Allegra Reviews
6 User Reviews of Allegra Cruise Ship
by Charlie
4 Reviews
Publication Date: August 18, 2009
I think that it is very apt that I start by saying that someone I spoke to commented and said that if you have not been on a cruise before then the Costa Allegra was ok, but if you have then it is sadly falling short of the mark.
The first thing I noticed is the draconian attitude towards smokers or non smokers, as it appears that they are of the belief that signs indicating that it is ok to smoke on one particular side of a bar is ok whilst it is not on the other, maybe someone should have told the smoke that so that it stayed on that side of the room and did not waft across to the non smoking side or for that matter get sucked into the air conditioning and be circulate throughout the entire ship, have these people not heard of passive smoking.
The on board entertainment was very average with the a couple of different performers performing what appeared to be a very limited repertoire and I am sure that I heard the same performer sing the same songs in a varied order
most days, I am not saying that they could not sing or that the songs were not popular but there are just so many times you can listen to them.Even on the pool deck the only time there was any music was when the cruise activities staff tried to entertain the passengers with some fun and games but these events were sporadic and again once they had finished there was nothing….some piped music on deck may have been nice and refreshing.
Even though some of the activities were fun and I am sure a lot of people enjoyed the dance lessons, either participating or watching there did not appear to be a great deal else or if there was there was a large time gap between them. Don't get me wrong they provided some jigsaw puzzles for people to do which would have been even better with all the pieces or they had some crafting activities like making bead jewellery or t shirt painting however these seemed somewhat limited to the 20 or so people.
The food was average, with some dishes being very good and others sort of so, so. The consistency of quality was also dubious as some of the steaks where cooked well and delicious, others were tough and unpalatable but just which you got was a bit of a gamble.
And unfortunately this seemed to flow through to the drinks, and whilst I don't mind staff free pouring it does get a bit hit and miss with consistency, this was highlighted with a Mai Tai that I had one afternoon and it was very well made whereas a couple of days later I ordered another and it was that tart that I could taste nothing but lemon juice.
The staff in general were however a credit to themselves and worked tirelessly to ensure that everything went as smoothly as possible, even if it did take 2 days before we got hot water in our cabin.
In closing I will use a comment that I heard "If you can imagine a ladder for cruises, at the moment you are on the bottom rung".
by Rafe Stevenson
1 Review
Publication Date: March 29, 2008
On Saturday the 29th March 2008 my family and I boarded the Costa Allegra at approximately 8pm, we completed the passport and administration process onboard ship and were escorted to our cabin (4122) by a crew member but unfortunately she took us to the wrong cabin, was this a sign of things to come? -- The lady crew member apologised explaining that she was new to the ship. We duly trundled our luggage and children accompanied with the staff member from the bow of the ship back to the stern.
Our cabin which we had booked in July 2007 was on inspection not only dirty but had a strange dank odour. In the area above the window the air-conditioning vents had been blocked and padded out with a 3 foot length of green foam sponge that was absolutely filthy and blackened with dust and debris that had accumulated between the air-conditioning vents and the foam. The children's upper bunks had to have their duvets changed as they were dirty and marked. Towels were seemingly in short supply, our cabin initially only had two.
We raised these issues with the maid and left
the cabin to explore the ship. On returning some 2 hours later the cabin had been cleaned, duvets changed and additional towels supplied and the ominous 'green foam' had been removed. We decided to settle down for the night at approximately 12.10am. We now discover that the ladder to the right-hand bunk cannot and will not secure properly to the upper bunk, there simply wasn't enough space between the bunk and dressing table for it to do so. The opposite left-hand bunk was OK (See pictures 19-20 and video footage). My daughter therefore had no option but to gain ingress and exit from her bunk by climbing onto our double bed then the window sill, stepping across to her bunk. (See pictures 16–18 and video footage) Something that is surely dangerous and raises in my mind both health and safety implications and liabilities on yourselves. This was later raised with Anita Wolfgang the Front Desk Manager -- her reply was that it was a small ship and they could do nothing about it because of the configuration of the cabin and its fixtures and fittings.The ship set sail later than scheduled at just after midnight on the 30th March, to myself and partners disbelief the whole cabin started to violently vibrate, items on the dressing table were moving around on their own and large particles of dust were falling from where previously the green foam had resided. A combination of the vibration and noise woke the children who started crying. We sat, watched and endured this for some 45 minutes; there were no signs of it abating so I went to reception to see what could be done. The lady on reception reassured me that this was quite normal and that things would settle down shortly. I returned to our cabin to find the children still crying and being comforted by my partner. We sat and waited the intensity of noise and vibration remained constant, dust and residue still falling from the air-conditioning vents.
