Costa Marina, Northern Capitals, 20 - 31 May 2008
Costa Marina Northern Capitals 2008, 20 - 31 May. In July 2007 we booked this cruise and were assigned to an inside cabin nr. 803. In April 2008, this cruise was on offer, so we dicided to cancel the inside cabin and rebook for an outside. Allthough we had to pay cancellation costs, the total amount was a lot cheaper than the original price. Our outside cabin was nr. 415 on Deck 4 Aurora. As our neighbours (who are in their 80's) were sailing with us, we requested for a table of four during first seating (07.00 pm). Tuesday 20 May: Embarkation in the PTA at Amsterdam started at 01.30 pm. As our neighbour needs a walking help and having a good relationship with the PTA staff, we got a VIP-embarkation number. In our cabin we found the Costa cards as well as a note that we were assigned to the 2nd seating (09.00 pm) in the restaurant. It seemed that it was caused by a large French group. After discussion with the Maitre D' and urging that we could not accept 2nd seating as we had booked very early and 2nd seating would be too late for us, he promised to get us a table of four as per the next day. Our neighbour claimed that one suitcase was not delivered to his cabin. We found the suitcase near the Frontdesk without any labels on it and with a broken handle. It was promised that the suitcase would be delivered to his cabin as soon as possible. While discussing this, we met the Guest Relation Manager, ms. Andrea Pino Demarie, who also urged to deliver the suitcase as soon as possible. After two hours, our neighbour had to pick up his suitcase by himself with the help of his cabinsteward. Departure was set at 05.00 pm. At this same time we had to attend the emergancy boat drill at musterstation nr. 1, which seemed to be in the Tropicana Theatre on deck 6 Marina. The daily program stated however, that all musterstation are located outside on deck 9 Andromeda. Unfortunately we could not wave goodbye to some friends at the terminal. At the Frontdesk, asking where to find deck 9 Andromeda, they reacted very careless. As we could not go to the 1st seating in the reataurant, we decided to take the alternative dinner at the Yacht-club selfservice restaurant, wher the head waiter Azim was very helpfull. Our friends did drive to the locks in IJmuiden, so we could say goodbye to them. Wednesday 21 May: One of the locks at Brunsbüttel was closed due to maintenance, so all trafic could use only one lock, which caused a delay by 2 1/2 hours in entering the Kiel Canal and 3 hours by leaving the Canal at Kiel. During the day transit we met a lot of ships and sometimes we had to wait for them quite some time. At 06.30 pm there was the Welcome Cocktail party which we did not attend. Dresscode for this evening was gala. In the restaurant, the ship's phographer was making portraitphotos on which many people lost the top of their head :( Being on an Italian ship, we found the capuccino of a very good quality, allthough the Bar Manager advised us not to order coffee in the Laguna Lounge as the machine was not used very often and was therefore giving less quality. Thursday 22 May: At 11.00 am we attended a cocktail party in the Laguna Lounge, specially for the Dutch passengers. The Hotel Manager introduced the captain, cruise director, guest relation manager and himself, speaking a little Dutch. Due to the heavy traffic the previous day, we arrived about one hour late in Gdynia (Poland). The shuttlebus dropped us off at the South Pier (Gemini cinema). Being a national holiday, all shops were closed and halfway the pier we found that a moneymachine could be found in the cinema. No Zloty's, no purchases. At 09.00 pm (also one hour later than scheduled) we departed from Gdynia. Friday 23 May: According to thedaily program, we would anchor at Visby (on the island Gotland, Sweden) around noon. However, anchor was dropped at 11.00 am. Tenderplatform was lowered as well as two tenders. The first tender went ashore to get the portauthorities on board. After that, both tenders kept running. In spite of that, Costa Marina sticked to the original schedule of disembarking the participants in the excursion at 12.45 pm. All passengers not participating in the excursion should proceed to the Tropicana Theatre from 01.45 pm to 02.15 pm to get a numbered ticket for the embarkation on the tender boats. No one understood why they sticked to the original schedule. Visby is very interesting to visit, as the city still has her walls and medieval buildings. The return to the ship was a very bumpy ride as there was more wind. Just outside the breakwaters, the tender dived into the waves and as the frontwindows did not close well, some passengers were soaking wet. Departure at 07.00 pm. Saturday 24 May: We arrived at Stockholm (Sweden) around 08.00 am after a scenery sailing through the natural archipelago. Allthough we did have tickets for the shuttlebus, we decided to take the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. After the roundtrip through the city, we walked to the Royal Palace where we watched the changing of the guards at 12.15 pm. After that we walked around in the old city center, taking lunch in a nice café and buying some souvenirs. We returned to the ship by shuttlebus, where was found that I had a wrong Costa card. The night before it was accidently changed with that of an other passenger. At the Frontdesk they made a new one. During dinner we were advised that during the night the clock would be set one hour forward. Departure at 05.00 pm. Sunday 25 May: Around noon we arrived in Helsinki (Finland). The first shuttlebus departed at 12.30 pm and according to the daily program, the drop off would be at the Eteleranta/Kauppatori near the market. However, the actual drop off was further away and no one knew where that was. It was not marked on the cityplan provided by Costa. Walking down to the market, we found an office selling ticket for the sightseeing bus, however, the last one already departed at 01.00 pm. We visited the market and walked to Senate Square where we visited the beautiful Tuomiokirkko (Helsinki Cathedral). We also visited the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral. As we did not spend money for the sightseeing bus, we bought some very nice souvenirs. We returned to the ship by shuttlebus. During the night, the clock would be set one hour forward. A letter notified us that when going ashore in St. Petersburg, we should provide the customs with a photocopy of our passports. We inquired at the Frontdesk how to get a photocopy and were told these photocopies (made at embarkation in Amsterdam) would be delivered at our cabin later that night. Monday 26 