Costa Concordia

7 readers found this review helpful

The ship itself and crewe I have no problems with, however I feel that if costa invite English Australian Canadian or any other English speaking nationality to holiday on there ship then the courtesy of giving announcements in that language should be given.Talking to other English people on that cruise there opinion was the same that it gave precedence to the Italians and that everything revolved around them,fare comment if that's what they want then say so and we wont come I most certainly will not come again. Drinks prices far too high and then on top service charges (not on) I like to give bar staff and cabin crew what I feel they deserve and not told what I have to give so therefore those charges of 5 euros per person per day to my mind is very much out of order and something that I and a number of other people were completely unaware of.Tour prices far too costly in fact your reasonable cruise turned out to be very expensive.

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7 readers found this review helpful

COSTA CONCORDIA
31st January 09.
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After many years of highly recommending Costa I wish I could continue doing so, as the ships and food still remain in my top three, but after this cruise I might have to reconsider. You must also bear in mind while reading this review; the price of this 11-day cruise was exceptionally cheap.
The downside first;
Even with our priority boarding pass embarkation at Civitavecchia Terminal was a nightmare, the building was overcrowded with passengers and the numbered booking in tickets totally ignored by the Costa staff. The result ending almost in a free for all, with the Italians pushing in wherever they could. How on earth can Costa get it so right at their new terminal in Savona, yet so wrong everywhere else?
I’ll skip over disembarkation on our return, just read the above it was the same in reverse.
Service overall excellent, service by a very small number of room service waiters, bar staff and waiters in the dining room poor. Is this down to the now compulsory gratuities?
I think so as we have felt this on other ships where this is the norm, here I do not include Thomson, whom I feel are better than all these large super liners, when it comes to service.
Bar and excursion prices were exorbitant due to the poor value of the Euro against Pound Sterling. This was in many ways offset by the cruise price, but Costa’s bar prices have always been high, so be warned.
The good if not great side;
Our flights by air Alitalia both out and back were on time and roomy, while the snack was not up too much, the short flight did not require much and it was adequate. Transfer from and to the Airport was again good and as expected by Costa.
The cabins are roomy and well appointed, and apart from a couple of very minor moans, the steward kept it very clean and tidy.
Table companions, now these can make a cruise, and how lucky were we to enjoy the company of eight great people who made up the table of ten. Right from the first evening we gelled, and each evening spent together, which did not end at the table, was very enjoyable.
The food as usual was excellent, although it must be said I think the choice of dishes somewhat reduced on this cruise. You will never go hungry on a Costa ship, although I am not a ‘pasta’ lover there were some complaints about this course, but I cannot comment.
Some of the dishes fall short of what you may expect, although this I felt is the translation rather than any other reason.
The Concordia is the sister ship to the Serena, and in many ways like the Magicia, nicely laid out, apart from the bottleneck by the Casino (see my Magicia review) and spotlessly clean. There are quiet places to relax, but these need to be sought out as they are often hidden, try deck ten above the buffet mid-ships.
Viewing places for seeing departures & arrivals are numerous on the upper decks, as does appear to be sun beds and places to catch a tan.
The Atene Theatre is quite spectacular spread over three decks, shows were good, mostly in English with excellent dancers, the Helsinki Cafe is nicely placed mid-ships, and the chocolate fountain gives the air a slightly sweet taste. Three ‘piano’ bars are unobtrusive and nice places to sit and chat, while the Longra Lounge, Berlino Grand Bar are the all singing all dancing evening entertainment locations.
The three pool decks cover a large area with ample loungers, there is a small splash pool for kids as well as the Squok Club on deck eleven. Both main pools have retractable roofs enabling then to open when the sun is shining.
The Samsara Spa and fitness centre occupies both eleven & twelve and offers just about everything, beauty and fitness related.
Overall if I disregard those major complaints about getting on and off, I would say this is still one of my favourite lines, but as that is certainly a large part of cruising, and unless Costa looks long and hard at getting passengers on these huge liners, they will lose a lot of customers.
Smoking as usual on Italian ships, can be a little overpowering at times, but certainly the places for smokers has been reduced since our early cruises. Some inside Bars still include a smoking section, but the general trend seems to be less than previous cruises.
I will download my photos as soon as possible.