At approximately 01.15am I went back to reception and again spoke to the duty receptionist, I asked her to come and see for herself the issues we as a family were having with the cabin, she refused saying that she couldn't leave her station at this time of night and reluctantly she called one of her colleagues. He came back to the cabin with me and he explained that there had been ongoing problems with the cabin in the past. On returning with him to reception I requested even at this early hour that the duty receptionist change our cabin as my family and I couldn't stay in these conditions any more, she flatly refused saying that the ship was full, but that they might be able to do something about it in the morning. Again I reiterated that the noise, vibration and dust left it unbearable for us to remain in there and asked her just to come and look for herself, she refused. I then asked to speak to her superior the Front Desk Manager (Anita Wolfgang) the duty receptionist refused to do this saying that it was late and Anita would be in bed asleep. This annoyed me some what, I being the paying guest who was in a dirty, dusty, vibrating, noisy cabin being told that she couldn't do anything and wouldn't contact her superior because she was tucked up in bed asleep. I asked her once more if she would either swap our cabin or contact and raise these issues with Anita Wolfgang, she said she wouldn't and there was nothing she could do as the ship was full to capacity.
After trying my hardest and going through what I hoped would be the proper channels I was left with no choice but to take the following actions. I returned to our cabin at approximately 01.30am to find my children still crying and being heavily consoled, I removed two mattresses from the bed taking them down the corridor and into reception. I returned twice more to the cabin taking bedding and pillows. The reception area now becoming my intended sleeping accommodation for the night, I remained there in bed in front of reception for some 5-10 minutes. The duty receptionist by this time had miraculously found a replacement cabin from this full to capacity ship. I was shown to room 3070 at approximately 02.00am. Unfortunately the replacement room was an inside cabin and not an outside one as we had paid for. I refused the cabin and returned to my temporary double bed in reception at 02.10am. Again the duty receptionist tapped away on her computer, she even thought it necessary to get Anita out of bed by this time, and by some strange and unbelievable team work I was 5 minutes later offered on deck 4 (our original deck) yet another spare cabin identical to our original one except for the vibration, noise and dust pollution. All our clothing and possessions were duly removed from cabin 4122 to cabin 4070 amidships.
We finally settled down for the night in relative peace at 03.40am. I later discovered from talking to one to the engineering/maintenance staff (addressing another cabin) that it was common place for foam to be packed into some of the rear cabins to stop metal and wooden fittings from vibrating and helping to soften the engine noise coming into the room via the air-conditioning ducts.
Food Breakfasts onboard in the main restaurant were just a nightmare, waiters and assistant waiters just milling around, squabbling and falling out with each other. We used the restaurant 8 times in total for breakfasts finally giving up during our second week. There wasn't one occasion during this time that our breakfast order arrived as requested. We would get scrambled eggs instead of poached eggs, boiled eggs for the children that arrived hard boiled, no toast when asked for. Coffee and tea never arrived on the first time of asking, tables were not set correctly, cups, saucers and cutlery often missing, replacements being scavenged from other tables to make a full complement at the table you were seated at. On two occasions we had to reorder our breakfast as nothing arrived the first time around, the final straw for breakfasts came when we were left waiting 35 minutes for two simple cheese omelettes after ordering them twice, and on arrival they tasted and had the consistency of rubber flip flops (See Picture 15).
We asked the maitre d' on two separate occasions why the service was so poor, reluctantly he said that they had recently had an influx of new and inexperienced staff from China and the Philippines and it was regrettable that they were still being trained by existing staff, he rambled on saying that it was difficult for them to learn because of the language barriers and that they had to work long hours. I really didn't want to hear this -- I just wanted the service that I had paid for, not a political sympathy vote from a staff member. Our remaining breakfasts were taken in the self-service eating areas and these were much better as you could pick and choose the food you wanted, Omelettes for example were cooked in front of you and were good, coffee and tea was on tap from the vending machines.
