what is a good cruise line for southern europe?

See my brief review of the new Costa Fortuna recently posted
to r.t.c. but the gist of it is avoid Costa if food is of
interest to you.....it was often inedible and never appealing.
A huge disappointment. I would never sail Costa again.

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004, CupCaked wrote:

"joe_e" wrote:

like to go s. europe in May, specifically france, greece, italy and maybe
spain if time avail.


Look into Costa.



http://www.cupcaked.com
(...and leave off the "potatoes" to e-mail)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You're not mistaken about Costa's focus, but bad food is bad
food, and it was uncooked pasta, cold entrees (often with ice
crystals still in from improper defrosting), rock-hard baked
potatoes, etc. that lead to the general consensus among passengers
that the food was a huge disappointment. I was travelling with
friends from Germany, and sat at a table of Germans and Swiss,
and they were as appalled as I was. The cabin next to mine
was occupied by two ladies from France who had headed for
a grocery store in Barcelona after the first two nights of
horrible dinners to get cheese, crackers, etc. and were angry
that they had to bring their own food to a cruise. Even the
"ice cream" was watery.

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004, CupCaked wrote:


If I'm not mistaken, Costa has focused on mostly non-American
clientele. That may account for the disparity you found in the food
service onboard.

wrote:

See my brief review of the new Costa Fortuna recently posted
to r.t.c. but the gist of it is avoid Costa if food is of
interest to you.....it was often inedible and never appealing.
A huge disappointment. I would never sail Costa again.

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004, CupCaked wrote:

"joe_e" wrote:

like to go s. europe in May, specifically france, greece, italy and maybe
spain if time avail.


Look into Costa.



http://www.cupcaked.com
(...and leave off the "potatoes" to e-mail)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You're not mistaken about Costa's focus, but bad food is bad food, and it was
uncooked pasta

This is generally what is called "al dente" in Europe.

.. Even the "ice cream" was watery.

That is what is called "sherbet" or "sorbet."

Sorry Katherine, just couldn't resist.

Seriously though I just spent eight days on COSTA VICTORIA over Christmas and
found the food fine - they even knew how to cook a medium-rare steak. For a
ship with 2,000 passengers on board I thought the standard was fine.

I admit however that there were times when food arrived cold and our ship had
six or seven years experience at delivering it.

Kevin Griffin
--
The Cruise People Ltd, London
http://www.cruisepeople.co.uk
Isn't it High Time you were on the High Seas?

Cute, but no cigar.....uncooked, in this case, was raw, and
watery ice cream had no resemblance to sorbet. Then there
was the the quiche with the burned crust, the runny mashed potatoes,
and on and on. I'm glad you had better luck than we did, but this
was bad enough I'll never give Costa a second chance, natch.

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004, CruiseAZ wrote:

You're not mistaken about Costa's focus, but bad food is bad food, and it was
uncooked pasta

This is generally what is called "al dente" in Europe.

. Even the "ice cream" was watery.

That is what is called "sherbet" or "sorbet."

Sorry Katherine, just couldn't resist.

Seriously though I just spent eight days on COSTA VICTORIA over Christmas and
found the food fine - they even knew how to cook a medium-rare steak. For a
ship with 2,000 passengers on board I thought the standard was fine.

I admit however that there were times when food arrived cold and our ship had
six or seven years experience at delivering it.

Kevin Griffin
--
The Cruise People Ltd, London
http://www.cruisepeople.co.uk
Isn't it High Time you were on the High Seas?


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:20:36 -0600, wrote:

I'll never give Costa a second chance, natch.

How was the smoking on the ship?


The Not So Fine Art Of Google
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E29A321E6

Smoking was pretty bad, but I won't complain about that
since I knew ahead of time that it would be there.
There was supposed to be no smoking in the dining rooms and
the theater, and I never saw anyone smoke in either of those
two places, but all the bars, the lido, both sides of the
pool deck, were all smoke-filled.

A lot of people have commented about long lines at embarkation
and getting off the ship, but we never experienced any. If
anything, they were extremely efficient in moving people along.

Also I've heard negative comments about the five language
announcements, but they never bothered us. My friends said
that it got a little old at the Bingo and the art auctions,
but I didn't go to either so I can't comment on that.


On Mon, 5 Jan 2004, Cruising Chrissy wrote:

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:20:36 -0600, wrote:

I'll never give Costa a second chance, natch.

How was the smoking on the ship?


The Not So Fine Art Of Google
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E29A321E6


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:36:46 -0600, wrote:

Smoking was pretty bad, but I won't complain about that
since I knew ahead of time that it would be there.
There was supposed to be no smoking in the dining rooms and
the theater, and I never saw anyone smoke in either of those
two places, but all the bars, the lido, both sides of the
pool deck, were all smoke-filled.

Is this because of a liberal smoking policy and/or because the ship
had Europeans?


The Not So Fine Art Of Google
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E29A321E6

I would say both. There were approximately 3000 pax, and
approximately 30 Americans. I know there were approx.
800 English speakers. I assumed that nearly everyone
aboard was European, but they never gave us any breakdown
of nationalities aboard.

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004, Cruising Chrissy wrote:

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:36:46 -0600, wrote:

Smoking was pretty bad, but I won't complain about that
since I knew ahead of time that it would be there.
There was supposed to be no smoking in the dining rooms and
the theater, and I never saw anyone smoke in either of those
two places, but all the bars, the lido, both sides of the
pool deck, were all smoke-filled.

Is this because of a liberal smoking policy and/or because the ship
had Europeans?


The Not So Fine Art Of Google
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E29A321E6


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine Becker "As god is my witness
I thought turkeys could fly"
NEVER SEND A FERRET TO DO A WEASEL's JOB --WKRP

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Mon, 5 Jan 2004 16:56:29 -0600, wrote:

I would say both. There were approximately 3000 pax, and
approximately 30 Americans. I know there were approx.
800 English speakers. I assumed that nearly everyone
aboard was European, but they never gave us any breakdown
of nationalities aboard.

Thanks. I will pass on Costa then. Some of their ships appear, from
the dock, to be nice too.


The Not So Fine Art Of Google
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E29A321E6