Costa Atlantica Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Rockin & Rolling On the High Seas

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Costa Atlantica
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szdiver
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2010
Cabin: Panoramic Suite with Balcony

We have cruised on the rock n roll cruise three times, now, and we have loved most all of it. Concerts at Sea really puts on a great show for us. But I get ahead of myself. We started out the day ahead from CVG Airport and stayed the night at the Marriott Beach Towers. It is a time share and was not expensive at all. They have lots of restaurants and shops down below and we enjoyed it. Earlier in the month, Dave had bid on Sky Auction for a $100.00 certificate to a place called Cafe Del mar in Ft. Lauderdale. We won it for $42.00 and invited friends from Florida, Kevin & Jill, to enjoy dinner with us that night. It was fun catching up from our TA in November. Thanks Jill & Kevin for coming down to meet us. Next day, we arrived at the terminal about 11:30 and there was no line in the suite section, so we were on immediately. WOW! Of course, we could not go to our room yet, so we went up to the buffet and had a bite to eat while we waited. About 1:00 we were allowed to go to our room. We had picked a panaroma suite, because at the back, the balcony was an extended one - wrapping around. Dave enjoys sitting out there. Next year we will go to the middle of the boat, as the noise was excessively loud. More on that later. We had all our OBC letters, wine from our daughter, our cards and a few welcome letters on the bed waiting for us. Our cards had to be authorized within 72 hours, and it was a machine that did it. Not hard at all. The life boat drill wasn't until the next day, so we relaxed and waited for dinner. The show that night was a Variety Show, but we elected to go to the welcome aboard and introduction of staff from Concerts at Sea. All the favorites were there, Bob Harmon, Jimmy Jay, Wayne Ridgeway, Jack Armstrong & his lovely wife Patti and family, Tammy, Mike Harvey and all the rest of the great group who would entertain us through out the week. We utilized the Ginger & Fred Pool on Deck 9 for most of our dances at 9:00 each night, with the Chancellors and Stacy Wayne as Elvis. Chris Edwards, a friend whom we had met previously, was also in attendance. He is a dis jockey from California, and brought his friend, Patty, another dis jockey. All week long, we enjoyed their company. After an early night, we got up on Sunday in Key West, where we just walked around and enjoyed the sunshine. Since we had to tender in, we had a really long line to get back on and it took quite a while. That evening, Paul Revere & the Raiders performed. As usual, they were terrific. We had dinner at the Club Atlantic Restaurant that evening with another old friend, Peggy. It was really good food and company. At 9:00 we attended another dance and had a great time until about midnight, when we went to bed. The show for Costa was Solid Gold, but again, we did not attend. The next day, Monday, we were at sea and there was an early morning talk show with Jack & Wayne. Lots of trivia, but I did not win. From 10:00 until noon there was a question and answer session with all the entertainers and everyone had fun asking crazy questions and getting sometimes crazy answers. That afternoon, Charlie Thomas and the Drifters entertained. They can still belt it out. WOW! We had dinner at 6:00 and the show was Traveling on the Ocean. Tonight was circus night and also that night was adult quest. On Tuesday, Grand Cayman was on the agenda. We had taken a ship tour called Seven Mile Beach Break, which I would not recommend to anyone. We were taken to a place along the beach, but there was coral as you went into the ocean until about 20 feet out. It was really impossible to get in if you just wanted to get wet and not able to swim. There are other places along that beach that does not have all that obstructions. Costa should have checked this one out. We were back on board by 3:30 and on our way. Trivia with Wayne & Jack was 4-5PM and then there was dance lessons. Mike Harvey had his annual Super Gold Sock Hop this evening and it was well attended with lots of poodle skirts. Fun, Fun, Fun! The first hour was free drinks. What more can you ask for? Free drinks and lots of dancing. No performance this night, but another late night. Liz & Jack and Chris & Patty and myself danced a lot, and it was fun seeing them again. Peggy was there and dancing away with the rest of us. Her friend, Dr. Joe, was the singer with the Chancellors, who played all the dances, as well as backed up a few of the performers very well. Next day, Wednesday, was Roatan and Dave & I did another ship excursion, Tabyana Beach break, which turned out a lot better than the one on Cayman. It had shady trees, lots of sunshine and warm water. The show with Costa was called Circles of Life, but again, we did not get there. Costa invited us to the Costa Club Cocktail party at 8:00. Free drinks are always welcome. Today, I missed dinner, because I waited in line for a first row seat for the Association. Usually, I was waiting, but did not miss dinner any other night. Can you believe it? The Association was singing almost as good as in the old days. After all, they are nearing 70.....Another dance party tonight and back to the cabin about midnight. Thursday, was Cozumel, and we went shopping instead of beaching it. I found a beautiful pink saffire ring to go with my new pink dress. HURRAH! Costa's show tonight was Dreamwaters, an acrobatic show. Again, we did not attend. Again the Chancellors were performing, but most people were passing them by to get to the autograph session in the next pool. The line was very long and it took quite some time to get through it, but everyone had a good time visiting along the way. Friday, another sea day and I tried once again to win a shirt, but to no avail....Today was Bill Medley and at noon I was waiting for that good seat. He and his daughter, McKenna, performed and both were fantastic, as usual. Then we had our last trivia (again no shirt), our last Elvis show and our last dance party. Everyone was a little teary-eyed at saying goodby one more time. It was a fabulous time again this year and we look forward to next time. We signed up for next year to see Gary Puckett, Danny and the Juniors, Paul Revere and Three Dog Night. OK, here goes the bad part: Not too bad, mind you, but all the same. Our room was a panaroma suite, which cost about $200 more than the regular suite, so we thought, good! a larger room - WRONG! It was in the aft, which we usually love. It was shaped like a triangle and crowded with curtains that were bunched up and did not cover the windows. Every morning we got lots of light to wake us up. NOT! The safe was locked when we got there and we asked about 5 times through out the day to have it opened. Finally at 7PM, someone came in and opened it for us. The closed doors were broked and would not open, so one side was useless until the next day when they fixed it. The bathtub plug would not go up and after a shower, it had to be physically taken out. The air conditioner was not working and it was warm all week. They found a leak and a bucked was outside our door all week. Other than that, everything was good. Our room attendant Malie and Ari were good and cleaned up all week for us very well. Our butler was Philip, but could not do anything except bring cookies each night. Every time we asked him for a reservation or something, he told us we could probably do it faster ourselves. Not much of a butler. Although it may seem I am venting, I don't mean to put down the Atlantica. It was a really beautiful ship and clean. The maintenance was a little lax, as every time we told our attendant about something, she would tell us that it was not her job. We had to call down for all problems ourselves. OK - enough negative stuff. Glad to answer any questions and we got off quickly. Peggy went to our hotel with us for a few hours - the Weston Diplomat was really a great one. We had stayed there previously and liked it. We got into our room about 10:00 (check in is usually at 4) and it was like an extra day. I ran out to the beach and got my "bed" and canopy for the day and stayed there until 5PM when Dave & I went to supper across the street at the sports bar. The food there was really very good. I think we must have worn ourselves out, because we both went to bed at about 8PM and the next morning, I was able to get my "bed" again until 11:30 when we left for the airport.

Cabin Review

Panoramic Suite with Balcony

Cabin PS

Cabin 5266 was not very good in my opinion. The maintenance was not well done.

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