We chose this Cruise Trip to North Europe, as this covers four stops in Western Norway, besides Copenhagen and Goteburg in Sweden. This was our second trip on Costa Ship. Very happy with their Itinerary, since main attraction was to visit Norwegian Fjords. Vast variety of food and comparatively far better Entertainment compared to others. Overall a great experience and Value for money. One suggestion for those Taking this Cruise at Warnemunde Germany. Warnemunde is nearly 2 to 4 hours by Train or Coach from Hamburg or Berlin. For individual/ group travelers, who not taking direct Private Taxi/ Car from Hamburg or Berlin to Cruise centre, the better way is to Embark on this Cruise at Copenhagen. This will avoid all the hassles of getting to Warnemunde from Hamburg or Berlin One suggestion for Costa: Being an Italian liner, there should be some free Pizza and Ice cream stations. They have Shore Excursions for different language groups. At Norway ports, private excursions to Fjords are available at cheaper prices. Read Less

We wanted to go to Norwegian Fjords cruise for quite a long time so, when I saw this cruise on special promotion and checked its itinerary, we bought it the very same date. Itinerary is very important as many cruise ships just stop at major cities where you should take local fjords tours, which are pricy as everything in Norway. This cruise had excellent itinerary, I could not wish to be better. First of all - it started in Amsterdam harbour, which is in about 40 min taxi from Airport. We took this opportunity to explore town of Harlem, with is absolutely beautiful and provides very different experience in compare to crowded touristic Amsterdam. Embarkation was fine except one of our suitcases was never delivered to the cabin and we picked it up by ourselves, staying lonely by the elevators :) First ship impression - WOW! we never saw such kitch before. Do not believe anyone, who wrote this ship design was impressed by Italian castles. It was rather impressed by Gipsy kings houses and made by people, who never saw anything produced in Italy :) Despite its design, ship is very well structured and its quite easy to get where you want different ways. On-board experience - Costa cruises do promotions on their cruises very often, so never buy their cruise full price. In return everything on board is PRICY. Drinks are expensive, photos - very expensive, paying restaurants - expensive and price for SPA is over expensive. As result service staff is busy whole day, trying to catch customers for their services. Looks like Stambul market a bit and annoying as well. On the other side, you can always say no, which let you control your expenses. Only thing you can not avoid is ironing, which is expensive as well, and they do not let you to iron things by yourself :) Its strongly recommended to buy wine and water package as soon as you are on board or in advance. Internet - Costa has great option for unlimited Facebook, Instagram and messengers for only 5 Euro per day. Dining - though buffet on the upper floor was mostly disappointing as mentioned in many reviews, menu breakfast and evening dining at the main restaurant was superb! Dishes were on top restaurant quality and we really put on weight during the cruise as could not miss any course, some times asking for the same dish twice for the evening! 5 stars to the chef! Our evening waiter really provided us top service possible. Same time room service was good at the beginning, but starting from the middle of the trip made it worse and stop doing anything, even cleaning at all for last two days. Probably he expected to get a tip after two days? Needless to say he did not get anything. For excursions we used local company called Norwegian Excursions which I'm glad to recommend. Unfortunately we decided to use Costa Excursions for Stavanger and Bremen and it was complete disaster. First of all you can not neither complain nor get any refund. Excursion desk is always full with unsatisfied customers, but its written in their terms - no refund in any case, except full cancelation of the excursion by local provider! Costa acts as local provider agent and in case you are not satisfied with your experience, Costa may provide you with local provider details and you may send your complains directly to them. Costa sold us Fjord trip in Stavanger, stating its going to be small boat cruise, you'll go behind the waterfall with this boat, while sipping Prosecco with nice music, observing fjord though its glass roof. In fact local provider gave us a transport ferry, which is not even close to the promised small boat and not suitable for any excursions at all. Needless to say, Costa did not provided any refund. Excursion in Bremen lasted only 2 hours, despite this day stop in harbour is over 6 hours - I think they just save on buses. Best solution was just to go to harbour shopping center with local bus. Fellow passengers complained on other excursions as well.. Some did not book any excursions at all, always choosing the ones in local ports - good idea! Ship has very good disco room, which starts to work as disco at midnight acting as teen zone before this time. Entertainment was mostly different dancing performances which is not in our style, though Roberto Sinagoga signing performance was really impressive. Animators team was great and do perfect job! Summary: If you buy your cruise with discount, avoid Costa Spa and excursions, there is good possibility to enjoy Costa cruise even with few cocktails every day. Tipping your cabin attendant at the beginning might be a good idea. Quickly on ports - Bergen - nothing to do except little old district and tourist fish market, If weather permits, take funicular uphill (buy tickets through internet to avoid cue) and hike up there - they have beautiful nature trails there. Stavanger - considered to be most beautiful city in Norway. Probably it is. We downloaded map of Stavanger graffiti festival and did our own city quest searching for different graffities - it was amazing! Alesund - Troll wall is not quite interesting, and troll road is a must! nothing to do in town itself, though we do good shopping of local tourist equipment in local outdoor outlet. Geiranger - Just took standard excursion, which should including mount Danisba (or something like that) and 7 sisters view point. Avoid hope on bus - it won't take you there. Olden - Piece of glacier you see is quite small though road to it is fun despite crowded. You can get there with Norway Excursions as well as take excursion in the harbour. Read Less

