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Thursday 24th May 2012
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Costa Serena Sparkles Again.
Costa Serena Sparkles Again. |
5 of 5 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: Stock, Basingstoke on 24th Nov 2011
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| Cruise Line: Costa Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Costa Serena |
Sailed:
November,
2011 |
| Destination:
Mediterranean
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Balcony |
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Costa Serena
From Savona 6th Nov 2011
Savona-Napoli-Catania-Palma-Barcelona-Marseille-Savona.
Flights were perfect, transfers well organized and quick, which is not always the case with Costa, flying into Genova is certainly the best option for cruises from Savona; some of the other English on our cruise had a nightmare journey getting to the ship.
Coach was waiting and we were on our way within 15minutes of landing, the terminal was heaving with three ships in, but boarding of the Serena was well underway and given the number 19 on the coach thought we may be a long time getting on, however this was not the case, walked straight on, and having been on her twice before knew the way to the cabin, although crew members were on hand to show the way to new comers. As usual cruise cards were laid on the bed along with all the normal paperwork, and a quick inspection of the cabin proved once again good attention to detail from the crew. Leaving a note requesting extra pillows we headed for the buffet and lunch.
Immediately noticing a slight decline in the choices on offer, however even for a picky eater like me soon found enough to satisfy my hunger, and collecting our first bottle of wine from the ‘Easy Package’ toasted our return to this lovely ship. After lunch we wandered down to deck 5 and the main thoroughfare taking the remains of the bottle with us. Looking in the Minerva Piano Bar aft, we to our delight found the English singer who was on the Concordia there, for anyone not familiar with Costa this bar is usually geared towards English guests and music, thus setting the tone for the rest of the cruise.
Walking aft through the Casino brings you to the three bars, which are not dominated by the Italians; port side the Minerva, opposite is the classical bar Sala-da-Ballo Cupido great for those quiet evening talking with friends, as the music is mellow and in the background. the main Salone Luna lounge offers up a mix of music and entertainment and is right at the stern. Going back through the Casino brings you into the chocolate bar and a chance to dip all sorts of goodies into the fountain; this bar ‘Caffetteria’ is also a quiet retreat for specialty coffees and has some nice spaces allowing you to relax and enjoy the passing through of other guests, of to the side is the sports bar, although we only went in for a look several screens were showing football while others had motor racing. Walking forward again you enter the main ballroom & the Grand Bar Apollo, this is mainly used by the Italians who just love games and dancing, beware that one side allows smoking, but is well ventilated and I did not find it unpleasant when we went through by mistake once. Next the ballroom is the cigar bar, moving forward again we come to the main Antrim, quite a sight, shops and finally the three-deck theatre. Lower down on deck three is a nice Bar Pantheon, service and tours desks, as well as the lower floor of one of the main dinning rooms set on two levels the MDR’s are Vesta, Ceres while the Samsara Restaurant is both side of the Vesta and is in keeping with the ‘well being’ of guests enjoy Samsara cabins who mainly eat salad I think.
The whole ambience of the MDR’s is nice you are seated with English speakers, the crew put on a show two nights a week which still amazes us, most folks and I join in the Conga line-up. which if nothing else gets rid of a few calories. Food in general was certainly better this trip, although once again choices are now limited to three, thank heavens for the stand-by of steak, chicken and salmon one night, which are available every night, we never went hungry or could not make a choice. The usual P.O.C were okay but having been many times we mainly stayed on the ship. Spent one night having a meal in the specialty Club Restaurant on deck ten this was the highlight of this particular cruise, a meal to treasure always.
The Theatre Glove is on decks 3, 4, & 5 right at the bow, shows are certainly multi-culture & multi-lingual, but really you don’t have much trouble understanding them, songs mostly in English, not over exciting but watchable. The use of five/six languages in the presentation does grate a bit, but once the show starts this is kept to a minimum. The casino offers a reasonable choice of slots & tables and seemed well supported, Euros or Casino chips are used, with slots for one cent upward making losing ten Euros quite a feat.
Took a tour in Naples to Herculaneum, worth the money but slightly spoilt by the guide who was speaking in French & English so had to wait most times for the facts, note here, going back to the entry we picked up a Speaking guide in English and this proved far better than the Costa guide, we were able to see far more than others in the group.
I have read many reviews about Costa and some state English is NOT understood by the crew, this I can assure you is not the case, every waiter, steward and even deck boys understood us and were very friendly & extremely efficient.
Transfers back to the Airport were again great, just a two-hour wait before our flight home, on-line check-in with BA makes the whole thing painless. All in all a good cruise for under £700 after doing two tours and two drinks packages the eight days came to under £950 which I think gives Costa the edge over the more expensive English/American lines, but I would point out it is not to everyone’s taste if you like all things to be English including the cooking and other guests then don’t look at Costa.
I rate this cruise as 7 out 10 not the 9 I would have given Costa Serena of four years back.
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