Penny, So glad to read your report (thanks) and glad you enjoyed the cruise. I am looking forward to checking her out for myself.
Suzi

I was on the same ship, there is only one Costa Majica.... Guess I am making it up.... All I can say is that was my experience.. Like I said was last sailing so maybe they put off some repairs till the end of the season.. There where broken moldings and such on deck where ya can sit under cover kind of near the pool.... I wasn’t the only one on the cruise that commented on it.... That’s not all of the things that where in need of repairs but just one for example.. I am not saying that the ship was in total disarray, but by the standards I have seen on the bigger cruise lines, it was below there standards... I agree that the ship was a very nice ship. Other then some design flaws... ya need a tour guide to find the back dinning room the first time... up down up down the decks to reach it...lol... well at least I got to work of all the food I ate.. The thing that will keep me from rebooking on Costa is the food served in the dinning room... not accustomed to the style menu they offer.. That was the biggest complaint I heard thru out the ship.. Glad you enjoyed it and found the ship to your likings.. Thats why there is many cruise ships a veriety for all.. You will find people that hate a cruise line that others are in love with.... I can honestly say I have never been on a bad cruise... well except for the one I got married durring, in St Thomas.. was good at the time but am I paying for it now... LOL

I never said you made it up I just said I thought it strange as the ship was beautiful and always being cleaned and taken care of.
I agree the ship had an odd layout especially when getting to the dining room. I would probably book another ship with another cruise line before sailing Costa again. I was just saying the ship was gorgeous but there were other things I wasn't impressed with. By the end of the week I had had my fill of Italian food. It's been a month and we still can't look at spaghetti. While we had a good time and am glad we went there were certain things I couldn't get past. Our ship was about 80% elderly (over 65) and my husband and I felt somewhat out of place as we're in our 30's. We met up with a couple of crew members who did nothing but bash Costa about everything from passengers to fellow crew members. I thought this to be quite unprofessional and have never experienced this before. It really turned me off.

I will try Costa again.. I will just wait a while am sure they will correct some of the things I was't that impressed with... But ya have to admitt The good definatly outweighed the bad... Hey with my last name Costa I can't help but forgive them....LOL i got asked many times if I was related while showing my card..

Hey Guys....I'm a travel agent for 23 years..31 cruises under my belt and I can say a lot about the Costa Magica. Just returned Feb. 11th. For 8 months trying to work with the home office was nothing short of HELL...the reviews were scary and I was horrified about going with my group of 67. Let me just say I found Victoria in the home office of Costa about 6 weeks before departure and she made everything right...
Now the ship...was immaculate...the service was fantastic...the food was good...if you go hungry on a cruise...you can't be satisfied anyway!! The entertainment was NON-STOP. The onboard staff for entertainment...on decks...in the lounges...and everywhere else on the ship was the BEST I have ever encountered...the young staff had more energy and personality than you and I could only dream of.
My group co-ordinator onboard; Silviu Bordei, was the most fantastic person I ever dealt with. The CAPTAIN..Claudio De Fenza was fabulous. I have NEVER been on a ship with a captain that was so visible to the passengers. He was everywhere...and he MINGLED with EVERYONE.
I recommend that if anyone had a problem with Costa to contact Lynn Torrent, President of Costa Cruise Line. I have been encouraged to contact her with any problems that I may have had with the home office in Miami.
In my opinion, and as a seasoned traveler and Agent I would recommend Costa Cruise Line to anybody.
Gloria Huband
Travel Services, LLC
Quinton, Va

Glad you found it all to your liking... Maybe they are putting the effort into the areas that peeps had complaints about... Is that a good thing to see the captain every place... LOL who is running the ship...lol

Hi penny - I just booked a trip on the Magica for March. I am wondering about the drinks. First - do this kids pay for pop? Second - are you allowed to board with any alcohol? Any info would be helpful....

