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Name: Ernesto Maldonado C.
Email: titodoc@mail.mindvox.ciateq.mx
Age: 50
Occupation: Doctor
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: 7-14 Dec 96
Itinerary: East Caribean
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 100
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 100
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 100
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 100
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 100
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess: 90
ExerciseFacilities: 100
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 90
MedicalFacilities: 100
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 100
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 02 Jan 1997
Time: 13:40:02
Remote Name: 200.33.119.142
Remote User:
Comments
En terminos generales excelente. Al momento de pagar las propinas creo que existen
personas que no deben ser premiadas con la propina y otras que que no aparecen deberian
ser premiadas. Otra observacion es en relacion a la comida el sazon NO es italiano.
Name: Ronald H. Ruehrwein
Email: rueh@phoenix.net
Age: 60
Occupation: Retired
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: 02Mar97
Itinerary: E. Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 80
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess: 100
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 100
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 85
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 15 Mar 1997
Time: 17:55:54
Remote Name: 205.241.121.29
Remote User:
Comments
We sailed the Costa Victoria to the E. Caribbean on 02Mar97. This was our third cruise,
the two previous being on the Crown Princess to Alaska and w. Crarbbean. Positive aspects
of the cruise were: 1. Embarkation/disembarkation, rating 100. Was a smooth orderly and
relativly quick compared to previous cruise experience. 2. Cleanliness rating
100.Including public rooms were white glove spotless even at Costa's private island public
rooms were 5 star. 3. Waiter and Cabin rating 95. Staff were excellent in every respect.
4. Cruise Director rating 100. Next to the Captain, made everything happen on que
throughout the ship although voice/audio was excessivly loud. 5. Entertainment rating 95.
Dancers and singer in the show lounge were first rate almost on a par with the better
lounge shows in Vegas. 6. The private island, rating 95. Was far better than Princess's
private island because you did not have coral under foot while swimming.
Negative responses were: 1. Cabin Comfort, rating 80. Cabin square footage of 170 Sq. ft. is a postage size room especially if beds are made up as a queen size. Clossset space and design are marginal at best. Hall noise was excessive thru entrance door. Side walls were Ok. TV reception was poor and bathroom door fell off track. 2. Deck 6 of Victoria allows joggers and walker to exercise by traversing around entire ship uninpeded. However, it is often wet and very slippery and we heard morre that one person had received broken bones on the cruise. I'm not sure why but the exercise room doesn't have treadmills. 3. Food quality and preparation was marginal compared to past cruise experience. Although limited to two previous cruises it's our only means of comparision, however, talking to other veteran cruisers we heard the same negative comments even with those who previously sailed on Costa's, Romantica.
Overall Costa's, Victoria is a good value but, for those who like more room, better ship layout and superior food quality and preparation try the Crown Princess. Maybe we're spoiled.
Name: Tyrone Taborn
Email: taborn@ccgmag.com
Age: 38
Occupation: Publisher
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: 3/23/97
Itinerary: Western
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 70
CabinSteward: 80
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 88
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 88
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities:
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 89
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 89
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 04 Apr 1997
Time: 18:36:36
Remote Name: 207.172.73.114
Remote User:
Comments
Just returned from the March 23-30 sailing of the Costa Victoria. This was our fourth
cruise. I can't understand all the
negative comments posted about the Victoria. The staff was friendly and responsive. As far
as cruise food goes, it was
pretty good, and we have sailed the Princess and Norwegeian lines. Entertainment was just
as bad as the other ships we
have sailed. But we don't expect Broadway, just something to see after dinner. I was
prepared for the worst after
reading the posts here. That was simply not the case. Costa is well organized. I have
never gotten on and off a ship with
as little difficulties as this one. Our kids loved the Costa Kids program and the
diversity of the passengers. In fact, they
enjoyed Costa's program more than the Ecstasy's. My wife,who, unlike me, absolutely hates
cruises, actually enjoyed
this vacation and was sorry it ended. If you look hard enough, you can find problems with
anything. Costa is not without
theirs. But, all in all, it was equal to and several notches above other cruises we have
taken.
