Thread: Costa Magica March 18 - 25th Review

The opportunity to cruise Costa presented itself in mid Feburary 2007, for a sailing date on the 18th March. We got a good price for three people, did not have airfare expenses and airport hassels, and there were two ports of call we wanted to visit. These factors cemented our decision to sail Costa.

Costa Crocierre is owned by Carnival Corporation of Miami, FL, and their ships purchased since the aquisation by Carnival are the same design as the new Carnival ships of the Destiny, Conquest and Spirit Class. The Costa Magica's hull has the Destiny Class design, and having sailed on the Destiny, made getting around the Magica a bit easy.
Costa Crocierre is an Italian cruise line, whose crew is mostly Italian. Other nationalities include Phillipino, Honduran, Indian and a few others. There are only three Caribbean born crew members onboard the Magica. These are the band members who hail from the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Embarkation

Lines were long, but moved quickly through the Security checkpoint. Checkin lines moved slowly for some reason.
As an Italian cruise line, many procedures are done differently from the American cruise companies. For example, at checkin, you do not receive your Costa Card from the agent in the terminal, and no picture is taken while you insert the Costa Card into the computer when embarking the vessel. Instead, at checkin, you must present the Passenger Declaration Form to the agent, who then places a bar-coded sticker next to your name. You then present that declaration form to the crew member when you board the ship. An embarkation picture is taken on the way to the ship. You proceed to the deck your cabin is located, walk to your cabin,where you will find a cabin key simiillar to the Costa Card in the cabin door card reader. When you enter the cabin, all Costa Cards are on the bed for each passenger in the cabin, together with other literature related to the cruise. Our Cabin Steward, Oscar dropped in to introduce himself, showed us how to operate the safe, and informed us of other things in our cabin, and location of the dining rooms.
Luggage delivery procedure is the same as it is at Carnival, and Princess. Unlike Princess, we were not given a form to sign attesting to passengers not having any sickness 3 days prior to sailing. We were given hand wipes on boarding the ship.

The Stateroon

We had a Balcony Cabin 8-376, on Deck 8, called the Veronese Deck. The decks all have Italian names. The cabin, is 185 sq. ft, and the balcony is 35 sq ft. There is ample space for storing evrything, empty luggage under the beds, and clothes in the wardrobes. There is a hair blower in the top drawer of the dresser, a TV, Safe for keping valuables, and a Mini-bar, stocked with airline-sized rum, Vodka, soda, beer and snacks. There is also three bottles of waterwhich you do pay for. The safe locks and unlocks using the Costa Card, and you must use the same card you locked it with to unlock it. There is a shower, no bathtub. Amenities are available, but you must request them from your Cabin Steward. Anyone reading this review who has sailed on Carnival's Conquest Class ships, the Magica's balcony bathrooms are the same, as is the panels and mail boxes and outside the cabins. The outside of the doors are the same color as those on the Valor.
You can order shore excursion using the interactive TV, view your statement on the TV, and order premium movies.

The Muster Drill

Our Muster Station was on Deck 4 aft, and unlike Princess, you gather under the lifeboats, and endure the emergency briefings in English, plus 5 other languages, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portugese. They even take your picture during the drill, a first for me. You can purchase them at a later time.

Sailaway Party

We opted to remain on our balcony when the ship departed Port Everglades promptly at 4:30 pm, so I have no info on the Sailaway party.

The Ship

The Costa Magica was built in 2004, is 890 ft long, 105,000 tons, carries 2,720 passengers at double occupancy per cabin, and a maximum of 3,470 passengers, has 17 decks(13 for guests use), carries 1,023 crew, has 1,358 cabins(27 for handicapped guests), and a speed of 21 kts. It is Diesel-Electric powered, 2 generators for supplying it's own electricity, and 4 engines, 3 fore and 3 aft Thrusters, and Stabilisers.
Throughout the ship, there are over 5,000 paintings of italian buildings etc, on the Atrium wall and ceilings, and in other public areas of the ship and elevators. They do enhance the decor of the vessel. You will see from my pictures, the light brown panels around the elevator banks with gold accent strips, which I just loved admiring. On the staircase landings were large pictures of various beautiful paintings, and matching carpet and tile to add some contrast or match the surrounding walls. The interior is very Italian, and they did a great job of interior decorating.

