Cruising Costa Toscana: HIts and Misses

(4:25 p.m. EDT) — Per week of cruising across the Mediterranean is not any hardship. But, as we found, every week of cruising across the Med aboard Costa Cruises’ recently-launched flagship, Costa Toscana, is about as immersive into European and Italian tradition as North Individuals might ask for.

Launched in March 2022, Costa Toscana is Costa Cruises latest and most elaborate ship. A sister to Costa Smeralda, which debuted in late 2019, Costa Toscana affords an enormous, daring and fashionable cruise expertise that caters to passengers who’re, primarily, European.

That is no shock: simply as North American passengers are drawn to close-to-home cruising, so are Europeans. Costa Toscana makes that even simpler, working weeklong Mediterranean loop cruises that supply embarkation in both the Italian ports of Savona, Civitavecchia (for Rome), and Salerno, or in the course of the vessel’s calls on Valencia, Spain and Marseille, France. Solely a name in Ibiza, Spain and the ship’s single day at sea are frequent to all passengers.

That ends in a gentle stream of passengers from France, Germany, Italy and additional afar embarking and disembarking Costa Toscana continually. And whereas English-speaking passengers are positively the minority (certainly, I gained the award for “Passenger Who Has Travelled the Furthest” on the Costa Cruises previous passenger soiree onboard), we found there may be a lot to love about Costa Toscana, and Costa Cruises, for the English-speaking passenger in search of a really immersive expertise.

After every week of crusing the Med, listed below are our impressions of Costa Toscana:

Cruising Aboard Costa Toscana – Hits

Embarkation and Disembarkation Are A Snap

As a result of your entire vessel is not embarking and disembarking in the identical port, getting onboard Costa Toscana in Savona, Italy was a breeze.

Arriving on the Savona Cruise Terminal simply after 11 within the morning from Genoa, we have been onboard inside minutes of checking in and present process a fast safety test. And after we acquired onboard, our stateroom was prepared and ready for us.

The identical applies for disembarkation: somewhat than being greeted by throngs of individuals clamouring in regards to the ship, we had time to cease for a calming espresso within the Caffe Vergnano 1882 bar on Deck 6 earlier than casually wandering off the ship at 8:30 a.m. — with loads of time to make our InterCity prepare again to Genoa, and 0 stress.

The Out of doors Deck Areas Are Excellent

For those who’ve ever felt like outside deck area on newer ships continues to shrink and shrink, Costa Toscana is a determined exception to that rule. The ship itself is a hub for outside actions, and you will find folks stress-free by day and evening on the ship’s many outside lounging areas.

Whereas the Pool Deck on Deck 18 that runs from the ahead to aft finish of the ship continues to be the most well-liked for sun-seekers, shaded deck areas on Deck 17 supply a respite from the solar for a lot of vacationers, whereas every little thing from loungers to hammocks and even swinging chairs suspended from the deck are supplied. The truth is, Costa Toscana affords extra non-deck-chair different seating preparations, together with sofas and comfortable armchairs, open air than we have ever seen on a ship.

The identical holds true for the Infinity Stroll on Deck 8, which wraps utterly across the ship and descends one stage on the stern. There, it opens up onto the expansive Infinity Bar that is the place to hang around at sailaway — or nicely into the night, due to a DJ that spins hits and a bar that stays open previous one within the morning daily.

Italian Affect Is All over the place

Fifteen completely different Italian corporations produced the comfortable furnishings, lighting, furnishings and décor items for Costa Toscana’s public areas and staterooms, and it exhibits. This can be a ship that’s daring, colourful and decidedly European in appear and feel.

Costa’s onboard partnerships are an ideal slice of seagoing Europe, too: Costa Toscana has two Aperol Spritz-branded bars serving up the corporate’s namesake cocktail, whereas the Campari Bar is the go-to spot for Italy’s different well-known libation (along with, after all, loads of vino).

Extra partnerships embody the emerald-green themed Heineken Bar and the Kartell Caffe, which makes use of merchandise from Milan-based Kartell.

Due to that, North Individuals and different English-speaking passengers can get pleasure from a really European-centric expertise onboard. The pizza is superb — it must be. The pasta is completed to perfection — it must be. The wine listing is primarily Italian and French — it must be, as a result of passengers demand it.

Leisure Choices Are Huge and Diversified

You could not all the time perceive what the announcer is saying (although most exhibits are multi-lingual and embody at the very least some English bulletins), however Costa’s onboard leisure is an actual winner.

Most exhibits carried out within the three-story Colosseo atrium leisure venue are visible and musical in nature. Ditto for the onboard bands, who play English-language hits that everybody is aware of. Music is a kind of common language onboard — you could not know methods to say hi there to everybody, or ask how their day was, however you possibly can sing together with them when the quilt band begins belting out Okay.T. Tunstall’s 2005 hit, “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”.

Costa’s Household-Pleasant Strategy Works Properly

One factor you may see on Costa Toscana — even in late-September, it appears — are multigenerational households with children as younger as infants, all travelling collectively. It’s a theme we observed repeated again and again, a lot in order that strollers parked in stateroom corridors have been commonplace.