Lunch Yet more organised chaos, food arriving at your table that you hadn't ordered, it would be taken away before the correct dish eventually arrived cold. There were waiters trying to take plates away from you when you hadn't finished eating. Waiters leaning across you to collect plates and serve others whilst you were still eating -- the list goes on. The language barrier was an incredible problem and you would often have to repeat yourself several times pointing and gesticulating along the way in an attempt to make yourself understood.
Dinner Again all the same issues were there from breakfast and lunch -- the only advantage being that over the course of the cruise you could build up some understanding with your designated table waiters. The basic table etiquette though was still missing, for example 4 persons were at our table, starters would be brought out whilst others were still eating their appetisers, main courses delivered when others were still eating the starters, there was no balance. It became embarrassing when night after night we would have to ask our waiters to either wait to clear finished plates whilst others were still eating and only bring out the same courses together. Surely this is really basic table etiquette; service in a high street café would prove more efficient.
Food quality and presentation varied tremendously out of the fourteen nights we ate dinner in the restaurant, there were only two occasions where food didn't either go back for replacement because of either being the wrong dish or under/overcooked. You could ask for your steak to be medium–rare and it would arrive well done, vegetables would often arrive crucified, broccoli and courgettes for example just a puréed pulp on your plate. This is not only the waiter's fault for bring it to your table but the chef's fault for sending it out in the first place. The only safe bet at the dinner table was a side salad -- but I suppose you can't really go wrong with something you don't have to cook.
Health & Safety Issues I work for a large American company as a Senior Health & Safety Manager. I have been trained and train others in responsible working practices, looking after 2450 company employees. Some of the examples of poor working practices were beyond belief, yet your onboard televised videos portray a fantastic H&S approach, it's only a pity they don't observe and take this attitude on the Allegra.
Fire escape routes were blocked by locked 'fire doors' (see photo 1) Agreed they were opened once I raised the issue with a crew member but that is not the point -- in the event of an emergency he wouldn't have been there to open them. There were trailing electrical cables from a multitude of appliances, vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, portable air-conditioning units -- all tripping hazards waiting to happen. There were even cables trailing on external and internal stair wells. I must have raised these issues with the crew members using these appliances and cables 6-8 times, the standard answer was just simply sorry sir, and on every occasion the cable was kicked away into a corner without any further thought or consideration. (See photos 2 through 6).
Liquid spillages galore all over the ship but rarely did you see any signage alerting people to this, often there was just a pile of napkins left on the floor for internal spillages or beach towels for deck area spillages just soaking up the residue, a nice hazard in itself.
In the second cabin we had (4070) the internal tannoy system didn't work, it was only the vigilant action of the maid checking her cabins as part of the emergency drill that we were alerted of the evacuation procedure on day two. I ask myself if there is one cabin with a faulty tannoy how many more are there onboard ship?
Defective poolside barstool 'stump' temporarily made safe with an upturned pop can (See photos 7& 8).
Painting and decorating of the ship whilst both at sea and in port was ongoing, there were numerous examples of areas not being cordoned off whilst the stripping back and repainting of these areas were being undertaken. I appreciate that maintenance work is necessary but these pedestrian walkways and seating areas should have surely been clearly signed and cordoned off for the wellbeing of all onboard. (See photos 21-22)
Water Colour (Orange) Cabin water was always orange in colour, I would liken it to a pale tea colour; it would change the colour of clothes and towels used to dry yourself (See video footage). We were told that it was this colour because of the chlorination process used to kill harmful bacteria.
Conflicting Information from Staff Members The number of times we would ask a staff member a question only to be told something different by someone else. For example every local port map we had been supplied the night before the following day's port of call was wrong. The maps clearly showed the supposed port of call and disembarkation, but in all but one destination we docked somewhere else -- the maps were useless. On numerous occasions we would have to source a local map whilst ashore and get someone from the local port authority to identify where we were.
The staff on board at the reception desk often did their best to try and find out where we were, often looking embarrassed and bemused as to where we were themselves, scatting around looking for different maps etc. It became a daily routine, the first thing you would do when docking into a port was to ask where we actually were in relation to the map supplied. In Brunei for example the ship never did get hold of a proper map, we sourced several locally, handing them out to disembarking passengers and pointing out to them where we actually were.