The Spa and Gym

The Saturnia Spa is located on Deck 11 forward. The Spa prices on the Magica are a bit more pricey, so I skipped it this time. A 60 minute session like I did on the Crown Princess for $116.00, was $146.00 for 50 minutes. There is a beauty Salon to the right of the Spa, for the ladies to have their hair and nails done, there's teeth whitening for $199.00. At the end of the cruise, far better deals were offered in the Spa. For example, you could choose 3 treatments for $89, 5 for $109, and all 7 on the flyer for $119.
The Gym has the latest in exercise equiptment, treadmills, steppers, benchpresses, weights, Pilate balls, etc. There is a Sauna and showers and lockers for both men and women.

Entertainment

As with every cruise ship I've cruised on, there's a lot of entertainment aboard the Magica. The shows in the Urbino Theatre are very good, similar to an American ship. They are catering to their US guests more, now that they are cruising here. There are costumes, bands and acts just like I saw on Carnival, but the skits are shorter, from what I remember on the other lines.
Other forms of entertainment are the Casino, Kareoke, the various bars, largest is the Grand Bar which is big. Here, you'll find bingo, dancing, singing and even educational quizes.There's the Salsa and Piano Bar for dancing. There are the Pools, waterslide, and variuos competitions poolside, as well as the band which plays Soca, and reggae. The little ones have a venus called the Squok Box, and there's all types of activities to keep then happy while their parents are off on shore excursions, or if they are in the Spa and Gym. If you feel for some sports, there is a full size Basketball, tennis and shuffleboard court, as well as a jogging track.
Each night we left a port was a theme night. First port night , San Juan was Tropical Night, with Calypso and Reggae music on the lido Deck. St Thomas was Italian night, all crew members were dressed in Italian colors, La Romana was Mediterranean Night.(France, Spain, Greece, Turkey & Egypt. Grand Turk was the Farewell Gala Night(last Formal Night).

Food

We were confirmed for late sitting, but we were switched to the early sitting. I went to our Maitre'D and got it changed to late sitting with no problem. There is no Anytime Dining on the Costa Magica. The food was very good, and all three in our party had no complaints about it. I loved their Pasta and Pizza, salads, meats, rice, mashed and large cut potatoes, etc in the buffet. For breakfast, I had my daily made to order egg white omlettes with either crossiants or bagels, orange or grapefruit juice, and hot chocolate. The orange, grapefruit juice and hot chocolate is included at no extra cost for breakfast, as is ice cream between 10:30 AM to about 4 or 5 PM.
Dining room food was great.I have scanned the menus for both formal nights in the cruise gallery for all to see. Pictures of the dishes we ate are also included as well as the buffet and Speciality Restaurant food. We did speak to a couple and over heard a few other passengers who thought the food was not good and felt rushed in the dining room, which I completely disagree with. At the tables around us, no one was rushed. The waiters waited until everyone was finished eating before collecting the used wares, and everyone's next dish was presented at the same time. Their pineapple juice, was the best I have tasted.
There are two Midnight Gala Buffets, with an amazing amount of snacks, fruits and sweets to feast on. The second Midnight buffet was preceeded by a surprise complimentary glass of Champagne and a tour of the Main Galley in the Portofino Restaurant
Club Vicenza, the Speciality Restaurant, is located on Deck 11 Aft, and has a very elegant setting. Cover charge is $20 per person, and as usual is worth it. It is more like the Crown Grill or i'd imagine the Sterling Steakhouse on Princess. If it were just an Italian Restaurant, I'd prefer Sabatini's. You are Serenaded with live soft music while dining. The decor is very, very nice. I ordered their top New York T-Bone Steak, Baked potato with sour cream, diced tomatos and chives, asparagus, broccli and mushrooms. After dinner, you are given a complimentary glass of Champagne.
Main Dining Rooms are Costa Smeralda on decks 3 &4 Aft, Portofino Decks 3 & 4 Forward. Buffet Restaurants, Bellagio, Positano, Maratea Lido Restaurants

Internet Cafe

The internet cafe is located on Deck 4 just below the Casino. The price is $0.25 cents per minute, but connection speed is slow. There are no internet plans, you just slide your Costa Card in the reader, and off you go, charges start.

