Fun on the Costa Magica |
14 of 15 people found this review informative
|
| |
|
Reviewed By: Quiver, Boston on 16th Dec 2011
|
| Cruise Line: Costa Cruises |
Times cruised before: 0 |
| Cruise Ship: Costa Magica |
Sailed:
November,
2011 |
| Destination:
Mediterranean
|
Age: 36-45 |
| Cabin: Inside |
Occasion: Annual/regular holiday |
|
Hi All,
Thought I would post a review of my recent cruise hopefully it will be of use to someone.
I will start with the small nightmare of getting there.......
We were due to fly out from Humberside on the early flight to Milan via Amsterdam. I did the on line check in and all went smoothly. On arrival at Humberside we discovered that all transfer passengers at Amsterdam were not allowed to travel and were to be re-routed due to the airport being fog bound and the amount of delayed and cancelled flights from the previous day. It wasnt acase of the flights not going, but that Amsterdam was so over stretched it was near bursting. Bearing in mind the flights via amsterdam would get us to Milan around midday to catch the transfer at 1 pm and arrive on time for the cruise to depart at 5pm. The offered flights were going to be via Zurich and arrive in Milan at 6pm, not only missing the transfer but the ship as well.
I spoke to Alex at Costa Cruise and would like to say what an asset he is to them. Once I explained the issue he suggested that we speak to the ticket desk and see if there are any other flights. Turned out there was a flight from Manchester (otherside of the country) that would get us in to Milan at 3pm. Inform Alex of this and got transfered (all free of charge thank goodness) the airline even lined up free taxis' to get us to Manchester.
Alex called back to say that sadly 3pm would still be to late as the ship will have sailed. He then suggested we fly to Rome (first port of call) and board there. After complaining that I didnt think it was fair that I should have to pay for Hotels and transfers, he agreed to have them organised via Costa so there was no cost to me. He also suggested trying the ticket desk again and seeing if they would let us fly via amsterdam.
After speaking to the ticketing woman and pleading our case again, she spoke to her superior and got us back on the flight via Amsterdam... under the proviso that if we get stuck in Amsterdam then it was our fault not theirs. The flight took off on time but landed 20 mins late which was understandable and the fog was very thick. We ran from the arrival gate to the departure gate via passport control (which was very fast) and through security (again so fast and efficient) and got to the gate to find the flight delayed by 30 mins also noticing that the airport was the quietest I had ever seen Schiphol. The 1pm deadline was start to slip, the flight wouldnt arrive until 12.45pm and we worried that passport control and baggage reclaim would be a horrid. Luckly the flight didnt delay any longer and we were off. We landed on time (12.45) and quickly got off and through baggage reclaim forgetting that we didnt need to go through passport control as it was a european country and just caught the transfer. Seems that 18 others were not so lucky and would miss the first night aboard.
The trip from Milan to Savona was long, but some of the views were fantastic, as the coach travel dropped from the hills to the coast and the view of the ships (the Magica and the Delioza) at port were breath taking.
Boarding was straight forward but no direction was given to on what to do when getting on board, we werent sure if we just go to the cabin or pick keys up somewhere then go but a quick check at guest services pointed us in the right direction.
The cabin (inside deck 2) was spotless and I mean spotless, I made an effort to find something and couldnt find a thing. Our cabin steward Douglas popped over to introduce himself and check if we needed anything. Each day the cabin was cleaned to the highest standard and the extra touches such as the ice bucket being topped up twice a day were great. Speak to some other passengers they commented that the cabins were just as good as the cunard inside cabins.
The ship itself was impressive and huge. Everything was clean and maintained well and early morning i often found the painting team touching up the outside of the ship. If there was 1 negative comment to make then it would be the decor was to much, this is personal taste i am sure.
This brings me to the food, The breakfast was a choice between the lido buffet on deck 9 or buffet/served breakfast in the restaurant. The buffet was great on the sunny days to sit and in the sunshine, but the restaurant was better and the buttermilk pancakes were fantasic.
The lunch service was similar with the snack buffet starting as breakfast finished and finishing as afternoon tea started followed by the dinner buffet. As a challange to myself I was determined to eat at each food service...... I failed by Afternoon tea. I could not imagine that anyone could eat that much.
Dinner in the restaurant was fun but the actual food was a let down I am sorry to say. i am sure that some of it was down to personal taste, but a lot was down to the food being cold or very overcooked.
The first night we sat at a table of 7, it started off slow as we were sitting with people we didnt know. But by the end of the first dinner we were good friends. We made a mistake on the first night by just ordering a starter, main and dessert.... and left the restaurant hungry. Our own fault not realising that in italy it 5-6 small courses is the norm not 3 large ones like in the UK.
Most nights the waiting staff danced for us which was so funny and of course the photographer came to take photos every night.
The theatre entertainment was ‘different’..... There was a circus night that was superb, but the ventrilogust who did every joke 5 times in 5 different languages was not that good plus you could see his lips move
We only did 1 organised excursion which was to Rome, it was so well organised and tour guides were so funny that I didnt mind the cost and we enjoyed Rome so much we are looking at a city break there next year. The next stop was Naples and because we were so tired we decided that we would just get off and walk in to the city and not bother with an excursion. I was disappointed with Naples, the buildings were lovely but everything was dirty and poorly kept. But the view from the top of the ship viewing Naples was breath taking.
We had a day at sea and which we used to explore the ship some more as well as try different activities which was fun. We were lucky as we only had 1 day with poor sailing weather but we didn’t really notice the ship moving too much.
Majorca was pleasant and we just caught the local bus from the ship in to the main town and did a bit of window shopping and tasting the local delights.
Valancia was lovely and would love to have stayed there longer. The Port is no-where near the city but the ship laid on a cheap bus service. I would recommend the city to anyone that likes walking. The park that runs through the centre is great to meander along.
There was also a stop in Marseilles, we decided to miss that, but from all accounts it is worth the trip….may be next time.
Sadly we got off the next day in Savona and had the 2.5hour coach trip to the airport and the 5 hour wait there for the plane. I think this was really the only down side.
Just a few observations…….
- The captain’s gala dinner consisted of the Captain and the bridge crew coming in late for dinner and sitting at their own table, eating and then going again.
- A lot of the crew all used the bars as if they were the guests. No matter what time of day it was they would be in there smoking and drinking. Even if the paying passengers were struggling to find seats, they were taking up 3-4 tables.
- Ice sculpting next to the pool when the ship is swaying may not be the safest thing to do… the poor chef was soaked by the end.
- English is now the 3rd spoken language on the announcements not the 6th.
I hope people reading don’t take a negative view of Costa from this, I would recommend them and overall the cruise was great.
Cheers Quiver
|
| Quality of Food |  |
| | Entertainment |  |
| | Shore Excursions |  |
| | Staff |  |
| Douglas the Cabin Steward and Jayson the Waiter | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| | Cabins | |
| The Cabin was well decorated and extremly clean | | Overall Rating | |
|
Receive a FREE copy
of Fodor's
Complete
Guide to
European
Cruises
|
.jpg_thumb.jpg "Santorini sunset")
Previous Cruise Reviews
