Costa Favolosa Cruise Review

Key Takeaways:

• Amazing Service: Costa Favolosa offers outstanding service with personalized attention from the crew, who remember returning passengers and their preferences. The entertainment on board was highly rated, featuring unique parties and performances by special guests like Tony Hadley. These elements contributed to a positive overall experience, fostering a strong sense of community and enjoyment among passengers.

• Comprehensive and Unique Itinerary: The cruise featured a carefully selected itinerary with visits to interesting and unusual ports, allowing passengers to explore new destinations. Including destinations like Morocco and Tunisia, along with a packed schedule of excursions, highlighted the cruise’s appeal to those looking for adventure and cultural experiences.

• Value for Money: Despite some areas for improvement, such as the excursions and spa services, the overall value for money was considered very good. The all-inclusive package, quality of food and drinks, and the additional perks for suite and Costa Club gold and platinum members were highlighted as significant positives. The cruise was deemed to offer a good quality-price balance, enhancing the appeal of Costa Favolosa for both new and returning cruisers.

Welcome back, guys! We just got back from a very special cruise on board the Costa Favolosa, and today, we’re happy to give you a full review of the cruise. The Costa Favolosa cruise runs twice a year for the Costa Club members, and we’re excited to talk about this one because it’s filled with special guests, special events, special destinations, and special excursions.

Boarding

As mentioned before, in every other Costa cruise review, we received our boarding time about three weeks before departure. Our boarding was scheduled for 11 a.m. This time, we drove to Savona to board the ship and used the parking provided by the port. The process was quite efficient and quick. 

To book the parking, we just needed to enter the ship name, the date of departure, and the confirmation number on the website, and that was it. It took 20 minutes from getting out of our car to getting on board. The process was quick, easy, and well-organized. 

We shipped our bags using the Bag Express service for this sailing, and we loved it. With this service, the bag express company picked up our bags at home a few days before departure, and a couple hours after boarding, our bags were in the cabin. The service is free for Costa Club gold and platinum members for one bag per passenger. Very well done. 

One thing that is very important when you board a Costa ship is to remember to register your credit card in any of the kiosks around the ship. For some reason, it is impossible on Costa to do it online or with the agent at check-in. 

Rating

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

The Ship

Fincantieri built the Costa Favolosa, which was launched in July 2011. It is 290 m long and 35.5 m wide – so it’s more like a medium-sized ship. It can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots. 

At maximum capacity, it can host 3800 passengers and 1110 crew members. The ship is old but very well maintained. During our sailing, Costa was installing the new Starlink satellite internet. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use it because it became operational the day we disembarked. 

The ship has 17 decks, 14 of which are for passengers. The main decks for restaurants, bars, the theater, shops, etc, are on decks 3, 4, and five. Unfortunately, like any other Concordia-class ship, the ship has one of the main dining rooms on Decks 3 and 4 mid-ship. Because of this, walking from the front to the back of the ship is impossible on those two decks, so you can only do that on Deck 5. 

As we have seen on almost every Costa ship, the Favolosa has a set of panoramic elevators from Deck 3 to Deck 10 that are quite nice. The boat also has three pools: one on deck nine aft that is uncovered, one on deck 9 mid-ship that is covered with a retractable roof, which we love, and one on deck 11 that’s uncovered. 

The ship has a lot of areas — Decks 9, 10, 11, and 12, specifically —for suntanning. On this ship, there was also a private area on Deck 14 for suntanning that cost €12 on sea days or €6 in port but was free for suite passengers. We tried this area, which was quieter than all the other suntanning areas on board. 

However, we did not like it for several reasons. 

First, it was to the front, and during navigation, it was windy. Next, it was quite far from the bars and pools; the closest bar was on deck 9 mid-ship. Lastly, the place had a lot of shady areas that were not ideal for suntanning. But hey, if many people sun tanning, this could be a quieter place.

And finally, we think the ship needs a bit of a makeover inside. The decor and color scheme is very dated. 