Expensive Shore Excursions Shore excursions were very expensive; the figures below are taken from the tour order form and represent 'median' prices from that list. For a family of 2 adults and 2 children it equates to: £1899.98
69% of the cruise only cost would have been spent on shore excursions if the 'median' cost had been taken for the excursions available. These were obscenely expensive -- for example tour 6111, Cu Chi Tunnels and Panoramic Tour of Ho Chi Minh City -- ship price 214 Euros (£173.50) for two adults and two children. We arranged our own taxi from the port, the taxi driver who spoke good English drove us to the tunnels, hired a local guide to show us around them, brought us back to Ho Chi Minh City and gave us a guided tour of there all for $45.00 US dollars (£23.00) the tour lasted for 6 hours. Another example -- tour 6264 'Brunei On Your Own' -- ship price 109 Euros (£88.21) local taxi for 2 adults and two children $12 US dollars or (£6.00) the taxi driver even parking along side the tour bus to add insult to injury.
Cabin Flooding On Saturday 5th April we returned to our cabin 4070 from a full day in Singapore, whilst resting in our cabin the ship set sail for Vietnam. The Allegra was not far out of port when we became aware of it listing to the starboard side -- she would seemingly straighten up again and then list again. On the second occasion our cabin was flooded with the contents of the bathroom, water ran from its sanitary fittings, the cabin was swamped from front to back. (See Photos 9-14 and video footage). The flooding was so severe that it not only saturated most of the carpeted floor area and 3 of our suitcases which were stored under our double bed. It was obviously soiled waste water because the smell was intolerable. The ship's engineers visited the cabin and deemed it uninhabitable, they said that all the furniture and carpets would have to be removed and the cabin sanitised before having new carpets fitted.
At 11.20pm we were offered alternative accommodation, a twin bed roomed cabin (7014?), not particularly of much use when you are a family of 4. I rejected this on the grounds of complete incompatibility and health and safety grounds. I returned to the reception desk to be told yet again that this was the only cabin available on the ship -- further standoffs resulted in me offering to take up sleeping arrangements in the reception area again. Subsequent telephone conversations were made to Anita Wolfgang and a vacant cabin to accommodate us all was eventually found. Our clothes and personal possessions were removed from cabin 4070 to 7002 and we finally put the children to bed at 02.40am.
Further meetings with Anita Wolfgang and later with one of the engineering staff informed us that the initial listing and lurching of the ship whilst leaving port in Singapore was a result of it taking onboard fresh water supplies. There apparently had been a misbalance between the two fresh water tanks (one being fuller than the other) causing it to list to the starboard side. This resulted in some cabins 'sloshing' water from out of the drainage facilities. Anita said that this had happened in the past usually affecting deck three. I asked her further questions in particular -- how many cabins were affected this time -- she was reluctant to say and wouldn't comment further.
Beverages Beverages so expensive the following are just examples of what we were expected to pay; a can of coke £2.34, a small 275ml bottle of beer £3.97, Gin & Tonic £5.85 and a Jack Daniels & coke £6.55 all extortionate prices, but if you wanted a drink Costa certainly had the monopoly. We have cruised as recently as February and October 2007, on different cruise lines, and both had similar pricing structures for drinks and beverages, a 500ml beer for example cost between £2.50-£2.75 and spirit with a mixer £2.75-£3.00. A simple bottle of water on the Allegra was £2.50 but you had to buy it even if only to clean your teeth as the tap water was bright orange!
My family and I booked a cruise with Costa because we believed you could offer us a cruise of a lifetime, you certainly did that, but unfortunately not for the right reasons. My partner and I have cruised some 15 times between us, on numerous cruise lines, all over the world. I personally have travelled to over 70 countries worldwide and we can honestly say that this has been the worst holiday experience(s) we have ever had, a total nightmare from beginning to end.
by Allan Fox
2 Reviews
Publication Date: April 6, 2007
As the magnificent Symphony of Light and Sound took centre stage over Hong Kong harbour the Costa Allegra quietly set sail from the Ocean Terminal, headed for Vietnam.
Just Robyn and I, a French and a German couple, 4 folks from the US of A, 6 Italians, 7 ex-patriots and their 4 children home from school in the UK, and 900 Chinese companions.
