the number of steps my parents had to do to get to the ship was unbelievable. after 2 hours in the waiting area[mom and dad found seats but i stood since there wasn't enough] our number was called and we walked up a flight of stairs, and then down a longer flight of stairs to a warehouse looking room. then a shuttle bus with very few seats zooms us around the port as us people standing are swaying side to side. then more lines and a 4 deck walk up the stairs into the side of the ship. mom was pale and weak by the end. it was a beautiful day but if there had been rain or lousy weather you would have be in the open about 30 minutes. i'm guessing when theres 2 ships in the port only one ship's passengers get the easy route. upon leaving we were at the terminal and leaving was almost a breeze.
i just got back from a carnival cruise. wow, so much better. on costa the announcer would come on saying everyone needs to leave for the next dinner seating and we just got our main course. the food was a disappointment. cheap cuts of red meat at dinner burned or undercooked tasting about the same as i'd get at goldern corral.carnivals dinner was hands down better. buffets were a tie. both lines had good and lousy buffet items. the carnival inspiration needs to lay out their buffet rooms better so people know where to stand in line-too darn chaotic with kiosks in the middle that don't form lines or if lines are there you have to walk thru people to get to tables.
i'm not into shows but i stayed a few minutes for almost every show on both ships. the only one i liked was a very dirty comic on the inspiration so that shows you my tastes.
activities where participated in more on the carnival cruise. i went to every trivia contest on both ships and while the costa ones would have 2-3 people the carnival one had dozens, maybe 40-50 people. activities like the scheduled basketball game on costa had 2 of us up and the staff didn't come so we left when a bball wasn't tracked down.
the casinos were ok on both ships and costas was better with the extra table games but they need to stop the under 18's from playing the slots imho. carnival had that texas holdem table thats interactive but few people played.they need to get a real dealer.
the midnight affairs were just some meat and snack platters being carried by waiters on the costa. the disco was fairly active on both ships but since i speak only english i was kinda like a fish out of water at the costa disco.
the staff was about the same on both ships in terms of competence but i guess thats not a surprise since carnival owns both lines.
i want to try msc and i'll try costa again out of florida-maybe- but when i go out of europe again it will on carnival,ncl,rccl, etc.. maybe i'd even take the plunge and try the new line carnival is doing in spain.