Rating

Rick: Four out of five anchors 

Andrea: Four out of five anchors

Overall Feeling

The overall feeling on board was good. We think the main reason was that the passengers on board this cruise were all long-time cruisers. 

Everyone was having a great time and enjoying themself a lot. Also, we noticed that on this cruise, it was really easy to meet new people and make friends. We met several nice people, and we created some really good friendships. 

We have also met a few other couples before in previous sailing, and it was nice to reconnect with them. Also, a few passengers recognized us from our YouTube channel, and we were really happy to meet them in person. Please come and say hi if you see us around; we would love to meet you.

Finally, the crew seemed happy and were always in a very good mood. Many crew members recognized us from previous sailings, and it was a pleasure to sail with them again. Wayan, one of the bartenders, also remembered the type of wine we liked from a previous sailing! 

Rating

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Price 

If you read our Costa reviews before, you may have noticed we never discussed the cruise’s price. We think it might be a very important item to review, and we will include it from now on. 

So initially, before the suite upgrade, for this 14-day cruise, we paid €3914 for the two of us, with the all-inclusive package, drinks, and gratuity. Generally, when you price a cruise, it is always a good idea to price it per person per night. 

On this particular cruise, it came out to just under €140 per person per day, which we think is very good value in exchange for a balcony cabin with a truly all-inclusive package without the 15-drink limitations like other cruises have. 

We never reached that point, but it’s nice not to think about it. We did spend about 1500 euros on excursions, but this was our choice, and in most ports, there was no need to do excursions. That’s why we think that the quality-price balance is perfectly acceptable. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

The Itinerary

We started our journey in Savona, Italy. After that, we stopped in Civitavecchia, then Palermo. After that, we reached the port of La Goulette in Tunisia. From Tunisia, we had a sea day before reaching the port of Cartagena, Spain. 

From there, we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to reach Cadiz, Spain. Then, we sailed on the Atlantic Ocean to Casablanca, Morocco, where we stayed overnight. After leaving Casablanca, we went to Tangier, Morocco. 

We then crossed the Strait of Gibraltar again to reach our next stop in Malaga, Spain. After Malaga, we had our second and last sea day before reaching Barcelona. From Barcelona, we sailed to Marseille, France, before returning to Savona. 

As you can see, the itinerary was quite beautiful and very unusual. We only had two sea days out of 14, and we sailed to some interesting and unusual ports, such as Casablanca, Tangier, and La Goulette. 

We enjoyed this itinerary and were happy to visit Morocco and Tunisia. One thing to consider was that with only two sea days, we were out exploring and doing excursions every day. 

For this reason, we felt a bit tired after leaving Malaga. Also, it was quite challenging for us to keep up with work because we were always on the go. But hey, if you’re on a ship for a holiday, that doesn’t matter. One extra sea day between Tangier and Malaga would have been better. 

In any case, we enjoyed the ports and destination, and we got to some cool places, met new people, and tried new food. Overall, we would do it again. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

The Cabin

Initially, we booked a guaranteed balcony cabin for this cruise. A few weeks before departure, we noticed that suites became available, and we asked our Costa Rep for a quote to upgrade to a guaranteed suite. Fortunately, the price was exceptionally good, so we decided to buy the upgrade. A few days before departure, we got our cabin assigned, and we were stunned to discover that we were upgraded to a grand suite! 

The suite was located on Deck 7 mid-ship. The cabin was wide, with a lot of space to move around. It had two big closets and another big closet in the powder room. We also had a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, double sinks, and a bidet!

Unfortunately, the room’s decor was a tad outdated, like the rest of the ship, and some of the furniture was ready to be replaced, including the minimalist patio pieces. 

And yes, the ugly brown couch came back to haunt us! Maybe Costa should update the cabin decor to match the Costa Toscana By the way, if you want to know more about the Costa Toscana, you can check the article.

