It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...

Costa Favolosa Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 96

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Costa Favolosa

7 Night Land Of The Vikings (Copenhagen Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 11, 2016

Ship: Costa Favolosa

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8300

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

(At the risk of plagiarizing a line from Tale of Two Cities.)  We truly enjoyed ourselves.  Service was great.  Waitstaff in the restaurants were wonderful.  Room steward was excellent.  We had plumbing problems.  Our toilet failed several times (no it wasn't clogged - it simply wouldn't flush).  Each time it was fixed very promptly - within minutes of us reporting it - but that shouldn't happen. 

 

We were a group of 9 Americans, and fortunately, we all get along very well.  None of us is bilingual, and that makes it tough to have casual conversations and make new friends on the cruise.  Don't get me wrong, everyone we met was friendly and tried to engage in conversation, but it was not easy.

 

The food was very good, but I'm used to seeing midnight buffets on cruises, and not being nickeled and dimed for every little thing.  My son in law was actually charged 38 cents for a glass of ice that he requested. 

 

Communication was a challenge.  During disembarkment on the last day of the cruise, no announcements were made in English - only Italian and Spanish.  And, a full 30 minutes past our scheduled disembarkment time, no one had been called to leave - only the excursion people were being addressed.  At that point, we had a plane to catch and simply left on our own, ignoring the schedule. 

 

The shows were fair at best, with the crew's presentation being the best of them all.  Nightlife was limited by our preferences (Italian karaoke is not my idea of a good time).

 

In summary, the ports of call were fine, the food was fine, the service was fine.  I would probably seek out a different cruise line that catered more toward my American tastes next time. 

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Allen was wonderful. Fix the toilets.

Ship tip

Learn Italian or Spanish.

Ports of call

Copenhagen, Denmark

5 out of 5

Hellesylt, Norway

5 out of 5

Geiranger, Norway

5 out of 5

Bergen, Norway

5 out of 5

Kristiansand, Norway

5 out of 5

Arhus, Denmark

3 out of 5

Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany

1 out of 5
Warn people that Visa and MasterCard are not widely accepted here. COMMUNICATE this.
Was this review helpful? 96

1 Comment

petersen    8 years ago

Well Costa is a European Cruise Line, just as it's patent Company Carnival is a US Cruise Line. We have Cruised with Costa before, and just like you had a good time, the advantages for Europeans, is that it may be easier for us to understand and speak English, German, French and so on, so that does not put us off, the same applys to MSC and Aida ships. In September we are on a Costa Ship again, and looking forward to it, and to have another great time Cruising. Don't let a European ship put you off Cruising over here.