You can buy a soda card for the kids, then they just fill up their cups. You were not allowed to bring alcohol on board, unless it was wine and then they charged a corkage fee. I hope you enjoy your cruise on the Magica as much as we did. Toga night is a lot of fun. Best wishes!

Hey Penny

I just came off the Magica Feb. 11...we tried to get soda cards....not available! We did bring on wine without a cork fee...no problem. We really enjoyed the ship...the crew was great. I had a group of 67.

Wow, 67 people that must have been a true challenge keeping them together and happy. On our cruise, they sold the drink packages when we first came on board and went to the buffet. Hope you had a wonderful cruise!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dolfan31:
Well I went on the Costa magica last year.. Well I must say did not really like the ship.. Found it to be dirty and in need of repairs.. It was there last cruise of the season before sailing across to Europe.. I did not like the food in the dinning room.. Was mostly upper-class Italian food, thought there would be some more traditional Italian foods.. It wasn’t all bad, we had a lot of fun, and how can you not, on a cruise? All the staff treated us great.. I have been on several cruises and this had to be the biggest disappointments.. You just come to expect great food and a ship in great condition...

Going on the Carnival Triumph on Feb. 24th Havn't been on a Carnival ship Not counting Costa cruises for quite some time now, last time was when the Ecstasy was brand new and sailed out of Miami.. I had a great time on that, I hope it wasn't due to the fact I was so much younger...LOL Was like 15 or 16 years ago.

I totally agree with you Dolfan31 as far as the food I thought it was Terrible, and Max was the Cruise director at the time and I thought the entertainment was TERRIBLE. Max was on one or both of the Costa Atlantica cruises that I had gone on and the shows were wonderful. I went on the Magica Feb, 2006. It was my 11th cruise and my 3rd with Costa.
We are of Italian descent and none of us enjoyed most all of the food. We were extremely disapointed with that ship. When we were taking the bus back home there was other people complaining about the ship also.
We didn't have a problem with the cleanliness of the ship or the crew.
We are going on a Mediterranean Costa Concordia in January, 2008. I'm hoping it's a lot better then the Magica.
Sandy p

We booked an inside, and was upgraded to a balcony! I've never had that on Princess.

I have booked a lot of clients on Costa cruises and it's kind of a mixed bag on the reports I get back, much like this thread. Some rave about it and the reports on the entertainment are always good. Seems the food can be hit or miss.

The reason I copied the upgrade report above is on many sailings off-season Costa has some dificulty filling ships from U.S. ports. They are based in Genoa Italy and best known for their Med cruises. Their Majica and Mediterrania ships from Ft Lauderdale often struggle with bookings. That's very good news for those of you who like low priced cruising and especially if you like to throw dice with cabin assignment. Like Carnival, Costa offers Cat 1A as the lowest available cabin assignments (bunk-beds). The thing is they offer the 1A when they're struggling with bookings as a guarantee rate (cabin to be assigned). They leave this Cat open ven after they've sold out of 1A's. They even leave it open when they need to fill the ship when all they have left is balconies and suites. In other words they are selling the rate not the cabin. I've seen 7 night sailings on their ships go for as little as $299. per person with great itineraries if you'll accept the 1A guarantee. You may get a bunkbed but I've had a very lage percentage of clients off season end up in balconies and some even in suites. Twice I've had clients moved from a 1A guarantee to a Cat GS, the highest category of suite they have on the ship and one of those times it was at the $299. pp rate!

They also have many promotional offers, one they run frequently is their "Kids Sail Free" program. This one allows kids who are 3rd or 3rd and 4th in a cabin to go for just the cost of the tax. I've never sailed Costa personally, just too many unfavorable reviews from past cruisers to want to take the chance but I get a fair number like Penny who really had a wonderful time. One of these days I'm going to book one for myself, a 1A and cross my fingers. For the price (when they drop 'em like a stone) how can you go wrong.

Cheers, Neil