May: Around 07.00 am we arrived at St. Petersburg (Russia) where we noticed Thomson Celebration and AIDAbella. The Costa Marina was berthed behind the AIDAbella. Later that morning, the Nippon Maru arrived, which was berthed nearer the city-center and the famous tallship MIR also sailed into the harbour. The selfservice restaurant was closed, so we did have to lunch in the restaurant, which was not a great success as the ordered chicken breast was very leathery. The Assistant Maitre D' sent our complaints to the galley. We had booked a bustour and had to meet at 02.00 pm in Harry's Bar. According to our neighbours, who visited St. Petersburg seven years ago, the city ooked cleaner and there was a lot more traffic. The bus took us along the St. Isaac's Cathedral (photo stop), via a 20 minutes pause at the Red Ocotober souvenir shop, along the Winterpalace and Admiralty across the Bolshaya Neva for another photo stop in front of the Military and Navy Museum, from where you have a good view of the Winterpalace. We continued by crossing the Malaya Neva to the Peter and Paul Fortress, where we visited the St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral, being the burial site of the Russian Czars. Due to the heavy traffic we lost time and could not visit the Church of the Savior on Blood. In our bus were English and German speaking passengers and we had two excellent guides, one for each language. Around 06.00 pm we arrived back at the ship. During the night the clock would be set back one hour. Tuesday 27 May: Around noon we arrived at Tallinn (Estonia), where we were berthed in the old city port. At the nearby mole we noticed Thomson Celebration. A whila later, Costa Mediterranea arrived, which was also berthed at the mole. The shuttlebus dropped us off not far from the city-gate at Viru. We walked along the city wall, through some nice streets and alleys to the town hall square. From the we took a steep street to the upper town, where we visited the Alexander Nevski Cathedral. Opposite is the Estonian Parliament building. The St. Mary's Cathedral was also very interesting to visit. Outside this cathedral, two medieval dressed young ladies were selling almonds. Walking back to the busstop, we found just outside the Viru gate in a souvenir shop, a beatiful stained glass angel, which we added to our collection. Tallinn is well worth a longer visit. During dinner we were advised that during the night the clock would be set back one hour. Confirmation was on TV. Wednesday 28 May: A day at sea. While watching TV, I noticed that local ship time did not match the time on my watch, so I turned my watch one hour ahead. At seadays, passengers seemed to be entertained, so we went from one lounge to an other to avoid these entertainments. We did watch the cooking demonstration in the morning and the vegetable carving demonstration in the afternoon. Our neighbours, who did not found that last night's advice for changing the time was not correct, arrived one hour late at dinner. The Frontdesk did not care much about this error, but the Andrea, the Guest Relations Manager did care and would try to find who advised in the restaurant and who put the confirmation on TV. During the forthcoming night, the clock would be set back one hour. And this was real ! Thursday 29 May: We arrived around 08.00 am in Copenhagen (Denmark), where we were docked in Freeport. Celebrety's Constellation was berthed along the Langelinievej not far from the statue of the Little Mermaid. The shuttlebus dropped us at Kogens Nytrov (King's Square), which no one could tell us where that was. After a short walk we took the sightseeing bus, which route was a little disappointing. Near the statue of the Little Mermaid we hopped off, enjoyed an icecream at the boulevard and went to visit Kastellet, an old fortress. We continued our walk to Amalienborg where we watched the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace. After having lunch on a terrace at Nyhavn and spending the Danish Crowns (which we received as change after paying in euro's) in a shop, we decided to go back to the ship. Friday 30 May: An other day at sea. Costa related articles were on sale at the shop at 50 %. I bought one polo-shirt, one T-shirt and two caps. At 10.15 am we attended the information meeting in the Laguna Lounge about the disembarkation procedures in Amsterdam. Further we avoided the entertainments and being very tired, we took a nap in the afternoon. At the end of the dinner we said goodbye to our waiter Mario and Viskas the busboy. Saturday 31 May: We woke at 05.30 am and found that we were just within the piers of IJmuiden. We hurried to dress and were on deck at 05.45 am when entering the locks. An ambulance was waiting, but after some discussion it seemed it was not needed. We sailed through the Noordzee canal and arrived at the Terminal in Amsterdam at 08.00 am. There, two ambulances were waiting and after a while one person (sitting on the stretcher) was probably taken to the hospital. At 10.15 am we could disembark. Our son-in-law Arjan was waiting for us to take us home, where we were greeted by two happy cats. During this cruise we sailed a total of 2.743 nautical miles. = = = = Costa Marina was built in 1969 as the freighter Axel Johnson and converted to cruiseship in 1990. The ship measures 25.558 grt and is 174,2 mtr long. She carries 867 passengers (1025 max.) and has a crew of 374. = = = = The ship is small, clean, well maintained and has bright colours and large windows. However, on the upper aft. decks is a lot of vibration, which is not noticed in the restaurant (lower aft. decks). The crew is very nice and helpfull, but by some the knowledge of the English language was very poor. It also took a lot of time to settle small problems. Our cabin (#415 Aurora deck portside forward) was nice and clean, however with a very tiny bathroom. The food was good, much variety (dinner had 5 courses) but sometimes the meat was a little cool. Breakfast buffet had much choices, only the hot dishes were also cold very quickly. Lunch buffet had also much choices, but having the same problem with the meat. Every day at lunch there was a speciality corner. Information was average to bad. Announcements on the loudspeakersystem in Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese were done loud and clear, in German a little less, but in English they were hardly to understand. I spoke about that to the English speaking host Marc-André who was Canadian. Most attention went to the large French group. Information at the Frontdesk was very poor. = = = = We have decided not to sail on Costa Marina on our next year's cruise to the Norwegian Fjord and Northcape.

