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Name: FRANK SAP
Email: frank.sap@cern.ch
Age: 33
Occupation: internal auditor
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Allegra
SailingDate: April 1997
Itinerary: Mediterranean
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 70
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 100
ShoreExcValue: 100
GoodForHoneymoon: 80
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 100
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 100
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 80
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 80
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Oct 1997
Time: 05:40:17
Remote Name: 128.141.194.201
Remote User:
Comments
We are a young family with three children [at the time of the cruise 5.5y, 3.5y, 1.5y]
living in the Geneva area [Franco-Swiss border]. In 1996 my wife and
I had been on a 3-day cruise out of Miami to Nassau and Key West and we had liked it so
much that we thought it might be a good idea to take the
children along in the Mediterranean , especially now that they are still free of
compulsory school. So I had checked the different cruise lines out of some
European port and Costa Cruises had good rates for families, especially for this cruise
because it was not too long [5 nights; 4 ports of call] and we it was
an easy 4 hour drive from our house to Genoa [Italy].
Arriving at the pier around 2 PM there was already a lady from Costa welcoming us. Right
in front of the pier a valet parking company was taking care of
the car while some other guys took care of our luggage. We went inside to register and get
our dining service reservation and that was it. We were
allowed on board around 3.30 PM and had all our luggage upon arrival in our cabin. It was
an outside cabin on deck 5, just the one that I had made the
reservation for. I had asked specifically this one since it was close to the central
elevators, on the same deck as the restaurant, just one deck lower than
the theater, one deck higher than the information desk and the elevator took us three
decks higher to the children’s room and pool area. Very convenient
!
We had a baby bed ready in the cabin for the smallest of our 3 children. Although the
cabin had lots of cupboards and wardrobes, we just managed to
store everything [imagine stuff for five people !].
We hurried up to deck 7 for tea and cake, after which we went outside to watch the ship
leave the Genoa port. It was chilly and cloudy but the weather
forecast was giving us good hopes. Around 6.30 PM we went to the children’s room to
meet the 2 girls in charge. Since our children are at French
speaking schools they could perfectly communicate with the French and Italian speaking
girls. On board of the Costa Allegra the main languages are
Italian and French [some German and English also]. The ship was fully booked and it showed
throughout the whole cruise. There were maybe ten or
twenty other families aboard but the vast majority were people in their fifties and
sixties [except for the participants of a conference of a French wool
company]. The age of the other passengers really doesn’t matter to me.
Our dinner started at 7 PM [first service] and we got a table for 5 which was OK. There
was a funny smell of gas hanging in that part of the restaurant.
Our waiter, Aldo [from Honduras] was assuring us that it was only the first night that one
could smell that . Indeed the other evenings we were no longer
bothered by this smell, maybe we had gotten used to it. Although the waiter and his
assistant [Wilson from Columbia] were doing their best and the orders
did not get mixed up, we all got our courses on different moments in time. At first we
were very annoyed but we quickly found out that this was convenient
for us because we could help the children finish their food without ours letting go cold.
The quality of the food was outstanding ! We could either have the
meals in the restaurant or in the buffet lounge. We tried the latter once for breakfast
and once for lunch but decided to stick to the restaurant service
because the quality was better, we did not have to get up from table to serve the children
, get our own portions, etc.. In other words it was more relaxing
to be served then to help oneself.
The first night we put the children to bed around 9 PM and went to the “Flamenco
welcome show”. It was so average and after the show we went to the
ballroom dance floor where we practiced our favorite hobby, ballroom dancing. The place
was crowded since the Italians [75 % of the passengers] really
like to dance. Of course we went to check on the children every 20 minutes but they were
so tired that none of them woke up until 7 am the next morning.
Our first port of call was Ajaccio on Corsica (French territory) from 8 am till 1 PM.
Since I had documented myself quite well and the port is right in town, we
did a walking tour by ourselves and found some nice spots to enjoy. The town is not too
big, so we got back on board around noon. Lunch was very good.
