloor was HUGE and always packed full!! The adult area was very nice with a buffet right there, but like I said before...infested with children. Even though it was Adult only AND there were topless women laying about. The jogging track was oddly on the opposite end of the ship as the gym...the gym was great btw, and if all the hot tubs were packed on deck go to the one there, it was always empty. I used the spa and had a great treatment from Melissa!

 

I've never sailed Celebrity or HAL but from the reputation they have I would never compare Costa to them. So, if you're used to the luxuries you recieve on those lines I would stay away from Costa.

[captaincrash]

I sailed on the Fortuna this past March in the Caribbean and will never go with Costa again.

 

...[ed]... Costa.

 

Interesting...

 

I thought I was nominally CRITICAL of Costa before - but this is pretty sharp sounding - in spite of reading the CONTENT of your posting and thinking... so WHAT was all THAT bad about it (in your posting)?

 

I DO see you were unsatisfied with the lack of extraordinary courtesy or service - however, that alone did not seem all that bad (in your posting).

 

SO - enuf of that - let me underscore some of my feelings (critical) ...

 

a) Cabin service = was ExCELENT. Our cabin was spotless - and although not much conversation was involved - I can easily say our steward was buzzing and "johnny on the spot" keeping things fresh. IE, I did notice him working in the neighboring cabins - and we DID have a couple of brief requests of him - chocolates - and towels.

 

b) Our dining staff was GOOD. They worked hard, and served extra dishes as requested - and picked up everything extra we asked for - and we DID ask for extras of several dishes.

 

c) The ship was big and beautiful. The largest we've been on in about 18 sailings.

 

d) The entertainment was GOOD - even GREAT at times. But overall - it was not as interesting as some we had enjoied on other cruise lines.

 

e) The sit down dining fare itself was GOOD. Although occassionally the portions seemed slightly undersized for what we'd have expected - and at times it seemed a slight bit less was done in terms of presentation - it still was good. IE, although we've had better cruise fare - it was easily 90% of what we've had elsewhere.

 

f) The gym was nice - easily the equal of any other ship - more or less.

 

g) Lounge entertainment was GOOD. better then some we've had on other lines.

 

And as for the things we DID NOT CARE FOR....

 

a) The kids club was poorly staffed - with (at times) in-attentive staff (!!!). Plus I did not care for their replaying of Mr. bean late each evening. I thought - they're gonna do this AGAIN?!? Plus when I pointed out to the staff that a child (not ours) seemed in "NEED" of help or attention - they were not as quick or sensitive about dealing with thier needs. As when they ran a talent show and were unconcerned with a child whom they NEGLECTED to call forward to perform. That was intolerable IMO. They made no amends or apology to the child or parents. Having said all that - my kids thought the club was good and had NO issues with them. Of course - half of the time they were in it I was watching them (with a suspicious eye I might add).

 

b) I began to dislike how the lunch buffett differed so little from day to day.

 

c) There was a little bit of SMOKING where I wasnot accustomed to encountering any. As in - the lounge outside fo the main dining room. However, this was not a huge issue... just like a passing observation.

 

So in summary.....

 

The Costa Fortuna was probably the CHEAPEST 7 nite sailing - on a newish and huge ship - with window cabin to boot for what I vaguely recall was something like $1204 for the 4 of us!!! IE - it was a qualified RAGING BARGAIN in terms of cost for what we got! I distinctly recall thinking... gee, we can sail Costa more than 3x for the cost of Disney over a similar week and port rotation. Frankly, we'd be sailing them again if not for our discovery of MSC with a kids' sail free deal for ALL of their voyages! And the general consensus that MSC is a step UP from Costa. I'm not sure what to make of that - except come next March we'll know from EXPERIENCE if this is true - and HOW it differs. We could have paid $1372.10 for an inside quad - or $1672.10 for a window ... however, we're paying $2186 for a catagory 11 veranda - thier 2nd highest cabin catagory (and still it's only a 190 sq foot cabin! ... plus about 46 feet for the verandah!). We were told the only quad verandahs were these superior verandahs - otherwise the cheapest verandahs were just $300 more than the windows.

