Overview

Costa Cruises is a Carnival Corp. cruise lines. The ship designed are virtual carbon copies of Carnival, but different decor.

 

Having begun in the mid-19th century as a fleet of freighters carrying fabrics and olive oil between Sardinia and the Italian mainland, Genoa based Costa Crociere S.p.A. started carrying passengers some 60 years ago. Today, including the AIDA Cruises brand for a total of 15 ships in active service and five more ships on order, the company has grown into the biggest and most modern fleet in Europe. Acquired by industry giant Carnival Corporation in 2000, the itineraries and onboard experience of the Costa Cruises' fleet have remained largely unchanged, but the way they look inside and out is a completely different story, beginning with the Costa Atlantica introduced in July 2000 and characteristically decorated by Carnival's fanciful interior designer Joe Farcus.

Costa Atlantica was the first in what is now known as the Carnival Spirit-class vessels, an upside-down deck-plan that put all the public rooms on the lower decks making way for an abundance of balcony cabins on the upper decks like the cruise industry had never seen before. In November 2003, Costa Fortuna, then the biggest Italian passenger ship ever, entered service followed closely by sister ship Costa Magica in fall 2004. Those ships are basically sister ships to the Carnival Destiny class. The new flagship; Costa Concordia (a sister ship to the Carnival Conquest-class); entered service in July of 2006 and is now the largest in the fleet carrying over 3,000 passengers year-round in the Mediterranean. Costa Serena and another yet to be named ship to be launched in 2009 will follow.

The Experience

Though it is indisputable that Costa is blazing the trail towards state-of-the-art cruising in Europe, if you are American you might want to temper your enthusiasm if you see a Costa cruise steeply discounted, especially in Europe. The fact is, these ships are operated for the European market, which means they do many things in a manner that is familiar to denizens of that continent, but "ain't the way we do it back home," as Americans are known to say.

Costa Cruises, or Costa (pronounced long-'o') Crociere, as it is known in its native Italy, is the European version of Carnival Cruise Lines, and not by accident. The company is owned by Carnival Corp. and the parent company is shrewdly using the Costa brand to introduce U.S. style cruise vacations to the rapidly growing European cruising market. That fact is, cruising is now catching fire as a vacation option in Europe, just like it did in the U.S. ten years ago, but because Europeans in general take three to five times as much vacation time every year as Americans do, the potential is huge.

So, what is the downside? If you have ever seen the pan-continental European television networks where everything that happens gets translated into German, Italian, Spanish and French as you stare at faces as blank as your own waiting for all the translation to finish, then you understand how Costa works. The primary language onboard is Italian, with other European languages following. English may come in at third, fourth or even fifth when it comes to announcements and to the linguistic abilities of the staff and crew. Hence, not only will you not understand the announcements being made in four foreign languages, there is a good chance your waiter or room steward will not understand you very well, either. Europeans are quite used to this sort of behavior, but the linguistically isolated Americans are not.

Now, Costa staff does a great job of organizing the various nationalities into groups, keeping track of which dining room tables and cabins receive written material in what language. But on shore excursions, expect guides to say everything in at least two languages (and if in Europe, you will be lucky if English is one of them). On board announcements will be repeated thoroughly in up to four languages. In addition, to seasoned Europeans who are not on the ship to "see Europe" as most Americans would be, the time spent in port will likely be frustratingly short.

Some onboard entertainment simply will not be translated. One notable exception, however, are the Moulin Rouge-style stage shows, which because they are largely comprised of hit songs (the vast majority of which are sung in English no matter where in the world you happen to be), are fun and so cleverly produced they can be enjoyed by any nationality.

