Costa neoRomantica

[seb530]

Hi All, have been looking at offers this summer and some astoundingly good deals seem to be on offer on this ship.

Having red the forums I understand it has just undergone a major refurb and as part of this has lost any sort of theatre.

I am looking to sail with my 13 year old daughter and 17 year old son.
Having traditionally sailed on much larger ships, I am worried that theres not a lot for them to to - not that they need mollycoddling but.

I have a number of questions which I hope you friendly folk can answer:

- Can anyone advise on he facilities/suitability for 13/17 years olds
- IN terms of food on board is this strictly breakfast/lunch/dinner or are there buffet open all the time
- I understand there are drinks packages and and pre-paid tips. What other costs do I need to watch out for
- in terms of ports, do Costa provide busses to the centre of towns or is it make your own way or purchase a tour?
- IN-room TV channels, how many in english?
- INside rooms, assume 3/4 berth have beds down from ceiling?

Anyone any experiences of this ship post refit?

thanks

[CtheW0rld]

check this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1641599

i don't recall a 'free' shuttle to the center of town on either of the costa cruises i have been on. very limited english tv channels. i do not have kids, but i did notice a lot of activities for the younger set - sent me running because of the noise. they sounded like they were having a good time.

one big cost is excursions. costa's cruises are lower priced, but they get you in other ways. room service costs extra, too (unless you are in a suite). non-caribbean cruises use the euro as the onboard currency.

the buffets are not 24 hours, like princess. they have afternoon tea (sandwiches, pizza, desserts) and late night snack stuff, too.

[seb530]

Thanks for the info.. i had seen this thread but went down to TA today to find out more. From what I have been told unlimited drinks (under 7 EURO) is £136.90 per adult and £70.20 for each child 17 and under.

Prepaid tips (non-removable) are 7 EURO per person per day but in my case under 13 doesn't pay.

Coaches to centre of town appear to be provided in some ports only but they couldn't sat which

[CtheW0rld]

you can also buy a book of tickets for non-alcoholic drinks for the kids, 42 euros for 20 tickets, but only if the adults don't get the drinks package.

[bendigoboy]

On the cruise we were on the teens seemed quite active. Dont know what they did but we didnt see them much during the day.
-Buffet is good but limited at times open. We found more than enough food
- Drinks package was great, other costs are nomal cruise costs - depends what you do!
- On our trip Costa arranged buses for people who wanted to get to town - at a cost which we found OK. Plenty of tour options but you share the language eg we were with germans or dutch or french depending on numbers, on some tours that was OK on others a bit limiting.
- Not many english channels - tv will be a nonentity if your cruise is similar.
- Cant help you on rooms we had a samsara balcony on level 14 i didnt like it, too noisy too wobbly

[seb530]

Thanks people, I don't think I would normally select this ship as I do prefer the bigger vessels but at the price I have seen its a bit of a steal really.

I had imagined it was full of couples and the older generation with not many kids on board?

[dotty about cruising]

We have just got home from a 8 night cruise on Neo, the lunch time buffet was good, the evening dinner was bad! The staff are 1st class. We had a Samsara cabin on deck 12 and the bed wobbled every time we were at sea.You can only get tea or coffee at meal times and it is from a flask unless you pay for it. The drinks package is great!!

[CtheW0rld]

Originally Posted by dotty about cruising

We have just got home from a 8 night cruise on Neo, the lunch time buffet was good, the evening dinner was bad! The staff are 1st class. We had a Samsara cabin on deck 12 and the bed wobbled every time we were at sea.You can only get tea or coffee at meal times and it is from a flask unless you pay for it. The drinks package is great!!

couple questions:

• dinner was bad? at the buffet? dining room? what was bad about it? (ok thas is three questions)
• didn't your drinks package incluse the special teas and coffees?

[Blondie008]

Originally Posted by seb530

Hi All, have been looking at offers this summer and some astoundingly good deals seem to be on offer on this ship.

Having red the forums I understand it has just undergone a major refurb and as part of this has lost any sort of theatre.

I am looking to sail with my 13 year old daughter and 17 year old son.
Having traditionally sailed on much larger ships, I am worried that theres not a lot for them to to - not that they need mollycoddling but.

