No experience, but I know it's an Italian company and they are owned by Carnival. Their name kept popping up when I was researching Mediterranean cruises. I just visited their site here, and I can see they have a lot going on over here as well.
My cruises:
Carnival Fantasy 9/7/06 Nassau/Half Moon Cay, Cabin V26, 4 nights Carnival Inspiration 3/17/07 Grand Cayman/Calica, Cabin R132, 5 nights Sovereign of The Seas 12/21/07 Nassau/Cococay, Cabin 8568, 3 nights Carnival Glory 6/14/08 Cozumel/Belize/Roatan/Freeport, Cabin 6481, 7 nights Carnival Liberty 5/30/09 Ocho Rios/Grand Cayman/Roatan, Cabin 8229, 7 nights Monarch of The Seas 09/21/09 Nassau/Cococay, Cabin 5529, 4 nights Majesty of The Seas 06/14/10 Key West/Nassau/Cococay, Cabin 9506, 4 nights Carnival Legend 10/03/10 Grand Cayman/Cozumel/Roatan/Belize, Cabin 5181, 7 nights Freedom of the Seas 11/28/10 Labadee, Haiti, Cabin 9489, 4 nights Carnival Freedom 08/26/2011 Colon/Cozumel/Limon, Cabin 8425, 8 nights Carnival Sensation 01/15/12 Freeport, Nassau, Cabin E37, 4 nights
We all just need to "locate" a rich uncle or fall into a "redneck 401(k)" (winning a lottery...lol).
The wife and I would just love to go on some of the more "exotic" cruises, unfortunately, time (away from work) is a factor and of course funds available....We are both "blue collar" workers and plan our vacations within those means....We are still able to get a big bang for our buck.....however those European, Asian, etc., cruises are a bit beyond our budget at the moment.
I took my one and only Costa Cruise in March, 2007 on the Costa Magica. As mentioned, they are an Italian line owned by Carnival, and their ships built since Carnival bought them are the same design as Carnival's Destiny, Conquest and Spirit Class ships.
The Costa Fortuna, 2003, Costa Magica, 2004 are the equivalent of the Destiny Class Carnival ships, just a little bigger at 105,000 grt.
The Costa Concordia, Serena and Pacifica are the equivalent of the Conquest Class Carnival ships, again, a little bigger at 113,000 grt.
The Costa Atlantica, 2000, Costa Mediterranea, 2003 are the equivalent of the Spirit Class ships of Carnival.
There have been many complaints about Costa, mainly from US citizens who cruise with Costa in Europe. They are the Carnival of Europe, and Europe's #1 cruise line. They cater to the Europeans when you sail with them in Europe, and to the US guests when they are here for the Caribbean cruise season. There are some valid complaints of crew rudeness, which the line has been trying to get right. Our cabin steward, dining room Waiter and his Ass't, all the bar tenders we came in contact with, and very many other crew members were very nice. It was just one instance we had a problem with a crew member. I would cruise with them again. If you've been watching their fares for the 2009-2010 Caribbean season, they are very, very affordable, even better than Carnival's.
Many Americans complain about Costa, but many Americans do board the Fortuna and Atlantica here in Ft Lauderdale each Sat and Sun. There were many Russians, Danes, Poles and people from other Baltic and European regions on our sailing.
Btw, the Carnival Splendor was originally designed for Costa, but was transferred to Carnival.
My avatar is a picture of me on board the Costa Magica.
No experience, but I know it's an Italian company and they are owned by Carnival. Their name kept popping up when I was researching Mediterranean cruises. I just visited their site here, and I can see they have a lot going on over here as well.
They offer a lot of Western and Eastern Med. cruises. They have expanded into the Chinese market and are now getting settled in the United Arab Emirates, with a new homeport in Dubai.
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very affordable, even better than Carnival's.