4 readers found this review helpful

First we were tricked by Thomas Cook into anti-social flights to the ship. They booked the ship first with flights to follow and foolishly we did not expect to have to be at Heathrow Airport by 5.30 a.m when other flights were available at around 10.30 a.m. that would have been perfect These were refused and am taking the matter up with Trading Standards. Having arrived some 7 hours before the ship was due to sail we were ushered into a cramped building as though they were organizing a refugee camp. This dreadful welcome got worse as we waited three hours before embarking. The cabin with balcony was excellent. However, that first evening meal in the main dining restaurant was mostly cool to cold. We complained and things did improve but the meals were never very good. We had to sit at the same table with the same people at the same time every night which is not as good as the variable arrangements with other cruises. The kitchen had problems keeping pace. One lunch took 2 hours as each course took over 30 minutes to arrive. Discovered the kitchen is on the deck below and waiters have to use a long escalator to reach the tables. This main restaurant is on two tiers very large noisy, crowded and uncomfortable - lacking in pleasing atmosphere. The buffet bars on the 9th deck served the same limited boring food of poor quality all the time often with far more stations for food and drink closed than open. For an Italian ship the coffee was surprisingly poor and stale. The crew lacked the usual joy in their work which seemed to be because they were very aware of grim faced managers who appeared to put them under the cosh. This was further endorsed with the end of cruise questionnaire which had consequences for crew contract renewals if the passengers did not mark up high enough. Conversely, we were told to mention a crew member by name as this helped contract renewal. Getting around this large ship was made more difficult due to poor less than adequate design of the signs and other aids usually found in other ships. Although some 800 English speaking passengers the entertainment did not cater enough for this group. The shows were also rather short. Some excellent artists did perform but often with sparse presentational support or build up. This was strange seeing as the ship has an excellent theatre with all the latest technology to add drama and excitement. The classical music was performed near to the horrid noise of the gaming machines. The excursions were spoiled by not engaging good quality guides. Some tours involved English and Italian resulting in very little English being spoken. The guides were not very professional in their presentation. The excursions were very expensive as were the drinks on board. Even a simple non-alcoholic fruit cocktail was of poor quality. The cruise ended with two days at sea which is something best avoided as it produces an anti-climax. Disembarking at the end of the cruise was chaotic with hundreds of people not knowing what was going on and exactly where to go. Overall this cruise lacked fineness had many avoidable irritations and would not happily recommend to a friend.

6 readers found this review helpful

I just returned from a cruise on this ship 7/14/08 and I would NEVER cruise with them again. The information desk people were very rude, and the english speaking host paul is awful....no help at all. We too waited in the bus for two hours to leave back to our destination at the end of the cruise while they counted everyone ten times to be sure they got every penny. They should be called costa-lot because they charge for everything....and they charge plenty........I knew that being American and English speaking that it would be different and harder, and I accepted that, but they do nothing to even try to appear as though you matter if you are not Italian....I am Italian American and am still offended at the way people were continualy treated by this line. It is all about profit for these guys...and while i agree profit is the goal I also think you need to give someone value for that profit you are making and this was not. The dinners were ok, but the breakfast was horrible and the buffet lines were atrocious at best. The smoking is bad, and the lower levels of the ship sometimes have a sewerlike smell. They do not stay in the ports long enough that need it and are very expensive and cheap on thier excursions. My room was very warm the entire trip and they said it was working to the best it could. They automatically add in a daily surcharge to tip your crew people and an additional 15 percent on any drink you buy...All they supply is tap water, not even ice tea or lemonade. The orange juice must be powdered and tastes like tang and the eggs are like cardboard. Do not cruise this ship....I thought people were just being overly critical and booked anyway, i made a HUGE mistake...