The bed was a nice queen-size bed with an excellent mattress, and we had a wide array of pillows. The balcony was quite spacious — long and wide but not very deep. There were plenty of power plugs around the room and a plug with four USB ports by one of the bedside tables. Other standard features in the room were the safe and the minibar. In the room, we also had a very handy coffee maker with plenty of coffee pods replenished daily by our butler. 

Yes, the suite had a butler, but we couldn’t use the service well. Other than bringing us our laundry, food, and drinks, the answer was, “Sorry, I can’t do that.” 

At embarkation, we could also peek inside a wheelchair-accessible room, which is pretty nice and well laid out. We also got to see the solo cabin, which could be a good option for someone traveling alone. 

Rick: Four out of five anchors 

Andrea: Four out of five anchors

Restaurants

Costa Favolosa has two main dining rooms on Decks 3 and 4. The Duca di Borgogna is mid-ship, and the Duca D’Orlean is all the way aft. 

Both dining rooms are very spacious, with a set of internal stairs that connect the 3rd and 4th floors. Both dining rooms have a lot of windows and plenty of natural light. 

The Duca D’Orlean on Deck 4 is reserved for Gold and Platinum guests who cannot use the Club Favolosa restaurant. The menus are the same in both dining rooms. Both dining rooms have two seatings for dinner at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. 

Costa Favolosa also has a buffet on Deck 9 towards the back of the ship. The buffet is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s spacious, with stations on both sides of the ship and at the back. 

We walked by the buffet several times during service and had never seen it packed. It was busy, but there were still a lot of tables available. We only used the buffet twice for breakfast when we had very early excursions, and our restaurant, the Club Favolosa, was still closed. 

Overall, the food selection was quite good, and Rick was also able to get freshly scrambled eggs. The buffet also has self-serve coffee machines that make espresso, cappuccino, and other specialty coffees. To use these machines, you need to swipe the cruise card. 

The Salty Beach hamburger station is also on Deck 9 by the covered pool. This station serves freshly made breakfast omelets, burgers, lunch hot dogs, and afternoon snacks. These are free of charge. At night, they serve gourmet burgers and desserts for a fee. Unfortunately, we did not try Salty Beach, but it’s good to know it’s there.

The Club Favolosa restaurant is on Deck 11th all the way aft. This restaurant is dedicated to suite passengers and gold and platinum passengers upon availability. The menu is the same as the main dining room, with exclusive extra gourmet dishes. 

The setting is more intimate, calm, and quiet, and the service is more attentive. We used this restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we loved it. If the restaurant is not sold out on some ships, other passengers can eat at the club for a fee. 

Costa Favolosa also has a few specialty restaurants with a cover charge. Let’s start with the most expensive and famous one: the Archipelago. This is located on Deck 3 mid-ship, next door to the Duca di Borgogna. The restaurant inside is beautiful, very modern, stylish, and chic. Three famous Michelin-star chefs designed three menus for the cruise. We did not try this restaurant because all the menus are very seafood-oriented. Also, at this restaurant, you can not make any substitutions. 

Another Costa classic specialty restaurant is the sushi bar Sushino, located on Deck 5 mid-ship. This is a typical sushi restaurant with a-la-carte or all-you-can-eat options. On this sailing, we did not eat at Sushino, but we tried it on our recent voyage on board Costa Pacifica, and if you want to know more about what the Costa Pacifica is like, you can check out our video here.

You can find the Teppanyaki restaurant on Deck 5 by the casino. We had dinner here one night, and it was pretty identical to all the other Teppanyaki restaurants we tried on Costa. The food was excellent, the show very entertaining, and a great way to have a nice dinner overall. 

Lastly, on Deck 10, you can find the Pummid’oro Pizzeria all the way aft. There, they serve traditional Naples-style pizza and Roman-style pinsa. We did not eat at the pizzeria, but we had pizza and pinsa delivered to us at the Club restaurant, and we found both delicious and comparable with any excellent pizza you can find in Italy. 