We picked this 9 night Norway Cruise for it's ports, not for the ship, as part of a celebration for our son's high school graduation. We splurged on a panorama suite for a little more room and services since there were 4 of us, my husband, 18 yr old, 1 yr old and myself. We reviewed all Costa's shore excursions prior to sailing and through research determined we could do most of their excursions on our own or through another company for half the cost. We booked 0 excursions through Costa and did all sight seeing and excursions on our own. Ports: BERGEN: We easily walked from port to town while walking by colorful houses to Floyen Mountain funicular (lift/gondola). Once on top, beautiful views await with easy walking trails, friendly goats and playgrounds galore (don't miss the wooden one in the trees to the left when you get up there. There's a little zipline that's part of the playground too). Definitely a spot for all age groups. Go there early as the lines get long for the funicular. Cost was reasonable, about $20 round trip. You can also hike up and down at no cost, but it's not for everyone and I would rate it difficult because of the incline and length to get up there. HELLESYIT: we didn't dock. Stopped for an hour for the views. You could only get off IF you booked an excursion that took you to the next town, Geiranger. At the high cost, It didn't sound worth it. GEIRANGERFJORD: coming into this Fjord is the excursions. Save your money and wake up early (by 6am) and watch the majestic waterfalls and ridges roll by as they narrow while approaching Geiranger. At port, we checked out a few port shops along the water, walked around towards town (about 5 minutes) and walked backed. It looked like you could rent a boat there for a few hours. That would have been fun. It ended up being a very overcast day. We ended up back on the boat somewhat early for a nap. ANDALSNES: My favorite! I originally wanted to take the train excursions Costa had on the Rauma Railway but at almost $200 a person, I thought not. I found the train actually had a website of it's own, but the tickets were sold out for that date and time (Costa's excursions bought them out no doubt). So we rented a nice car for $60 and went to all the same places on the excursions, literally following the train as it paralleled the road we drove (a huge cost saving and so much better than fighting for space with all the other tourists). MUST SEE Trollstigen (winding, steep road with waterfalls to a beautiful mountain top park with easy trails to overlook). Come back towards town and drive up the other side along the Rauma River to Romsdalen. On your way take a side road off the beaten path for a few minutes. We saw moose and an incredible unattended roaring waterfalls. OLDEN: we took the local bus (turned school bus after 3pm) for a few NOK (maybe $10 per person round trip) to Briksdale Glacier. You must do this early to allow for time to get there and for walking the park and return before the buses stop running. There was no cost to get into the park, just for the shuttle cart (big golf cart) to bring you towards the top of the park to avoid some uphill hiking. We loved the 1 hour walk up and the challenge. Bring a raincoat or sweater, it does get cold (you're walking to a glacier). STAVANGER: We really wanted to do the Pulpit Rock excursions with Costa, but again $200 a person was ridiculous. You can do it on your own for around $40, if you're in port a full day. You just need to get up early and be off the ship to catch the 1 hour fairy over to Tau and bus to Preikestolen Mountain. Once there, you'll need to leave at least 4 hours for the hike (add more for decreased fitness level) and plan what fairy you need to be on to return to the boat in time. We missed this opportunity because we stalled getting off the ship. Instead I watched jelly fish swim along the boat docks as we walked into town with LOTS of SHOPPING. We eventually decided to WALK to the swords. I definitely recommend NOT doing this. It was easily a 4 mile/6 kilometer, 2 hour walk through the neighborhood, a park and along a highway, with nothing special to see, only to get there half starving, take a few pictures, with just enough time to figure out how to get a taxi in the middle of a very residential area back to the ship. DON'T DO THIS! Wake up early and get to Pulpit Rock. BREMERHAVEN: port is far away (20+ minute drive) to the city. We stayed on the ship. Language: They announce in 5 languages. It doesn't seem annoying as they do it quickly and efficiently. The cruise director will announce in the 5 languages as well. The crew generally understands english. The majority of the passengers I interacted with spoke only Italian or another language besides English. The boat: decor. Lots of colors, but very clean and tasteful. Hardly felt us mice through the Norwegian waters. Bars/lounges: didn't usually have to wait long when ordering directly at the bar. Sometimes lounge seat service took a bit. Bar staff was accommodating and willing to try to make what you wanted off the menu. Mark at the lounge was good at understanding drinks off the menu. Dont expect a typical Cadillac margarita as they don't squeeze the lime/lemon fresh, they use a mix which they say is lemon juice with sugar added. The best Margarita I had was with their fresh squeezed orange juice. They put the best duo singing band (2 guys) that play mostly American songs in the worst lounge. It's not a bad lounge it's actually really comfortable, but the walk way to the MDR and elevators separates the stage/bar from the seating so everyone is always walking through. Any of the ships other lounges would have been better for this. Theater: very nice 3 story theater. Lower level walk in on the first floor and multilevel (with stairs) highback chair seating on the others. All offered pretty good views of the stage with some piller obstructions throughout. The first two rows are reserved for suite guest, with no specific seats being assigned relating to your cabin. They can be taken 5 minutes before showtime by anyone. Staff does not monitor the reserved seating. The show's are about 90 % Italian related and they sing about the same in Italian. Tips: download the Costa app on your phones prior to the cruise. For some reason Norway would not let us download the app ( it was unavailable in your area). Butler Service: We did not receive an orientation from our butler (Julio). He never told us what services we could use him for, I believe in part due to the language barrier. We struggled a bit when we'd try to order drinks from him, but he always tried really hard to understand. We call an extension on our phone and they either take our request or more commonly, send the butler to find out what we'd like. One morning I ordered two hot chocolates with the person at the extention. The next day I ordered it at the extension and she said it was not included, even after telling her it was yesterday. She sounded irritated and said "mama is there anything else?". I said, I guess just orange juice. It was definitely included as we had their best drink package and butler service. Three days before cruise end, we were given a second butler that explained the services included. Club Restaurant: Medusa was the highlight of the service we received. Kind staff when dining with a 1 year old made all the difference. Kevin, Julie, Neal... made sure we got good service and were always chatting with the baby when he got fussy, many times avoiding having to leave as the baby responded happily to them. The food was usually good. I asked the servers what things looked better on the menu as it was hard to tell by the name what would be good. One night they had lobster bisque, it was anything but. More like cream fish broth gravy. I know they have limited ingredients to make a variety of things, but sometimes the food names on the menu are not exactly what we know that item to be. So just ask a lot of questions prior to ordering at the restaurant to avoid disappointment and food waste. Most servers are happy to explain if they can understand your questions. Restaurants/buffets: this cruise had very selective hours for their buffet. It seemed they were only open 2 hours for dinner and not until 6pm, if you were hungry between 3 and 6, room service was generally the only option. I'm used to having food available 24/7. Everytime I went to the buffet, I had to wait in line about 5 mintues before I could get any food. I also struggled every time to find a table. Pizza from the buffet area cost extra. They act like it's a specialty restaurant. Spa: the spa was complementary for suite guests. We were under the impression that we'd each just get one day at the spa, but was informed that we could go everyday by Christine (english speaking guest relations). The have a co-ed jacuzzi, just like the ones on deck. Each male and female side have their own turkish spa (steam room) and a sauna. They also have nice showers that have multiple side shower heads. Cabin Suite 6158 (Panoramic Suite): We comfortably fit 4 of us. Our 18 year old on the couch bed, our 1 year old in the provided crib and my husband and I in the big bed, which was easily a queen, if not bigger. The beds were more on the firm side, with a bit of pillow top mattress that was very comfortable. *Room disappointments We booked this based on Costa's websites layout of the room. It showed there was two lounge chairs on the balcony AND a table with 4 chairs. There was no table. So we were not able to comfortably have meals on our deck as we had liked (especially with the baby). It also stated a jetted tub was in the bathroom which is a another BIG reason we booked this room. For me to relax and to be able to easily bathe the baby. When brought to their attention the women at the service desk offered to give us a free phone call to pr travel agent. It wasn't our agents fault, we used Costa's website to decide on the room based on features THEY LISTED. Finally a supervisor called us and apologized saying they did remodeling and it looks like the website was not updated to reflect that. There was no offer to move us to a room that had those things or to credit us a bit for the inaccuracies. They did not make it right and I felt like we were bait and switched on the room. Especially having paid more for this suite to include those things. Intedore Drink Package: included all drinks $9 or under. Kids Activities/squawk club: I only know of secondary room for 3 and under. They have a nice clean space for babies to crawl around and play with electronic toys, legos, trains and foam alphabet. This room has a bathroom for changing and toilet. They had a variety of the same two electronic toys, however only one out of 7 worked. When I asked staff, they said they don't have a screw driver. I called our butler, he said the cabin steward might have one. An attendant for the squawk club came by and said the batteries die in a day. I said "wow, in 1 day?". He said "well in a few days". I explained they haven't been working since we got on board, that if they have toys they can and should work and all but 1 is working. He said he understood and would fix them. This is the only area my baby has to crawl freely. They stayed dead the entire cruise. Favorites: fresh squeezed orange juice, sligjtly larger rooms in comparison to other ships I've been on. Room steward (Noel) had great attention to detail, keeping the room fresh and clean. Club Restaurant staff were great. Read Less

