My mother was a war bride from Rome, Italy. I have been to Rome many times to visit family there. I made my first trip to Italy from New York City to Naples on the Italian Lines Cristoforo Colombo in 1963. The trip took almost 7 days, the ship was very nice and the food was great. I didn't take any offense at your description of the character of Italian people. I agree with you completely. Italians in general are happy, excitable, passionate and very noisy people. That's part of their charm although it can be a bit taxing if you aren't used to it. If nothing else, the food makes up for it! 😅
Morgan you got it right. If the price and route is right I would cruise Costa. I would also add not in peak season. Emma from Emma cruises states she adjusts her expectations based on the price. If she pays very little, then she doesn’t expect the same as when she pays a premium price. Morgan I love your show, I don’t know why you haven’t hit 100k subscribers yet. You deserve it.
Aww, thank you so much for that. I often tell people I'm like the 10th season of "Friends". I've been around here so long that there really isn't anyone on RU-vid who watches these kinds of videos and probably hasn't seen me at least once, and therefore everyone has already decided if they want to follow me or not. Know what I mean? I guess I just showed up too early? Emma, Don, Tony, and more have all thanked me for inspiring them and I'm happy for their successes!
Morgan I knew exactly what you were going to say about the guests and had to laugh at your attempts to explain the experience! I am from an Italian family. All four grandparents were born in Italy and I have to say they were the most quiet and reserved in the family! We do tend to get loud and I’ve often told the story about when the aunts, uncles, and cousins would get together…conversations going on at the same time and voices getting louder just to be heard! I always felt like I had been caught in a tornado when it was all over! They are good, fun, memories. Don’t know that I could take it now, though, many years later! Lois😂
Thanks Morgan. If you are interested, give Princess Cruises a try. I didn’t hear it in your “list”, and Princess is one of our favorite lines - we prefer the Royal Class ships and would love to hear you compare and contrast. Thanks again.
Thanks for the video. I love Italian people, who are so passionate and warm-hearted, every time I’m in Italy they awaken the same quality in me. This might be why I enjoy Costa cruises.
I won't travel Costa, but I gave you a thumbs 👍 for your time and effort. PS, bought your book, sailing to Alaska in Oct, so waiting to read it. I'm then going to place it in the on board library for others to appreciate. Thanks again for all your hard work. As always, your honest reviews are why you're on my regular weekly watchlist. PS I'm a NCL fan, but I really enjoyed your river cruises, more of either would be great!
Oh wow, thanks for the support! I hope the book puts a smile on your face and I'm so happy to know that it will end up on the ship and maybe someone else will enjoy it, too!
Leaving the book in the ship library is a great idea! I’ll buy another before my next cruise to do that. I don’t want to give up my copy since it’s an OG with no page numbers - so it’s a collectors item - right @VeryunOfficialTravelGuides ? 😎
Another great video, thanks! You really portray the character of the ship and cruise. Not sure I’ll ever be able to cruise on Costa, but I love learning about it!
Disco night on MSC: As you say, the songs were in English, because that’s how they were originally. Then “Gloria” came on. In Italian. The crowd loved it, but it took a bit of research to understand why that one song was in Italian.
I am seriously considering Costa for a Med cruise. The more I hear the more I know that I do not think many of the hang ups people discuss would be an issue for us. We generally keep to ourselves on a cruise and being from the bilingual part of Canada the multi-lingual stuff is 'normal'.
Our first cruise for our Silver Wedding was a Caribean Cruise on the Costa Atlantica. Beautiful ship. Fantastic decoration and is very Italian in style. Meals were 7 courses but it became a bit of a joke between us and our 4 other table companions as to which one of us would not get the course we actually ordered. My wife didn't like the 4 languages that announcements were made in, but we both enjoyed it and I would go on another one if the price was right.
the last time we went with costa we paid 50 usd per night, for a balcony cabin and included drink package, we had no expectations at all and they were exceeded, the food was quite good, some dishes fantastic, and nothing was inedible. the staff was very nice and accommodating, several bartenders came out with our favorite drinks as soon as they saw us The entertainment was interesting at best, attended several good historical lectures just the wine and drinks we drank were worth more than we had to pay for the whole trip. but the cruise must go to the right places at the right time for us to choose them again, the experience on board is not exactly enticing even if it is perfectly fine. we cruised in the western Caribbean so there were many English speakers on board, we don't speak English as a first language and think it is more interesting with a greater variety of guests on board, but we would never book a cruise in the Mediterranean when the Italians are on holiday, then we would feel too odd and outside.
I watched the video twice now. And I missed the "BUT" twice. Let me tell you (and all of your viewers) what imo is the "BUT": Costa is a great cruise line, and their cruises are indeed good value, BUT: never ever cruise with Costa during the Italian summer holidays.
Thats Nice to hear Morgan that you had a Great time on your costa cruise. Being in the High season can imagine just how busy it must have been 😜. Hope your flight back was smooth with no delays . Have a Good Week 🥰
I would like to look at the layout of the cruise ship though. I'm hoping there are some quieter areas that you can get to when you want. Are there any adult only areas ?? I'm not sure which I would try first, MSC or Costa. Probably MSC, so my experience is improved on foreign language ships.
