Costa Luminosa Review
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'Costa Luminosa' is a classic cruise liner, 8 years old, with a more traditional form, compared to newer ships. Interiors appeared to me like some sort of 'Art Deco', with lots of colorful illumination and warm colors. There were always lots of free sun loungers on the spacious sun decks, and the ship did never appear crowded. Everybody on board was friendly, caring and attentive.
After arriving at about 11:30am, it took me nearly 3 hours from the port gate through the entire embarkation process to my stateroom, long waiting times again and again, but I was repeatedly addressed in German language. The staff and crew was always doing a good job in talking to their guests in each their languages. The security drill took less than 30 minutes and was held in Italian and English languages; movies with other languages were available on the TV in the stateroom the entire cruise. I found some clocks going wrong on board, and generally, light wear and tear.
Since I am a buffet type of passenger, and I generally try to avoid long sessions in the main dining rooms, I did not visit the main dining room. In the evenings, the 'Ristorante Andromeda' was open from 07:30pm to 09:00pm usually, a very limited time for a buffet restaurant, not so Italian like, and there were queues sometimes, since the buffets are arranged on long bars with a narrow alley, not allowing guests to jump. Plastic table ware was used, but the offered food was among the best things on the cruise, although two typical Italian foods like pizza and ice cream were not included in the cruise fare. Choice of food was very good with a big variety, not just pasta, but also different kinds of fish and meat, even the best possible Bratwurst, always very freshly prepared opposite to the buffets, and very delicious small desserts from the patisserie. The spoons and forks at the buffet had greasy handles sometimes, and food was partially the same for lunch and dinner or dessert and 'La Merenda' on some days. Not so bad, since it tasted always very good. I had the 'Pranzo & Cena' beverage package, since only different beverages for breakfast and tea time were included in the cruise fare. Usually, only one side of the restaurant with each 2 different buffets was used in the evenings, thus there was always more free seating on the other side of the restaurant. At rush times, the restaurant was full, and it was hard for me to find free seating. 'Costa Crociere' offers some very few beverage 'Vending Machines' in the 'Ristorante Andromeda'. The guest can insert the 'Carta Costa' and choose between 6 different refreshment drinks. The given price on the monitor will then either be added to the board account, or was already paid with a beverage package. I tasted cool water instead of the expected lemonade, and was also astonished about the amount that came out of the machine, it filled the plastic cup only half, an estimated of 150ml. The guest can also get beverages at the end of every buffet line in the 'Ristorante Andromeda' at lunch and dinner, manually served by always very friendly staff, a full plastic cup with 250ml to 300ml out of cans or bottles. The 'Carta Costa' must be shown or handed over to the staff for paying therefore, any purchased beverage package is noted with its code on the card. Tap water is free, available from dispensers in the 'Ristorante Andromeda'.
Cabin Review
Balcony Classic
My 'BC Classic Balcony Stateroom' #381 on deck 5 on the starboard side had a double bed and a couch, convertible to a bed, bedside tables, closets, commode and stool, a safe for valuables, a telephone and a minibar. There were 2 sockets for EU plugs, one of them behind the TV, which offered some few programs in different languages, no main German news shows among them, by the way, but one in English. Bathroom with shower and gel dispenser, big mirror, toilet, washbasin and towels, as well as a clothesline. I slept well on the bed, the stateroom was quiet, no annoying loudspeaker announcements.
Appearance was nice and largely clean, but with some few flaws. I discovered lots of deep and not so clean looking scratches on the toilet seat. On the morning of day 4, the toilet flushed, not when I pushed the button, but 5 minutes later. All staterooms in the area of the ship were affected, and the problem was fixed after I returned from my excursion some hours later. There was a glass vase as decoration with a big hole, and one of the light switches was not very clean. The minibar was stocked very good with different beverages and snack foods, and there was a coffee machine. Lots of storage was available for clothes and baggage. I had to ask the cabin steward sometimes for missing small things.
The usually 6-page and closely printed daily planner 'Diario Di Bordo' with all necessary information was delivered to the stateroom every day, but was also downloadable as PDF at 'onboardportal-luminosa.costa.it'. Security information on the stateroom door, as well as a 'Non Disturbare' card to move into the card reader outside the stateroom. The big balcony was equipped with a small table and 2 sunchairs, each without foldable backrest. The lockable and heavy door always shut noisy. Pool towels were stored in the closet.