We loved the Itinerary ( Enchanted Fjords), the friendly polite staff, the spacious beautiful cabins. (panorama suite). We had most of our meals in Club Medusa Restaurant... the atmosphere was great , the waiters were very friendly and polite ( Mr. Prasad Fargose and Mr Daniel Perreras). Mr Prasad Helped us to choose the meals that don't contain alcohol or pork . he was very patient with us and very helpful . he also helped our kids to find the meals they like and suggested alternatives in case they don't like what was in the menu . Mr Daniel was very friendly as well , smiling all the time and made our little boy happy everyday by bringing him his favorite chocolate milk . Mr Linnon, the restaurant manager was very helpful , he always came to ask if we were comfortable or needed any thing ... and asked how was the food . One day we asked Mr Linnon for Indian food and we got an Indian feast after two days...especially made for us . we were very happy and the Indian food was super delicious . Our teen son loved the teen club and made some friends there. He met some german and Italian friends who speak english . I also liked the magic bag offer for laundry ( 20 euro for 25 pieces). Costa doesn't have self launderette like Disney. Food in the free buffet restaurant was average ...Costa is Italian cruise but the buffet didn't have daily pizza or risotto or Parmigiana di Melanzane. The available pizza was mostly plain with some oregano . buffet was crowded ... difficult to find a table ...in summary food was average in taste and no variety. Shows were average ...the four elements show was boring ...shows suppose to be family friendly but female dancers were wearing thongs ...not acceptable for me . performers appeared one time with scary make up that really scared my children .We liked the clown show. My kids laughed a lot . we also loved the traditional Italian dance . kids club : I took my kids to Squok ( The kids Club) , the counselors assured me that they will speak english with my kids ...but that didn't happen . I stood in the corridor were I could hear but my kids can't see me . I waited for one hour and didn't here any english word . It was all Italian . my kids felt left out and refused to go there again . I understand that the majority were Italian children thats why I suggest that costa dedicate one hour at least of kids activity during the day to be only in english. Squok was small in size not like disney cruise clubs. our last cruise was with Disney magic . one problem regarding the excursions with costa is that the time of excursion is not announced until the night before the excursion ... so we couldn't plan our day until we receive the daily newspaper of the cruise where the time of excursion is written. I suggest that costa write the time of each excursion in advance I also suggest that costa put Indian as well as Lebanese food frequently in their buffet and menu. Disney magic did that . people love those cuisines . The staff were friendly ... we had no problems with them . the itinerary was great . Norway has beautiful Nature . one good thing about costa is that before we depart Norway , they organized tax refund service inside the ship. We booked a suite so we had free access to Club Medusa Restaurant ... had priority check in , priority when tendering in Geiranger, the exclusive drinking Package that include water bottles , 24/7 free room service with breakfast served in cabin if ordered, a daily fruit basket and reserved front seats in theatre. for internet, costa offers a social media package that includes snapchat , whats up , instagram and facebook for 28 euro for the whole cruise duration. ports Bergen it was a beautiful city ...we took the hop on hop off bus . We booked online from Stromma for both the bus and funicular ride. We found their famous red bus in the port where we exchanged our online vouchers for tickets. we took the funicular ride and went up to Floyen mountain . the view from there is beautiful . you will find there kids playground, a zip line and of course a troll statue ... also you can walk for 5 minutes to a beautiful lake ...you can rent bike or kayak Bergen is the wettest city in the world ...it rains most of the days so you should be prepared . Geiranger beautiful village , we took hop on hop off bus from Stromma . you can also walk around or rent electric car . Olden we booked neon sky lift shuttle with the cable car tickets as well as glacier sightseeing bus from the tourist office in the port. The sky lift is new . it opened in 2017, it is 10 minutes ride from the port to the cable car station then it takes 5 minutes to reach the top. on the top there is a modern restaurant and you can hike if the weather permits. down at the station , theres is a souvenir shop . Glacier sight seeing bus takes you in a tour around olden ... the scenery is beautiful with two photo stops . the tour takes about one hour ...try to set on the right side . you won't see glaciers ... just snow on the top of the mountains. when it was time to leave the port , Olden port workers put a good bye song... loud through their speakers and wave the Norwegian flags . that was nice Andalsness we took excursion from costa for Rauma rail way and the trolls wall . the scenery from the train was very beautiful . Try to sit on the right and choose the big window. the troll wall was just a black mountain with trolls statue near the souvenir shop. Haugasend I didn't like this city . we booked excursion from costa " the marvels of Akafjord" . it was boring and long and nothing new . they took us back to the fjord . we were sailing inside the beautiful fjords for more than three days so there is no need to go back there . the tour included a visit to a local artist who draw flowers on every thing ...boring . then a trip in a small ship to get close to a waterfall ...boring too because in Norway you see a lot of waterfalls everywhere so nothing new. yes this trip included a Norwegian lunch . I tasted the deer hamburger ...it was delicious but little salty. also the Norwegian coffee ...their bread . other selections were available too . Bremerhaven we took costa cruise shuttle to Bremen . it took one hour to get there and one hour to come back . we spent almost two hours as free time in Bremen . it is a beautiful city ... famous for Bremen musicians story. Read Less

