too Book your cruise with Costa!
Voto: 5/5
Pro: personale gentilissimo, nave attrezzatissima e molti altri elencati nel rapporto
Contro: molti passeggeri sono davvero cafoni (non per colpa della Costa!!!), il 15% sul servizio
Nel mio rapporto descrivo a grandi linee il mio viaggio con la nave Costa Victoria, itinerario "Colori dell'Egeo" (dal 20 al 27 agosto 2007), insieme alla mia famiglia.
Imbarco e prime impressioni:
L'imbarco, il 20 agosto, è stato molto rapido. Per prima cosa, un dipendente Costa molto kindly approached to ask if I could load my luggage. Then the wait, under a large marquee at the port of Civitavecchia, it did not go beyond 20 minutes, during which I was able to anticipate some "homework", such as buying a block of good water and one for the coffee. It seems to me that each block contains 23 good ...
my advice is to buy them if you plan to consume bottled water and / or coffee, because the price was right (compared to the prices on board for each unit). Know that the restaurant you can always ask for free water pitcher.
In principle, all drinks are chargeable, and know that the cost is very high ... so for example, the restaurant will pay about € 2.70 for a bottle of water from 75 cl. From then add 15% service (so about everything you buy on board, including water) at the end of cruise ... very questionable. This 15% goes to the employees, as part of their salary, as well as the 6 € per day that Costa charged to adult passengers, including those to be paid at the end of the cruise. This is perhaps the only flaw I found in the holiday.
Moving on ...
arrived in the cabin, on the desk there "waiting for" our Costa Card, a real document on board, without il quale non si possono fare acquisti, nè scendere o risalire sulla nave. Oltre ad esse, anche le chiavi della cabina (una a testa).
La cabina era un po' piccolina, ma è anche vero che faceva parte della categoria più bassa tra le cabine esterne, cioè quelle con l'oblò per intenderci (che ovviamente costano più di quelle interne, senza oblò). Tutto sommato, però, non era male: i letti molto comodi e anche abbastanza grandi, il televisore con canali della TV italiana, un bagno molto attrezzato, una scrivania, degli armadi molto capienti, una cassetta di sicurezza (gratuita e utilizzabile tramite la Costa Card) e un frigobar. Credo che tuttavia la cabina possiate anche dimenticarla, visto che le attrazioni on board are so many that you will spend only enough time to sleep.
After a couple of hours, a guy from Costa brought us the luggage in the cabin.
board services, attractions and restaurants:
On the bed, the first day we found Today (comic book, where they are listed in a tidy all events of the day) for passengers on board soon. Along with it, a file with a detailed description of all the possible excursions of the week on a cruise and a sheet that stated that during the holiday, our dinner would have been the first round (7:15). The second round is at 9 and 15. It is very important not fooled by appearances: I highly recommend keeping the first round, which is not difficult, since most passengers prefer the 2nd. If you still want to change shift, the meter and the staff will do everything possible to accommodate you (I know because the first day we asked to change, and the day after we got if we had not realized that in the 1st round is much better).
Our evening-type took place in this way: Symphony dinner at the restaurant (the excellent service, fast among other things, and waiter staff very nice and friendly) audience at the Theatre Festival (with fabulous artists and different shows every night), animation (with very nice guys, by the way) to the Concorde Plaza, a huge pub that is actually spread over three decks, and finally a trip to Monte Carlo Casino, full of slot machines to suit all budgets and classic games (poker, roulette, ...).
However, there were alternatives, starting with dinner in theory we could go to a pizzeria, buffet-or at the restaurant "Il Magnifico," the paper (ie paying). The dishes, such as quality and variety, and the kindness of the waiters there are "morally" prevented from doing so!
Now, not to bore you too much, move on.
Stages and excursions:
Iniziamo col dire che il direttore di crociera, il primo giorno, tiene una riunione a teatro, dove spiega a grandi linee il funzionamento e l'organizzazione della nave, le attrazioni e, soprattutto, illustra le tappe e consiglia riguardo le escursioni.
