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Costa Europa
Mediterranean Cruise - March 2008
Page 1: 11th March: Savona
This page is one of a series showing a Mediterranean cruise on
Costa Europa
in 2008. There is also a full history of
Costa Europa
.
Cruise Itinerary:-
Savona
-
Sea Day
-
Malaga
-
Cadiz
-
Lisbon
-
Gibraltar
-
Alicante
-
Barcelona
-
Savona
Costa Europa
was built in 1986 as the
Homeric (2)
for Home Lines by Jos.L.Meyer (yard number 610) at Papenburg. She has a similar feel in some areas to P&O's
Oriana
from the same yard in 1995, particularly along the spacious promenade deck. Although built as a cruise ship rather than an ocean liner, the liner background of Home Lines is still apparent in some of the layout - the dining saloon is down on deck four with low ceilings.
Homeric
spent her summers on Home Lines New-York-Bermuda service, and wintered in the Caribbean.
Home Lines was bought by Holland America Line (HAL) in 1988, and the still new
Homeric
became the
Westerdam
on November 2nd. They sold her running mate, the
Atlantic
, to Premier Cruise Lines. Almost immediately, HAL was acquired by Carnival, who invested heavily in
Westerdam
when she returned to her builders in October 1989 for lengthening by 39.6 metres, returning to service in March 1990. Two forwards lounges were replaced by a two deck theatre, the original theatre on the uppermost deck initially remaining as a cinema/smaller theatre.
Westerdam
continued to run Caribbean cruises in winter, but ran to Alaska from Vancouver in the summer. Carnival bought a 50% interest in Costa Crociere (with Airtours) in December 1996, taking the remaining 50% from Airtours in 2001. In 2002,
Westerdam
was transferred to Costa and was renamed
Costa Europa
. She received a further major refit which included the replacement of the original one-level cinema by six large balcony suites.
Brief Ship Review
These are a few thoughts on the cruise and the ship
Costa Europa
.
We flew to Milan Malpenza from where Costa provide a connecting coach to Savona. This left an hour late due to delayed flights, and is a dull 3 hour trip through flat countryside for most of the journey. We stopped for 30 minutes at a service station (for driver's hours I suspect) when we would rather have reached the ship earlier. Arrival at Savona was only an hour before the 17:00 departure, but check-in was very quick. Savona is a more attractive town than one might imagine for a busy port, with the remains of a castle and some interesting buildings. It has a lengthy beach and some attractive early modernist cafes on the promenade. A railway previously ran along the promenade, a substantial bridge remaining as a footpath. I had hoped to photograph Corsica Ferries vessels, but these sail from a separate port further to the west. The terminal is modern and attractive - and used exclusively by Costa. We departed on time with assistance of a single tug. This was repeated at every port apart from our return to Savona where two tugs were used to turn
Costa Europa
around to berth stern first (she had berthed bow first when we departed).
First impressions were good -
Costa Europa
has been maintained in excellent condition. Her exterior paintwork and wooden decks are in perfect condition, particularly on the superb circular promenade deck which is open below the bridge, unlike most modern cruise ships which retain a full promenade. Interiors are smart with no worn areas on carpets or furnishings. None of the public spaces are particularly exciting however.
Starting from the waterline, the hospital is on Deck 3. Deck 4 (Orion) has the main Orion Restaurant and some cabins forward. Decks 5, 6 and 7 are where the vast majority of cabins are located. Deck 8 (Hercules) has most of the public rooms. From the bow, these are the Atalante theatre, Medusa ballroom, library/internet cafe, Ocean bar, Argo (quiet) lounge, chapel, card room, shopping area, Delo cigar bar, Golden Apple teens room, Ladonte disco, Lerna casino and the children's club. In Home Lines days this was known as the Belvedere Deck and the Galaxy lounge was where the theatre now is. The Ocean bar is in the new section of hull, and all other rooms have been renamed. I will add full plans from all periods soon.
Deck 8 (Andromeda) is the promenade deck, known as the Lido deck by Home Lines, and the Upper Promenade Deck by Holland America Line (HAL) (confusingly Deck 7 was the Promenade Deck with HAL). The original Home Lines suites are on this deck, plus a new block of luxury cabins in the lengthened section. The balcony of the theatre is at the forward end (an additional lounge in Home Lines days) whilst aft is the Andromeda buffet restaurant, with an outside area and pool. Whilst the wide wrap-around promenade is spectacular, only a very limited number of (wooden) loungers were deployed aft on each side. Loungers elsewhere were aluminium and still quite stylish (ie: no white plastic).
Deck 10 (Cassiopea) has additional luxury cabins and the fitness centre. Deck 11 (Sirens) has the main pool, covered by a magrodome, plus Sirens buffet which doubles as an extra-cost restaurant in the evenings. The location and menu was not interesting and we did not use it. There are also six large balcony suites (added since 2000) in what was the original theatre above the bridge.
Berlitz rates
Costa Europa
as only a
***
+ ship, but I feel even this is a little generous. Food was average at best, and sometimes sufficiently bad to be sent back (I have never needed to do this on any other ship). It improved on the two Gala nights. Regular passengers claimed it had got worse in recent years, and others compared it unfavourably to other Costa ships. The Andromeda buffet is cramped and with few seats. Lunchtime main courses are the same as served in the restaurant. However, good espresso is available both in bars and on room service, though not in the Orion restaurant in the evening. Only Celebrity of the larger lines can match (and exceed) Costa for coffee! Service in the restaurant was pretty good, but the waiters have a lot of tables to serve, including the wine (much of which is also expensive, although the bottles we had with were all very good and included Italian wines not usually available in the UK).