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This is our 15th cruise, we sailed with such companies as Celebrity, MSC, Carnival, Royal Carribean, NCL, Costa. This time we sailed for a cruise on the Norwegian fjords on the Costa Pacifica (04-07 to 15-07). This cruise surprised us so much that we decided to write a review in English. The food on the ship is horrible in general and the whole service, every day on deck 9, a choice of 3 kinds of meat (chicken, pork, beef) and 3 side dishes (mashed potatoes, rice, boiled carrots). Either other food is either missing or quickly ending, most of the days the food on deck 9 looks like the photo below. Tomatoes and other vegetables are missing, only 2 kinds of salad. At the same time on the whole ship surprisingly delicious desserts compared to other cruise companies. In the restaurant the food is no different from the one offered on deck 9, at the gala dinner you will be served 1 crepe and a sandwich with sausage and butter for a snack. The waiter simply forgot about us for 1-1.5 hours and then served meals randomly. I received what I asked with a probability of 50%, I had never before seen such a frequency of errors in the restaurant. The wait was very long, and they could not bring paid tea to dessert because of this ordering the dessert lost any sense. We were at the restaurant 3 times, after which we realized that it was a waste of time (in other cruises we went every day) On the ship free tea can be found only in the morning, and this is the worst tea that I have ever seen. After breakfast, all the vending machines with tea were closed. Sports court works 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, to get a basketball you need to find a sports instructor that is almost impossible, in this connection, sports courts are always empty. The ship has absolutely nothing to do, the only worthy musicians most of the time performed songs in German, shows below the average, often without decorations, the casino is empty, in a nightclub until 3 am there were games for children. Near our cabin 90% of the time was a basket with garbage, usually it moves to the cabin where the cleaning takes place, this time it just stood at our entrance, the dispenser for shampoo is broken, soap is missing, extraneous hair in bed, for 2 days the plum in Shower and flooded the toilet.  But of course the biggest surprise was to see the cockroaches that crawled into the fridge with desserts. There were about 10 of them at the same time in one place, the big ones quickly ran away and the middle and small ones managed to be photographed and videotaped. Never before have we seen this on a cruise, after that we did not want to eat on the ship. We came to the reception and informed that we want to refuse the service fee in connection with the listed problems, and we want to receive an official response regarding the inconveniences in the cruise, to which a man with a mustache as on the package "pringles" said that it should be, answering - "no "To any of our questions. 200 euros is a small amount, considering the cost of traveling through Norway, but not paying a tip was a matter of principle. Upon returning from the cruise, we wrote a letter to Costa Scandinavia, to the manager "Paola", describing the situation exactly as in this topic, we did not receive an answer within a week, after which we wrote to the main office of "CustomerService@costa.it", they also did not Answered nothing. In a cruise on ships Costa does not need to go because of a lower price or an interesting route, because the inconvenience delivered in the process can spoil your vacation. P.S apologize for bad English, used an interpreter to leave feedback on the international forum. Images on link https://cloud.mail.ru/public/2XsS/hAq18FpHC https://cloud.mail.ru/public/5CXg/tZxDP8xmP https://cloud.mail.ru/public/HQNk/hTbLN5jAP https://cloud.mail.ru/public/7Tiu/UkCZpy7kj https://cloud.mail.ru/public/A1xV/RiaHpjHNA https://cloud.mail.ru/public/MPT7/cuPRCDsPt https://cloud.mail.ru/public/9bVd/Vp9ejFhfV https://cloud.mail.ru/public/8BXk/hGgKFgb27 https://cloud.mail.ru/public/9Vav/ob2inwBts Read Less

