On the cruise ship – Part 1
ON THE CRUISE SHIP – Part 1
From 'Transantlantic Cruise from Europe to the Caribbean'
THE ENTIRE CRUISE ITINERARY, AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL TRAVELOGUES FOR ALL STOPS ALONG THE ROUTE, can be viewed HERE.
You'll learn more about the Costa Favolosa itself, the food, and the staff's service. You'll find out why the kids preferred a cabin with a window over one with a balcony, and why the restaurant wrapped the mussels in cellophane and then served us bean soup…
In this travelogue, I’ll share a bit about our experiences on the so-called “Transatlantic Cruise from Europe to the Caribbean” adventure.
A LITTLE PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHIP COSTA FAVOLOSA:
Launched in 2011, the Favolosa features all the modern amenities, such as the Samsara Asian spa, a pool with a large movie screen and a retractable glass roof, and more, but it also boasts some new features, such as suites with private balconies and jacuzzis, a teen zone with a 4D movie theater and a water park. There are also 5 restaurants on board (3 complimentary and 2 paid), 13 day and night venues and bars, 4 pools, a fitness center, a three-story theater that can accommodate 1,320 people, a sports field, a jogging track, a children’s water park, a Formula 1 Grand Prix simulator, and more.
As its name suggests (favoloso = fabulous, in Italian), the ship's main theme is fairy tales and magic, woven into the decor and the names of the public areas. With a length of 290 m. and a width of 35 m., the ship can accommodate 3,800 passengers and 1,110 crew members. Various events are organized for children – children's parties, carnivals, discos, as well as the Squok Club (for children from 3 to 11 years old) and Teens Club (for children between 12 and 17 years old).
And so... we were already on the aforementioned ship. This was going to be the second cruise for me and my husband, and the first for the children.
THE CABIN. When booking, I had chosen the cheapest cabin – an interior guaranteed one. But we were pleasantly surprised when we were upgraded for free to an exterior with a window 🙂 The window in the cabin became a favorite spot for our kids to climb up and look at the water from there, not to mention the acrobatics they did, jumping from the bedroom window 🙂
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Our cabin was number 1279 and was located on deck 9 (as the whole deck was filled only with cabins). I had read beforehand that the lower the deck your cabin is on, the more you can hear the ship's propellers. Well, for 17 days we didn't hear a thing. We were even glad that we weren't on one of the upper decks, where there were bars, restaurants, and parties going on late into the night.
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The cabin was large enough to fit all four of us. It featured a large wardrobe, a wide bed, a baby cot, and the sofa had been converted into a bed. There was a television which we used to check the route, weather forecast, and other important things. Also, the TV played a video clip featuring various moments with the passengers of the current cruise, and one of the frames even included us dancing at one of the parties. The bathroom had a faucet/mixer for setting the exact water temperature.
When we entered the cabin, we found our boarding passes and the current daily program lying on the bed. All cruise lines and ships provide these boarding passes, which serve as your passport and credit card while on board. You use the boarding passes to lock and unlock your cabin; you can use them to purchase goods and services throughout the ship; and you use them to get on and off the ship at the various stops along the route. Basically, you should always keep your boarding passes in your pocket.
It often happened that we got lost on the ship, i.e. we thought we were going forward, while actually we were moving backwards.
STAFF. The steward servicing our cabin was named Alexander and overall he wasn't very friendly – he was always in a rush and didn't accommodate us in any way. He insisted every single time, without exception, on handing us the program sheet for the next day in person, rather than sliding it under the door as they did on MSC. It regularly happened that we were already lying in bed and he would knock on the door, and if we didn't answer him, he would just open it himself...
At the restaurant, our table was looked after by a young guy named David from the Philippines. He was very kind and always willing to help us with whatever he could. Oh,... and very patient, as you can imagine what kind of a mess we left behind us with two small children, one of whom loved to target the staff and neighboring tables with food 🙂 He certainly deserves a picture with us 🙂
FOOD, BUFFETS AND RESTAURANTS. There are 5 restaurants on the ship, and we used only 2 of them for the entire cruise. We usually had breakfast and lunch at the one that doubles as a buffet, and we had dinner at the other restaurant, which at first was more upscale and formal. Only two of the evenings we decided to eat at the buffet, which we don't regret. Many people, after having dinner in the "upscale" restaurant, would go up and have a second dinner at the buffet.
Our favorite breakfast items were Nutella chocolate croissants and fresh milk with cornflakes (for me and Avi) and donuts in various colors and flavors for Krisko and Simeon. As for fruits, there wasn't a huge variety (compared to our previous cruise, which was on MSC Lirica) – only two types of melon, pineapple, and watermelon.
And now, pretend you haven't read the following sentence – To save money, from the breakfast items, we would take food for the day in a plastic bag – croissants, sandwiches, etc.
Bay Ganyo went on a cruise 🙂
And one more thing – we were far from being the only ones 🙂
There was always a queue at lunchtime. The lunch menu included by default macaroni with white sauce, spaghetti Bolognese, fish, meat, and salads. The salads were mostly lettuce, arugula, iceberg, baby spinach, tomatoes, and onions.
A few times, the master chefs served the food personally at a special table by the main pool—one time it was king prawns (there was a huge line; it seemed as if the entire ship was waiting to eat nothing but king prawns), another time it was spaghetti (nothing special), then it was pizza (which wasn’t anything to write home about either), and the last time it was sushi, which was quite a failure and fell apart even before we’d put it on our plates. Also, Simeon liked the burgers they were making by the pool so much that for the last few days he ate nothing but them
There was also an afternoon snack, which we found out about toward the end of the cruise. There were lots of sweets—melted chocolate with really delicious cookies, sandwiches, and tea.
We were sitting in a restaurant, it started at 18:15, and as we were eating according to the menu, which was also written, but in the evening it turns out that we cannot discuss what we are eating. Massa doesn't agree with the baby's stool. We were all three with baby carriers, tied up with one to another. On one of the evenings, all the masses were different, another Bulgarian family with three children, who were all the same age, came to dinner, left at the buffet – in the evening. On the third mass, there was a young French family, who didn't know Bulgarian. They were with a small child, bursting with our sin. The second little boy had many charms and was very curious.
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Most of the dishes served to us at the restaurant were not to our liking. Once, we ordered something again without knowing what it was, and then they brought us mussels with seafood wrapped in cellophane, and raw at that. Another time we ordered a different dish and they brought us something that smelled like beans. For the kids, there was a specially prepared children's menu to choose from, with options limited to pizza, a burger, fries, chicken bites, and vegetable soup. The desserts on the kids' menu were either fruit or a chocolate cake, which as soon as Krisko started eating, everything around him turned into chocolate. Besides on the clothes, there was chocolate on the table, on the high chair, and even on the carpet. I don't know how David managed to clean up after us for a full 17 evenings.
We had a total of 3 GALA evenings during the entire cruise and it was recommended to be dressed more formally and smartly. It is not mandatory, of course, meaning no one would reprimand us if we were dressed casually, as long as we weren't wearing sweatpants and shorts. The waiters wore black suits during the Gala dinners, and red ones the rest of the time. Also, the menu was more special, but we could tell the difference. During the second GALA dinner in the restaurant, the waiters put on a short show. There was also complimentary champagne and a slice of cake as a compliment from the captain. That same evening, I took advantage of the free drink on the occasion of my entering Costa's Ambra Club – this is the lowest membership tier. I got a "Pink Panther" non-alcoholic strawberry shake – it was quite delicious, but also heavy.
On the cruise ship – Part 2
