Best Costa ship

We just got back from a cruise to Northern Iceland on board the Costa Favolosa, and today we will not give you another review of this incredible ship! Instead, we will focus on some of the aspects of this cruise that made it unique. Additionally, an incident occurred during the cruise, and we will report on how the situation was handled. Stay tuned.

We were first on board the Costa Favolosa in September 2023, and we had a great time. We will focus on what was different, and most importantly, what was better this time, as well as what has improved since our previous cruise. The differences might surprise you!

Our cruise

This cruise on board the Costa Favolosa was a 23-day cruise round-trip from Hamburg, Germany, to Iceland, Greenland, and Scotland. The itinerary was really amazing, and we decided to book this sailing because we were really looking forward to visiting some of those remote areas. In particular, we were intrigued by the prospect of visiting Greenland, a place not commonly visited. For this cruise, we booked a balcony cabin and paid €8,666 with the all-inclusive option. This comes down to €188 per person per day. The price was a bit higher than usual for Costa Cruises, but the area where we were sailing is typically quite expensive. The ship was in perfect shape, and everything was working like a Swiss watch on board.

Time to vote for the cruise, and I think it deserves FIVE out of FIVE anchors. The itinerary was exciting, the ship was fantastic, and the price was fair. What is your vote, Rick? I also think that a score of FIVE out of FIVE anchors is the rating for the cruise. Everything was spot on.

Cabin

Our cabin was on deck six mid-ship. The cabin is typical of a balcony cabin in Aosta, straightforward with no frills but very efficient. As for the cabin, the ugly brown couch, but in this cabin, the sofa was in perfect shape. On our previous sailing on Costa Favolosa, we were spoiled by a Grand Suite cabin (with a bidet), so we can’t really compare the two. However, we were very pleased with the cabin, most importantly, with the cleaning of the cabin. In fact, this was probably the best we have ever experienced in all our cruises with several different cruise lines. Also, our cabin steward was excellent, very efficient, proactive, and always friendly and smiling.

The bathroom was the usual minimalist Costa bathroom, but it did the job. It was also spotless and tidy. We always had plenty of towels and fresh bathrobes every other day, so we were happy.

Time to review the cabin, I think it deserves FIVE out of FIVE anchors. What is your vote, Andrea? I do believe the cabin deserves FIVE out of FIVE anchors. It was so clean and tidy that I was really happy. Additionally, I found the bed to be really comfortable, and I was able to sleep well on board.

Cleanliness

From the moment we stepped on board, we immediately noticed that the Costa Favolosa was incredibly clean. Every single area of the ship was spotless. The cleaning crew was constantly scrubbing, buffing, and swiping the boat. One morning, I stepped into our cabin and saw the housekeeping manager checking every single door threshold with his finger and asking the housekeeping team to dust them. We have never seen anything like this on any other ship. We want to inform you that we were highly impressed with the ship’s cleanliness. Not even during the pandemic did we see a boat this clean.

You might not have guessed that my vote for cleanliness is FIVE out of FIVE anchors. What’s your vote, Rick? Well, as you said, seeing someone checking the cleanliness of the door threshold was impressive, and I do give a FIVE out of FIVE anchors for cleanliness.

Service

Service on board the Costa Favolosa was another delightful surprise. Everyone was incredibly well-trained. At the bar, service was very efficient and friendly. Everyone was always smiling. The attendants were friendly and always very helpful. We did not use the buffet, so we cannot discuss the service there. In the main dining room, we had some fantastic servers and some that required a little more training. In particular, at the Club Bistrot (the restaurant dedicated to Gold and Platinum members), Nila was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, she was so good that everyone always wanted to sit in her section, making it difficult to find a table.

On the first sea day, we went to the dining room for lunch at 12:30, thinking it would not be a problem to find a table, but we were wrong! The restaurant was packed, and we were assigned to a table with a very junior server. It took almost two hours for lunch. We discussed this with the restaurant manager, and he informed us that he would resolve the issue for the remainder of the cruise. In fact, the following day, he personally took us to an empty area of the restaurant and assigned one waiter just for us, which was incredible! Needless to say, we were very thankful.

At dinnertime, we were lucky enough to be assigned to the Club Restaurant (as you can see from our videos, the Club Restaurant on Costa is dedicated to suite passengers). Here, we had a fantastic waiter named Mary. She was really lovely, and it was clear that she genuinely cared. At the same restaurant, we saw an old friend of ours, Arun, whom we had the privilege of having as a server on board the Costa Pacifica. He immediately saw us, came over, and gave us a big hug. He wanted us to be assigned to his area, but unfortunately, there were no tables available. However, every night he came to say hello to us, and it was really lovely. We were also delighted to reconnect with our friend Stephanie, the English host on board, with whom we had sailed several times before and had become very good friends.