We enjoyed the most our cabin with balcony. On the beginning it is difficult to orientate, but finally we found everything rather quick. The food is ok in the restaurants, but is a little stressy. You see the personnel running all the time and therefore you are not relaxed by that. The wine is good and price is correct if there is not always 15 % of service at each time. But the beverages Packages are too expensive if you are not a big drinker. And don’t forget: All exclusive is not full pension. The captain’s diner is just an extra glass and a dessert and more stress for the personnel We enjoyed our stay, but as we did not need the entertainments a cruise is not really our thing, for most of the people it must be fine to have swimming possibility, casino, shows etc. The excursions are not always good organised, but still they are interesting to do. And at every port it is possible to see or do something special if you like. We had a calm sea so it was absolutely beautiful and fantastic to be on board. Read Less

We booked this cruise for a wedding anniversary. 6 months in advance we booked the cruise. On advise of Neckermann Cruises we also booked all our excursions on line a few days later, what gave us on some excursions discounts up to 35%. We choose English for all excursions. When arriving it was well organized and we got on board: impressive and a very nice clean cabin with balcony that was much bigger than we expected: a big hotel room. On the bed there was a latter that we had to go to the excursion desk. On our last excursion in Bergen there was no English available and we couldn't even take the same in another Language. They cancelled this excursion and we had to book an new excursion. 2 days later we received again a letter for a problem with an excursion on which we had initially a reduction of 22%.. English was not available but we could change it to French. We had to sign a paper but that was at full price. Luckily I had print of all our excursion with the price we paid with me. I told them that I wanted at least the same deduction as the original one. Apparently that was impossible to book in their system !!! After some discussion we had a price that was only a few euro more expensive then the original one. We felt that this wouldn't be the last excursion that would be cancelled so we went to the hospitality desk and explained the problem. They called the excursion responsible and told he that it was normal they cancelled the initial excursion (with price discount) and booked a new one (without price discount). We said we did not agree because WE made no error. Reaction: If we didn't accept their proposal they would cancel ALL our excursions. THAT WAS A THREAT !!! When we received again a letter that the excursion in English was cancelled we said that we would not join another non-English speaking excursion. Their reaction: we booked it so we had to do another excursion. After some words they cancelled the excursion. The last day -1 of the cruise on board there was a meeting for English speaking people on the procedure with luggage on how to leave the ship. There were about 20! people. The Costa guide asked as a first question if we were all satisfied. I think she regrets that asked that question: After about 10 minutes she stopped the negative answers on her question (we said nothing) and she told us not to judge the cruise based on the excursions... Apparently there was on the first day a welcome meeting in English, that no-one present was aware of but that we have seen for other languages when we passed through the saloons. They had forgotten to notify the +/- 100 English speaking passengers on board. In that welcome meeting they would ask that all english speaking people would only choose the same 1 excursion per day, because of lack of English speaking people. INCREDIBLE! When we were on excursions with multiple languages on 1 bus/boat they first spoke the other langauge. The English speaking heard something like: The building that was on your right was... ) = Always to late. Another example was in Bergen where the guide did an explanation in French in a street. She told them they could walk around an to be back in 20 minutes. Then she explained it in English some 15 minutes and we could walk around and had to be back in... 5 minutes. It was always like that... Annoying. On board the performers were really Italian and Spanish oriented: They sung many Italian songs unknown for us while the Italians were having the time of their life. The HI-5 Band was the only band that played international known songs all the time. The saloon where they played was of course always overcrowded. These was our favorite band of course. The other performers was singing there texts in phonetically English! It often looked like a Karaoke show... The buffets and a la carte restaurant were very satisfying. !!! We strongly advise not to book this cruise if you are not Italian, Spanish, French or German speaking !!! Read Less