Thank you for your comprehensive rewiew, Willem. I seem toremember, perhaps from the previous forum, that someone had sailed Costa and felt they would never do so again. CJ

Writing this review has cost me blood, sweat and tears as I am not a good writer :( I would not say never sailing Costa again. On a voyage to Norway and the Northcape, there is a lot of going ashore by tender and having seen how it was handled on Costa Marina, we will not take this ship for that voyage. It is rather small and on sea-days the animation team is using every lounge. And the lounge they are not using, are in use for a private party. So for the next cruise, we will look for a larger ship and MSC Armonia comes into mind as that ship is also sailing out of Amsterdam and returns to Amsterdam, which is very convenient to us as we live some 40 km north of Amsterdam in the city of Hoorn. The neighbours who were sailing with us, will probably do so again next year and some other neighbours have just visited a cruiseship for the first time and with our stories, they are now very enthousiast and will go with us next year. We have to request a table for six :D :D

Thank you for your excellent review, Willem. My one and only experience with Costa was the Norwegian Fjords on Costa Magica in 2006. Costa is not my favorite cruise line. Many problems with communication. Announcements were made in many languages but very few English speaking passengers onboard and the person assigned to help the English speaking passengers was never to be found. I remember helping a French passenger find the cinema because she could not understand the French announcement. So, I guess the French were "in the same boat" so to speak and my high school French classes paid off once again! :lol: Now, as for ever sailing Costa again? Well, that would depend on the itinerary! :wink: All things considered we did have a great time! By the way, Willem, I think you are an excellent writer! :D

Itinerary...and PRICE! CJ

Yes, PRICE too! Costa does run some pretty good deals! :)

While in Helsinki, I found this sign, which is very appropriate to the many minor problems we had.

LOVE the sign :D :D :D Wonder why it is in English :?: :?: Great review, Willem :D :D

Wonderful review Willem, I haven't sailed Costa yet, but have sailed MSC. Really liked MSC, just be sure to avoid the cruises when "kids sail free". :D

Thanks for the review Willem