We had selected this 6 day cruise as an Easter getaway for a number of reasons; the dates were excellent, we had not previously visited Vietnam, veterans of 9 previous cruises we had not experienced Costa Crociere, Hong Kong was close enough to Perth WA to be considered an easy flight [local almost]. So we booked it.
The ship itself started life in 1992 as a container vessel, which explains a lot about her unusual shape and superstructure however she is very comfortable, with a European minimalist décor and the use of some bold color schemes in her public areas. Whilst she is only rated 3 star, one suspects that this has more to do with her age and facilities [no balconies or rock climbing walls] than it does about
the condition of the vessel.The itinerary took us first to DaNang however we opted to venture a little farther and pre-arranged a visit to HoiAn, the mecca of made to measure tailoring in this part of the world. By the time we sailed at 5pm I had a superb cashmere suit, Robyn had 2 fitted jackets [copied from a sample], various silk tops and pants, and all of which cost less then $500. In between fittings we sailed on a junk, dined at the local hotel, shopped in the markets and thoroughly enjoyed our HoiAn 'adventure'.
Halong Bay [where the dragon descends to the sea] was our next stop comprising some 2000 islands of all shapes and sizes. Our arrival was classically 'eerie' because of the grey seas, the heavy mist and the absence of sound and as the ship traversed to anchorage large black rocks loomed out of the mist and slipped past, hidden once again. Thanks to local knowledge and ship's pilots we arrived safely.
The days we spent at sea were pleasant, the sun battled to be seen but it wasn't too cold or windy to enjoy open decks and the Italian entertainment staff [plus translators] worked very hard to maximise participation in the dance classes, ping pong tournaments and deck games.
It was whilst you were at sea however that you became aware of the differences that existed because the cruise was being marketed to the Chinese. There was no deck service of drinks, the shop carried limited goods – no clothing or books or lotions and potions, children accompanied their parents all day and night – the late night revue had to cover up, meal times were fairly chaotic, and it was incredible noisy when passengers assembled for any reason.
Conversely, Mr Allan and Mrs Allan soon became known with the officers, the cruise and bar staff, and of course this delivered excellent service.
The Chinese market is obviously different – it's like inviting 900 people to join a soccer match and not explaining how the game is played. Chinese passengers enjoyed their cruise because they spent time with their families not because they enjoyed the culture of 'cruising'. Those of us that went along for the cruise culture literally had no-one to share this with.
Did we enjoy the cruise ? Yes we did, is there such a thing as a bad cruise ?
Would we cruise with Costa again? Probably not in Asia, because [as unlikely as it sounds] the Italian Cruise experience simply wasn't Italian enough. It was great when it showed its face but that really wasn't often enough.
Our next cruise ? Windstar Wind Surf, Barcelona to Barbados, November 07 and we are looking forward to it enormously.
Ciao !!
by roger holstein
2 Reviews
Publication Date: January 23, 2006
by roger holstein - January 23, 2006 Text in English first then in French
The Black River Rafting experience.
One of our life's most romantic experience took place last week, on top of the Jamaica Mountains, gliding on a rafter entirely built of bamboo branches on the river, when we stopped in the port of Montego Bay, Jamaica, January 23 2006.
Notre aventure sur le radeau de la Riviere noire.
Un des événements des plus romantiques de notre vie prenait place la semaine dernière, en haut des montagnes de la Jamaíque, glissant sur une rivière abord d'un radeau entièrement construit de branches de bambou, lors de notre arrivée á Montego Bay, en Jamaíque, le 23 janvier 2006. Notre petit bateau était le seul décoré de merveilleuses fleurs, comme si les Dieux du Ciel voulaient nous rendre un hommage spécial.
The weather was absolutely perfect! A shy sun was bathing the area with its ardent rays but the majestic trees lovingly and protectively embraced amorously the area shading the mountain stream. It was neither too cold nor too hot. There was no wind; the air was totally still.
Our particular little ship was the only one, fully
decorated with gorgeous flowers; it was as though the Gods of Heaven wanted to pay us a special tribute.Basically I presume, it is similar to a gondola trip in Venice; but probably much, MUCH better, because here you are, just the two of you, with a single guide and in total communion with nature, navigating in the magnificent tropical jungles of Jamaica in primordial simplicity.
There was no modern noise to spoil the effect of this magical moment – outside of course of the natural music of slow stream's waters and the voice of the guides, as well as the occasional screams of delight all the participants.