Norway is a lowly populated country with beautiful landscapes. You get to see lots of Countryside, natural beauty and sail into the Fjords while there. Even the Air seems fresher! Cabin was good and well maintained. Shower was small but that was ok. Food options good . The Sit down dinner restaurant allows you to tinker your next days dinner menu to suit your tastes. We chose local port based tour operators , who are waiting as you disembark on ports and bought their tours, having pre checked options on google/on Board . For instance we recommend a trek to Briksdal glacier. You need buy bus tickets as you get down from ship. Buses go there and then you do an hour or 90 minute walk up to base of glacier , come and board your bus back to port. . Ask anyone for local operator , at port disembark area. They actually wait for ship arrival and time their bus departures accordingly and arrivals to match. Tours bought on Board are typically 2-3 times priced. On board we could play TT at pool side and do our walks on top deck. So go for Norway!! We plan a Repeat! Read Less

I have previously been cruising with NCL (Norwegian Epic) and Royal Caribbean (Adventure of the Seas), so that is what I have to compare with. We always opted for the cheapest possible price/cabin. I was travelling with my wife and two kids (11 and 14). Embarkation: This was fairly easy. Our luggage (3 out of 4 pieces) arrived at our cabin as expected. My suitcase didn't and the Cabin Steward didn't know anything and suggested it would come later if we wait. In the evening, I called the main desk who informed me that I had to go to the main desk as there was a problem with by suitcase. The problem was that I had brought a small water heater to make hot water for nescafe. I was not allowed to have this and they kept it at the desk and I got my suitcase. If they had at least left a note in the cabin about it, that would have been nice. And even better if I had been informed about such restriction when I purchased the tickets. Cabin: We had a small cabin with no windows. One big bed and two down foldable beds hanging from the roof / wall. It was decent enough room. There was a television which we didn't use. The guide menu on the tv was slow and un-useable. Dining: It seemed that the dining area couldn't fit all the guest on board, so you would often have trouble finding a place to sit. Also our evening dinner was fixed to a restaurant that opened at 20:30, which is a little late for us. Breakfast was fine, not overwhelming. Their coffee was extremely poor. So much that we preferred just getting hot water and using our own nescafe. You could buy fine espresso, and it seemed almost as if this was the plan with the poor coffee. We din't buy it, as this falls into what I would categorize as a scam. The evening dinner was also not overwhelming. It was very much italian inspired. on our previous cruises they would have different themes like oriental, mexican, italian, etc. Here it was mostly italian. Between 16:00 and 17:00 there were light snacks / cake / sandwiches. But between 17:00 and 19:00 there were nothing to eat. This was especially problematic when you had been to shore and came back at 17:30. Also you could only get coffee when the dining buffet was open. Entertainment: There were some shows onboard which were dance / singing / ice skate kind. These were also much italian inspired with singing in italian. I watched a few and they seemed like varieties over the same theme. On Norwegian Epic we saw "Blu man show" which was a completely different level (better). Then there was the usual common gymnastics, which all cruise lines seem to have, and which I have never understood. Also there were some evening dances and piano concerts / singers which were also in italian. They had a 4D cinema that played little movies of lengths between 5 and 10 minutes. When we asked about prices, the lady were very rude and seemed annoyed why we would bother her. Prices and extra: When you are on a cruise like this (and other cruises), there are things that are included (food, some shows, swimming pools, etc.) and then there are other thing that you should pay extra for. I have no problem with this. But for some reason, it is never shown up front how much something costs. It is as if they want you to go and get interested and then only later find out the price when you have signed up. This again in my opinion categorizes as a scam and I dont understand why anyone would treat their customers like that. Information on ship: All announcements were made either only in italian (only on few occasions) or in several languages (italian, german, english, french and one more language - maybe spanish). Information was mostly useless. If something was delayed (e.g. going to shore), it wouldn't be announced beforehand. Only when the time came, they would announce that now you can go. I really don't understand why they dont use the internal wifi connection combined with a smartphone app to allow you to get information (this also goes for the tow other cruises, I have tried). Conclusion: When we ordered the trip, we knew that it was cheaper than the previous ones we had been on. I wouldn't say that it was a bad experience. It was certainly not a luxury trip. If you are after a cheap trip and can find a decent price, this is "good enough", but if you want luxury, I wouldn't go with Costa. Read Less

