Costa Deliziosa 18th December 2011 Part 1

Costa Deliziosa 18th December 2011

Saturday 17th December
I’m to sail on my first Farcus-styled ship on Sunday; I’ve looked at the brochure pictures and also remember William Mayes’ talk to the Ocean Liner Society some time ago about CARNIVAL LEGEND, when I think my jaw dropped on seeing the pictures of urns. Today I flew to Genoa ready to go to Savona on Sunday to join COSTA DELIZIOSA for 4 nights.

So this was the plan – until 17 hours before I was to leave home there was a telephone call from Costa in London telling me the ship had technical problems, and I could choose to join her still for her short trip to dry dock in Marseille, or not take the planned cruise. The terms offered by Costa were so enticing that I chose to go into dry dock with the ship in Marseille. My travelling companions chose the same so we knew we were likely to share an unusual experience.

I arrived at Genoa airport, flying in from east to west with a turbulent wind making it impossible to photograph anything from the plane. However, I could see lots of ships in the harbour as the aircraft wings rose and fell during landing. The Airport to City Volabus driver sold me a ticket and since I was the only passenger he took me almost to my destination hotel in the Porto Antico area of the city. I was slightly bemused that he decided to avoid all the usual bus stops en route but obviously my scanty Italian and his scanty English seemed to work some kind of chemistry and I was soon checking into my hotel thanks to his kindness. This whole trip already promises to be interesting…

Having met one of my friends we strolled to the harbour for coffee and then ship-watching, so I could put names to the vessels I had seen from the aircraft.

MSC Splendida


Carthage



Handy Tankers Miracle

Work in progress on Costa NeoRomantica

Ships and a ship lover

Corsica Shuttle

Genoa skyline

another view in wonderful light

Our evening meal was taken in one of the Eataly Restaurants on the top floor of the Renzo Piano Building overlooking the harbour, so fresh pasta and salad went down well with the views, and from our table I could also see some of the Piano glass chandeliers in another restaurant.

Ships seen: Pacific, Sardinia Vera, Corsica Marina Seconda, Moby Ale, Moby Fantasy, Moby Aki, SNAV Toscana, Excellent, Splendid, Majestic (memorably sailed on in July 2008), Aurelia, Splendida, Carthage (another memorable trip in 2010), Costa NeoRomantica, Vento di Aliseo, Linea Marina Jolly Blu or Jolly Corallo, and Handy Tankers Miracle (lovely name), MSC Splendida, Italia (for coffee), and Oceania Cruises Riviera still under construction at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard just beside the airport.

Sunday 18th December
Early breakfast was followed by a treat, when our other travelling companion arrived, together with a famous Italian maritime author who wanted to say hello again. There was lots of ship talk until it was time to take the train to Savona for our Costa cruise into dry dock. A local bus took us from Savona station to the cruise terminal, and we were soon going over the gangway to get on board my first Farcus-styled ship. Oh my, what an incredible, amazing and awe-inspiring vessel. The brochure pictures hardly prepared me for what I saw as I stepped aboard into the nine-deck-high atrium, with its glory of light, colour, noise and decoration including the Arnaldo Pomodoro sphere, here on the COSTA DELIZIOSA.

The Pomodoro Globe


Part of the 9 deck high Atrium





my cabin 5385

The original C door handles, with the double quote signs

We soon dropped our bags into our cabins, and set off to explore the ship on the way to a buffet lunch up on Deck 9 Orchidea in the Muscadins Self-Service Restaurant. Just aft of this was the Lido Acqua Regina, with its blue bucket-style seats around the pool.


Chilly Lido pool area

The restaurant ceiling was covered in nautical flag prints, the walls were covered in more nautical items, and the carpet was busy too.

Muscadins Self-Service Restaurant

Fortunately we could look out to the waters of the harbour as a calming balance to our senses. The food was good and plentiful and the self-service worked well enough.

COSTA DELIZIOSA was built for Costa Cruises in 2010 by Fincantieri in Venice, Italy, with 12 passenger decks and a gross tonnage of 92,600, and is a Vista/Spirit class of ship design. Her interior designer is Mr Joseph (Joe) Farcus. She was christened at Port Rashid, in the United Arab Emirates, to coincide with the opening of the new cruise terminal there. Her passenger capacity is 2,826 with a crew of 934, she has 4 restaurants, 11 bars, a Spa and other well-being facilities, and numerous entertainment opportunities including a 3-level theatre, a 4D cinema, a golf simulator, Playstation world, Costa Team virtual racing car, roller skating, a Casino and shops.

Some of the wonderful photographs in the stairways

We had our first sight of the Restaurant, which rendered us almost speechless,


Albatros Restaurant seen from the top level

Lower level of the Restaurant

The Casino


Ristorante Samsara

and then prepared for Life Boat Drill, followed by a Welcome on Board Presentation for English speakers. We seemed to be amongst about 40 people speaking English, with other presentations available for Italian, Spanish and German speakers. When we boarded we expected to see few other passengers, but I found out there were about 2000 of us on the ship.