Overall, we like the restaurants and their offerings a lot. It’s also possible to buy packages for the specialty restaurants for 3 or 7 entries to Archipelago and Teppanyaki, or a combination of sushi and Teppanyaki, etc. This is a great way to save money and try multiple restaurants. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Food

Like every other Costa cruise we’ve been on, the food on board this special cruise was fantastic. Tasty, perfectly presented, perfect portion sizes, well seasoned, and with a fantastic variety. As we’ve mentioned before in other Costa reviews, one or two items on the menu were always designed by one of the three Michelin-star chefs who collaborated with Costa. One of them, Helen Darroze, was on board this special cruise. 

Now, if you’re coming from North America, the food might be a bit small. This is by design. You can order as much as you want. Costa is careful not to waste too much food because that’s wrong. You might also find the Italian food to be different than expected. This is because the food is authentic Italian — no spaghetti, meatballs, or Hawaiian pizzas on board, no matter how many times we try to ask.

The cruise had several buffets by the pool for lunch or at night. Most of the buffets were themed to the itinerary, such as paella when we were in Spain, Moroccan street food in Morocco, and so on. The head chef was always around the ship, ensuring the food was perfect, and he was really happy to talk to everyone. He also had a couple of presentations by the pool that were well-attended. 

The food on Costa is delicious, but the desserts are on another level! Every single dessert is incredibly beautiful, tasty, and very innovative. We had the Corporate Head Pastry Chef, Riccardo Belleara, making some unique desserts for this cruise. 

He also presented on board how to make some of them. During the presentation, he explained how he and his team are working on preparing desserts in a way that requires significantly less sugar but tastes just as good. And boy, did they ever! 

The food and the desserts were great, and somehow, we never gain weight whenever we go on a Costa cruise. And by the way, Riccardo, if you’re reading, congratulations on being recognized as one of the best pastry chefs in the world — that’s an incredible honor!

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Drinks and Drinking Package

We always strongly recommend booking the drink package as part of the all-inclusive fare on Costa. It is an excellent value, and you won’t be disappointed. On this particular sailing, because we were traveling in a suite, we had the upgraded drink package, the My Drinks Plus… which kind of ruined it for future cruises. 

First of all, the selection of wines that you get with this package is incredible. Every single wine sold by the glass is included in the package. Also included are some Italian champagne-style wines like Ferrari Brut and Demi-Sec, which we love. They also had some dessert wines such as sauterne. 

If not enough, you have various digestives and top-label liquors such as Zacapa Rum and cognac. Now, some of these special wines are only served at the wine bar; more about that later. 

If this selection is still not enough, you also have some gourmet coffee included at the Gelateria Amarillo. The plus package is incredible, and the upgrade is not expensive if you treat yourself to a much more refined selection of wines. They have our favorite Chiantis and some treats like zacapa rum and sauterne. If we’d known about it years ago, we would have upgraded every time. As it stands, we will upgrade every time we get on a Costa cruise! 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Bars

Costa Favolosa has several bars on board, most of which are quite similar. The drinks menu is also pretty much the same. But overall, the bars are quite good, and they serve the purpose. Two of the bars are completely different and unique, though, and we will focus on those two. 

The first one is the Sunset Lounge, located on Deck 12 at the front of the ship. This bar is a new concept that Costa is exploring. It serves some new cocktails not included in the regular drink package. They also serve premium liquors and drinks not included in the regular drink package. 

On this sailing, it was completely closed during the day, and the bar only opened at 5 pm. Smoking was also no longer allowed at this bar, which was new. We walked by this location several times, and the lounge was always dead. 

On our last sailing on board the Costa Pacifica, the bar was usually busy-ish at night, and it was open during the day as a regular bar where you could get water, wine, or beer if you were suntanning by the pool. For Costa Favolosa, the lounge was pretty much a ghost town. 

The second bar we want to discuss is the Wine Bar Camelot. This quickly became our favorite bar on the ship. First, they serve almost only wines and cocktails not included in the regular drink package. Second, the wine selection is simply incredible! Third, they also serve molecular cocktails that look pretty cool. We fell in love with this place because of the ultra-wide selection of wines by the glass served here. 

