what is the best cruise line to cruise with, carnival or costa?

Answer 1

carnival owns both lines. I would probably go to cruisecritic.com to see what other passengers thought about their experience. go with an open mind and you can have a good experience no matter which one you choose. good luck and happy cruising to you.

Answer 2

Costa is owned by Carnival. as Jo mentioned, there are many non-American passengers that sail Costa ships. I sailed on the Costa Romantica back in '98. during the muster drill they made the announcement in 5 different languages with English being the last. of course many of the American passengers clapped and cheered. being an American I was embarrassed. anyway, the service was great as was the food. i'd say it is a little bit of a step up from the party atmosphere of Carnival, which i sailed on the Tropicale back in '95. I don't think you really can't go wrong no matter which cruise line you pick. 2 things you want to consider more importantly than the cruise line or which ship in the cruise lines' fleet is: - do you want an itinerary that has more time at sea or making ports of call? - which ports would you like to visit? I'm a 5 time cruiser and still a novice but I personally feel that cruising is worth every stinkin penny and can't wait until I sail on the Norwegian Pearl come October 10th. good luck and I'm sure you will have a great time!!!

Answer 3

There is no way to honestly answer your question. Each cruise line has it's own niche market and also there are variences between ships in the same cruise line. I have known people to praise Carnival, and indeed the Travel Channel rated one of the Carnival Ships to have the best onboard entertainment. I have rarely heard praises about Costa, and have heard some complaints but the were about highly individual issues, which were not related to the overall ship or cruise line.
Usually if you talk to your travel agent, and tell them what you want out of a cruise, they can steer you towards the best cruise line for your needs.
It is also very rare that the travel agents don't have a better price or equal price to that which you can get through the cruise line or one of the major travel sites like travelocity.

I always use the same travel agent which can be found on yahoo search Great Rates Travel Service. They specialize in cruises and most of their agents have sailed on multiple cruise lines/ships and tell you what they are like.

Answer 4

Carnival owns both the Carnival Cruise Line and Costa Cruise Line. Costa caters more towards the European crowd. The ship layouts are similar, but you'll find the majority of the passengers, crew, activities cater to European. You can get more details on www.cruisecritic.com where there are reviews on each Cruiseline and each cruise ship.

Answer 5

First of all, did you know that Carnival owns Costa?

Second, there is very little overlap in the two lines' itineraries. Carnival has one ship in the Mediterranean part time and Coast has two ships in the Caribbean part time. Carnival is the biggest cruise line in the United States and Costa is the biggest cruise line in Europe.

Though I have been on Carnival, I have not been on Costa yet, so I cannot answer your question from personal experience. However, I can tell you that Carnival is more Americanized while Costa is more European/Italian. This means that if you are not comfortable with European/Italian taste and way of doing things, you might be happier on Carnival. On the other hand, if you prefer European and/or Italian tastes or customs, then perhaps you would be happier on Costa.

I don't know how many languages Carnival uses to make announcements in the Mediterranean, but Costa, because it attracts people who speak so many different languages, ends up making most of its announcements in five languages. If you don't like listening to announcements, then you likely are not going to be happy listening to the same announcement five times (in five different languages). On the other hand, if you like listening to the major European languages, then perhaps you would enjoy Costa.

This link will provide you with additional information about Costa ...
http://www.cruise-reports.com/CruiseLines/Costa/Costa.htm

And this link will provide you with additional information about Carnival ...
http://www.cruise-reports.com/CruiseLines/Carnival%20Cruise%20Line/Carnival.htm

Answer 6

Costa belongs to the Carnival Corp.
Both are terrible.
I worked for both, food is terrible, service is pathetic,
there isnt a single good thing about them.
Go Princess, Royal, Celebrity for something better.
Or if you can afford, go Crystal or Silverseas (Silverseas is Carnival Corp as well, but a lot better, as a matter of fact, so is Princess)
Costa did seem more european and in some ships still do.
But the new ones (Fortuna, Magica, the big ones, its VERY americanized).
The annoucements are indeed in 5 languages, very annoying.

Answer 7

Well personally I only cruised one time but I love every minute of it. The cruise line was Costa and honestly my first opinion about Italian food was not so great. I'm not a big fan of Italian food but they made very delicious and excellent! The staff was excellent and very attentive. All and all I had a blast cruise vacation are the best you will ever have! I visited Nassau, Purto Rico, Dominique Republic, and the Virgin Islands. You have to go to St. John in the virgin islands it's the best beach (2nd best beach in the world). Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Answer 8

Food is better at Carnival. Costa food is terrible.

Answer 9

Major cruise companies are listed on this website www.onevacationclub.com - check it out for yourself and you will not believe the price!

Answer 10

Celebrity cruises are better then both. Check them out they are high class and not to pricey.