We've just come off a Costa Crusie and loved it. This ship looks gorgeous. We loved the pizza too. We found the entertainment excellent, better than a lot of cruise lines. Great review. Cheers 🍻
Great review guys! We’ve looked at Costa and have considered it and having watched this it’s definitely a cruise line we want to try, especially these new ships. Looking forward to the next videos! 👍
I was on Smeralda 2 weeks ago and I agree with you! Bad point to the lifts, but all the rest was wonderful. Very nice food, do try the Pizza, it is really good.
It’s good to hear someone else say they had a good time too! We just booked to go on her sister ship Toscana in December so hopefully she is equally as wonderful
I like the ship! It seems very modern and the I really loved the acrobat show 😉 I really liked the testing process, one of my big concerns is the testing before and after the cruise. Yum to the burgers! 😋
Hi Roland, the ship was beautiful and catered for a wide audience. Generally could not fault the food it was amazing and the shows were great. Although I hate the testing process it was good to see how serious they took safety precautions
Dont worry about the Covid test. It is done very quickly and very well, no pain, just itching. They do it before the cruise and during the cruise. In accordance with Italian law, you need a Green pass- double vaccination document- to do certain excursions, typically those with restaurant. But with the test one feels safer. Temperature is measured everyday, mask is compulsory inside etc. The cruise is now probably safer than many other places/holiday!
Thanks for the review. I've been on a few Costa cruises and enjoyed them. Watching your video made me switch from Firenze to Smeralda for my end of Oct cruise. Was so useful to see the embarkation process so clearly. Can you remember what time you got allocated, how far in advance you got that info and was it really 3 hrs? Sorry for all the questions ;-)
Thanks! Yes, we learnt that Firenze and Smeralda were really different styles of ship so it’s important to research and choose the right ship for you. We were instructed to arrive at the port for 2:15pm. You are not allowed to turn up earlier as they will ask you to leave/wait due to COVID restrictions. We got our boarding time a week or so before departure, but you need to have completed the pre web check in first. The initial check in was very quick, but you do need to wait for the PCR result to come back and this takes up to 3 hours… for us it was between 2.5 to 3 hours
Perhaps reach out to Costa Customer Services real and we did they can help or note on the system for you… we found them to be very helpful when we asked questions
Thank you gents for this review. I just bkd an 8 day med cruise on Smeralda. Will be my first cruise so I very much appreciate your thoughts. HAPPY HOLIDAYS ✌️
I don't trust in reviews that said Costa is bad because my friends, families, and I have always had great experiences on many Costa ships, and I am comparing my experiences to other more premium ships (and higher prices, of course) such as Celebrity, Royal Carribean, NCL.
That's not what we expected a Costa ship to look like! Unusual to have to pay for a burger, though it did look amazing! Interesting to see the standard of entertainment too, looked very good. Excursions are very cheap! Great review, thanks for the insight into Costa!
Thanks for watching! She is a beautiful ship with so much to do. There were places to get free burgers if you wanted… the place we went to was almost like a sort of speciality restaurant (just a more casual one) and for the price they charge we would say well worth the money… yummy 😋
Watcheeed till the end cards :D Thumbs up for the effort and for being consise around what was important to you :), definitevely Josh is a main character to your experience. Not sure If I'd travel with Costa but nostly because the region Im based :D
Personally I love Costa, I like the international side compared to RCL or NCL which is very American center or MSC which has an ultra modern feeling and their ship are too cold for my taste, we eat very well and personally I prefer to pay my pizza 4 euro with the club card for a delicious pizza rather than to have one free and really not good, and I do not speak about the prices which are the lowest of the market.
Thanks! We haven’t tried RCL or NCL yet so can’t compare to those. We loved the relaxed environment and diversity on Costa as well. For the prices they charge it would be crazy not to enjoy!