This was our first cruise ever; and it will be not the last I think. The Norwegian Fjords are a super destination, Wonderfull sceneries, almost always daytime in this part of the year on the most Nordly destinations. The cabin (with seaview) was very comfortable and bigger then we thougt. The crew was very friendly and very international. The service and food was excellent (sometimes served a bit too cold). A lot of choise in the excursions, in all difficulties and prices. Embarcation was smootly and the quick desembarcation worked very fine. Tip 1: book also a drink package. It is much cheaper Tip2: avoid as much as possible the self service restaurant. Not for quality, but for the rude custumors. Tip 3: you are in a multi cultural invirement, so try the Samsara restaurant. Tip 4: check reguraly the prices before booking Minus point; entertainment, could be better, but this is not our cup of tea Read Less

Chose this cruise because it fit well within a month long european trip, and got a good rate ($500 pp). Always wanted to visit Norway, so what the heck. Cruise leaves from Steinwarder dock, which is the hardest one to get to. Some fellow cruisers were under the impression that the cruiseline was running a free shuttle from the central train station to port, but that was not the case. FYI, the cheapest way to get to the terminal from the airport is to take the S bahn to Landingsbrucken (sp?), then the 73 ferry to Argentinienbruke stop, from there it's about a ten minute walk, 20 if you're slow like me. Total cost - 3.20 Euro. Getting on the ship was worse than the usual mayhem. They give you a group number, then call you to line up when that number is called. So there is this hoard of people waiting in a mass for their number to be called. What is the point of making you stand in line twice? Not enough seating, no refreshments provided, outside of a pay bar. I decided to watch and learn for a few minutes, here's what you want to do. When you get your number, try to find a place to wait comfortably, which won't be easy. Watch the line, you will learn the pattern of when they call the numbers. Wait until the line gets to where they will call the number after yours and then swoop in and get in line before they call that next number. This method cut our line standing down to about 10 minutes compared to an hour for everyone else. Better yet, pick a different cruise. Like I mentioned, got a really good rate for this cruise. That being said, if I hadn't and had paid more, I would have been even more disappointed. I mistakenly thought that a Costa Cruise would be similar to Carnival, since they are jointly owned. Don't. The stateroom is really the only thing that met expectations, it was fine. Everything else is lacking. Service was rude, especially the dining staff. Asked to see a dinner menu a couple of times and you'd thought I'd asked for the world. Never once did the slightest feeling of being pampered come to mind, were treated more like an intrusion than anything else. After arriving on the ship my husband wanted a cup of coffee and was told to go to the bar and pay 2 euro for a cup. This did not go over well. We then learned that "free" coffee is only served at breakfast, in the dining room at dinner, and from 4-5 each day in the buffett. We have never been on a cruise that didn't have 24 hour coffee somewhere on the ship. Ice tea or lemonaide? Fuggetaboutit, it's water or water, and the last day they didn't even provide ice. Dining was unimpressive at best. Beef or pork offered only a couple of times at the buffet, usually drug out the cheap starchy stuff over and over. Absolutely no variety at breakfast, exactly the same daily whether in dining room or buffet, and at the latter they make you go on a expedition to find eggs. Dining times are severely restricted as well, and if you don't get to the pushy buffett within the first 60 of the 90 minutes allotted, your options are even more limited. Miss the dining hours and you are out of luck, no free pizza, softserve, anything. Oh and the hamburgers and hot dogs are precooked and they serve them in cardboard containers, didn't try them because they looked so unappealing. Planned our own excursions so can't comment on them, entertainment on ship was severely lacking imo, if you didn't want to listen to music or dance, there wasn't anything else to do. Movies on the big screen would have been nice, don't expect any movies on your TV, pay extra for those like everything else, and the only english channels were a very fuzzy BBC and (god help us) Fox News. Do yourself a favor and visit beautiful Norway by another method, I honestly think I would have probably enjoyed the ferry more. Don't say you weren't warned. Read Less

