New Years Italian Cruise

Costa Luminosa Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

mrentz91

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 57

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 29, 2019

Ship: Costa Luminosa

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 4378

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and the food. We have cruised Costa before so understood that there would be differences. Many of the things they do is frustrating (no bar service, for example, taking orders from around the pool, bars at the pool not offering full service bars, etc) but we didn't let it ruin our experience. One of the best cruises we've ever taken.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Embarkation was excellent. Less than 20 minutes.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Buffet was the best I ever had on a cruise. The MDR had interesting dinners. Food tasted wonderful but the dishes were weird. Was expecting more traditional Italian fare. As an American, sometimes European food doesn't translate too well. They also don't advertise food with allergies...

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Ballroom dancing lessons were great. There were activities throughout the ship. Not a lot of "frills" like slides, etc.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Overall staff was excellent. In some cases, there were issues with communication since some of the staff did not speak English well.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Cabin was good size. Bed was comfortable. Had an oversized balcony which was nice. Only issue with cabin (and ship overall), was that the AC was not up to snuff for American standards. Would have been fine if only had a sheet on the bed instead of a comforter.

Ship tip

Costa does not cater to American travelers. If you are unfamiliar with European customs and food, you might want to look elsewhere for a cruise. They just do things differently. We loved it but we also love Italy.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

1 out of 5

Terrible traffic and parking.

Thumbs Up 0

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

It's Nassau...

Thumbs Up 0

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5

The beach right off the port is nice and close.

Thumbs Up 0

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

3 out of 5

We did the Djamagua Falls excursion through Iguana Mama. Was an outstanding excursion to do one time! Thought we were going to die as we jumped from one waterfall to another.

Thumbs Up 0

Key West, Florida

2 out of 5

Not the best place to visit for a one day stop unless you book a watersports excursion.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

3 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

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Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

Very glad you enjoyed it

Thumbs Up 0

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed it. Many book Costa and MSC because of the lower price without understanding what they are getting, then complain that things weren’t as expected. As long as you do your research, know what to expect and travel primarily for the ports, it can be a great value and experience.

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