@@CruiseBuoys RCL and NCL are very American oriented, so the food is different and so is the atmosphere, and above all they are usually double the price compared to Costa. Personally my favorite company is Costa because they are very relaxed and I feel good there and honestly I prefer Italian food to American.
Great video, but left with questions. In your first impressions you said, it was huge, and it was different from what we experienced before… Can I please ask what you were comparing it to? If this was your first time on Costa? Also, some of the biggest complaints have been with the food, yet needed more info on the included options, the Buffet and Main Dining Room. How was the food in each and was the MDR open for Breakfast & Lunch or just for dinner? It’s great that you enjoyed the pizza and burgers that you paid for, but most cruises include those for free. Just wanted to know if you would have been happy with what was actually included, considering what you paid? Thank you sharing your beautiful family and amazing video!
Thanks for watching! Happy to try and answer what we can… We have cruises with a number of cruise lines and were specifically comparing more to MSC Cruises as they are both Italian cruise lines and similar sized ships. We had low expectations of the food given the reviews we had seen before but we were pleasantly surprised as the MDR food on Smeralda was comparable to some lines speciality dining options. There was always at least one MDR open for Breakfast, lunch and dinner and easy to get into without a wait. We have been on several lines where they include pizza and burgers (the burgers were really good quality though on Costa) however given the cruise price is soo much lower than rival lines you can kind of forgive some things being additional charge and there was always a free option available for your meal. We recently released a full ship tour where we go to each restaurant and cover the ship in more detail. If you have any more questions let us know always happy to answer… alternatively we also post loads of images and short videos on our Instagram account (cruisebuoys) especially when we cruise.
@@CruiseBuoysThank you guys! I just watched your great video again as I’m looking at a cruise on Costa to South America. Was going to go on Celebrity but they cancelled the cruise!
So I have never been on a Cruise, want to take my son in March. How does this work, the drink package is also for soft drink or only for alcohol? What is included in the cruise price? As I understand the Spa access is not included. What about the gym and the evening shows?
So depending on the cruise you purchase and the deal, drinks maybe Included. If drinks are not part of your package then you can add them to your cruise. Cruise lines should have a soft drink only package and different levels for alcohol. When thinking about drink packages its always important to think if they are really worth the money depending on the cost and how much you drink. Every line is different so it's always a calculated decision if you need to add one on. On the ship spas are always extra charge but gyms are free. In your cruise fare your accommodation, all meals ( except speciality restaurants) pools entertainment (on some ships some entertainment is extra for some shows) but shows in the theatre are included. There are a range of other activities like silent discos, pool parties etc also included and of course kids club. The kids will never want to leave. Hope this helps any other questions you have feel free to email us
When we went you had to go on their excursions that was more down to advice from different health authorities in different countries. The excursions are reasonably priced and if brought before the cruise were heavily discounted. You still needed to wear a mask and on some excursions have to have a green certificate which you get onboard.
They have recently changed them and we did discuss the new packages in our Costa Toscana review. Let us know if you have a specific question and we will try to answer 😊
We travelled as a family without issue and found the windows makes the bathroom very light and airy. Understand ts not for everyone but there is so much on the ship to love 😊
I dont like costa. They dont value Customers. The Italian definition of Customer Service is Not nice. Anyhow, im Boarding costa smeralda on tuesday in Palma. Cruise was cheap and i am just curious to See the ship. Costa didnt inform me where the ship docks in Palma …. Main Port, or dic oueste. Just another point that they don’t value customers ….
It is generally a 4 course meal so each course is smaller but we certainly were never hungry at the end of the meal… you can always order more if you want as well
@@CruiseBuoys They dont care about their Employees. It was the most terrying experience there. I never felt so neglected in my life. My dad past away 3 weeks ago, and I found out when I was on dutty... I requested to make a phone call and they didnt let me do it... I just wanted to grieve my lost.
Always good to try other lines 😊 we have cruised Cunard and several others best way to find the one you like… we can’t wait to be back on Cunard for the Queen Anne Maiden