Molto onesto, non ha esitato a dirci che per le isole greche di Mykonos e Patmos prenotare un'escursione sarebbe stato tutt'altro che necessario. Riguardo Catania, ha illustrato le possibili scelte senza dilungarsi più di tanto. Ovviamente, per la tappa di Smirne (che si trova in Turchia) ha caldamente consigliato di prenotare un'escursione, dando la preferenza ad "Efeso, Casa di Maria e Basilica di San Giovanni". Riguardo Santorini, ha consigliato di visitare il Villaggio di Oia (si legge "ia"), per il quale è prevista un'escursione.
L'unica visita guidata che abbiamo fatto è stata quella sopra citata in Turchia.
Ora vi darò qualche dritta su come arrangiarvi, per esperienza personale:
CATANIA: no-comment. Il porto è abbastanza vicino al centro, lo potete raggiungere anche a piedi, come abbiamo fatto noi. Poi chiedete a qualcuno del posto quali sono i posti migliori da visitare (al punto informazioni per turisti nei dintorni sono molto cordiali) e prendete una granita!
PATMOS: lo scalo è in rada, cioè motorboats carrying about 80 people at a time from the ship to port. This is because a ship as the Costa Victoria can not dock at a port such as the small island. Do not be alarmed: the discharge are very fast, as well as those boarding at the end of travel.
The island is not great ... get to the port can now direct you to the taxi rank adjacent to the point of the airport. With 20 € (per vehicle, not per person) can take a taxi which will take you to the Cave of the first after 45 minutes you planed to take him to the Monastery of St. John (where you can stay an hour or so), then you back to the port at a price honest. Since these two are the main tourist attractions of the island, I think it is a must visit. Once back at the port, I suggest you take a trip to the island, very characteristic.
MYKONOS: the "morning-evening", in Mykonos, you can roam the streets of the island and see the churches that feature, in addition to Little Venice, Little Venice, so named for the fact that the buildings rise a few inches from the sea.
Only one warning: do not expect to reject the shuttle costs € 5 per person, which takes you from the port at the center of the island, it would be a genuine suicide! And hear me when I say that is the case back to the coach park at least one hour, if you want to avoid crowds, no queues caused by the organization. As we know, in Italy the concept in a row does not exist, and 99% of the people around you would be ready to give you a knife behind his back just to rob the place (1% belong to relatives and people are too tired to raise a weapon).
PS: If like me you are passionate about photography, know that the light at this time is optimal to make good photos. The trip, in fact, takes place at the turn of the sunset.
IZMIR (IZMIR or): book an excursion. The city is great and very populated (3 and a half million inhabitants) and are really few people speak English or Italian. We have made the trip "Ephesus, House of Mary and the Basilica of San Giovanni."
The price at first glance is very high (about 300 € in 4, whereas my sister pays less because a minor). However, the price includes:
a bus that will take you for a walk on the tour (which lasts nine hours), the ticket for the excavations at Ephesus (buried huge city, the excavations have brought to light only 30% today), a visit to the carpet factory, with lots of explanation on the work of artists who produce them and You can buy these (I speak of the carpets, not the artists of course), dinner at a luxury 5 star hotel (a buffet, which by the way none of us liked it), go to the House of Mary and the ruins of the Basilica St. John (though I do not think that was the entrance fee) and, 
though perhaps many will have it taken for granted, the guide (ours was a girl very nice and helpful, well-informed and organized) . summary: the price you can certainly define economic terms, but for all that offers the tour is not even very high price: I will say that the council, then see you!
SANTORINI: the island is very large compared to Patmos.
From the port, there are three ways to reach the upper part of the island: via mule, by foot or cable car (not recommended by all because of "waste" of mules!). We opted for the latter. The service is efficient (even if the return you will certainly find a lot of row), but not exactly cheap (4 € per trip, 2 € for children under 12 years).
Taking the tram, you are in the middle of the village of Fira. Take a quick tour, but do not dwell too much is waiting for the fabulous village of Oia. Taking matters in hand, I decided to go to the taxi station (10 minutes walk) e prenderne uno fino ad Oia, nella parte Nord dell'isola (5€ a persona).
In 20 minuti siamo arrivati. Abbiamo passeggiato lungo la stradina principale del villaggio, con una splendida vista sul mare. Forse il nome Oia non vi dice nulla, ma per intenderci immaginate la cartolina "Saluti dalla Grecia": case dai muri bianchi o giallo-chiaro con i tetti a cupola color blu cobalto...ecco, questa è Oia. Venire a Santorini senza vedere Oia è come visitare Roma tralasciando il Colosseo, San Pietro e il Pantheon messi insieme.