Name: Troy Letsche
Email: troy_letsche@hotmail.com
Age: 31
Occupation: Computer Analyst
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: June 8, 1997
Itinerary: Eastern Mediterranean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 99
ShoreExcVariety: 75
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 75
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 20 Jun 1997
Time: 06:13:36
Remote Name: 144.170.193.72
Remote User:
Comments
The ship was beautiful and staff was outstanding. Although an Italian based cruise
(probably accounting for 70% of the
guests), all staff members did an excellent job of speaking English and German, and
including all guests. Most of the
entertainment and all announcements were done in five languages.
Food for breakfast and lunch buffets lacked flavor and variety. The same food was served
for these meals every day! Dinner
meals offered a fantastic experience however.
I rated the shore excursions low because of lack of variety and relatively high cost. The
Greece and Turkey destinations were
based upon the ancient Greek historic sites in the area. This is great if you're an avid
history fan, but for moderately interested
travellers, how many days in a row do you want to look at crumbling buildings? If you are
looking for an opportunity to sit
on a beach under a palm tree (we were), this is not the cruise for you.
Overall, the cruise was a wonderful experience and if given the opportunity to sail Costa
Victoria to other destinations, I
would definitely choose this ship.
Name: FRANK SAP
Email: frank.sap@cern.ch
Age: 33
Occupation: internal auditor
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: July 1997
Itinerary: Greece & Turkey
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 80
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 100
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService: 100
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 60
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 100
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 100
GoodForSeniors: 60
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 70
EntertShowLounge: 70
OverallPortsofCall: 100
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 100
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 60
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 100
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 80
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Oct 1997
Time: 05:49:19
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, 4y, 2y] 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 in April 1997 we had
sailed the Costa Allegra in the Mediterranean sea [see cruise
review] with our 3 children. Since we had promised my mother in law that we’d go on a
cruise together some day and we had received a very good
promotional offer on the C. Victoria and C. Classica for repeaters from the French Costa
representative in Paris, we decided to go for a second cruise this
year on the Victoria. I had already read a lot of the reviews on the Victoria and was very
curious to sail her because of different reasons: 1. with her
76.000 GRT she is the biggest of that cruise line and one of the biggest cruise ships of
this century 2. she is brand new [maiden trip in 1996] 3. there has
been a lot of controversy about her design, theater, service, etc. that I wanted to see if
all of that was true, even after the weeks she spent in dry dock in
April 1997 to fix all of these items; we saw her in Genoa in dry dock when we embarked and
debarked the Allegra a few months earlier. 4. I had seen her
in the brochures and found her particularly nice with a lot of interesting facilities 5.
her 7 day route for this summer brought us to interesting ports of call:
technical stop at Bari [I] half day, Katakolon / half day [GR.-excursion to Olympia],
Kusadasi [TR.-excursion to Ephesus], Volos [GR.-excursion to the
Meteora], Athens [GR.], full day at sea.
Embarkation
After a six hour drive by car from our house to the pier in Venice [I] we left our luggage
at the appropriate service and handed the car over to the guys of
the terminal parking. We checked in and found out that the waiting time for embarkation
would be about 2 hours. It showed that the ship was big cause
the terminal was very crowded. Embarkation went smoothly ; all you needed was some
patience and we were on board by 4 PM.
Our cabins
We had 3 I/S cabins at the stern of the ship on deck 9 [ deck 5, 6 and 7 are the main
decks, deck 4, 8, 9, 10 are the “cabin” decks, deck 11, 12 and 14
are the outdoor and buffet]. Our cabins were the smallest of the whole ship [110 sq. ft or
11 sq. meter]; double bed. I guess that the promotion only
related to double cabins of our type because when making the booking a few weeks earlier
the 4 pax cabins were fully booked and all we could get were
these ones. Since we were only two per cabin and our two small children shared a cabin the
size was not problem. The convenience of all cabins being
very close to one another [considering the late booking] made up for the small size. I
checked some larger ones [150 sq. ft] and they looked indeed a bit
more comfortable. Anyway, the other good thing of being at the stern was that from the
corridor we had direct access to an outdoor “terrace” at the
stern, with comfortable sun-loungers, very convenient and safe to let even very small
children run around without any danger, half in the shade, half in the
sun, with a beautiful view of course. All three “cabin” decks [8, 9 and 10] had
these terraces. The cabin steward very helpful and polite. He even
managed to squeeze a baby bed in the cabin to allow my wife’s mum to sleep
comfortably with the smallest of the three grandchildren safely in his own
little bed. The cabins had a nice bathroom, safety deposit box [ours did not work and even
the housekeeping people did not know how to repair it], TV,
telephone , refrigerator and the usual wardrobes and drawers. On the evaluation form I
suggested a small lamp in the cabin that you can leave on while
sleeping cause we are not used to sleeping in the complete dark [especially the children].
