I like cruising with the Italian cruise line Costa Crociere, (or, to give it its English name, Costa Cruises) not only for the luxurious, but welcoming ambience of the ships, but for the food. It seems they've scoured Italy, and, indeed, the world, for the very best chefs and cooks. It's not only Italian cuisine, of course, but, whatever you choose to eat, the Italian atmosphere is never far away.
When my wife and I cruised to the Atlantic islands on Costa Serena in late 2009, other passengers often asked us how it compared with her sister ship, the Costa Atlantica, on which we cruised three years prior. That's a hard one to answer, because Atlantica was a hard act to follow. That ship was themed around the films of Fellini; the Serena is based on Greek mythology, hence the drawings of naked gods and goddesses, generally having a good time, all over the place.
Costa Serena
First, a few facts and figures. The Costa Serena is 950 feet long, and 118 feet wide. Captain Claudio de Fenza presides more than 1,100 crew and up to 3,780 passengers spread over 17 decks. Feeding all these, in five dining rooms, are 117 kitchen staff, under executive chef Massimo Molinari.
The food, although not always Italian, was served on the Italian plan. Antipasto, pasta, segundo piatto, (main course) cheese and dessert. I did wonder why the cheese was served before the sweets ... I assume the idea was to clear the palate before getting stuck into the (usually) sweet, creamy desserts.
The itinerary was Savona, Barcelona, Casablanca, Funchal, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Malaga. But, after visiting all these "winter paradises"... it was a shock to sail into Savona on the last day, and find it covered with ... SNOW! Especially as we'd been wearing shorts and T-shirts just two days before.
A great attraction for me is the mix of nationalities and languages among the passengers. Announcements are made over the loudspeakers in five languages; Italian, French, English, German and Spanish. There are staff who can speak Dutch, Japanese and Russian, and every effort is made to arrange guides on excursions ashore who speak a language you can understand.
On-board activities & entertainment
There is great entertainment in the theatre every night; two shows, for two sittings at dinner. Singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, and, on one night, crew members perform ... but thankfully, no stand-up comedian. I suppose it's too much effort to translate his jokes into other languages, by which time they have probably fallen flat, anyway.
Regarding the on-board facilities, I can only list most of them, rather than comment on them for we only used the swimming pool, equipped with a jacuzzi, sliding roof and water slide. Oh, we did enjoy the bars, the dining room and the buffet, of course.
On board you'll find spas and "wellness centers," discos, a gym, the "Squok Club," where you can park your children while availing yourself of these facilities and beauty parlors ... and a casino, with barrages of slot machines. And, a Formula 1 simulator!
But, really, all we wanted to do on "at-sea" days was lie in the sun, and, occasionally swim.
Shore excursions & the bottom line
In port, it was a different matter. There's a separate office to deal with shore excursions. These are planned to have as little effect as possible on the local environment, but still cater to most interests ... in different languages. Even so, it is hard to avoid several coaches arriving in the same place at the same time, but everyone is given a little numbered sticker, and the guide has a flag with that number on it. And, I am only aware of one problem, and he didn't get lost; just got on the wrong coach.
I think the yardstick to judge any cruise is the question "Would you go again?" ... and that was the question they asked in the "How did we do?" questionnaire they gave us to fill out at the end of the cruise. We only ticked one of two boxes for each question ... either "Did not use" or "Excellent." I've only been back a month, and I'm saving for my next Costa Cruise already!
