Costa Magica Review

CostaMagica - Trans-Atlantic

Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Costa Magica
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gph
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

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Sail Date: May 2006

Poor Costa: Heres a cruise line that doesnt know what it wants to be. Lively Italian, sophisticated European, deep discount American. Or all of the above, overlaid with both panache and confusion. Costa, said a fellow passenger, is actually an Italian word meaning completely disorganized. No kidding.

The cheapest cruise Ive ever seen offered 13 days across the Atlantic in May 2006 for just $499 - or 16 for $505 if you left from Florida. But the Costa reservationists were confused and the web site wanted $1499 for a berth which was really a grand cheaper. The boarding process lived up to the lines reputation: a 45-minute lineup because only one security screening station had been set up.

Transfer from JFK was excellent, though, and the air arrangements, though complicated, worked. The ship is very large and very ugly inside, but the cabins are pleasant and well-equipped. It is singularly ill-suited for cruising oceans or non-tropical waters: there is no observation lounge, let alone a forward-facing one and the main route to the buffet goes out of doors. There is lots of public space, however, though seat-saving Europeans sometimes block access to it.

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