The ship
She was very clean and everything was very new , but she is big, very big and you do a lot
of kilometers of walking per day to get from one place to
another. Since you are on a holiday that does not matter a lot. She was full and it
showed; Some one wrote in a review to never have felt really crowded
despite the 2200 passengers; I did, especially around the pool, in the shopping area and
in the theater. The ship’s design is wonderful, the restaurants
are spacious, comfortable seats are available at any place in the ship. Outside deck 6
[one of the main decks] there is a wide and large 400 meter
covered jogging track which can also be used to have a walk in the outdoor without being
exposed to the sun or the wind to much; it is a very romantic
place in the evening. There are 12 lifts and there was never any waiting time; very good
for such a capacity; stair cases are very convenient too. The
casino on deck 7 was forbidden for children under 18 and the people were very strict on
it; no passing thru and no watching neither. We do not like
casino’s anyway, so that was no problem for us. At embarkation at the pier in Venice
you enter the ship via the main entrance hall at deck 5 from where
you take the panoramic lift to the appropriate deck for you cabins. All thru the cruise
this entrance hall and central planetarium with its panoramic lifts are
a point of encounter and passage; it is a beautiful 6 floors architectural stunt and I
love the way that this hall has been arranged. There are 6 to 10
lounges and bars where at various moments of the day you can enjoy music of a live band or
piano. Wonderful ! The Concorde plaza lounge with its
particular architecture and three level seating area is a great place to be, especially in
the evening when the ballroom dance starts. The last evening we
participated in a small dance contest and got the second price. That was real good fun.
The theater on deck 6 and 7 has always been a controversial
subject and even we experienced that it was far to small for a ship of that capacity. We
usually got there 30 minutes in advance but never managed to get
on the first row, from where the view was probably the best. The Festival theater has a
very nice interior and is very cozy and nicely arranged but not
optimally. And she was certainly always very crowded and full. The outdoor pool area on
deck 11 is beautiful and big; sun-loungers, tables and deck chairs
available next to the pool and on deck 12 in the front part of the ship. There is plexi
glass almost everywhere which gives a pretty good protection against
the wind. At the rear part there is no more plexi to allow people to stick their nose in
the wind. The pool capacity is dramatically low and on several
moments you could hardly join the crowd in the water because the pools were full. Several
people complained about the splashing children and it had
been advised to parents to only allow their children to go into the main pool [the other
pool being smaller and rectangular and “reserved for adults and
calm swimmers”]. No way to keep order in that pool matter. The hot tubs were more
than hot enough for a summer season and no children were allowed
neither. Guess what ? . . . On deck 12 there was thus a lot of space for sun bathers and
normally there also was a “fun shower” [which had not been
operational for quite some time now] which could have done a good job to cool off the
people in that area of the ship or used as a small pool for young
children. To bad it did not work ! On the evaluation form I suggested a third outdoor pool
in another area of the ship , one which would be the only one for
splashing children. It would make a better distribution of the cruisers too cause it
really felt crowded around the pool. On deck 6 there was the indoor pool
with a relaxing and sauna area adjacent to the fitness rooms. The idea of being in an
indoor pool aboard a ship had always appealed to me and it was
indeed a funny experience to be in an indoor salt water pool. That part of the ship is
certainly worth a visit. At the stern on deck 11 there was a buffet
area with both indoor and outdoor of plenty seating capacity; you could even take your
food to the tables and chairs in the pool area. The outdoor tables
of the buffet were in the shade thanks to the enormous canopy. A very good and realistic
impression of the ship can also be found at
http://www.travelpage.com/cruise/ships/co_victo.htm
The food and bars
Very important item if you go on a holiday and was very good on this cruise. As it was
announced in the brochures there is plenty of food and very
international ; two evenings we had a formal dinner but the food did not differ from the
other evenings; it was outstanding and coming from France and
being used to “French delicatessens” we have a nerve to say so. There was one
Italian night, all the others were international [as far as I can
remember]. Breakfast was possible either in the restaurant or at the buffet. For the
convenience of being served [remember that we had three small
children with us] and remaining seated we always went to the restaurant. The same applies
for the lunch on most days; the food was better presented
and looked more tasteful than at the buffet. We observed the same on our Costa Allegra
cruise earlier that year. We never made it to the midnight buffets
nor to the pizza’s. I read in another review on the Victoria that there was ice cream
available in the evenings, but never saw that announced [probably
only in the Caribbean]. For lunch there also was a kind of hamburger grill next to the
pool where you could find the usual grilled stuff. We never tried it.