We also became quite friendly with the bartender, Zoraida, who was amazing and was always happy to have us try new wines. This bar is a must-try while traveling on the Costa Favolosa. By the way, this is where we get Andrea’s delicious sausage every night! 

If there was one thing to critique, it was the entertainment in this bar. A bass violinist played in the early evening before our dinner. Now, she was great and accommodating, asking about our favorite music to play it. But the volume was always so loud. Nobody could hear each other talking. We asked a few times to turn it down a little, and she did, but I always felt terrible about it. So, we usually avoided that time slot and returned when she wasn’t there. It’s not a big deal, but just something you should know.

Overall, we always found the bars nice and the bartenders helpful and happy. The wine bar was a gem, and we deeply enjoyed our time there. But we think Costa needs to iron out their Sunset Lounge concept because it’s almost always empty. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Service

Service on board the Costa Favolosa was good. Our cabin steward was nice, friendly, and attentive. Our waiter, Sultan, at the Club restaurant, was fantastic. He wasn’t even a waiter but an F&B attendant, but he was assigned to our table. He recognized us from a previous sailing, was genuinely happy to see us again, and helped us with practically anything we needed. 

A few other bartenders and waiters recognized us from previous sailing, which was nice. We were also very happy to see Arturo again, one of the restaurant managers who sailed with us on the Toscana. We also met a lovely old friend, Gianni Pani, who welcomed us onboard with a delicious chocolate cake. 

Like with other Costa cruises, there were hosts to help passengers in each of the major languages spoken on board. The English-speaking host was Stephanie, whom we had met before on a previous sailing, and we were thrilled to reconnect with her. We had dinner together a couple of times and became fast friends. 

Officers and managers were always around the ship, interacting with passengers. The bar manager, Gabriel, recognized us from the Costa Toscana, and he was really happy to talk to us every day and make sure that we were happy and well taken care of.

We only went to the front desk once on this particular sailing to get our shareholder credit. As you know, if you own 100 shares of Carnival, you can get a credit on every sailing. On Costa, you usually have to go to the reception to show the email the corporate office gave you showing the credit. 

Overall, we were happy about the service on board, and the staff never failed to make us feel like family. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Cleanliness

The Costa Favolosa was incredibly clean. Every area of the ship was spotless, as they were scrubbed daily. The ship was spotless almost immediately, even after some of the huge parties we had on board. The pools were also cleaned every night. The buffet area was constantly sanitized and washed. All the common areas were constantly polished and cleaned. 

We only had one minor problem with cleanliness on board. On the last sea day, in the afternoon, Rick was curious to try the jacuzzi in the room, so he ran a bath. I turned on the jets, and everything was good — until he noticed a lot of black floaters in the water. They looked disgusting, so he drained the tub and gently reported it to the cabin housekeeping manager. 

Rick clearly wasn’t angry but more concerned about a future passenger getting upset. The housekeeping manager apologized deeply and said that the jacuzzi should have been sanitized and checked, but for some reason, it was not. But overall, it was a minor inconvenience. Perhaps not a lot of people use it, so nobody noticed. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Entertainment 

The entertainment team on board was phenomenal. The number of parties on this special Costa Club cruise was insane. Now, a word of caution: none of the parties on Costa start before 11 p.m. If you are used to sailing with a North American cruise line, you must adjust to this European time! Some of the parties were insane, and passengers loved them. Here are some of the highlights:

White Silent party: This party was new to us, and it felt a little bizarre, but we found it to be a lot of fun. Each guest had a set of headphones, and there were 3 DJs with three different types of music: 80’s, Spanish, and contemporary. Each guest was able to decide which music they wanted to dance with. It was really fun to see people dancing to different tunes. 

Desert night: This was probably the best of the parties. There were stations for henna tattoos, Arabic music and dancing, and a massive Moroccan buffet by the pool. The dance team on board performed a dancing show. People loved this party, which continued until late at night. 