This event was so totally mystical in nature for my wife Flavia and I that we shall never forget the feeling of complete well being we had on this path of Eden. I wish to every one of you at least one similar moment of total joy as we had at that moment in your life.
Le temps était absolument parfait! Le soleil timide montrait son nez mais les arbres amoureux étreignaient avec grande protection de leurs ombrages ce chemin du Bonheur. Il ne fessait ni trop chaud ni trop froid. L'air ne bougeait que très peu.
Je présume que cette expérience est similaire a une randonnée sur les Gondoles de Venise mais probablement beaucoup, BEAUCOUP mieux, car soudainement, vous vous trouvez avec un seul guide et en communion parfaite avec la nature, navigant dans les jungles tropicales de la Jamaïque dans une simplicité primordiale.
Il n'y avait aucun bruit pour ruiner l'effet magique du moment - a part bien sur, la musique naturelle de l'eau du ruisseau qui coulait lentement, et la voix des guides et quelques cris enchantés des participants.
Cette occasion était d'une nature totalement mystique pour mon épouse et pour moi et nous n'oublierons jamais cette promenade sur ce chemin magique du paradis. Je souhaite à chacun d'entre vous, au moins un moment de joie suprême similaire à la notre, à ce moment la de votre vie.
Roger holstein Copyright 2006 Copyright Roger Holstein 2006
by roger holstein
2 Reviews
Publication Date: January 23, 2006
by roger holstein - January 23, 2006 Text in English first then in French
Earlier this week we returned from our cruise aboard the 28,500 tons Costa Allegra – if we lived in the 1912 period this size would still have been somewhat impressive since The Titanic – the biggest ship ever to this day - was only 46,000 tons. But we live in the year 2006 and the latest ship creations, which are now approaching around 160,000 tons.
With a passenger load of only about 800 people, I was seriously concerned about the stability of the vessel when I booked this cruise. And my worries were fully justified!
Cette semaine plutôt, nous retournions de notre croisière abord du Costa Allegra – un bateau de 28,500 tons. Si le calendrier avait indiqué une date de 1912, ce tonnage aurait encore été assez impressionnant puisque le Titanique – le plus grand bateau construit jusqu'à date n'était que de 46,000 tons.
J'étais préalablement inquiet de la stabilité du ce paquebot en particulier qui ne peut accommoder que 800 passagers lorsque j‘ai commandé les billets pour notre passage. Actuellement, mes inquiétudes étaient totalement justifiées !
The two first days the
ship was reasonably stable but everything went completely downhill from that point. For 8 of the 11 days as we traveled aboard this ship we were physically bounced around like some poor lost souls in the purgatory.Towards the end of the trip, at one point, as we were perusing at the liquor store offerings, suddenly all hell broke loose around us. Hundreds of liquor bottles started to fall off the shelves all around us, many of them breaking in the process spreading their expensive and smelly spirits on the floor. The sight was dismaying, it was like a scene from the sinking of the Titanic.
My wife Flavia panicked and totally unnerved urged me to get out of the premises quickly. I could read terror even in the eyes of the clerk who himself rushed outside. It seems as though we were just hit by one of those rogue waves that causes havoc on ships.
I asked several of the ship's employees if this situation was a permanent one aboard and they several confided that it was, but this particular trip was one of their worse.
Still if we had a hard time standing up to dance, the crew was fantastically pleasant and nice. As reported before, we were completely charmed by the great spirit of love and friendship emanating from the Italians in charge of activities.
Our conclusions would have to be, avoid the small ships but continue travelling on Costa!
Les deux premiers jours, le bateau était raisonnablement stable, mais à partir de ce point la, les choses devenaient de pire en pire. Pour 8 des 11 jours de notre croisière nous étions physiquement secoués dans tous les sens comme si on payait au purgatoire pour tous nos péchés.
Vers la fin du voyage, a un certain moment lorsque nous visitions le magasin des liqueurs, soudainement c'était le débâcle lorsque des centaines de bouteilles d'alcool tombaient des étagères a nos pieds, beaucoup d'entre elles se brisant dans cet événement des plus surprenant, répandant leur contenu arômé et dispendieux. C'était quasiment comme si nous étions sur le Titanique.