 

Compare these Costa and MSC prices to our other recent sailings: Carnival for 8 nites to Mexico on the SPIRIT in an obstructed verandah which cost some $3200 for 4, and on Disney - to book for the same time next February for 7 nites it would cost about $4000+ for thier smallest interior cabin! AND... for the Disney Reposition cruise - 15 nites from LA to Port Canaveral through the Pananma Canel it's costing us a BARGAIN rate of $6900 for the 4 of us in a window cabin! So at THESE rates - we could sail 3x on MSC in an INTERIOR cabin for the price of ONE DIsney cruise for a comparable week. And we could sail COSTA in a WINDOW cabin 3.5x compared to Disney for ONE week with an INTERIOR cabin! And at these rates - we still like Disney - but have a healthy respect for Costa and what you get for the money! How can anyone dispute these kind of price differences - given what you get for the money?

 

Now.... Costa is NOT that bad at all. As I could have found fault in any other cruise line's kids club staff - especially since we love cruising Disney - and Disney has the largest kids clubs of ANY cruise lines. Plus the best staff from what we've experienced. So gee... any cruise line would have a tough time competing against Disney - since Disney dedicates an entire DECK to several kids clubs - and litterially everything has kids in mind to some extent on the ship. This make any sense?

[genni]

Costa in Europe on the same ship will be different from a Costa cruise in the Caribbean. Costa has a kids (0 to 17) sail free program. This means at peak times - there will be many on board. The Caribbean version attempts to go a little further to please the USA passengers, but...? In Europe, the main percentage of passengers are European. Costa does announcements in the order according to the % of passengers that speak one (some may not be translated, for example those directed to specific language speakers - like: Tomaso Rossi is looking for his parents - Italian child, Italian parents, no need to put it in all languages - unless of course, no one shows up to claim him!).

Consider....

...Costa - the word in Italian may be a sir name, may mean 'coast' may also...combined with the word "quanto" ("quanto costa?") mean asking 'how much does it cost?'...It is ...as already stated by others ....for the masses (often Europeans or other). It can be fine for some, and not for others.

 

It is necessary for people to consider what they want during a cruise, if one wants lobster and daily towel animals - choose a different line...

[E.B.]

We just got back from a cruise on the Fortuna in the Mediterranean and it was awesome! We'll definitely be cruising with Costa again. The big 'wow' for me was when the airport lost our luggage en route to Venice. Once we got on the ship and informed customer service, they took care of everything. And I mean everything, free of charge. They gave us both nice toiletry bags with tooth brushes, hair brushes, make-up remover, razors, etc. We got 2 free t-shirts so we had something else to wear. They offered free laundry services for us. They contacted the airport and tracked our luggage daily until it finally arrived. We were even offered formal wear to borrow since our garment bag with our formal wear was one of our missing bags. My husband took them up on the offer, but not a huge selection for women so I found something at one of the ports. But it was still nice of them to offer. Our steward was great...the room was cleaned like 3 times a day! Once our luggage finally arrived, the steward had my husband's dress shirt pressed and returned to him that same day. Again, for free. Everyone crew member speaks english...even the guys cleaning windows and floors said 'hello' and 'good morning' as we passed. My husband had a massage and was pretty happy with it. He said the girl was a little put out that he didn't buy whatever product she suggested afterward, but I found that to be kind normal with many of the people in that corner of the globe. They take rejection very personally. I had my hair done in the salon...a cut and color...and she did a great job. I used the hot tub in the gym because it was less crowded than those outside and the steam room. Both were pretty nice. The food was fairly good in the buffet, but I tend not to set my standards too high for buffets. I don't care if it's a luxury cruise or Golden Corral, buffets only get so great. The dinners were very good...a 5 course meal with beautiful presentation. I've seen other reviewers complain about the amount of food, but if you were to go to any gourmet restaurant, you wouldn't get a heaping plate of food there, either. I was still pretty full after every meal. Some people mentioned problems with tendering, but even on days when we didn't have a Costa excursion we got right on with no problem and little wait time at all. There was some chaos boarding the tender boats returning to the ship, but it was corrected rather quickly. As I said, we'll definitely cruise Costa again. Perhaps some people had a very different experience, but we found them to be outstanding. We went on the cruise expecting to have a great, luxurious time with great food and much fun and we got just that...others occasionally board the ship looking for the things they don't want, don't like or things that could go wrong. Most tend to get what they're looking for, either way. Hope you enjoy your cruise whichever ship you choose!