Unfortunately, another Italian passion is smoking, and this is a real problem on
Costa Europa
. Non-Smoking areas in lounges are badly laid out, so the whole room rapidly fills with smoke. Both the Ocean and Medusa lounges also have excessively load music. This is probably acceptable in the livelier Medusa, which is used for dancing, but the dreary artists booked for the Ocean should be turned down to levels closer to background music. The Delo has no music, but is a cigar bar which is permanently full of smoke. Argo is also notionally a quiet room, but the bands from the adjacent Ocean still intrude, combining with the softer music played there to make a discordant cacophony that John Cage would have been proud of. (Those who know me would tell you that this is what I normally listen too, but not whilst trying to have a conversation). Although non-smoking in the evenings, the Argo is used for private functions during the day, so is actually smokier that the other bars. In short, there was nowhere we found for a comfortable, smoke-free drink where one could converse without shouting. This is quite probably just how most people on board like it. Prices in bars also seemed high compared to other recent cruises. There is no non-smoking area at all in the outside area to the Andromeda buffet, so eating out in the 'fresh air' is impossible. Even the ship's stairwells smell of tobacco smoke early in the morning.
Ship-wide messages have to made in Italian, German, French, English and Spanish (in that order) which takes forever. On the plus side, very few announcements are made to the whole ship, so in practice this is not a problem at all. Even at disembarkation, announcements were made locally in your allotted waiting area. There was none of the continuous verbal diarrhoea from the cruise staff which P&O (and many other) passengers have to suffer. More companies should follow the Celebrity policy and have no messages at all (excepting emergencies).
Disembarkation at cruise ports was very efficient, but a €5 shuttle bus fare made taxis more economic in all ports except Alicante (which provided a free service). Final disembarkation at Savona was very slow since we docked as scheduled at 9:00. Luggage had then to be unloaded, and our scheduled 10:45 disembarkation slipped to 11:15 (for a 11:00 bus - which they held of course). Most ports X-rayed all hand baggage, followed by a second X-ray once the ship was boarded. Passports were also necessary to board at all cruise ports.
Our cabin 7139 was extremely spacious with widely-spaced twin beds plus a three-seat sofa, plenty of storage and a bath. Cabin steward Supadi was exceptionally efficient. Everything still looked like new (from last overhaul) apart from the bath and some tiling. Decor is brighter than in Holland America days, with colourful Costa prints, although the (pseudo-) wooden veneer remains.
I am not a fan of cruise ship shows, but took in a few. A fairly amusing ventriloquist successfully managed to entertain all five main language groups simultaneously, which was quite a feat. The ship's singers and dancers were less impressive. The loss of forward-facing lounges to build this theatre is to be regretted.
I may seem a little over-critical, but this is not a high-class ship. At around £85 (€100) per night for one of the best normal cabins, it was very good value, and a highly enjoyable time was had. I would find the food and clean air deficiencies more trying on a longer cruise however. She is an attractive ship from the transition era between ocean liners and modern cruise ships, with their spectacular atriums and dining saloons.
Next Page...
Sections on this Page:-
Costa Europa
Savona
Next Page...
Ships on this Page:-
Capo Vado
- Noli C
Costa Europa
- Costa Crociere
Cruise Itinerary:-
Tue March 11th Savona
- Italy Depart 17:00
- this page
Wed March 12th Sea Day
Thu March 13th Malaga
- Spain Arr: 13:00 Dep: 20:00
Fri March 14th Cádiz
- Spain Arr: 07:00 Dep: 18:00
Sat March 15th Lisbon
- Portugal: 08:00 Dep: 18:00
Sun March 16th Gibraltar
- Arr: 14:00 Dep: 19:00
Mon March 17th Alicante
- Spain Arr: 12:30 Dep: 19:00
Tue March 18th Barcelona
- Spain Arr: 08:00 Dep: 13:00
Wed March 19th Savona
- Italy Arr: 09:00
Associated Pages:-
Costa Crociere
Home Lines
Holland America Line
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
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Costa Europa
Mediterranean Cruise - March 2008
Page 1: 11th March: Savona
Costa Europa
Costa Europa
at Savona - seen from the coach
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Costa Europa
at Savona - seen from the coach
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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In Home Lines days these cabins were brightened by bold blue colours and Caribbean motifs. The ultra-conservative Holland America dulled this down considerably, but Costa have livened things up again by bright (and mildly risque) prints plus colourful panels. The prints also appear in the corridors. These cabins had curtains separating the sleeping and sitting areas in pre-Costa owners
hip.
Costa Europa
- cabin 7139
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Costa Europa
- cabin 7139
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Costa Europa
- cabin 7139
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Savona
Savona - attractive early modernist/art deco cafe on the beach
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Savona - the port
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
(Noli C)
IMO number : 9048275 - Name of ship : CAPO VADO - Call Sign : IPWV
Gross tonnage : 289 - Type of ship : Tug - Year of build : 1993 - Flag : Italy
Costa Europa
used a tug at each port -
Capo Vado
towed her out at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Capo Vado
at Savona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 11th March 2008
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Savona
-
Sea Day
-
Malaga
-
Cadiz
-
Lisbon
-
Gibraltar
-
Alicante
-
Barcelona
-
Savona
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