It’s time to vote for service, and although the restaurant had a minor issue on the first day, the problem was resolved quickly and better than expected. For this reason, a solid FIVE out of FIVE anchors is my vote! Is that your vote, Andrea? No question that my vote for service is also FIVE out of FIVE anchors.

Food

Food on board the Costa Favolosa was really excellent, as usual. However, we did notice something a little different on this cruise compared to others. On the menu, there were some dishes that we had never seen before. For example, the eggs Benedict was a delightful surprise. We don’t know if this was because the cruise was departing from Germany and had a majority of German passengers on board, or because the head chef was from Austria. Either way, we were delighted with the food quality, choices, and presentation. Rick was even lucky to have his favorite Greek salad as an appetizer every night at the restaurant. As we mentioned earlier in our Costa review videos, the desserts on board the Favolosa were absolutely amazing, beautiful, and tasty.

Time to vote for food, and my vote is a fabulous FIVE out of FIVE anchors. What’s your vote, Rick? Well, I was able to get Greek salad every night. What else could I ask for? FIVE out of FIVE anchors, no doubts.

Passengers

This is a category that we have never reviewed before, but on this particular sailing, we noticed immediately that the passengers were different. On this sailing, there were a lot of seasoned cruisers. Everyone was remarkably polite and friendly. Many were happy to talk and compare travel experiences. We don’t know if this was due to the type of itinerary that attracts a more adventurous kind of passenger, the fact that cruises usually attract experienced cruisers, or perhaps a combination of the two. However, we were delighted with our fellow passengers.

We are also pleased that some of our favorites were on board, who have been on previous cruises. Another thing we noticed on this sailing was that many passengers recognized us from this channel. Many of them told us that they had researched Favolosa on YouTube before booking and had seen our video. It was incredibly lovely to meet some of you. As we always say, if you see us on board or out and about, come and say hi – we love to meet you.

We are not sure we should vote for this category, but I’ll do it anyway. I give our fellow passengers a solid FIVE out of FIVE anchors! What is your vote? Well, I was thrilled to meet other people who share my passion for cruising. It was also respectful and enjoyable. Solid FIVE out of FIVE anchors for me too.

Excursions

One thing we noticed is that excursions in Iceland and Greenland are pretty expensive. And by that, we mean excessively; however, some of them were really good, and we sincerely enjoyed them. One piece of advice: if you’re considering taking a cruise to Iceland and Greenland, book your excursions as soon as possible, as they sell out quickly, especially in Greenland. In fact, there was a particular excursion I wanted to do on the south coast of Iceland that I was unable to do because it was sold out almost immediately.

On this particular cruise, everything was very well-organized and well-trained, and all the excursions were very well-run. However, the lines at the excursion desk were insane (probably for the reason you just mentioned). It’s time to vote for the excursion, and my vote is a solid FIVE out of FIVE anchors. What is your vote, Rick?

Cruise over

After our first week on board the Costa Favolosa, we were in the port of Isafjordur, Iceland, just about to sail away to Greenland, when we received the news that Andrea had just been admitted to the ICU. For this reason, we had to cut our cruise short and disembark in a rush in the port of Isafjordur. Luckily, we received the call before sailing away for Greenland, because if that were the case, we would not have been able to come home for several days.

It goes without saying that everyone on board was charming and helpful. The people at Costa were able to handle the situation quickly and did everything possible to assist us. Even the hotel manager, Oscar, came to say hello and ask if there was anything he could do to help. That was an incredibly nice touch. Thank you, everyone.

Conclusion

Time to draw some conclusions. As you might have noticed, the Costa Favolosa scored a solid FIVE out of FIVE anchors in every category, and we might have to say that this is the best Costa ship we have sailed on so far. We are terribly sorry, Costa Toscana, but you have been demoted to second best! Everyone and everything on board was absolutely spot on, and we were having a fantastic time.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this Article, we did not review every single aspect of the cruise because this was our second time on board, and we wanted to focus our attention on what made this cruise particularly special. We were very sorry that we could not continue our journey to Greenland and Scotland, but family came first, and we had to go home. However, we will look forward to being on board the Costa Favolosa again, perhaps doing the same itinerary in the future.

Well, folks, this is all we have for you today. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. We’re here to answer. As we mentioned earlier, if you see us on board, please say hello!

Ciao