Fun chairs

Magradome roof over the pools

We sailed at 5.00 p.m. from Savona, heading the 213 nautical miles to Marseille, although we didn’t yet know our arrival time there. Dinner was at 6.30 first sitting, which meant we actually started eating after 7 p.m., which we thought was better than second sitting starting at 8.45 p.m. and ending goodness knows when. The evening’s entertainment was available in many areas of the ship, and we went to the Casino show in the Duse Theatre. There was no live music, which we thought was rather unexpected. We also enjoyed the live music in the Atrium bar and the Chocolate Bar, and the sight of some of the items for sale in the ship’s shops which were now open.

There was lots of noise, music and dancing and we enjoyed walking around or sitting amongst it all.


The Ballroom (Grand Bar Mirabilis)

Ballroom lights of aqua-coloured glass

We also had to get away from it now and again and venture out onto the deck to check on the weather and get some air. This is when we found what we called the two conservatories – small seating areas jutting out onto the deck, one each side, but completely isolated from the wild weather outside.



Many families with small children were around the public rooms or bars, with the toddlers swaying with the rhythm of the band, or the tinies fast asleep in their pushchairs; we were all on holiday and enjoying the facilities of this large ship in our different ways.

The beautiful butterflies

So, with the ship hurtling into the night at 20 knots into a 70 km wind, we reluctantly left the ballroom and the wonderful butterflies artwork to seek temporary oblivion in sleep.

Ships seen: Artania, seen in Genoa’s harbour, from the train

To be concluded...

Le Boreal 27th April 2011 Part 2

Wednesday 27th April 2010

Wow, it’s a red carpet day, and lots of it! We all arrived at the cruise port to find LE BORÉAL and L’AUSTRAL bow to bow, with red carpet going in every direction. L’AUSTRAL had her maiden voyage celebrations yesterday and would leave later today, after our departure at 12 noon.




There was time for lots of fun photographs before luggage was handed in, tickets were checked and we could stroll along to the gangway.

The Captain of LE BORÉAL was standing there, ready to shake hands and see us each guided to our cabins. No, make that a stateroom not cabin, as I had a balconied cabin with a huge bed and seven pillows/cushions on it.



The toilet cubicle was adequate for a small person, but the separate bathroom/shower was bigger with a surprising totally glass wall separating it from the bedroom part of the cabin. As the sole occupant of my cabin it meant I could at least look through the bathroom glass wall and see the sea. Hmm, this has novelty value I suppose, especially when I was showering. In fact there was also a sliding door which could be pulled across to cover the glass but I left it open.

The ship was built at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard just last year for Compagnie du Ponant, at 10,700 gross tons, 16 knots, 140 crew, with 223 passengers on board today. She is French-flagged and is Ice Class 1C, for her more usual Antarctic cruises and expeditions. The ship has 132 cabins, with double or twin beds and private bathroom facilities.






There are six decks: Deck 2 Le Liberte has the Gastronomic Restaurant (268 seats) aft, with a Marina just aft of that. Deck 3 Le Champollion above that has the Medical Centre forward, cabins aft of that, with Reception and Excursion desk around the circular seating.



Aft again is a small shop, then Main Ispahan Lounge and bar,



with access through poorly fitting doors to the small open deck behind that. Deck 4 Le La Fayette has cabins and the Theatre aft. Deck 5 Le Normandie has the forward Bridge, cabins behind, then the Fitness centre, with hairdresser, massage and beauty facilities. Deck 6 Le France has the lovely open Panoramic Terrace at the bow,



with the Panoramic Lounge/Bar/Library inside behind that, which we all enjoyed very often.



Cabins were behind that, then the partly-covered Grill Restaurant, which proved popular but disorganised for buffet mealtimes. The swimming pool was sited here, with snow-white pool towels and dark coloured steamer chairs. The soft seating was in the signature bright red colour.



Above again on Deck 7 Le Paris was an aft Open-Air Bar; forward was some deck space but filled with Zodiacs and then a small forward Sun Deck which was not always available. There was an open Bridge policy.

I loved the subtle colour palette inside LE BORÉAL, with its dark brown or grey and white, with bright red splashes of colour. It seemed very stylish and comfortable for our 3 night Gastronomic Cruise, sailing from Marseille to Lisbon in Portugal. This re-positioning cruise is the only short one available, so it was an ideal length to try out one of Ponant’s Yacht Cruises. I liked the art work on board, in the cabins, corridors, lounges and stairwells, although it was sometimes hidden by poorly sited lighting (in the Ispahan Grand Salon for example).

Lunch was available in the Grill Restaurant, with disorganised buffet queues all around, but there was eventually a good choice of food, with wine and other drinks all supplied with the meal.






The Captain announced our departure time (late) and we blew 3 whistles to Ponant’s newest ship as we left the quayside. The sun was blazing down under a cloudless blue sky, we were sailing on a one-year old ship, and there beside us was a brand new vessel about to leave on her maiden voyage within an hour, and when we signalled our goodbyes in the usual nautical way – nothing, absolutely nothing, no response whatsoever. We all found this extraordinary.

