Costa Cruises Victoria October 2007 by C2lass Aegean Highlights |
through a UK travel agent who were offering an excellent deal. We arrived at Rome airport and waited 45 minutes at the baggage carousel for our cases! We then met the Costa rep who advised us the coach would be 10 mins and we could wait in the airport, nip for a coffee or wait outside. We chose to get some fresh air. After 10 mins I went back in and saw a different Costa rep who very rudely told me we should not be outside but to “Wait here now” This rude rep moved all the crowd of us down to the front entrance which was really good planning as we were all now blocking the entrance. We got the coach, no rep got on with us and arrived at Civitavecchia about 1 hour 15 mins later. Again no organisation and people were taking their own luggage so we thought we had to take our luggage on the ship. Then the porters appeared. Embarkation was quite slow, we waited about 45 minutes. Finally we get on board and were shown to our cabin. Well that was the real disappointment. The cabin was so small, not even big enough for one person. There was a double bed and there was around 12 inches at either side of the bed and at the foot of the bed. There was one stool which you couldn’t possibly sit on as there was no room to pull it out. It actually felt like a prison cell. It was made worse by other peoples horrible stale cigarette smoke wafting through the air conditioning. The safety drill was a complete and utter shambles. Nobody knew it was happening and the loudspeaker system they used was absolutely awful and deafening. People were literally standing with their hands over their ears as the noise was so loud. Made worse by the 6 different languages they announced it in. We complained heavily to an Officer who just moved us. Food was not that good. The buffet restaurant it was always lukewarm. In the evening we ate in the Fantasia restaurant and again we found the food not as good as it was on previous cruises. Hubby sent his steak back as it was cold, for him to get a replacement which was equally as cold. Although our waiter and assistant were very nice, the assistant was quite clumsy often spilling drinks and on the night when they get people up to dance she was trying to get us up and we were still trying to eat our meal. We ate breakfast in the main dining room and the service was pretty poor. One morning we sat there for 10 minutes before anybody came and gave us a menu. Another big disappointment was the duty free shop. On the previous Costa cruises we purchased alcohol in the shop and were allowed to take it back to the cabin. Well no more. The first night we went to purchase and were told they would keep it until the end of our cruise. We told them to forget it, they have lost a good sale. We purchased alcohol and mixers on shore. Drinks on the ship were quite expensive when you add the 15% service charge on. The main pax were Italian and they have never bothered us before but on this cruise they were loud, extremely rude and impatient and constantly pushing in front in queues. An example was a disabled person waiting to get into the lift and when the lift arrived all the Italians pushed in front leaving the person unable to get into the lift. We went to a few of the shows which we found quite enjoyable. Our ports of call were Catania (scruffy and dirty) Izmir (not very nice) Patmos and Mykonos and Santorini. The Greek ports were definitely the best. Disembarkation was a complete nightmare. People were taken off at 9.00am that had evening flights and dumped at Rome airport. On the subject of Rome airport it is the worst airport we have even encountered. Our Costa tickets said Terminal B. We arrived at terminal B and looked for our flight on the board and couldn’t see it. We asked at a desk and were told we should be in terminal A. So off we go with all our luggage to A, again we couldn’t see our flight on the board so found another desk to be told no you should be at terminal B. This girl gave us the check in desk number. So off we trek back, find the check in desk and join the he queue. After 45 minutes of queuing, the flight number on the desk was not ours so I went off to find a KLM staff member to be told…..... Yes you have guessed it, we should be in terminal A. The stress levels were through the roof by this time. Eventually we get checked in and went to our gate which changed gate number 3 times. Boy were we glad to get home. To summarise we didn’t really enjoy our week. We felt Costa service on the Victoria was not as good as we have experienced in the past. We have another cruise booked for February 2008 with Costa then I think it will be Costa no more. Time to try another cruise line. A pity as I have always been a big Costa fan. Oh and finally I object to being told how to complete my questionnaire they give you so to the English speaking host who stressed we should all mark excellent for the entertainment, I am sorry but you were just average. |
| Cabin: 90415 |
| Cruise Ratings (out of 5 - 1=lowest, 5=highest) Cruise Line = Costa Ship Name = Costa Victoria Date of Sailing = 8th October 2007 How many cruises have you done = 5 Ship Facilities = 4 Entertainment = 4 Dining Room Service = 3 Food = 2 Cabin Layout = 1 Bars & Lounges = 4 Ports of Call = 3 Cabin Number = 90415 Cabin location = 3 Type of Cabin = Inside Overall cruise rating out of 5 = 3 |
