Costa Fortuna - Transatlantic - March 2009

**Norman** · 07-03-2008, 12:20 PM

We had considered a transatlantic on Celebrity Constellation in April, but could not obtain bookings in Florida prior to the cruise. We have revised our plans and have now booked a return on Costa Fortuna.

We are spending time in the Orlando and Daytona area of Florida.

Norman

**Ally** · 07-03-2008, 12:23 PM

Nice itinerary, Norman...sea days, lots of glorious sea days

I will certainly be interested to hear about Tuna...she is one of the babies of the Costa fleet and it will be nice to have a comparison with the older pre-CCL ships such as Allegra

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 07:49 AM

Norman...hate to tell ya this...I am now on this cruise!

I have a deck 9 (Napoli) cabin, out the door, turn right and fall into the pool...which might be fun

Phil swapped the bookings over this morning for me, having to be practical with the economics here - ie serious belt tightening going on

The new booking is already on the 'My Costa' system so I can check out the shorex etc, it will also tell me which flights I am on too once they are confirmed. The 'My Costa' is very easy to use and you don't have to have done a cruise already to access it and pre-book shorex etc...and you don't pay in advance either, its added to the final bill at the end of the cruise

Soooooooo....she is a big ship, plenty of places to hide...although it would be great to meet up with you and Diane (if you can stand the thought

)

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 09:17 AM

Norman, Costa have really excelled in this for me. Rather than just swap the booking, they cancelled the original and then reloaded this one with the same reference, thus allowing me the 5% discount for a new booking as a CostaClub member...membership of which is automatic once you complete your first cruise with them, so got a damn good deal all round....well chuffed

**Norman** · 07-05-2008, 10:07 AM

Ally

Have had problems all morning connecting to our new wireless network, problem seems ok now.

Glad to have you aboard the Fortuna , our cabin is well down the ship number 2220. At least with the knowledge of cabin numbers we can find each other,

We are having time in Florida, before our cruise, also a day in Dublin. Returning home we are considering catching the train from Savona to Pisa. Staying overnight in Pisa and using Easyjet to Luton.

Genoa is the nearest airport, with Ryanair flying to Stansted. We can get home easily from Stansted with National Express, but Ryanair have a luggage allowance of 15kg, whilst Easyjet has 20kg. Will worry about that later, I think Jet2 also flies to Manchester from Pisa.

Again look forward to meeting you.

Norman

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 10:14 AM

I have gone with flights booked through Costa, Norman. It appears they might be KLM/Air France from/to Manchester as normal. Despite using Costa air, I have still saved myself almost £800/$1600 against the Classica cruise.

I am on early sitting for evening meal & will have my usual treat of breakfast in the cabin

The cabin I have is actually listed as a disabled friendly one, its midships and like I said, its right next to the main pool area so should be easy to find (in theory, at least).

It will be great to meet up on board ship

Fortuna will be the largest I have sailed on...so ample opportunity for me to get completely lost

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 10:36 AM

I have been checking out the shorex for this cruise...some pretty good ones available. Might have a go at one or two, I am not a beach person though so will probably stick with the history/scenic ones

I must say that Costa are great in regards to booking cabin extras and shorex...being able to do it in advance and having it added to the shipboard account is so much easier

I will be looking into the X1 package for this one too (needs to be booked via agent and is added to the final invoice for the cruise, not the final account on board).

**Norman** · 07-05-2008, 11:04 AM

Unable to register with Costa, till after my September Trip. Passport expires June next year, cannot renew till nine months before, to get the time elapsing put on our new passports. So we will get new passports in September, with new numbers. Must have six months remaining to enter USA.

Norman

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 11:07 AM

I am lucky on the passport front...mine runs out in mid 2011. Hopefully I can renew mine and keep the old one as its filling up nicely with stamps from various countries

**Ally** · 07-05-2008, 11:29 AM

Some nice photos of Fortuna on this link from CruiseDiva. Have to admit that the ships upside down on the atrium ceiling do sound/look a little peculiar though...

Picasa Web Albums - Linda - Costa Fortuna