First cruise ever was on the Costa Rivera 7-day Caribbean. This ship was a converted freighter ship. So different back then. No buffet, all meals in the dining room and all served family style where the waiter served everything on the menu. No salad in 7 days but a pasta course every lunch and dinner. One night was toga night where everyone was given a white bedsheet and you had to be dressed in that sheet to enter the dining room. Only other option for food (aside from the midnight buffet, was pizza. You ordered it freshly made and you got the whole pizza - free!. Skeet shooting off the back deck, used cash to pay for everything. No card to ding you off and on the ship. If you missed the ship, no one would know unless you were sailing with someone that reported it, or the room steward noticed you not coming back to your room. This was in the 1980's. How things have changed since then. Entertainment was passenger participation in various settings like playing "Old McDonald had a farm..." and the guest acting out the animal. My husband was a chicken, and they would throw colored plastic eggs from behind him between his legs. Room so small the beds were in a "L" configuration and could not be put together. The closet was an open top with three drawers below it and a curtain covering the top part, maybe 3 feet wide. You could sit on the loo and take a shower the bathroom was so small, but it was Morgan approved! We thought it was all wonderful!
Yes, we have cruised with Costa once Afterwards we said, what an awful experience, never again. Well, that is years ago. Things have changed. We might travel with them again, but very carefully evaluate the circumstances. 1) not to the mediterranean 2) not high season 3) if they enforce the no Smoking policy Those are the most important points. We are Diamond plus at RC, living in Germany and always looking for offers on the high Seas or rivers.
HELLO, We have cruised with Costa butnrver again,. Because pizza aren't included, for my husband it is a pb😢, and the ship is too noisy. Volume of music, in the theater and so and is too hight for us. And many children are making noises, HÉLÈNE from Paris
Love Costa for a good value for money cruise - Best ships are definitely Smeralda and Toscana but considering getting the Diadema from Kiel next summer - wonder if the vibe will be quieter as it should mostly be Germans?
Morgan, I thought it was funny when you mentioned the volume of the Italian voices. At work they use to always tell me, why are you yelling. And I would say, I'm not yelling. Trust me, you will know when I am yelling. Loving all the vlogs. Keep em coming.
Good video. You were speaking about that shirt being your last shirt. I was just wondering if you have ever told people that there are places you can do laundry on the ship? Especially nice if you are on a longer cruise.
Personally, I travel almost exclusively with Costa, as they offer the best value for money. I have 2 cruises booked, Barcelona - Dubai 22 nights in interior single cabin for 970 euro and La Romana - Barcelona 16 nights interior single cabin for 330 euro. It's actually cheaper to live on Costa ships than at home. What I like about Costa is the pricing policy for customers travelling as singles, the food which is one of the best in the industry for my taste and the staff who are lovely.
Enjoyed listening to your review of Costa. Made me think -- Costa is owned by Carnival. I would never cruise on a Carnival ship because from other reviews, it's a "Walmart Crowd" (Americans would get this). I'm more a Celebrity Crowd (classy, but not Cunard snobby). Then again, we aren't rushing to take another cruise anytime soon because I've priced them out and booking a timeshare exchange (we own 2) is still cheaper, even if it's a land vacation. For us, the biggest expense isn't the cruise, it's the airfare to get to a port, hotel stay night before, and a few other add-ons. Who knows? Maybe by 2025, when both of us are fully retired, we'll have enough time to take a 3rd week to travel, and that could be a cruise (shoulder season of course).
I have been on Cunard and Costa , they both equal CRAP . I was then on The Norwegian Escape , it was month old and it was fantastic , better food , a much nicer ship , more activities and a better crew .
I travel everywhere with two pairs of blue tooth noise canceling earphones. I often play white noise through them. I also find rain/thunder storm sound soothing so rarely does other folks sounds annoy me.
Hey Morgan I am quite sure you guys did a Carnival cruise in the US once while either staying in FLA or on your way to another cruise. I recall you not Loving it but being better than expected.
I've seen Costa Cruise reviews from both you and Emma. Aside from not knowing Italian, and having to wait for the English translation, and "most Italians on the cruise ship being loud and boisterous, and not being able to see the show very well, As you said, I would cruise Costa, "if the price and route were good."
I am not Italian and I´m going to do the world cruise with Costa this year! am I crazy? maybe but it was less than half the price what other cruiselines charge!
Hi, I'm Italian and I think what you say is correct. We Italians are noisy, we speak loudly, we don't like silence very much. Northern Italians are less noisy than southern Italians, but we are still noisier than the French, Germans and English. There is nothing racist about admitting the truth.
