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Hidden Costs - Service Charges (extravagent)
Reviewed By: Watt, Embo on 19th Jul 2008
Cruise Line: Costa Cruises	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Costa Marina	Sailed: July, 2008
Destination: Baltic	Age: 56-65

We arrived in Amsterdam about 0700 hrs and had to wait in a "Waiting Room" for over 5 hours. No one would answer any of our queries, but kept telling us just to wait. It transpired that we were only 15 minutes walk from the City Centre but no one told us that until we were (at last) ready to board at about 1400 hours. The waiting room was overcrowded and had very little in the way of refreshments, any of which that were available were overpriced. Once on board we found that the price of drinks was totally excessive and every drink purchased had a 15% service charge added. There was also a"Hotel Service Charge" of 4.5 Euros per person per night. This cruise which at first appeared to be of reasonable cost finished up very expensive. We have travelled with other cruise lines but feel that Costa is a "Rip Off" The food was quite good but on far too many times the soup or pasta arrived at the table cold. The only positive aspect was that all the crew were friendly and attentative. I would definately not recommend a Costa Cruise to anyone who likes to partake of the occasional drink. This cruise is definately for people who pay their money and do not pay for any sort of extra which will include a "Service Charge". We would far rather give very generous tips to deserving members of the crew than to add to Costa's purse.
Quality of Food
Crisallo Restaurant. Too often dishes were cold and often wrong dishes presented.
Entertainment
Evening entertainment was good. Russian Dancers and singer excellent. Daytime entertainment trivial and childlike really quite pathetic for adults.
Shore Excursions
St Petersburg Excursion was very good. Shuttle buses in all ports were expensive. Not much information on visiting the destination ports on your own.
Staff
All members of staff were excellent
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Gym, Sauna, Jaccusi, Pool all very good
Cabins
When cruise was booked we were told that the cabin had a double bed, but this turned out to be two single beds. The cabin was clean. Shower and toilet area very small.
Overall Rating

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Murray, Aberdeen (16 Aug 08 14:49) about this REVIEW.

I would echo the other comment. It is a tad unfair to post a negative review based on drinks, service charge etc. This information is available beforehand is on the Costa website, in the brochures, in your ticket book etc. The majority of cruiseline now add the service charge and Costa's is less expensive than some of the others.

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Comment by Burrows, Southampton (21 Jul 08 20:25) about this REVIEW.

Were you attracted to this cruise by the initial price? The Euro is very strong against Sterling at the moment, unlike the Doller! This means that drinks on the likes of Costa and MSC cruises will seem a lot more expensive than the same thing on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, etc! Any "service charges" should have been detailed in Costa liturature available BEFORE you booked the cruise, so I do not see that this is a justifiable reason for complaint! The "Rip Off" tag has been connected to a number of Cruise Lines recently. I think that it is simply a case of "Buyer Beware"! Happy cruising.

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