[tdogcruiser]

We sailed on the Costa Fortuna in the Caribbean this past December and had a great time. We have been on RC, Celebrity and NCL and I would have to say I prefer RC over them all but it is a personal preference. On the Fortuna, I loved the artwork and look of the ship.

 

One complaint my husband had was the way it was difficult to get from one side of the ship to the other without having to go up or down to another floor.

 

The service in the stateroom was awesome, one of the best cabin stewards I have ever had and our aft balcony room was very nice. Service in the dining room was I would have to say mediocre but we were at a table in a corner and received less attention than other diners in the middle.

 

Loved the wine & beer package which allowed you to drink unlimited wine and beer with either lunch or dinner.

 

The entertainment and cruise director & staff was very good. Enjoyed especially the Roman Toga night which was different from other cruises and my DH was Mr. Pizza on another night which was fun.

 

The food was really not to my taste but I always received something edible and the buffet was just ok in my estimation. Lots of italian dishes but I didn't care much for the type of sauce they prepared.

 

Having said all this, I believe Costa is a good value if you are looking at price. We couldn't have afforded a balcony cabin on Celebrity or RC at an Xmas sailing, but we could on Costa! To me, its worth a try if you are not extremely picky and are not looking for a foodie experience. I would consider sailing with them again if the price was right, especially on a holiday sailing.

 

My full review is under the review board for December 2007.

 

Terri

[aloha16]

Well now -we all do have different opinions and each cruise is different -even same ship week to week.

 

We have sailed the Costa Victoria, Costa Magica 2x and Costa Fortuna 2x. We hated Victoria and said we never would do Costa again. Then we got a suite deal and sailed Magica and had a blast.So one never knows.

 

The best part was the cruise activity staff. Especially on Fortuna at this time. They are a great bunch and go above and beyond.

 

Food- Italian -duh-Italian ship. We never went hungry and yes other ships have better.

 

Cabins- we have had inside, outside and balcony. For the price -it can't be beat.As long as it is clean and I have towels I am happy.

 

People/passengers- some nice, some downright rude. When Europeans come to do Caribbean they tend to be very pushy and more rude. Never did Europe so they may be that way in their turf also-don't know.And never saw a topless person on any ship.

 

Deck 5 -front to back the easiest -remember that and you can't go wrong.

 

We sail for the ports and make our own fun. It is what you make of it.

 

Celebrity is a higher class ship so pay the price and sail it-we have done Celebrity also,loved it. Royal Caribbean not bad either. Carnival some good and bad. NCL -great. Good and bad between ships and lines.

 

We are sailing Costa Fortuna again in Jan. We shall see if it is a good or bad week. But anyday on a cruise is always good. Beats the heck out of being home. H:D appy sailing all

[Morgsmom]

I have NOT been on the Fortuna, but we have been on the Magica 2x now. I was so impressed by it in December we re-booked for spring break in March.

 

I am always amazed at how disparaging folks are of this line. The food WAS Italian and fabulous, in my opinion. I don't like big gargantuan portions of protein, and neither does this line. I enjoy the crazy salads at lunch with squid and mussels and shrimp, but I understand how others do not. The pasta was fabulous, the pizza was interesting, and the staff was well-meaning. We have never sailed a 5 star line, so I can't compare to a luxury experience. The food on Disney, IMO, was far less interesting. The food on Carnival (my one nasty, nasty experience) was downright inedible, unless you were raised on mayonaisse-based glops of food. (Just gagged thinking about the food on that unfortunate cruise.)

 

The Magica was VERY clean, somewhat "over the top" in terms of decor, which is fine by me, and not at all smoke-filled (and I am allergic so I notice such things.) Yes, there were some nasty folks, but there are always nasty folks, and to be fair, the waiters don't really want to be sashaying through the dining room with napkins on their head singing songs. No one wants to do that.

 

I would give the Fortuna a try in a heartbeat.