The tea time was OK and quite tasteful though the Italians do not really know how to make
good pastry. Very often it was very crowded around the buffet
[both at lunch and tea]; this makes me kinda nervous and that is why I also prefer the
restaurant. It is amazing how they manage to prepare a dinner for
more than 2000 people and still come up with good things. Note that the restaurant we were
in [Fantasia, 1st seating] started at 7 PM, the other at 7.30
PM; same applied for the second seating. In the kitchen there are about 150 people
[without counting the waiters and assistant waiters].
There were plenty of bars and all prices were reasonable; Each day there was a
“cocktail of the day “ which made it easy to chose and cheap to have a
drink. In all cabins a choice of drinks and snacks was available in the fridge.
The entertainment
Evenings: This was the disappointing part of the cruise. As we had the first seating for
dinner and we never made it till after midnight we never had the
opportunity to participate in the late evening entertainment. The shows were usually
alternated, namely the show of day 1 for seating 1 was repeated on
day 2 for seating 2 and vice versa. The first night we had a show in Vegas style with Rock
as a theme; singing and dancing, feathers and costumes. It was
very good and promised to be a good week of shows and entertainment. The second evening
there was nothing in the theater but a in the Concorde
plaza a jongleur gave his performance, Johnny Carletti. It was the same one as on the
Costa Allegra three months earlier and he still had not learnt how to
juggle properly. It is incredible that Costa kept this guy on, despite the numerous errors
and ridiculous acts that will not work that he brings. We left after
half an hour. The third evening there was a karaoke in the main theater; no comment on the
performers but we feel that this type of entertainment is not
really appropriate to fill an evening for 1000 people. The fourth night there was a very
nice and entertaining show called “Cinémagique” which combined
singing and dancing with movie theme. One of the best of that week. The fifth night we
attended the performance of Victoria, an American Whitney Houston
like singer with a wonderful and strong voice. She brought all kinds of well known songs
and got rightfully a standing applause. I liked it a lot. Our two
oldest children joined us but found that she was singing to loud. I am curious to know how
they will react in ten years from now when they will start going to
disco’s. . . The sixth night the theater was already very early crowded but we had no
idea why; apparently there was a very popular Italian singer on
board who was giving a concert that night. We left the show after a few minutes since it
was not our style. There were people standing everywhere and
our seats in the very front row was quickly and gladly taken by some real fans. So we
headed to the Concorde Plaza where the band was already playing.
We practiced some dances cause at 11 PM there was a dancing contest at which we wanted to
participate. There were 11 couples, 10 of them were Italian
, we were the only non-Italians (from Switzerland). We all got a hat with a number on it,
there were 5 people selected as a jury; the place was full ; we had
to do 4 different dances and got the second prize (a set of pens and a nice Costa bag for
my wife). It was real fun. The last night there was the show of a
ventriloquist, wonderful entertainment, the best of the cruise; apparently they kept the
best for the last evening; the guy was perfectly combining humor
with entertainment, involving the whole audience and in particular some selected [on the
spot] people.
Most of the above entertainment shows took place in the main theater. However there was
every evening also entertainment in the disco [often starting at
0.30 am], in the tavernetta, and in the different bars. These were things like election of
Mr. Costa, The ideal couple, Tropical games, etc. Not really our cup
of tea.