Costa’s 75th birthday party: I’m afraid this was probably the least successful of the parties; it was still fun but not as wild as the others. Maybe because it was towards the end of the cruise and people were all partied out. 

Other special nights include German Night, Spanish Night, French Night, and Italian Night. We did not go to every single one because it would have been impossible for us to wake up in the mornings for our excursions! 

Another thing that happened on this special Costa Club cruise was a lot of competition between passengers. They had a baking, dancing, and an art competition. People seemed to enjoy them quite a lot. Unfortunately, there were simply too many things to do on board, so we had no time to participate. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

The shows

The shows on this special sailing were really good. There were two special guests on board for the Costa Club cruise. The first and most famous was Tony Hadley, the lead singer of the 80’s band Spandau Ballet. He performed on the last sea day night, and his show was quite phenomenal. He sang some of the Spandau classic songs like Gold and Through the Barricades, and we loved it. The other passengers were really happy with the show, too. 

The second special performer was Talia Alexis, a singer we enjoyed seeing before boarding the Costa Toscana. She is an incredibly talented performer, and she did two amazing shows. The first one featured songs from famous singers, and the second one was a tribute to Tina Turner. Both shows were amazing, and everyone loved them!

Aside from those two special shows, there were the usual singing, dancing, and acrobatic shows that we have seen before on Costa. But there was a show with ice skaters on board that was unique and fun. Lastly, we had a ventriloquist on board who was talented and funny. 

We like to mention that the theater on board the Costa Favolosa is comfortable, even for a person with very long legs like Andrea. He was able to stretch them all the way. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Excursions

A little warning — the excursions were probably the weakest area of the whole cruise experience. Let’s start from the beginning. 

The excursion team on board was always around and helpful. The excursion desk was always incredibly busy on the first few days of the cruise. We always strongly recommend you book your excursions online before boarding. That way, you can avoid the super long lines and, most importantly, avoid the risk that the excursion you want is sold out. 

Another trick we learned traveling on board Costa is to always book our excursions in Italian. This way, you avoid the risk of getting the excursion canceled if they don’t reach the minimum amount. We could always change our ticket to English just before boarding the bus on the excursion day. 

We did a few excursions with Costa. Some were good, some not so much. We loved our excursion to Marrakech and the one to Tangier and Teotuan in particular. 

We also did two special excursions dedicated to Gold and Platinum passengers, one to Seville and the other a special visit to the Alhambra in Granada.

Unfortunately, neither of those excursions went very well. They took us to restaurants that weren’t great, the guides were mediocre at best, and the excursions were long and boring. These two special excursions were quite expensive, which made it all the more disappointing. It would have been better if we’d gone out and ate on our own, to be honest. 

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Three out of five anchors

The Spa

Rick loves the spa, and he loves massages. That’s why the spa is his natural habitat. The spa on board the Favolosa is quite large, well laid out, and has a lot of windows. It is very similar to a hot tub, with several relaxing rooms at different temperatures, a steam room, and a very big winter garden. 

Now, one important thing to mention is that the ship has a dry sauna in the gym locker room that anyone can use free of charge. Speaking of the gym on Costa Favolosa, there was a lot of equipment to use that looked rather newish and was free to use. We went inside, but we did not use it because we were always on excursions.

We did not book entry to the spa for the whole cruise on this particular cruise because we knew that we would be exploring a lot. However, because we were traveling in a suite, we had one free entry plus another free entry on a port day because of our Gold status. We also got a massage on a sea day. Overall, the spa was quite enjoyable, and we loved spending a few days there.

We weren’t thrilled that the spa did not offer any specials. I mean, the spa treatments are REALLY expensive. At least, the regular prices are expensive. But they often have amazing deals during the cruise! 

At the beginning of the cruise, I asked the spa manager about the specials and was told I had to wait until the end for anything. Plus, only a “women’s party” was offered! So, on the last sea day, I asked again about specials, and they offered me a 75-minute massage for a decent price. I honestly can’t remember how much. But if they’d offered it earlier, Rick probably would have gone four to five times over the two weeks.