Weather

The weather from departure from Port Everglades into the Atlantic was very windy, at 25 knots(29 mph). On Monday, the winds increased to 30 Knots(35 mph). The water was rough, and the wind was so strong, when opening the balcony door to go out on the balcony, you had to exert an awful amount of energy to push the door open from inside the cabin. Up on the jogging track, if you were walking, the wind would make you run, and it was opening all the buttons on my Hawaiian shirt.The weather was great in San Juan, no rain. Our first rainfall was in St Thomas. It really rained hard there in the early and late afternoon. It also rained in La Romama, Dom. Rep, but not in Grand Turk. Both sea days saw great windy weather.

Shore Excursions

Just as we did on the Crown Princess, we pre-ordered our shore excursions on the Costa website three weeks before boarding the Magica.

San Juan, PR

We pre- reserved 'Cruising Puerto Rico Twinkly Nightlights', but I received a phone call from the tour desk informing me that this excursion was cancelled because of insufficiant guests booking this tour, so we went down and handed in our tickets and purchased the 'Latin Tradition Show'. Before this show, we were approached by a bus driver whose bus was just 5 passengers shy from full, and he offered us a tour of New and Old San Juan for $10 each, so we jumped at the offer.
The name of the show is just what it's about, and it was a lot better than what I was expecting. Juan Carlos the musician on his guitar, plays some latin songs, makes jokes and at appropriate times, there is a show with four latin young women. On entry before the show, you are given a choice of fruit punch or rum punch. The venus for the Latin Show is an all inclusive resort, 40 minutes from the pier in Old San Juan.
Other cruise ships in port were Norwegian Jewel, Explorer and Mariner of the Seas, and the Carnival Victory.

St Thomas

We did the Island Tour and Cartamaran. The Catamaran experience comes first, where you go out to a spot for snorkelling. Here, you see sea turtles, sting rays, and various colorful fishes. You can swim over to the beach, a short distance from the Catarmaran. The Island tour is simply a stop at a lookout on Skyline Drive to take pictures of the City and harbor with the cruise ships docked below, taking pictures on a donkey and buying coconut water, good for the bladder and blood. From here, you have the choice of being dropped off downtown, or returning to the ship.
Other cruise ships in port were, Radiance and Mariner of the Seas, and Disney Magic. We could also see a HAL ship in Crown Bay in the near distance.

La Romana (Dominican Republic)

We did The Natural Wonders of the Dominican Republic, an Eco tour. We board a motor coach to Punta Cuna, board high speed boats(2 for our group) down the coast to some Mangrove trees, enter a zone of trees with birds called Frigates. We board a primitive looking smaller boat for a slow cruise through the mangroves, sighting many jellyfish in the water. We then rejoin the high speed boats, headed back to the ocean and stopped to look at some large Star Fish. Both captains dived into the water to pickup the Star Fish to show us. We then proceeded to a sandbar for a 30 min swim in clear shallow water. We were served with refreshments. It's now time to head back and we are met with a heavy shower of rain on the water, and it was cold. Got back to Punta Cuna, boarded the bus back to the ship. Ate onboard the Magica, disembarked, got a taxi to downtown La Romana, $20 for three for 1 hour, and $15 for an additional hour. What was nice is the driver waits on you, and if you want to go to another store or part of town, they take you there. We went to Altos de Chavon, and Casa de Campo, which is near the pier. Really nice Resort in Casa de Campo.
The Costa Magica was the only ship in port.

Grand Turk

We did the Island Bus loop "The Guana". No one got off at the first stop, some got off at the second stop, the 19th Century HM Prison, and everyone, including us got off at the Historic Lighthouse. This is such a nice view at the north end of the island. There is a Barrier reef, and the different shades of blue water is lovely. Stayed up there for about 1hour 30 mins. Went straight back to the pier and the ship to eat. Came back down to shop at the shops in the new Cruise Complex, and checked out Margaritaville. There is a super large swimming pool there, and a huge party. Bought some duty free liquor at Dufry's, took them onboard the ship, got into my swim trunks and headed for the beach. I was very surprised at the very close proximity of the beach to the docked cruise ships. Note well, Grand Turk is a beach paradise. There's very, very little to see here.
HAL's Westerdam was in port with the Magica.