Mon épouse s'affola et me demanda tout de suite de quitter ses lieux dangereux. D'ailleurs il était évident que les sentiments d'anxiété de mon épouse était partagé par le jeune vendeur qui opérait la place puisqu'il courait à l'extérieur du magasin pour se protéger. Il semblerait que nous venions à l'instant même d'éprouver la puissance d'une de ces rares vagues immenses qui font parfois couler des bateaux.
J'ai demandé à plusieurs reprises aux employés de ce bateau si c'était toujours comme ca, et ils m'ont assuré que oui, mais que cette fois c'était encore pire.
C'était difficile de se tenir debout même pour danser, mais heureusement les employés de ce navire étaient des plus gentils. Comme je vous l'ai rapporté dans une communication précédente, nous avons été charmés par l'affection et la gentillesse extrême des Italiens en charge des activités.
En conclusion j'ajouterai : évitez les petits bateaux mais continuez à voyager avec Costa.
Roger holstein Copyright 2006 Copyright Roger Holstein 2006
by Gigi
1 Review
Publication Date: August 13, 2004
I recently returned from a cruise to the Baltic Capitals on the Costa Allegra. After booking the trip, I found this web site and read that CruiseMates did not recommend Costa cruises to Europe. I was concerned, but felt I could overlook some minor problems in order to see the places I wanted to see. The itinerary was the main reason that a traveling companion and I chose this cruise.
Never again will I go on a Costa cruise to any destination.
There were 800 passengers on this cruise, and only 40 were English-speaking (including 22 from the United States). While this afforded some interesting experiences, the public announcements in five languages did grow tiresome.
Pre-Cruise
Not until two weeks before the cruise did I receive most of the information, tickets, transfers, etc. from Costa. A pre-cruise stay in Amsterdam at the Hilton Hotel was excellent. It's A Lovely hotel with excellent staff and food. The transfer to the ship went smoothly. At the dock there was a little confusion about boarding the ship but that was minor.
Ship
What a disappointment! I knew this was not a luxury vessel before I went aboard, but
I wasn't prepared for what I encountered. Most of the public areas were fairly well decorated, but in need of cleaning or a total redo. There was no lounge where one could sit and read or view the passing scenery. On the seven floors accessible to passengers there were a total of two public restrooms for men and two for women -- and these often had "out of order" facilities. By far my worst experience on this ship was the nauseating sewer smell constantly encountered in the hall outside my room, and in the hall outside the theater. The daily newsletter always had a cautioning paragraph about the rules of using the bathroom facilities. I found it impossible to believe that a well functioning ship would have such terrible plumbing problems -- and then seem to blame it on the guests!Room
The room size and closet space were adequate. A bowl of fresh fruit was brought to the room each day. I had asked for a non-smoking room. Although I didn't detect any smoke odor, my room had an ashtray and cigarette holes in the carpet and curtains. The beds looked like something one might expect at Boy Scout camp. The beds were attached to the walls and consisted of a flat wooden panel with two legs that looked like unfinished wood. On top of this panel were two very thin mattresses. The top mattress was tufted with hard pieces of plastic that scraped your body while you slept. The bathroom couldn't possibly have been smaller. The shower floor had mildew growing around it, and it was impossible to take a shower without getting the whole bathroom covered in water.
Crew
The crew was very friendly and courteous, and spoke English well enough to answer questions fairly easily. The restaurant staff was excellent.
Food
While not first class, the food was good. There were usually enough selections on the restaurant menu that one could find something pleasing to eat. The buffet was fair. But the layout of the buffet was poor -- it made for a harrowing experience trying to get your food and drink and find a place to eat without being run over by numerous other guests trying to do the same thing.
Entertainment
Entertainment was provided by six dancers, a singer and an acrobat. The dancers were adequate, and the acrobat was quite good. Unfortunately, all of their shows looked and sounded similar. After the second show I gave up. Feedback from others told me all I needed to know. I doubt anyone was there for the last show.
Excursions
At last, the good part. Most of the excursions and the guides were excellent. None were bad. The longer itinerary of this cruise, 14 days, meant that we had adequate time in each port for sightseeing. With so few English-speaking people, we often were on a tour bus with a guide who gave information in two languages, but this worked well. I didn't notice anyone complaining.
Summary
Don't go! Travel companion says "Ditto".
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