Later that afternoon all the English-speaking passengers on board were invited to a Welcome Briefing in the Theatre from one of the Cruise Directors – Nadine - and our Captain Jean-Philippe Lemaire. After the brief Briefing it seemed the moment to ask politely why our 3 whistles on departure hadn’t been acknowledged by an answering signal from L’AUSTRAL, who was about to set out on her maiden voyage. The answer from the Captain, in English, was to the effect that yesterday had been the celebrations day (we knew that, but we weren’t there) with lots of whistle blowing, and today there were important people on board L’AUSTRAL and they didn’t choose to interrupt things with the VIPs. He also mentioned that it was not a maritime necessity to salute each other with whistles.

Afternoon tea was available,



then Lifeboat Drill followed, and soon it was time to prepare for the first of our Gastronomic dinners, starting at 7.30 p.m. First however we were informed that as dinner would probably be long and enjoyable, it had been decided that the ‘entertainment’ would be held at 6 p.m. with a Welcoming Show of Dancers in the Theatre. This was pleasant, but then it was announced that dinner would start later than advertised so we all trooped back to the Ispahan Lounge before being summoned down to the Restaurant to queue to enter. Seating had not been allocated in advance. A pleasant meal followed, which took three hours to serve with the appropriate wine; as each course was served, the French chef explained the details of the particular dish, and the wine, in French, at great length.



There was no English translation, which was a shame as the English-speakers on board (over 50 of us) had been told we would be treated equally with the French-speakers.



That was the end of our first day on our Gastronomic Cruise. It had been very enjoyable, in congenial company, and we really liked the ship and its furnishings.

Ships seen: Tassili I and II, Danielle Casanova, Napoleon Bonaparte, Paglia Orba, Scandola, Jean Nicoli, Atlantic Star, L’Austral, Le Boréal, Al Sabini, Monte d’Oro

To be continued...

Le Boreal, 27th April 2011, Part 1

LE BOREAL 27th April 2011

25th April 2011 Easter Monday
After a few days on COSTA VICTORIA, I disembarked in Savona, Italy, and with one of my travelling companions took the Costa bus to Nice railway station (with time for lunch at Flunch) to get a train west along the coast to the French city of Marseille. Recently publicised incidents involving train passengers from Italy arriving at the Italy/France border made us realise that the coach travel was a wise choice. An evening meal at the Blue Riband restaurant amongst nautical objects ended a long day of travel, and my small hotel in the Vieux Port area proved a good choice. Marseille had begun to work its magic.

Ships seen at Savona: Costa Luminoza, Costa Concordia, Costa Deliziosa, and Costa Victoria; seen en route to Nice: Corsica Express Seconda, Sardinia Express, Corsica Express III, Carmel Ecofresh, Corsica Serena Seconda, and at Antibes the Seabourn Legend.

Tuesday 26th April 2011
Today’s Marseille newspaper informed that LE BOREAL and L’AUSTRAL would be arriving in port between 8 and 11 a.m. so we set off to enjoy a day of harbour trips from a French sea-port.



The little CHEVALIER PAUL carried us over to the 1516-built Chateau d’If under a glorious clear blue sky, ready to be tourists amongst the towers of this former prison.





A helicopter flying overhead was the only thing to disturb the peace of the golden morning, while a ferry sailed calmly out of port.



I couldn’t see a ragged rascal running round the rugged rocks (to quote an English tongue-twister) so we watched a basking lizard and thought about his ancestors.



The Chateau d’If is of course known as the setting for novelist Alexandre Dumas’ story of The Count of Monte Cristo.



Also, not a lot of people know that a rhinoceros lived on the island for a few weeks in that year of 1516, en route as a gift from the king of Portugal to the then Pope Leo X. The animal died in a shipwreck on the next part of its journey, so it arrived in stuffed form when presented to the Pope. History does not record his reaction…






Tassili II was doing trials at the far side of the bay.

With the small coffee shop closed, it was time to take another little ferry boat to the nearby island of Frioul, with its marina, restaurants and coves.



Near the landing stage we passed a wonderful, extraordinary, amazing piece of building constructed to look like a ship emerging from the rocks behind it. What fun to be able to create a home like that for oneself.




Then it was back to the port on yet another little local ferry, and on to Le Ferry Boat across the short width of the inner harbour (free) to look in the blue-painted bookshop;



there I had to buy some picture postcards which were puns on the French word for lighthouse (phare): fan phare, atmos phare etc.

More travelling chums arrived, an ice-cream shop was found and all was well, especially with tea or beer to follow. Later still another restaurant was chosen, where we could enjoy fresh local food.

Ships seen: Chevalier Paul, Atlantic Star (yes, still there), Le Boreal, L’Austral, Silver Wind, Mediterranee, Napoleon Bonaparte, Pascal Paoli, Girolata, Mein Schiff, a fast ferry laid up, Tassili II on trials, Coral in her new funnel colours, Neptune Thelisis, Henri Jacques Esperandieu, Edmond Dantes, Le Ferry Boat