And, what is the upside? How about sailing on what is essentially a Carnival ship at a hugely discounted price? Since there are not many places for European cruise ships to go in the winter, many Costa ships are repositioned to the Caribbean every year. If you are adventurous, like exotic food, and don't mind cigarette smoke, you will find simply great bargains on modern cruise ships that are basically identical in floor plan and decor to the modern Carnival Cruise Lines fleet. The truth is, Costa is a bargain in the Caribbean. So, if you can go with the flow and want to save some money, a Costa cruise is worth a try.

In the Caribbean, English becomes the primary language, and announcements are not repeated in several languages (though they might be repeated in one or two depending on the passenger mix). Your fellow passengers will be mostly Canadians, Americans, South Americans, and a few Europeans. However, the crew communication is still difficult at best, with crew members greeting you with "Buon giorno!" in the morning. The food will still be somewhat unpalatable to Americans, unless you regularly eat beans for breakfast and squid for lunch. Add to this that the line's food has been somewhat inconsistent since Costa replaced its all-Italian crew mostly with South Americans. (The line has opened a facility in the Dominican Republic to train service personnel).

Another matter is the smoking policy. Especially in Europe, but in the Caribbean as well, the policy is much more open that U.S. marketed cruise lines, meaning smoking will be allowed if not almost everywhere, then basically just everywhere. In Europe, there will be a persistent smoke cloud hanging through the entire ship.

Dining

Costa cruise ships - having basically the same floorplans as Carnival ships have very similar dining rooms and Lido restaurants. There are two two-story dining rooms where about 80% of the patrons choose open seating/anytime dining.

There are fine-dining steakhouses like on Carnival ships.

One true advantage to Costa cuisine is the fact that the line must please dibers from a variety of European cultures. For example; while the Brits are generally happy with beer, the Italians will be irate if the pasta is not cooked perfectly. 

And the French? if the baguettes are not fresh they will be livid.

The meat selection tends to include more lamb and duck than American cruise ships - lamb chops are available with almost every lunch.

The Brits expect beans and bacon for breakfast, and sometimes also beer.

 

Cabins

These ships offer the same cabins as Carnival - identical down to the lighting sconces. This is good, since Carnival offers some of the roomiest and most accomodating cabins available on mainstream cruise lines.

 

Fellow Passengers

The important thing to remember about Costa is that there are "two Costas." The first is a Costa ship sailing in Europe and marketed to Europeans. These ships have primarily Europeans on board which means announcements, productions shows, menus and tours are offered in several languages, sometimes separately, sometimes consecutively. Then there is the Costa ship in the Caribbean marketed to Americans, where English is the primary language on board for everything. On many of these cruises, they also use Spanish as a backup to market to South Americans.

In Europe, you'll be surrounded by mature European smokers of pungent European cigarettes. All main dining rooms and show lounges now forbid smoking.

Shore Excursions

In Europe, ask if there is a tour where English is the only language spoken, if not ask if it is the first language. Otherwise, on the multilingual ones, you'll have a tough time understanding your guide's accent. In the Caribbean, this should not be a problem just don't get on a Spanish bus.

Kid's Excursions

Costa features "Parents Night Out," on formal nights which includes dinner buffet for kids while Ma and Pa put on the Ritz. "Costa Kids Club," includes supervised activities and programs for children aged 3-8, 9-12, 13-17. Babysitting is subject to staff availability. Cribs may be reserved.

Attire

The Europeans tend to be even more casual than Americans, solely because they took to cxruising later than the Americans; mostly after the industry adopted looser dress codes over-all. Its OK not to pack a neck tie, they are uncommon in Mediterranean countries; especially Italy and Greece.

Tipping

In Europe they will add a charge of 7 euros per person, per day for cruises up to eight nights, or 6 euros per person, per day for longer cruises to your shipboard account.

For Caribbean cruises they charge $11 per person, per day. For 4-6-night Far East cruises there is a charge of $9 a day.

South America or transatlantic cruises charge $9 per person, per day.

All gratuities are added automatically to each adult's onboard account. There is no charge for children under 14. Guests 14 to 17 will be charged 50 percent of the gratuities.