The ports of call
Bari (I): just a technical stop to allow people from the southern part of Italy to embark.
nice to go into town though we were warned by several people to
be careful on our money and wallets because of thieves, etc. Katakolon (GR.): tour to
Olympia, the ancient Olympic site; we had seen that one already so
just wandered around in the very small village Kusadasi (TR.): tour to Ephesus, one of the
most ancient preserved ruins of a city; very nice and the
afternoon we spent in the town itself, lots of shopping and good bargains Volos (GR.):
whole day tour to the Meteora, old monasteries on top of rocks; very
interesting, probably the most exciting tour of the cruise Piraeus (GR.): Athens, we just
took a cab into the old town cause we had seen all the spots
already; went back to the ship by 3 PM. last day at sea, with a lot of wind
Disembarkation
Went very smoothly and we found our car just outside the terminal, ready to take us back
home. All by all I was very happy with the cruise though the
children‘s club was sometimes overcrowded, very often the Italians are to noisy and
if you do not like to feel just a number in a crowd, then do not cruise
on the Victoria cause she is really big but I liked that
Name: Dave Olszewski
Email: Shiplover@aol.com
Age: 39
Occupation: Dock clerk
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: 12-7-97
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess: 90
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 17 Dec 1997
Time: 11:48:23
Remote Name: 152.163.205.87
Remote User:
Comments
The ship was nice and beautiful. It was nice in shape and size. I t was not alway crowds
around the ship exept for show
lounge. The show lounge need more seats, there are a lot of complain about not enought
seats there. There are a lot of
marble on deck, stairs and wall on the ship. Concorde Plaza is nice lounge with big
viewing of sea in bow, also Planetarium
Atrium is nice. I love indoor swimming pool along with marble deck and tiles on wall. It
is perfect for someone who want to
swimming without sunning. It need hot tub with it. There are nice swimming pool and hot
tub outside. There are plenty of
room for sunning outside deck. There are no water fountains on ship. They have to ask bars
for some water or get from
buffet area while they are opened.
The dining room was nice and the meals were very good. I used Dinning room for dinner and
buffet area for Breakfast and
Lunch. The buffet service was wonderful. They used sliding wall to open and closed the
buffet lane so passengers won't see
mess while they werer prepare or closed them. We can't see the kitchen from buffet area.
It was neat. Also we had pizza
from Pizzeria many times at night. It was great but not many toppers on pizza. Also they
served soft ice cream there. They
need ice cream bar there that have toppers for ice cream.
Our outside cabin was nice and comfortable. There was plenty of storage and closets for
our clothes and stuffs. Some of
drawers we did not use. They are perfect for family of four. There was lived TV of sea
from camera in bow and stern so they
can see anythings at sea from all inside and outside cabins without go out of cabin to see
the sea.
The show lounge need some improve with additon seats. The show was nice there. We were
enjoyed with Cruise Director,
Nick Weir there. He was funny. There were five different language on ship. It was about 55
percent of American passengers
on ship and about 45 percent of foreign passengers. It is hard to make friend with
foreigns because of different language. We
had good times there anyway. I hope they will build another Costa ships in future.
Name: John Bruneel
Email: usnretdocb@praxis.net
Age: 55
Occupation: Retired
NumberOfCruises: 6
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Costa-Victoria
SailingDate: 11/23/97 -12/7/97
Itinerary: Back toback - E/W Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 75
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 60
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 85
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities: 90
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 70
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 17 Dec 1997
Time: 11:50:54
Remote Name: 205.160.243.53
Remote User:
Comments
We sailed onboard CostaVictoria on back to back cruises in the Caribbean. On 11/23/97 we
sailed the Eastern Caribbean with
port calls in San Juan, St. Thomas, Serena Cay (private island) and Nassau. On 11/30/97 we
sailed the Western Caribbean
with port calls in Key West, Cozumel, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. My wife and I are in
50's and these were our 5th and 6th
cruises. Others being on Celebrity, NCL and HAL. The first week of the cruise we had my 83
year young father along who was
on his 1st cruise. As we live in Florida, we had no need for air transport.
From the beginning this cruise was continuous paradoxes. When things were going wrong and
just as you felt yourself
getting upset, something would be done or happen to correct or offset it and make you feel
better. Conversely when things
seemed to be going great, something would happen to turn that around.
I had been advised that the cabin was only 150 sq.ft. and I was extremely leery of fitting
3 adults into this space. Not to
worry. The cabin consisted of 2 twin beds + one upper Pullman bed, a dressing table, 2
chairs, 2 closets, plenty of
drawer/shelve space, a safe, refrigerator, TV and a well designed, functional (though
rather small) bathroom with a deep
sink and an intimate shower. The functionality of the room was such that even with 3
adults, we were never crowded.
There are two restaurants on board and both offer two sittings. Both are on the 5th deck.
