While growing up, I was fascinated with the different modes of travel and ships and flights particularly had my attention. So much so that whenever I spotted any “ship photo” on any magazine or a book, I would cook up stories of all that the ship has seen and what all destinations it has been to. This would be a common topic of discussion with my friends too. Apart from my doll cupboards, I’ve also shared my toys with my little brother which included my share of ships, planes apart from his trucks and toy cars of course.
As I grew up and fell in love with the wanderer soul I possess, I knew that a major chunk of my heart yearns for cruising. I’ve been lucky to able to cruise before and it has been in India itself but what I love about holidaying while cruising is the fact that I have unlimited entertainment options on the go even when I’m moving towards my destination. Plus sailing makes you realise what a tiny place you occupy in this world, it truly makes you humble.
So you can now imagine my excitement when an international cruising experience came along with Costa Cruises “COSTA FASCINOSA 2019” which departed from Port of Palermo in Italy and cruised along some of my favourite cities in Spain and finally ended with Barcelona in Spain.
So now that you guys know about how much I love cruising, let me take you guys along with us on our Costa Fascinosa 2019 Cruise and tell you why we’re crushing over cruising :
1)Dreamy European Destinations Covered – We covered 2 of my most favourite European countries through our cruising – Italy and Spain. We started our journey from Palermo in Italy which is such a beautiful and picturesque port city. Cruising through the nights, every morning we used to wake up to different cities that we could explore for an entire day.
We also explored Ibiza, which is this Balearic island off the southern coast of Spain. It’s a hedonist’s dream, that has such unlimited partying options + island hopping to some of the best beaches this volcanic island had to offer. Palma De Mallorca’s contemporary art scene, impressive museum, beaches right around you and a cultural hub of a city will blow your mind and how. We disembarked at Barcelona and explored the city through various heritage walking tours, pub crawls, food tours and endless shopping arcades.
2) Tailor Made Planned Excursions – When you get down at a destination you can select from different excursions that suit your travel needs.
For example, you can opt for a jeep safari in Ibiza for island hopping or be a part of their heritage or cultural walks in Barcelona or go experience the nightlife in the biggest Party Capital of the world – Ibiza. We also went club hopping and explored these cities on foot to witness how magically these places transform from day to night.
3) Sea Facing Balcony Cabin – This has to be one of our most favourite part from our Costa Fascinosa Cruising. Imagine waking up to an early sunrise right in the middle of the giant sea and the sounds of waves crashing on each other keeping you company.
The cruise’s balcony was our favourite spot for all our chai sessions, sunsets and sunrise views, late-night conversations and endless video calls back home to virtually take them cruising too. We also had a queen-size bed, large windows with glass doors that allowed ample of natural light to come in, a private bath with shower, a sofa bed, vanity, and closet space. Their balcony rooms are spacious and they come with all the modern amenities one can dream of.
4) Endless Dining Options – If you are a foodie then you’re in luck as Costa Fascinosa has you covered with their endless dining options. Ristorante Buffet Tulipano Nero is their casual self-service restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on Decks 9 & 10. They also have a pizzeria on deck 9 and a grill and sandwich area on deck 10. Club Fascinosa is on deck 11 which is the ship’s a la carte club restaurant. It gourmet restaurant is also well known for it’s large wine list.
Say hello to Bagdad Café on deck 5 which is the ship’s coffee and chocolate bar. Well known for it’s chocolate fountain to a wide variety of drinks and chocolates, this café was always filled with kids. The Samsara Restaurant, located on deck 3, is free to those staying in the Samsara cabins and we highly recommend their light and healthy food made with a quirky twist of the Chefs on Costa Fascinosa. Next up is their two-tier restaurant situated on decks 3 and 4 known as Ristorante Otto e Mezzo. This is their main formal restaurant that also has various live performances lined up throughout the day. We also enjoyed the Indian dishes that we tasted here, especially the Hyderabadi Biryani and shaahi tukda.
5) Entertainment On The Go – I love how cruising takes you to your destination while giving you a number of choices to keep yourself entertained.
I don’t know which other holiday does this!! Costa Fascinosa has their Bel Ami Teatro, located over decks 3, 4 and 5 and this is exactly where you’ll spend your nights watching international artists perform live in ballets, musicals and even circus acts. If you want to indulge in some duty-free shopping while cruising then you can head towards their Galleria shops.
Discoteca Babylon is a perfect disc to dance the night away till wee hours. Casino The Millionaire situated on deck 5 is open only while the ship is at sea and it houses so many gaming tables, slot machines, roulette wheels and it also hosts many tournaments like black jack or poker. Cinema 4D Nuovomondo on deck 5, will give you a complete 4D movie watching experience.
6) Day Care Centre For Kids – Costa’s Squok Club located on deck 10 is divided into two age groups, Mini Club for 3 to 6-year-olds and Maxi Club for 7 to 11-year-olds.The best part about Squok is that it is open from morning till late evening. Say hello to Salman’s favourite activity to do while cruising – gaming at their gaming arcade. They have a humongous gaming arcade that caters to both adults and kids equally and some of the grand prizes also had PS4 and the switch that we eyed.
They provide so many educational and entertainment options for the kids like treasure hunts, PS2 games, karaoke, pool games, dancing, etc while the parents explore the cruise or step out in the city.
7) Sea Spa Anyone? – Centro Benessere Samsara located on decks 11 & 12, have everything you need to relax while you cruise right from the Gym, Spa, Beauty Salon, Sauna and a Steam Room. It covers a huge sprawling area of 19680 square feet. We opted for their Samsara treatments that are with therapeutic oils, volcanic rocks and are followed by steam clay baths. Samsara Spa also is equipped a salon, UVA-ray solarium, relaxation area, treatment rooms, thermal rooms and a Thalassotherapy pool.
Thermal rooms are similar to sauna rooms but they are lower in humidity, they have gentle heated ceramic loungers and the thermal baths have a warm water spa. Whereas the Thalassotherapy pool is a warm mineral-rich seawater pool with hydrotherapy water jets that is a well-known therapy to relieve aches and pains.
8) Fun Fitness Activities – We loved how Costa Fascinosa provided us with so many fun-packed fitness activities to choose from which helped us burn all the extra food we were hogging on this trip. Apart from the different fitness activities like pilates, yoga, spinning classes, aerobics, etc, they had several Zumba and dance sessions too that were held on the decks as a part of their fun fitness activities.
9) Themed Evening Parties – To make your evenings a bit more interesting, Costa Fascinosa has so many themed parties coming your way on different venues all over the glamorous cruise like their Masquerade Ball, the Captain’s Ball where little boys and girls got an opportunity to dress up like Captains or Princesses.
I love the fact that both kids and adults could participate in these themed parties.
On that note, we both are so ready for our next cruise which needs to be for a longer duration. It takes the grand ocean to make you appreciate the calmness it encompasses, the sailing opportunities it brings along and how it turns you into an adventurous soul. HAPPY CRUISING!!