Our family and friends has been looking forward to this cruise for a long time, it was our first time on Costa Fortuna (we've been on several other cruises before). We are so disappointed and frankly, upset about the way they treated us throughout the trip. The worst part is, there were BED BUGS (as several of our group was bitten) and many of us was diagnosed with allergic reaction to these bites even weeks after the trip. The Boat - The ship itself is much smaller and older than other cruises. - Activities are made for people who either own a COSTA card or speak Italian/French. Not particularly friendly to outside tourists. The Rooms - Wifi cost 30 Euros an hour. And boy it is super slow. - The rooms are decent, we didn't have any issues with the room itself. - Bedsheets, towels, or wherever the bed bugs lived on, is DISGUSTING. Of course everything is bleached so by the looks of it, everything (looked) clean but clearly many of us that experienced these bites have a lot to say about the hygiene of their sheets!!! The Food - Not great but we expected this given our past experiences with cruises. - Prepare to pay to drink water. In the past, water as given to us at no additional cost. On the trip, it would cost 25 Euro for drinking water a day. The Service - If I could give negative stars, I would. Throughout the cruise, we were astonished by the quality of service received from our rooms, the restaurants and management. - Rooms: Because we lived in suites and was paired with butler service, there has been snarky remarks made by these staff to us about asking for additional towels, water etc. - Restaurants: They make it very difficult to order (often serving the wrong dishes that we ordered), but maybe, they are very understaffed/stressed/underpaid. But when we make any sort of request (nicely of course) we are shut down by rude responses and answers. - Medical: When some of our group members found out they had bed bugs bite, the doctor on board told us that it would be "impossible" to have gotten it from the boat since bed bugs can't live in this type of ventilation (thinking we are dumb). They charged us quite heavily for the medicine and IV and did not offer in any way to compensate for it. When we clearly stated the obvious pattern as more of our group got the same diagnosis, which we received these bites DURING the cruise and SLEEPING ON THEIR BED, they reluctantly told us to submit a request to their management. Of course we did, and received a slap in the face by the team claiming they don't have the authority to grant our request for medical claim (or any sort of apology really). The only thing they offered was laundry service for the clothes and a change of room (because obviously, they know it is bed bugs). Till today, we still have NOT RECEIVED any word from them. - Bonus: One of the room service personnel told us in confidante that in the past, there has been many bed bugs incidents. Still denying?? We are appalled and strongly suggest that you DO NOT take any of Costa Fortuna's cruise lines unless you want to also get bitten and spend weeks of applying medicine to your bites all over your body AND get treated horribly throughout the cruise. Read Less

Having read previous reviews of the Costa Fortuna and the Norwegian fjords cruise we had doubts and low expectations of the ship and the itinerary. However, we were very happy that everything was far beyond our expectations. We had previously been on a Carnival Line Caribbean cruise so we did not know what we would experience from an Italian line. However, we had a large and confortable cabin (2nd Deck) with ample wardrobe space; the food was excellent both at the buffet and in the dining room; the staff were friendly; service excellent and the entertainment varied and enjoyable. We took 5 excursions, which, despite the very cold and inclement weather,were generally good. We heartily recommend this cruise, which has a distinctly European flavour, and woulkd go on this line again, despite the saying "Costa Fortuna - costs you a fortune!) Read Less

Costa favalosa was the worst cruise I have ever been on. I have been on many cruise lines. the food quality was only a little better than a high school cafeteria food. The entertainment was poor. The ship had no real food choices but italian and that was very poor. All other ships have multiple food types and different places to eat. If the main dining hall was open the buffet was closed along with any other options. The lines were always very long because they only would have one place offering anything at one time on the ship. They nickled and dimed you for every thing and the quality was poor. The spa hot tubs stem rooms and relaxation rooms were extra. they had no ice cream unless you paid extra and only at limited time offerings . They had no soda drinks or even juice with out paying more. all other ships I have been on at least had juice through out the day or soda during the main meal of the day included. They had no piano bar jazz club. no comedy club. the excursion desk was disorganized. One of my excursions was even cancelled and another was set for the wrong language. The management told the room staff not to waist towels making towel animals which on all other cruises is a custom. There was no onboard welcoming party. The alcoholic drinks were watered down. If this was my first cruise I wound never do another. Read Less

8.5 euros each day is exorbitant The service we received was not worth 2 euros a day.I note it is mentioned 6 euros a day in a previous review but we were asked to pay 8.5 euros. with no get out clause. Entertainment on board was good on three occasions, Sury Boltman first and last night and the ventriloquist. Although the show company tried very hard, the singers could not sing in tune although the dancers tried hard. The comic act on the 4th or 5th night was atrocious very suitable for a 4 year old maybe not for adults - a very puerile performance. In all, very amateur performances. The level of noise and lights strobing all the time was excessive. In the restaurant we were often served the wrong food which we had to point out to the waiters. No fresh water at the table, ridiculous to have to pay for mineral water I have been on 5 star ships and 3 star ships with far superior service. The beef served one day was red raw I didn't have it but my friend did and I would have sent it back my fish was sometimes overcooked, the only really decent part of the meal was the dessert which was good. Often a long wait between courses. All the ships I have been on include a coffee to finish off the meal, and fresh water at the table, I do not drink alcohol. In my cabin on all other ships and I include river cruise ships, there was always a kettle and tea bags and coffee making possibilities - nothing like this existed on your ship. The general decoration throughout the ship was garish and completely tasteless and I found it very oppressive. The main criticism I have of the ship is that the British contingent on board were basically ignored as the Italians and Germans dominated everything. Another problem I had was there was not enough information about the ship in the cabin. Usually there would be a schematic of the layout of the ship and although there was a small one on the back of something there was not information about the size of the ship, when it was commissioned and length overall, dimensions etc. Read Less

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