Amidships is the Fantasia and aft
is Sinfonia. The galley is situated between the two. Both restaurants run the width of the
ship and appear to be about the
same size. The difference is the Sinfonia is non-smoking. The food was the second major
disappointment of the cruise. After
getting settled on board we walked up to the welcome aboard buffet on Deck 11. This meal
is usually not the most inspiring
on any cruise and it certainly wasn't on this one. But I thought it was no better or no
worse than on previous cruises, so I
decided to wait until the next day for breakfast and lunch to make a decision. The first
morning after we got through the
breakfast line and were at the table, my dad said "I sure hope it gets better than
this". Unfortunately, it did not. The eggs
were runny and just warm. None of the cooked food could be classified as hot (again just
warm best describes it). The bacon
was cool and greasy and the sausage was cool and greasy. The breakfast pastries were
nothing to write home about. Lunch
in the buffet was not a whole lot better. Once again, the bad news/good news came into
play even here. The exception to the
mediocre warm food was the eggs/omelets cooked to order for breakfast and the fresh pasta
prepared for lunch. In addition
to the poor food, it was served on plastic (melmac type) dishes. (Now I realize this may
be a bit picky or snobbish - but I
don't think so.) On all previous cruises we were served in the Buffet line on dishes that
would break if they were dropped. We
decided after the first day, that we would either have cold breakfasts (cereal &
fruits) and grilled lunches (hot dogs,
hamburgers) or we would eat in the dining room. With only 2 or 3 exceptions, we did this
throughout the two weeks. Although
much better, the food in the dining room was uninspired. There were more than enough
choices for all courses. The entrees
were OK. I am a big fish eater and found most of the fish dishes to be tasty. The one
exception was the salmon, which was
dry and tough (something I had previously thought impossible). My wife said most of her
entrees were good as did my dad,
although they both said the lobster left a lot to be desired (overcooked, therefore
rubbery). The desserts appeared to be
good, although we pretty much stuck to sherbets and ice creams. My wife did have the baked
Alaska both weeks and said it
was good. I guess to put the food experience into perspective, I would compare it with
good franchise restaurant cooking, but
certainly not in a league with a better restaurant (which is what I have come to expect at
a minimum on cruises).
We found all areas of service to be excellent to outstanding. Our cabin stewards (Sjafiri
(1st week) and Ziggi (2nd) exceeded
all our expectations and met all our desires immediately and with charm and they had to
put up with 3 divergent
personalities. (Wife and Dad like warm room - extra blankets) (Dad and I need thicker
pillows - 2 pillows, etc.). Our rooms
were cleaned and ready immediately upon our departure, extra towels, glasses, etc were
supplied as soon as requested.
Only one problem in the 2 weeks - inexplicably Ziggi forgot to make up our room one night
during the 2nd week. This was no
big thing and because of his otherwise outstanding service it did not affect his tip or
outstanding comment at the end of the
cruise. Our dining table service was also excellent to outstanding. Our waiters Gustavo
(1st ) and Antonio (2nd) and our
busboy the 1st week (Erick) were amongst the best we have had on all our previous cruises.
As our personal desires
became known, they we not forgot. Both waiters made dinner suggestions and they were
always extremely helpful and
attentive. Erick was a real joy. He truly appeared to love his job. One evening the
busboys danced with the ladies - he
selected my wife (made her year) then tried to convince my father that he should join them
with a single lady from a nearby
table. To Erick's and my chagrin, dad politely declined. Unfortunately our busboy the 2nd
week (he never introduced himself
and was barely visible - hence I did not get his name) was not. (I believe or hope that he
was new on the job). He was
extremely shy, clumsy and slow. Our waiter appeared to be visibly annoyed with him
throughout the week (but never
confronted him in front of us). Service throughout the rest of the ship was also
excellent. The waiters/waitresses at the bars
and lounges and poolside were efficient but never pushy.
The cruise director, his staff and entertainment: The cruise director, Nick Weir, is by
far the best we have had on our cruises.