In the afternoon we tried the pool [freezing at that time of the year] and ended up in the
hot tub. The children joined the mini-club from 3 to 6 and I did
some work out in the gym. This was actually the first time I had Set foot in a fitness
room and found it a good opportunity to have the Canadian female
instructor explain me the functioning of the equipment. At 4 PM we had the rescue exercise
and after that we returned to the pool area for another hot
tub session. The weather had gone nice by then so all the people were at the sun deck for
the rest of the day. Gala dinner [of the captain] at 7 PM; very
good food again. After dinner we put the smallest of the children to bed and the other two
joined us to the Variety Show; very good with nice dancing and
singing. After the show we all went to sleep because our previous night [first night
aboard] hadn’t been to good [one has to get used to moving slightly
while sleeping] and we had a whole day excursion the next day.
So, our second port of call was Tunis, for which we had booked a whole day excursion with
lunch on board. In the morning we went to a mosaic-museum
in town [very good] and were then guided in to the small streets of old Tunis where we
ended up being “caught” in a carpet factory. In the afternoon we
went to see the ancient amphitheater of Carthago and visited some other historic sites. At
the end of the day the children were worn out [and so were
we]. Everyone in the group congratulated us for the good behavior of our family and for
our courage to take them on a whole day tour. We had dinner as
usual and then put the children to bed. We watched the “Pavarotti in concert “
for a little while but as we do not like this man too much we decided to turn
in early.
The next day the ship was in Malta from 8 am to 2 PM. The two eldest children stayed on
board in the mini-club while we did a walking tour [self organized
and documented] of the capital, La Valetta; Very nice place and we quickly decided that
one day we would be back there for a week or so to see more of
the island. By noon we got back to the ship, had lunch in the restaurant and then split
up; my wife and daughter watched “Mr. Bean”, an English series ,
the two boys took a nap and went to the pool area for some reading. We met again for the
afternoon tea after which the children joined the mini club and
we went into the hot tub. Dinner at 7 PM [preceded by a cocktail and photo session
organized by ourselves]. The two boys were tired, so it was just my
wife, daughter and myself who went to the “Bubble Blowing Show”. I never saw
something similar but was impressed by the act the guys was doing on
stage with just water, soap and smoke. Very good show ! After the show we put our daughter
to bed and went for some dancing until 11 PM.
Our last port of call was Capri , an island off the Italian coast. The ship didn’t
dock but we had to get to shore by tenders. We did not sign up for the
excursion since it was easy to organize a walking tour ourselves. Again, the two eldest
children stayed on board in the mini club The sky was blue, the isle
of Capri is beautiful , both seen from the sea as walking on it. It has very narrow
streets and nice little spots, very high cliffs and impressive views. Around
noon my wife went back to the ship [by tender] to get the children for a ride on the
tenders. They really liked it and were happy to have had that “tender”
experience. As the ship left the Capri isle we were having our lunch in the restaurant. We
spent the afternoon sitting in the hot tub, on deck, doing some
fitness, the children in the mini club. At the end of the afternoon we started to pack our
luggage because we had to put it outside the cabin before 2 am .
Farewell gala dinner at 7 PM with a kind of baked Alaska at the end of the meal. After
dinner we put our smallest one to bed and enjoyed the “Allegra
Show”, again very good with nice dancing and singing. After the show, the two other
children to bed and we got for the last time to the ballroom dancing
place.
The next morning we looked out of our porthole and saw the rain pouring down. Time to go
home ! After breakfast and tipping the waiters and cabin
steward we waited a while until we were allowed to go ashore. Our luggage was waiting for
us in the terminal, and just outside of the terminal our car was
ready to take us back home.
A comment I have put on the evaluation form is that the pool was too cold; no one ever
went into it. Another comment was that the food at the buffet was
not as good and tasty as in the restaurant. A comment to other cruise passengers
concerning Costa: 1/ if you have children with you, Costa is the ideal
cruise company ; 2/ the food was outstanding and the ship is so nice and comfortable. 3/
on our first cruise in 1996 [on the Royal Majesty; check out that
review also !] we had an inside cabin. We did not feel the ship move; on the Costa Allegra
we had an outside cabin on deck 5 almost halfway the ship and
we felt the movements of the ship [mainly sideways] much more; on a next cruise we will
take an inside cabin again because we think that, as they are
more centrally located, you feel the movements less than in the outside cabins [and also
the I/S are less expensive than the O/S]
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