Moin Silvia. Schwierige Frage weil sie eigentlich sehr ähnlich sind. Ich wurde sagen das Essen auf Costa ist ein Tik besser als auf MSC. Die Shows auf Costa sind um einiges besser, nur leider sind dann die Theater-Räume sehr schlecht! Wie gesagt: schwierig schwarz auf weiss zu entscheiden. :-)
It would have to be VERY cheap for me to consider it. I take My vacation time very seriously. I need things to be right so I can go back to work and not get fired 😂
Disney Cruise Line does NOT offer a dinner buffet, never has. They did have "open dining" in the buffet space where you could show up at any time for dinner and they would be able to serve you a selection of what each of the Main Dining Rooms were serving that night, as opposed to the regular rotational dining in the Main Dining Rooms. Most people never took advantage of this, so they cut it even before the shut down. Now your only options for dinner is the MDR you're assigned to, room service which is complimentary, or the pool deck that will usually have pizza, chicken tenders, fries, and maybe a salad or two as an option just not everything will be open.
@@xavierm3415 what do you mean? On all 5 ships they have 3 MDRs each, 1 will be the *featured entertainment* Dining Room (Rapunzel, Tiana, Enchanted Garden, and Frozen), 1 will be the *casual entertainment* Dining Room (Animator's Palate and Marvel), and the last 1 will be a *semi-formal* Dining Room (Lumiere's, Triton's, Royal Court, or 1923). They can all be a bit loud, some more than others, but since it's a family friendly cruise line, it's to be expected. If you want a quiet dining experience, you can try to get in to the adult dining rooms (Palo, Remy, or Enchanté) or just order room service. I'm used to and enjoy it, so it doesn't bother me. However, I can see how child-free people or neurodivergent people can be upset by the noise level.
That's right : 1 mdr is a (somewhat) quiet restaurant. The others 2 have small shows with at time loud music. Everytime we raised the issue of sound level, CM told us we are not alone but Entertainment get its way above Food... The fact that we are always 2nd seating and so just after a full regular show make it maybe less easy to enjoy an noisy meal. We love Palo but are not happy with the new formula. @@wendys6438
My friend and I have recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise on the Costa Toscana.I whole heartedly agree with almost everything you’ve said except for the dining experience! Not that the food wasn’t very good it was what we more or less expected,what we didn’t expect was the rudeness and wasteful nature of the mostly Italian passengers.The buffet dining was a nightmare and totally distracted us from what should have been a wonderful experience.Anyone would have thought that every meal was going to be their last! Pushing and shoving seemed to be the norm and their manners were quite frankly rude beyond belief. I have never seen so much waste and I don’t know how Costa can justify it.Something needs to change and I have written to Costa with a few thoughts.In the end we reverted to other dining options.It has definitely put us off cruising with Costa again which is such a shame because every other aspect of the ship was amazing and the cleanliness and staff could not be faulted.Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Italians it’s obviously just their way and maybe we Brits should just elbow in like the rest of them.😂
Announcments are only made in the language that is of concern to those people, 80% of Eurupeans speak English anyway, the Annoncements are not a problem
We just returned from the double Mediterranean cruise. 1 part with RC Odyssey and straight to the 2nd MSC Seashore. And it was like a contrast shower. Long story short: as much as Seashore is a beautiful ship as much everything else is bad on this ship. Shitty quality and cold food even in specialty restaurants for an extra charge, "I do no f. care about anything and guests" rude staff and FnB service attitude. Singers that are more howling like a bad karaoke stars than singing. (All my respect for a couple of them who ARE REAL singers and saved some evenings) and musicians at the atrium pretending to play guitar even when there is NO guitar in the music playing. Totally disorganized on and off the ship process, excursions and shuttle busses. Shortage of toilet paper and pool towels (we recieved only 2 for 3 persons and been said ship has a problem with towels) and so on and on. My only huge respect to our cabin attendant who did his best in all this chaos. And after experience like this with an italian company there is NO WAY I would give any italian company a chance for my own money.
I cruised on Costa Smeralda in the mediterranian earlier this year, I perceive way too much prejudice in your review. Writing in the title "horrible" in capital letters, is misleading and a prejudice itself. Don't blame Costa if you can't eat almost anything. The Food is superbe. Italians are not as noisy as described, and certainly we drink less than the average american does and easily turn annoying when drunk. Please don't cross the pond if the outcome is this sort of reviews. if the American lifestyle made of drinks and junk food is what makes you happy, Pls cruise where you belong. Being a travel blogger is not mandatory by the law.
I have learned not to give too much credence to a great many cruise reviews. For example one where an obese couple with their massive guts in close up, rant about how poor the food was. What I like about yours is the fairness and explanations. Our very first cruise at least 35 years ago was on Carla Costa, a ship I am sure is now long gone, but it was fabulous, relaxed, very Italian, with some translations needed. We've been on many lines since ...from Epirotiki, and Sun, the Celebrity and and Holland America and last summer those brilliant 35 passenger Croatian yachts. This summer we will be on Queen Victoria but in December, it's a 116 day world cruise on Costa, partially because of your reviews. You have defined their uncomplicated natiure. The pleasure of mainly Italian food., Pricing that allowed us to get a mini suite at the cost of much lesser cabins on others. Our thanks for your work.