He is talented, charming, funny, irreverent and dynamic. Whenever I spotted him about the
ship, he was always engaged in
an animated conversation with some passenger or member of his staff. He plays to his
audience (even as that audience
changes weekly). His personality is reflected in his staff. To a person they are bundles
of energy. All are multi-lingual and
seem to be able to change direction (language-wise at the drop of a phrase). With one
exception, all the entertainers on
board were good to excellent. The exception was a man and wife lounge singing act that I
found to be incredibly inept. The
shows were better than I expected, but no better or worse than on most other lines (NCL
excepted). The singers/dancers
were young, energetic and talented. There was also a juggler who did things I had never
seen, a very good tenor (an Italian
boy from Detroit) whose repertoire included crooning ballads (ala Sinatra), opera (ala
Pavarotti) and an interpretation of
Michael Crawford's Phantom. There was also an irreverent piano player. He could play
anything from the classics to ragtime
to pop music. But he always made it fun. He even classicized the McDonalds theme. He also
played the lounges and held
musical quizzes throughout the week. I have misplaced my notes on him so I don't have his
name.
Disembarkation: Again the paradoxes. - For disembarkation, passengers are given
color-coded baggage tags. These tags
correspond with colors painted on the wall or the baggage claim area. Baggage is left out
the evening before departure. We
had to disembark both weeks (only because we had dad with us and he was leaving -
otherwise, we could have stayed
aboard). The first week was the worst disembarkation of any cruise we have been on. The
second, was by far the best. After
a buffet breakfast the first week, we went back to our room, collected our carry-ons and
around 8:00 proceeded to the show
lounge to await the call for disembarkation. Passengers had been asked not to congregate
in the foyer area of the ship, but
as usual, this was ignored. Again as usual, announcements were made for people to report
to immigration so that the ship
could be cleared, but, of course, these announcements were either not heard or they were
ignored. We sat in the lounge
until 9:30 when I was called to the information desk to re-open my account for the
following week's cruise. The first
disembarkation color was called at about 9:50 and we were called 2nd at about 10:10. We
collected our baggage, cleared
customs and were outside the terminal at 10:15, where my brother was waiting to pick us
up. The second week, we followed
the same routine - breakfast buffet, to the show lounge at 8:00, but this time our color
was called and we were OFF the ship,
through customs and outside the terminal at 8:50. We had arranged to have my brother pick
us up at the same time as the
week before. I tried to call him, but the wait for one of the 3 working telephones outside
the terminal was so long, that by the
time I got him, he was already on his way and we were again picked up at 10:15. I have
always laid the blame for
disembarkation delays solely at the feet of the few foreign nationals who take their sweet
time clearing immigrations. After
the smooth, efficient disembarkation procedures of the 2nd week, I am firmly convinced
that I am correct in who is to blame.
We left the Cayman Islands on Thursday with a complement of immigration personnel aboard.
All foreign nationals were
required to meet with immigration that last day at sea and they all apparently did,
because back in Florida not one
announcement for Mr. So and so to report to such and such a place to meet with immigration
an we disembarked 90
minutes quicker. Interesting!!
One disturbing circumstance: I spent over 30 years in the U.S. Navy. I have always thought
and still think that safety is
paramount at sea. Over those years I participated in more drills than I can remember and
for 3 years instructed sailors in
the conduct of some of those drills. The lifeboat drills, to me, are meant to instruct and
inform - whether passengers like it
or not. The lifeboat drill the 1st week was a joke. We were still in-port and it was
crummy weather when the drill was called.
Once called, I cannot remember any instructions being given over the PA. People who had
questions were ignored by crew
or treated like little children. The drill lasted all of 15 minutes. People were walking
around with drinks in their hands. There
was no muster. It was as though the crew did not want to inconvenience the passengers and
wanted to get back inside the
ship. I know many passengers feel inconvenienced, but I'm sorry, I want to know who, what,
when, where and how in case of
an emergency. (Believe me, those inconvenienced passengers would be the ones panicking in
an emergency). The second
week the drill was exactly the opposite. We were at sea, announcements and instructions
were made (in 6 languages),
questions were answered by the crew and the drill lasted about 45 minutes. This was a much
more professional drill than
the 1st week.
Overall Impressions: Even with the many negatives of these two weeks, I can honestly say
that this was not a bad cruise. We
cruise to get away, relax and to renew ourselves. Very little bothers us and we have never
let anything interfere with our
enjoyment of cruising. We did enjoy this cruise and the people we met. I believe we
received good value for the money we
spent. Having said that, because of the many paradoxes, because of the passenger mix and
European flavor of this cruise
line and ship, because of the food and because we were just never really at our ease
aboard this ship, we will never sail on
this line again. I would be hard pressed to recommend this to anybody, unless they have an
absolutely clear picture of what
Costa has to offer.
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