Posso garantirvi che il posto vi lascerà senza fiato. Al ritorno (purtroppo c'è anche un ritorno!) dirigetevi dove vi ha lasciato il taxi. Vi I say now that finding a taxi that brings you back to Fira you will not be easy, but do not worry, the shops of this pitch, you will find an information center. If you try to talk to the clerk at the desk, know that his language is a mix of greek and English, spoken with ostentatious security. At least I mean the girl with whom I have "spoken", maybe I simply said bad ...
Back to us: You can also avoid talking about, because a wall is affixed to the timetable of the bus (with 3 steps, one to two in Fira and Oia). The time taken by bus to bring you back to Fira is more or less the same as the taxi (you know I would have done differently in the first round, considering the price less than 2 € per person ...). Get on the bus, the ticket you do on board and get off at the second stop in Fira, aka "the last stop." Now
crying back to the funicular that takes you back to the launch (ie the boat Coast, because even here the airport is rare), the direction of the ship.
The stages are exceptional in my opinion, as well as hiking in Turkey. The transportation is very efficient launches.
OUR WAITERS: Luis (Dominican) was our waiter at the restaurant. A very nice guy, but very, very professional. We were really spoiled. With him an Indian waiter, younger, who are charged with carrying water. He even learned our "taste" after 2 days, and just sitting at the table was ready with two bottles of sparkling water in hand.
Christian (Asia, the Philippines seems to me) but our waiter was stationed. Very accurate, efficient and discreet, has certainly contributed to the happy course of your holiday.
At the end of the holiday, despite the history of the service, and 15% of the 6 € per person per day, we left a substantial tip to all three boys, because the work was extraordinary (and I am not exaggerating at all).
family attractions: find it very relaxing "Pompeii", the center benessere dotato di idromassaggio,
piscina interna con acqua sulfurea, sauna, bagno turco e massaggiatori (quest'ultimo è un servizio extra).Se invece amate la confusione, o semplicemente siete curiosi di vedere quanti cornetti riesce ad ingurgitare un uomo nell'arco di 10 minuti
(solo per il fatto che sono gratis e che il bouffet è a due passi, sia inteso), allora il ponte 12 fa per voi: due piscine con acqua marina all'aperto, così come le quattro vasche idromassaggio, un mare di lettini ed i simpatici animatori dotati del dono dell'ubiquità, visto che sono in 18 posti contemporaneamente!Al Casinò Montecarlo si può giocare anche se non si ha intenzione di spendere molto: ci sono slot machine che prendono gettoni da 1 centesimo (non è un errore di scrittura). Sappiate, però, che c'è gente che parte in crociera apposta per giocare, quindi non è raro vedere autentici personaggi in grado di giocare migliaia di euro in pochi minuti alla roulette. Vi consiglio di andare, anche solo per vedere. Ah, dimenticavo: il personale non risulta molto simpatico, e se siete ragazzi di 20 anni come me, portate SEMPRE dietro la carta d'identità, perchè altrimenti non vi cambieranno i soldi in gettoni e non vi faranno neanche stare all'interno del Casinò. Solo qui la Costa Card non vi servirà a nulla: tutte le giocate si pagano in contante, assegno e chissà in quante altre maniere.
I bar sono praticamente ovunque, ma quelli ai ponti più bassi offrono un servizio migliore, in quanto la gente non è mai molta.
Molto attrezzati i negozi: essenze di ogni stilista in profumeria, vestiti di marca nei negozi intorno, come anche souvenir delle tappe visitate e della Costa Crociere, sigarette e alcool (anche se non fumo e non bevo ho dato un'occhiata...), oltre ad occhiali griffati e cristalli Swarovski.Del teatro Festival ho già parlato più o meno, posso solo consigliarvi di affrettarvi a prendere i posti migliori, vista la qualità degli spettacoli.
Concludendo anche questo "capitolo", la nave vi riserverà sorprese ogni giorno...non sto a dirvi quante other things you will find on board!