Disembarkation

Costa uses the color luggage tags for orderly disembarking. Like Princess, it worked flawlessly. We were the last to get off the ship at 10 AM. US Citizens and Canadians were given the oportunity to self disembark early last Sunday morning beginning at 7 AM. There was one requirement, they had to register a few days before if they wanted to take their luggage off themselves. Luggage is required to be left outside your cabin door beginning at 1 AM Sunday.
All bags with the same colors are bundled together, but all yours are not necessarily together.

Some Observations

As with all the cruises I've been on, everything is not perfect.
In addition to the boarding differences I noted above, other differences in procedures at Costa include:
Automatic tip is $8.50 per day.
Pre-reserved shore excursion tickets are delivered to your cabin the day before arriving at a port of call.
Times and meeting locations for shore excursions are printed on the following days "Costa Today" newsletter, and not on the tickets themselves as is the case at Carnival and Princess.
Beach towels are brought to your cabin on the day there are beach excursions. When the next day is a sea day followed by a return to the disembarkation port, they are removed from your cabin by the cabin steward, and not left in the cabin till the end of the cruise.
There were many Europeans Russians, Poles, Danes, as well as Americans on this cruise, and hearing the different languages was interesting.
Formal Nights were Monday and Friday nights. They are referred to as Welcome and Farewell Gala dinners. Saturday Night is Toga Night. Everyone is given a Toga in their cabin by the Cabin Stewards. Not every passenger dresses in their Toga. We did. It was fun. The Togas are to be left in the cabin and collected by the Cabin Steward the next day.
Want to remember your cruise? There is a Video/DVD offer. I thought the Princess DVD was pricey until I saw the Costa DVD price. One DVD of your cruise costs $40.99, DVD of the excursions on your cruise is the same price, and a DVD of the ship, what goes on behind the scenes and how the ship is manned is $30.99. Grand total for all three is $117.92, but they offer all three DVD/Videos for $75.00

Would I cruise Costa again? You bet I would. Very nice decor throughout the ship, good food, and entertainment.

We were on the Coast Magica 2/4/07 and felt the same as you. We had a great time but there were a few incidents that need to be addressed but all in all I would do Costa again in a heartbeat. I have more pic's if someone wants to see them, just let me know. We had the corner aft cabin 7422, not bad for an aft cabin.

Thank you for your review.

We'll be on Magica in three weeks - going to Bermuda!

Did you happen to notice if they had lobster on the menu in the specialty restaurant? I know they don't serve lobster in the restaurant on formal night, and thought if we were to go to the specialty restaurant, I might order it there. Also, do you remember if the charge for lobster was an additionalcharge, over the $20?

Did you buy the wine package?

Thanks again for the review.

Ken, thanks for the review and the pictures. Nice! Glad you enjoyed it.

Another question:

Were there bathrobes in your cabin?

Originally Posted by mafig

Thank you for your review.

We'll be on Magica in three weeks - going to Bermuda!

Did you happen to notice if they had lobster on the menu in the specialty restaurant? I know they don't serve lobster in the restaurant on formal night, and thought if we were to go to the specialty restaurant, I might order it there. Also, do you remember if the charge for lobster was an additionalcharge, over the $20?

Did you buy the wine package?

Thanks again for the review.

You're Welcomed.
Yes, Lobster is on the menu in Club Vicenza, the Specialty Restaurant, and there is an additional charge, which I don't recall. You are correct, lobster is not served in the restaurant on formal night. You can get crab and quail though.
We did not purchase the wine package.
If you haven't already, click on 'cruise gallery', then 'On board documents', and you'll see the menus I posted for both formal nights.
There were no bathrobes in the cabin
Hope you enjoy your cruise to Bermuda on the Magica.

Mafig-we purchased the wine package (I believe it was the 139.00 package) and thought it was good deal. Especially having the bottles of water. The wine was very good.

Thanks, Debi.

Did you purchase it onboard? We have a nice shipboard credit, so we'll be buying it when we're onboard. Do you know where to do that? Also, how does it work? I envision it to be a coupon book where you select which coupon to use. Is this correct?

Originally Posted by mafig

Thank you for your review.

We'll be on Magica in three weeks - going to Bermuda!

I forgot to mention this in my review, so I'll say it to you, and also for the benefit of others who will sail the Magica and also the Fortuna when she makes her Caribbean debute in November, 2007, Deck 5 is your main deck, it will take you from Forward to Aft on both vessels. You can get to anywhere from deck 5.