The truth is, Costa Toscana has its personal devoted restaurant only for households — the Squok Restaurant — adjoining to its Squok and BabySquok Youngsters Golf equipment on Deck 16 aft. That is to not say that youngsters cannot eat within the common eating places (the extra-cost Pummid’Oro Pizzeria on Deck ahead appeared to be the most well-liked eatery onboard for these with little ones), however for a ship to have its personal devoted eating venue proper subsequent to the youngsters’ membership speaks volumes about Costa’s dedication to children.

Furthermore, the passengers do not thoughts. Most have children, with them, too, and the gracious, multi-lingual crew appeared to please in entertaining the little ones.

Costa is an off-the-cuff line — there’s nothing staid or stuffy about it, and that displays of their method to children. They know mother and father will wish to do late-night actions, so scheduled children membership actions run nicely till Midnight.

Even in bars and lounges, do not be shocked to see tuckered-out little ones asleep in strollers because the mother and father get pleasure from a well-needed Aperol Spritz.

The Crew

They’re multi-lingual and implausible, and keen to talk with English-speaking passengers because of their rareness onboard.

Cruising Aboard Costa Toscana – Misses

English-Language Excursions Are Ceaselessly Cancelled

Earlier than leaving house, we booked 4 excursions on-line. Costa’s shore tour program is assorted, and quite a few fascinating selections have been current — all of that are, apparently, accessible in a large number of languages.

Earlier than we might left for Italy, our first cancellation discover got here in over electronic mail: there weren’t sufficient English-speaking passengers signed up for a tour I would chosen in Ibiza.

Then, onboard, I would get cancellation notices placed on my mattress for the next day’s port of name. Like clockwork. Each tour I booked was finally cancelled.

Whereas there have been alternative excursions in most ports, these tended to be unguided excursions that functioned primarily as transportation solely. Panoramic bus excursions of Rome and Genoa, port shuttles to and from city facilities, that kind of factor.

Our expertise will not be your expertise — if extra English-speaking passengers are onboard, your excursions could function. And whereas shore tour employees have been gracious and understanding, we bored with going again all the way down to queue up every night to see what was — and wasn’t — doable for the next day.

In the long run, we did our personal factor in most ports of name, and had a good time — however we did spend loads of time researching what we might truly do, and the way we might get there on our personal.

Muster Drills Are Chaotic and Complicated

The data in my stateroom was clear: report back to my muster station starting at 3 p.m. for the obligatory muster drill. However after I acquired there, not a crewmember was to be discovered.

After half an hour of ready round with quite a few different passengers, I went up one deck to the Reception Desk and snagged a crewmember. Seems the drill would not begin till 4:15 p.m. Once I acquired again all the way down to my muster station on the new time, a Welcome Aboard briefing in French was being held — and nonetheless no crewmember was current.

Lastly, at 4:20 p.m., somebody confirmed up and scanned my keycard, checking me into the drill. Time wasted: practically 90 minutes.

My embarkation wasn’t an outlier; I watched as English and Spanish-speaking passengers embarking in Valencia have been shuttled forwards and backwards between public rooms on Deck 6, being advised conflicting data by crewmembers. It is not an effective way to start a cruise.

Fixed On-Deck Music Can Be Irritating

Out on deck, Costa has audio system mounted beneath the railings that play pop hits all through the day. All day. Day and evening.

The truth is, as we realized, there may be by no means a time when music is not piped out of these audio system. It is at a quiet quantity, however for those who’re anticipating to listen to the ocean, or the sound of the ship’s wake, from any outside area in any respect, you are out of luck. You are extra more likely to hear Coldplay’s “Journey Out of Time”, which appears to be on a perma-loop on the ship’s sound system.

Costa Toscana: A Nice Ship for Europhiles

This is not a North American cruise expertise. You will must commerce your Bud Mild for a Heineken, your ice cream for gelato, your U.S. energy chargers for European ones. The extra you get behind the Europeanness of Costa, the higher your expertise can be.

And a part of that immersion is Costa’s distinction from North American strains. Do not go anticipating free pizza and burgers across the clock; in reality, you will not discover them in any respect on Costa Toscana until you pay for them. However the high quality of the pizza — which begins round 9 Euros — was much better than your common buffet Pepperoni pizza served on most North American strains.

General, Costa Toscana is a win: it is a attractive ship designed for Europeans, however nonetheless welcoming to others as nicely. North Individuals and different English-speaking vacationers who wish to see Europe with the authenticity (and, frankly, enjoyable) of being on-shore will little question love the Costa expertise, with is about as authentically European as one can get at sea.

Sure, there are variations between North American cruising and European cruising, and those that embrace these variations will be capable of completely get pleasure from themselves onboard.

After practically 200 cruises, I all the time recognize being pleasantly shocked — and my first outing on Costa Cruises, and Costa Toscana, did simply that.