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Costa App

The Costa App portal allows passengers to see their daily programs, shows menus, onboard account, message other passengers, connect to the Internet, and browse excursions. It is an essential tool if you are traveling on Costa. 

The Costa App has had some updates since we used it last June. The first thing we noticed is that it now allows push notifications, meaning that if you send a message to a friend, the phone dings and shows the message without needing to log in. We mentioned this in our last review, so thank you for adding this feature! 

Doing the safety drill on the app is now possible without congregating at the theater. After watching the little video on the app, all you need to do is go to the muster station and scan your card, and you are set. Simple. 

The app also shows the excursion details, including the meeting place, time, and bus number. We had a couple of days when the app kept crashing. We asked the support lady on board, who was unaware of why this was happening. We then discovered that they were updating the app, and after that, it worked fine with an improved interface. The best improvement was how expenses showed up in the app, which was clearer and easier to read. 

One thing that was not improved was that the app can be slow to open; sometimes, it takes a full minute to launch. Lastly, the app still does not show restaurant or spa reservations.

Overall, the app worked most of the time, and it did its job. But Andrea’s app did crash a lot more. 

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Three out of five anchors 

Photo Department

The photo department on board the Costa Favolosa was pretty much the same as any other Costa ship. They had the same backdrops and props around the ship that we have seen many times. The photo gallery is located on Deck 4 mid-ship and is pretty big. They offered the same photo packages on all the other ships — the My Shades and My Moments — and were as confusing as they were on previous sailings. 

We became friendly with a couple of photographers on board. One was Marta, who was with us in Marrakech. She was nice, and we had many conversations with her. She loved to take pictures of Rick in his funny cruise shoes! 

The other was Ghillian, who was funny; we loved taking goofy photos with him. The other photographers on board were cordial as well. We took many photos, but in the end, we did not buy any because the price was high, and we thought it was not worth it. They wanted 75 euros for three digital photos. 

Costa was experimenting with facial recognition software for browsing photos on our previous sailing, but that wasn’t available here. We didn’t care about the photos since we’d seen them many times. We also don’t like that all those unbought photos would be in a recycle bin at the end of the cruise. 

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Three out of five anchors 

The Costa Club

The C Club is Costa’s loyalty program. We call it the Costa Club. It offers good perks, especially once you reach the Gold level. But even at the Blue level, you can have some good discounts on board and future cruises, so it is worth joining it. The membership is not automatic like on most American cruise lines; it requires you to sign up. The signup process is simple and quick, though, and it is free.

The cruise we just took on the Costa Favolosa was a special Costa Club cruise. This cruise was dedicated to Club members and had special events, food, and excursions. They had the two usual parties: the first one was for all the members, and the second one, the VIP party, was for the Gold and Platinum. Because many Gold and Platinum members were on board, they had to have two VIP parties, and we were invited to both. 

Now, it also seemed that they had a lot of special events just for Platinum members, so we were not invited to those. Another thing worth mentioning was that being Gold members, we were invited to do a bridge tour where the Captain personally showed us around. However, we might have been invited because we were in a suite. No phones or cameras were allowed, so we didn’t have the usual photos. 

Our Gold status meant free entry to the spa while in port and a free pizza. Lastly, we had a gift at the end of the cruise: a ship model, Moroccan mint tea, and Sicilian olive oil. That was a lovely touch. 

There was also the Magic Bag: a free laundry bag for 25 times that was delivered to our cabin towards the end of the cruise. Unlike on the Toscana last year, when asking for a Magic Bag was pulling teeth, we were given the bag during the middle of the cruise, and getting another Magic Bag wasn’t a problem. It cost about €19. 

One thing we’ve never liked about the C Club is that the points we acquire when getting on cruises expire. We don’t know of any other cruise with expiring points. Now, some cruise lines go to the extreme — once you cruise enough times, you reach a certain level and get it for life. That’s amazing, but then you end up with many people at the top level. 

