Summary:
I took a cruise on the Costa Fortuna departing from Copenhagen. She is 10 years old and looks her age. The good things: Size of the cabin was very convenient. Lots of cabinets and a large bed which was very comfortable. Many shelves in the bathroom and safety measures not to fall or slip. The balcony we booked was small but with a table and two comfortable chairs and it was nice sitting there. Staff was very friendly, the stewards efficient, the elevators speedy and lots of them. Evening performances at the theater were quite entertaining despite lasting only 45 minutes. 5th floor has several bars with singers and dance floors, quite enjoyable. Before going on the cruise we were often in contact with the company's representatives and they did their best to help us with anything. The bad things: The air conditioner was very weak and hardly noticeable and it was hot. In the bathroom we had almost no hot water and it was very unpleasant. TV was huge with a small screen (TV not even LCD). Both the TV and the remote only allowed to jump forward one channel or change volume. The picture quality was poor and unclear and that could not be improved. There were a lot of the ship's channels and the rest were Italian. There was only one news channel in English, the BBC. We talked with the steward on these issues and we were told that's that. Room's water had terrible taste, no way we could drink that. We had to buy the ship's water, each liter for 3 euros! Even that had a very funny taste. When I talked to other passengers who were on other cruise lines, no one has encountered such a problem. I understand the ship is 10 years old but is that an excuse for such disregard? Breakfast and lunch were very scarce and very poor selection. The same the whole seven days. Other people from other cruises were just amazed. Tours: The ship was not sailing to Bergen although most other tours do. In Geiranger we could not get off directly to the harbour but through a boat and on return everyone had to wait half an hour in the heat for our turn to get back to the ship. On the third day we came to Skjolden from nine in the morning till five thirty. It's a tiny place with nothing realy to do if you wanted to go ashore. We took a tour of the glacier and drove for three hours there and back ond then only saw it from afar. There was no nice scenery on the way either. At Oslo we arrived at seven in the morning and stayed only until 12 which wasn't enough for a proper tour. We were told the reason for that was that the ship wanted to get in time to the next stop, Warnemunde, so that people wanting to do a tour in Berlin could get there in time. As we didn't need that tour and there was nothing to do in Warnemunde we had to stay in the ship from nine and a half to eight in the evening! Another annoying problem was that in each of the docking points there weren't any taxis or other means of transporatation besides that of the ship's. In conclusion, this was my first cruise and next time if there is one I'll be wiser in choosing the right cruising company.