Kotor, Montenegro.
In October ‘19 I was lucky enough to be onboard Costa Luminosa on one of her last Eastern Mediterranean cruises out of Venice before her repositioning cruise to Ft. Lauterdale, Florida where she will spend her winter season! I’ve spent 8 fabulous days onboard this beautiful ship and there are countless reasons why I loved it so much, but here are a couple of reasons why you should consider booking a cruise on Luminosa or her nearly identical sister ship Deliziosa!
Size
Size DOES matter! Costa Luminosa is considered a mid-sized ship and it’s currently one of the smallest ships in the Costa fleet, but at 92.600 gross registered tons and 294 meters in length she definitely feels big and spacious. I always loved mid-sized cruise ships since they have everything you might need & expect from a cruise ship but unlike on bigger ships, there is a more friendly and sociable atmosphere onboard. Staff also seems to be more personal and dedicated to each guest onboard smaller ships! I know that some people just want to blend in with the crowd on their vacation and you can do that on this ship too, but it will be much easier to do so on much bigger ships where you don’t have to say a word to anyone for 8 days!
What I also really liked about this ship is that it always felt like we were on a ship, not that it rocked and rolled but it never felt like a mall at sea which is popular these days! I’m not saying that mega ships are bad but I believe that you will have a more relaxing cruise on smaller ships! I love the serenity of smaller ships but I also love action and thrill of bigger ships so I’m definitely open to booking both. Just know what type of vacation you’d like to have, there is something for everyone these days! All in all, I was really pleased with the size of the ship and the amenities onboard!
Itineraries
Costa Luminosa offers great itineraries too! Being the smaller ship she is, she can dock in ports that larger ships cannot visit. That’s why you will find her cruising out of Venice during the summer season. Venice itineraries usually include stops in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Kotor, Montenegro, Corfu, Greece, Athens, Greece and Bari, Italy. There are multiple variations of this itinerary. This itinerary was amazing to do since it includes some amazing cities but also smaller ports that are so worth visiting, like Kotor, Montenegro. I would also like to mention that Eastern Mediterranean itineraries are, to me at least, more relaxing compared to Western Mediterannean since you’re not visiting huge, capitol cities everyday.
Costa Luminosa spends her winter seasons sailing out of Ft. Lauterdale, Florida doing longer 10-day itineraries that include visits to Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras, Bahamas and Grand Cayman Island! She is the only Costa ship sailing out of Unites States this winter so if you’re planning on sailing with Costa out of Florida hurry up while there are still cabins available.
Food
On an Italian ship you can expect some good Italian food and it does not disappoint! There are a couple of complimentary food venues such as the main buffet, Taurus Restaurant (main dining room) and Burger & Grill bar on the pool deck! There are also 3 upcharge restaurants, Club Luminosa, Samsara Restaurant and Pizzeria Pummid’oro. Tip: If you plan on dining at these upcharge restaurants, definitely join Costa Club if you haven’t already because you will receive up to 50% discount on dining in specialty restaurants. You will also recieve special deals and discounts in bars and shops onboard!
Food in complimentary restaurants was pretty good. There is a big variety in both the MDR and the Buffet so you will definitely find something delicious to fill your plate with. If you’re not up for fancy Italian dishes you can always grab a burger and fries at the Burger bar on the pool deck. I would absolutely recommend desserts and pastries on Costa, they’re really tasty! I can’t even tell you how many donuts, pancakes and waffles I ate every morning. Delicious!
Dinners on Costa are quite an event on-board and usually last at least two hours. You can have up to 5 to 6 courses if you want to! When you board you are assigned to either early (main) or late sitting. Early sitting is at 18:45 and late is at 21:15.
Something I would definitely recommend is buying a drinks package. On Costa ships you don’t get free water with your meals in the main dining room and juices are only available during breakfast. Water is of course available 24/7 in the Buffet. I’ve had Panzo & Cena drinks package on this cruise, it is the cheapest one but it was pretty adequate for my needs. It included sodas, selected wines and beers by the glass during the lunch and dinner in the MDR and the buffet. As a fan of sodas during my meals this package was perfect for me. There are also more expensive and more inclusive drinks packages offered that include a much wider selection of drinks and you can use those packages in all bars on the ship!
Entertainment
Entertainment onboard Luminosa was great but what I really loved was that almost every night you could find live music being played at multiple locations onboard. It’s a lively ship in the evenings!
Entertainment was consistent in quality all troughout my cruise. There were shows in the main theatre every night. It’s good to know that Costa shows are slightly different than your normal cruise shows because Costa ships do attract more international crowds so most of the shows are musical, dance style shows with most of the songs being in English. There were also acrobatics shows which were also quite good, but the show that attracted the biggest crowd was ‘The Voice at Sea’. Basically the same principle like the show you watch on your TV, but with passengers being the participants.
Each night has a theme and a suggested dress code, for example on our cruise there was an Italian night and the suggested dress code was red, white and green. We also had a white night, gala night and Latin night! I loved this, it’s fun to participate even in a small way. These are only suggested dress codes so if you don’t have anything that fits the suggested dress code, don’t worry! I’ve seen a lot of people doing their own thing and after all it is only suggested!
Italian experience!
No matter where this ship sails it will always be a little “Italy at Sea”! Italian experience onboard Costa ships feels so authentic and I love it! Everything from the italian food to the interior design of the ship seems unique. Costa ships are so colorful and fun with many unusual art pieces onboard, such as the big naked lady in the middle of the atrium! If you want to have that international and italian experience then Costa is definitely for you!
On instagram and twitter I frequently get asked “Is Costa for me?” or “Can I go on a Costa cruise even though I don’t speak any Italian?”. My answer is always, try it out and see if it works for you. But what I can tell you is that you can definitely cruise with Costa without having any Italian speaking skills, I mean… Look at me! Ha-ha! Just expect that most of the passengers on the ship won’t speak the same language you’re speaking (unless you’re Italian of course!) On my cruise there were around 60 English speaking passengers and there is an English speaking representative to help you out if you have any problems on board.
I would also like to mention that Costa ships are quite loud and full of life, so keep that in mind if you’re looking for a more peaceful atmosphere! I would recommend this line to anyone who likes to party and have a good time, try new things and be immersed in a different culture! If you’re thinking about booking or have a chance to book a cruise on this ship or this cruise line definitely check it out. If you like it great, if not at least you know for certain that it’s not for you!
If you would like to read more about my cruise on Costa Luminosa CLICK HERE and if you have any questions about Costa, Luminosa or anything in general feel free to contact me on Instagram, Twitter or via E-mail. I love hearing about your cruise experiences and helping you with your cruise questions.