Other cruise lines have it better by letting travelers keep their status by cruising twice to thrice a year. They lose their status if they stop cruising after three years or more. That, to us, is a perfect balance. 

But losing points AFTER spending tens of thousands of dollars yearly just doesn’t sit well with us. 

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors 

The Casino

The casino on the Costa Favolosa is located on Deck 5 toward the back of the ship. It was huge for the size of the ship, with a great variety of tables and slots. The casino was always quite busy, with people playing every time that the casino was open. We did play a couple of times, but no luck at all this time, and no jackpot for Rick! Andrea also liked that all casinos are 100% non-smoking zones. 

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors 

Stores

The stores on Costa Favolosa are identical to those on almost all the other Costa ships. Frankly, we think they need an upgrade. You can buy clothes, perfumes and cosmetics, watches, sunglasses, tobacco and booze. The necessity items section is small, with a very limited selection. 

Since we were in port almost every day, this wasn’t a big problem. But this would have been an issue for a longer cruise with many sea days. So be careful not to forget your deodorant or toothpaste because you’d have issues finding them on board. 

It also seemed that the Costa brand merchandise store was being converted into a souvenir store. We don’t know why, but we don’t like the new format. 

Rick: Two out of five anchors 

Andrea: Two out of five anchors 

Internet on board

Since we only had two sea days, we did not use the internet on board very much. We mostly used our cell phones to roam and connect to the internet. We used the roaming included with our cell phone provider in all the European ports. In Morocco, I bought an eSim with unlimited data for a very affordable price.

The internet speed on board was fine. I could do some work using the ship’s internet without any problem. We did not buy any package, but we used the per-minute option. The price per minute was €0.35, and it was way cheaper than purchasing an unlimited package that costs €238 per person for two weeks. 

Other packages are available on board, such as a WhatsApp package for €70 or a social media package for €140. As mentioned before, they were installing the new Starlink satellite system. Unfortunately, it was going live the day we disembarked. 

We really hope that the internet price will go down with this new system, especially since Costa’s major competitors in the Mediterranean offer their internet connection as part of the all-inclusive package. Some of them even include it in the suite! 

Overall, the speed was fine, but the prices were too high. 

Rick: Three out of five anchors 

Andrea: Three out of five anchors 

Disembarkation

This time, the disembarkation process was mildly different, but it was not Costa’s fault. We received a letter a few days before disembarking that Rick had to bring his Canadian passport to the front desk. 

Then, on the day of disembarkation, he and all non-EU citizens needed to meet up at the library at 7 a.m. to have a face-to-face passport check with the Italian border police. The letter was strongly worded and said that every non-EU citizen must comply or nobody would be allowed to disembark. 

This was new since we usually just walked out of the ship at disembarkation. The front desk said it was because we went to Morocco and Tunisia. This was odd since we visited Spain AND France after Morocco, and they didn’t require us to do this. It wasn’t pleasant waking up at 6:30 in the morning to huddle with other people at the library, but we’re not docking points because of it since we don’t think it’s Costa’s fault. 

Besides this little bureaucratic problem, the disembarkation was easy, fast, and efficient. Bag Express shipped our bags home, so we walked off the ship with just our carry-on and a giant carpet we bought in Tunisia!

Rick: Five out of five anchors 

Andrea: Five out of five anchors

Conclusions

Time to wrap up our review. We had an amazing time on board the Costa Faolosa. We deeply enjoyed the itinerary. The passengers were great; meeting up with old friends and making new ones was awesome. We didn’t try a few things on board, like the Squak Club for kids and teenagers, so we can’t review them. We think that Costa went far and beyond in organizing the parties and entertainment on board. The food was exceptional, as usual, and the desserts were amazing! 

Overall, we enjoyed the experience and look forward to our next Costa cruise. We’ll see you in our following review — or if you’re going on Costa, maybe we’ll see each other in person! 

Ciao!