EVENTS: two galas. The recommended attire is formal / elegant, but there are many people for whom walking around in ripped pants and tight-fitting tank top on a night like this is the best. DO NOT WANT TO REVIEW THE POSSIBILITY 'OF ECONOMIC PASSENGER
but a normal shirt and a pair of jeans would have been much better. For my part, I put on both evenings jacket and tie. A tip: the second eye is less formal than the first, where there is also a cocktail with the captain and the rest of the officers. After the second gala dinner, if you want you can visit the kitchen of restaurants Symphony and Fantasia, which is the same. In short: you enter the Fantasia, where there is a buffet-(find everything), it goes through the kitchen "clear", really huge, and we eat at the tables of the Symphony. You can also enjoy a maximum degradation of human beings: people who eat whole plates of sweets in the night,
after probably a dozen meals throughout the day, or even worse, that people who take out trays full of every good of God, and then leave half. This really disgusted me. See people who think that eating all day is a way to recoup the price of the ticket (which "unfortunately" I can not understand) is not something sopporto. Pareri personali.A parte questo, gli eventi sono organizzati in maniera eccellente.
IL TEEN-CLUB: raggruppare un gruppo di teenager (club per ragazzi dai 13 ai 17 anni) può sembrare una bella idea. Peccato che questi siano in gran parte dei cafoni...ma d'altro canto, dalle querce nascono le ghiande, saranno i figli degli individui sopra citati. Solo che determinati atteggiamenti di questi ragazzini mi hanno fatto vergognare della mia romanità, di essere nato nella loro stessa città, e qui penso di aver detto tutto.
La responsabilità non è di sicuro della Costa.
IL CLUB COSTA: a bordo troverete dei fascicoletti che illustrano i vantaggi di avere una CLUB COSTA CARD. La richiesta è gratuita e può essere fatta direttamente a bordo, inserendo un coupon compilato in un'urna al 5° ponte. Vi consiglio di farlo assolutamente.
ALCUNE RICHIESTE ASSURDE: durante la settimana ho osservato ed ascoltato alcune persone che commentavano negativamente qualsiasi cosa. Ve ne espongo rapidamente qualcuno. Se siete curiosi leggete questo paragrafetto, altrimenti andate al prossimo, non mi offendo!
- Due ragazzi di Napoli, anche molto simpatici devo dire, volevano reclamare per il fatto che il caffè e la pizza non fossero come quelli della loro città natale. Vi assicuro che l'espresso era ottimo (non posso dire la marca, ma è la più famosa in Italy), as well as pizza.
- A couple of gentlemen from Sicily, in his fifties, have occurred at our own table at the restaurant. She just sits calls for a cappuccino and two glasses of water. The waitress, very kind, immediately fill up to half the two glasses and walks to the kitchen. The lady immediately brings to demand more water, since she obviously was not enough for half a glass. The waitress comes back and fills him with great courtesy. Meanwhile reproached is the fact that the cappuccino is not here yet (after about one minute from the request). She says they're preparing. They spend 20 seconds and the husband decides it's time to shoot a sentence of that caliber, "It is impossible, I immediately call a responsible !!!". And the best part is that there is really gone ... Within half a minute came the Capuchin (our and other). The two "gentlemen", if you will call them, they eat like beasts they had taken at the table of sweets, she uses her cappuccino, drinking a sip of water and two stand up, leaving the two glasses filled to the brim almost on the table ... "How to spend two minutes of waiting, giving the eye. "
-" Today there is a gala event?!? But that did not have anyone ... "..." But she has read Today?? "..." No, why?!? "..." Why Today is written on all the details lady ..."( conversation towards the end of vacation with a woman still believes that every morning the waiter should come in the cabin playing a trumpet and then unrolling a long scroll, which reads from all possible daily activities to which Her Majesty may choose whether to participate)
CONCLUSION: this was one of the best holidays of my life. I hope to start next year even with Costa and certainly recommend it to all those who ask me an opinion. I hope not to have bored you and that reading has been smooth and pleasant.
I'm sorry if some find my "relationship" at times too playful or sparkling, or perhaps too harsh to certain attitudes, But remember that it is written by a boy of twenty. For any questions, please contact, I will be happy to help. Opinions are welcome, also for any omissions, as long as constructive. PS: If the reviews are positive I'll be even happier to read!
Hello everyone and thanks of attention dedicated to me!
too Book your cruise with Costa!
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