I have a number of questions which I hope you friendly folk can answer:

- Can anyone advise on he facilities/suitability for 13/17 years olds
- IN terms of food on board is this strictly breakfast/lunch/dinner or are there buffet open all the time
- I understand there are drinks packages and and pre-paid tips. What other costs do I need to watch out for
- in terms of ports, do Costa provide busses to the centre of towns or is it make your own way or purchase a tour?
- IN-room TV channels, how many in english?
- INside rooms, assume 3/4 berth have beds down from ceiling?

Anyone any experiences of this ship post refit?

thanks

Just back :

Personally I would not take two teenagers on NeoR, there really are no facilities other than one small games room which are suitable for them. I'd go for a bigger ship such as Magica.
The food - we rarely ate in the Buffet but found all food on board exceeded our expectations. As gluten intolerant, I was VERY well catered for.
The all inclusive package is fantastic, even for soft drinks its a "must do".
Perhaps in great weather, at the right price, you'd be fine with teenagers, but this ship is very much geared up to adults I'd say.
It DOES have issues!
Our suite - everything "shook" - very very very bumpy rocky ship!
AND engines failed - for over a hour and a half, the ship was a "cork at sea" - NOT NICE!
I'd sail Costa again, but only on a bigger ship.

[dotty about cruising]

Originally Posted by CtheW0rld

couple questions:

• dinner was bad? at the buffet? dining room? what was bad about it? (ok thas is three questions)
• didn't your drinks package incluse the special teas and coffees?

The Buffet at lunch was good thing like Trout, Dover Sole, Prawns and Spare Ribs. The evening meal was not to my liking Ravioli with tasteless filling and a brown sauce that was little more then gravy, Beef cury, 4 large tough pieces of beef, nice Pilau rice, curry sauce was a small pool of gravy under the meat, Spag Bol, sauce tasted like vinegar, need i go on.

Yes we could get coffee and tea with our package at any bar or on deck, Glad i took my own tea bags!

[Blondie008]

One thing thats really P&*^%SD me right off, was that on at least two occasions (one of them being a formal night) they closed off one of only two show lounges for private functions. The lounge we liked (I forget think it was the Verona) had only music bands, no silly entertainment staff, the other, was the main grand plazza lounge. One night we were told to leave by the French rep, walked across the floor, and then promptly told to "sit right back down" by the English rep - on another formal night, we could not access either the nice lounge or disco tango martini bar (again blocked off for private parties) and had to endure a "comedy" magician in FIVE languages...
Me re magician "i'll show you a trick, see that rope, watch me make a magician disappear )
Oh, and as if that wasnt bad enough, the ventrilliquist with the multi lingual puppet - dearie me -
Dont know about the buffet food, but for sure in the MDR we had no problems what so ever with the food. All beyond our expectations.

[CtheW0rld]

Originally Posted by Blondie008

One thing thats really P&*^%SD me right off, was that on at least two occasions (one of them being a formal night) they closed off one of only two show lounges for private functions. The lounge we liked (I forget think it was the Verona) had only music bands, no silly entertainment staff, the other, was the main grand plazza lounge. One night we were told to leave by the French rep, walked across the floor, and then promptly told to "sit right back down" by the English rep - on another formal night, we could not access either the nice lounge or disco tango martini bar (again blocked off for private parties) and had to endure a "comedy" magician in FIVE languages...
Me re magician "i'll show you a trick, see that rope, watch me make a magician disappear )
Oh, and as if that wasnt bad enough, the ventrilliquist with the multi lingual puppet - dearie me -
Dont know about the buffet food, but for sure in the MDR we had no problems what so ever with the food. All beyond our expectations.

makes me wonder if there was a large group onboard...

[cosytoes]

We did this cruise last year but on Magica, at all stops except Le harve there are the city sightseeing type buses so no need to take any of costas transfer buses. Amsterdam and Oslo is a short walk 10 mins to the bus every where else they come right down to the pier. Just look on the bus websites.

Le harve no realy much there so suggest a bus/taxi to honfleur.
My daughter was 14 and as long as your kids enjoy mixing then there will be loads of german/dutch kids who wnat to practise their english.