We just came back from a 37 day cruise (Western Caribbean and Transatlantic) with the Costa Deliziosa, starting on february 21, 2019 . It was our 25th cruise and the 6th or 7th time with Costa and absolutely the very last one with Costa!!
Positive points
1) The service in the bars. The waiters take your order electronically and we had our drinks always within 5 minutes.
2) The system of hosts for every important language. In general the hosts are performant but it is not clear which questions you have to ask on the hospitality desk and which questions you can ask to the hosts.
3) The excursions in Tenerife (jeep safari with Tamaran) and Cozumel (Submarine) were very good. On the whole most of the excursion we did were satisfactory. Only the excursion in Costa Maya Chacchoben was below expectation - with 55 persons (also some people of a Norwegian cruise ship????) and only one guide…..
4) The shows. The quality of the shows is mostly OK. Negative is that we had 2 and sometimes 3 times more or less the same show.
5) Internet package at reasonable prices for 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB or 3 GB. This system is honest, because even if it takes a long time to open the URL, you only pay for what your get. The Internet Connection itself was very slow or mostly not possible during day time (to much users)…
Negative points
1) We paid extra for a premium balcony and we got a balcony with an obstructed view???? Cabin 7208 is just under the wing of the bridge. We only saw some iron bars under the wing and the feet of the captain while maneuvering. People of our group who booked an inside cabin got a upgrade to a classic balcony with a magnificient view??? How is it possible that cabin 7208 with that obstructed view is said to be a premium cabin???? And why do we get that cabin; we are Pearl level??? The 1st day we asked for a change at the hospitality desk but this was not possible because the ship was full.
2) The food. There are 3 choices of antipasta and 3 choices of Primi Plati. The presentation is nice but it is most of the time chicken or pasta. For the main dish, there is a choice between meat (or what it ought to be), fish, chicken and vegetarian. You can always have another main dish with fish, chicken or vegetarian, but there is no other meat dish. If you do not like it or if you do not want the sauce (nearly always tomato sauce or cooked in tomato sauce), the only alternative is to pay a supplement of 17 € for a steak or veal escalope. The meat we got was sometimes UNEATABLE since it was only fat (even my dog wouldn’t eat such meat of 3rd quality).
3) The service in the dining room was bad. We got never our dishes together. One day, I did not order a Primi Plati but only the expensive steak as main dish, I got this steak together with the primi plati of the others. Another time I did not get my primi plati with the others but exactly 8 minutes later!!. I asked for the dining room manager and she could only say there were so much people and they couldn’t manage.
4) The restaurant was sometimes a disco bar with incredible loud music. We had a speaker just above our table 258. At least 5 people run away from the tables in the back of the 3rd floor each time the disco started, because it was very dangerous for your ears. I estimate the volume at more or less 120 db (legally only 85 db is tolerated in the restaurants of most countries)
5) The hospitality desk. Most of the time, you had to cue more than 30 minutes and they couldn’t give you an answer on your questions most of the time
6) Excursion desk. Also always a cue of 30 minutes or more. The first day after the departure in Fort Lauderdale, there was only 1 employee at the excursion desk??? Although we had pre-ordered some excursions - our tickets were not delivered in our cabin and we had to queue to be informed that they would only be delivered the next day morning so the day of the excursion itself!!
7) Excursion desk. When my wife wanted to book an excursion in Napoli, they said it was full and the only possibility was to come to the meeting point the day of the excursion. No waiting list?? In the evening my wife tried to book it on one of their machines and it worked ?????
8) Shuttle bus services in some of the ports were very expensive – many times taxi was cheaper or same as tickets for 2 persons. Costa does not give any information on the ports of call (such as interesting sites, local transportation, weather forecast, currency) - only description of the excursions they offer.
9) Service in the cabin. Only one service a day. If you do some sports in the morning and you want to take a shower you do not have a dry towel if you already used it in the evening of the day before.
10) Animation is Italian style – shouting like fools. The questions for the trivia’s are given in 5 languages but their English or French is so bad, that you couldn’t understand.
11) There are very few nice activities. They wanted to organize a bridge tournament but they do not have the knowhow, neither the administrative tools???. There is no bridge room. You have to play in the Mirabilis, while the Italian animation team is shouting like fools.
12) There is only 1 big bar (the Mirabilis). Impossible to find a place there between 8 pm and 8.30 pm when the people of the first seating have finished there meal and the people of the 2nd seating are there after their show.
13) In Savona a group of 400 Russians came on the ship….. And they were so privileged. Announcements in Russian… The last day, they took every possible thing out of the buffet in their backpacks.
14) We had the Piu Giusto package for drinks. Cocktails, whisky and most drinks up to 8 € are included but not the fresh orange juice???. Irish coffee is also not included. You can make it yourself….. as whisky and coffee are included.
15) Smoking. It is a paradise for smokers. You can smoke on the balcony’s, on most places on the promenade, on the higher decks and on the starboard side outside on the swimming pool. In the evening there are 12 tables for smokers (starboard side), 9 tables for non smokers (in the middle) and 9 tables for dining under the stars (which is sometines dining under the smoke) on the port side
16) In the beginning of the cruise, we went to the pizza restaurant (8,5 Euro p/p). On the menu there was a Pizza Salami picante, but they said they didn’t have it anymore. We asked then for a normal Pizza salami, but they refused to make it, although there was always salami in the buffet. Supplement pineapple on the pizza not possible, although it was always in the buffet. Flexibility??????
17) We had dinner in the pizza restaurant, which is part of the buffet, the last evening. All doors were open. Temperature was nog higher than 17 C°?????
18) Fitness room. No towels, no water refreshment, very unhygienic since no spray to sanitize the equipment after use.
19) In total we had sometimes more then 2200 people on this ship. Holland America Line has mostly only 1800 people on this type of ships (Panamax type)…..
20) Our cabin steward had to do 25 cabins on his own (one service a day). Holland America Line has 2 stewards for 20 cabins (two services a day). How can this poor man do this????
21) Transfer to airport in Venice. We pre-booked a transfer but 1 day before arrival we received a note that our transfer was scheduled at 14.30 hrs which was much to late to catch our flight at 16.15 hrs. After discussion at the Excursion desk (it was our fault? since we had to let them know before that our flight was at 16.15 hrs) they changed the transfer to 12.45 hrs. Surprise, surprise, there was no bus at 12.45 hrs at the meeting point… The bus company said we were on their list for pick up at 13 hrs and also mentioned we had the wrong tag on our suitcases (should have been white C and we had white D). They also said that they had no scheduled bus/shuttle at 12.45 hrs.
22) When you registered your credit card for your payments (to do yourself on the automated machines), costa charges your expenses every 2 or 3 days on your credit card. Their confidence in their customers is apparently not big!!!
23) Communication is as always a catastrophe on costa ships and also this time. Let me give a few examples
a) Indication Exit ship was forward deck A, which we follow. When we came there, we were told that is was midship on deck 2. When we came there, they said it was midship deck A etc.
b) In the diary di bordo, we saw that it was 2 days after another the same show. When we asked if this was correct, they told us that it was wrong the day before. So we mist that show…
c) By the disembarkment presentations in Venice, the English host said we could stay until 11 am in our cabins; the other hosts said we had to leave the cabins at 8 am. The 4 presentations of the hosts were different; why not using the same presentation.
d) We didn’t get any maps or hand out in any port of call. In Venice it was absolutely not clear, where we had to take our shuttle. Why not give a plan??