Well The Savvy Old Lady is on a roll or perhaps, I should say on a wave with two cruises back-to-back, following her passion for cruising and love of the sea.  Last week I was on HAL’s beautiful “Zuiderdam” with their Dutch staff and this week I’m cruising Italiano style on Costa’s charming “Fortuna” with the ever present romantic Italians.  Since The Crabby Old Guy had to return to work this week I took the opportunity of cruising with an old friend of thirty years to share some excitement and adventure on the High Seas.  All too often our lives become so hectic with our families and children that old friends are relegated to the occasional phone call and dinner. Now that my friend, Irma, and I have become “empty nesters” we have decided to renew our friendship and catch up on years of news and what better way than to enjoy a relaxing and fun-filled seven days onboard the “Fortuna”.  Since Irma is a third generation, jewelry designer, who has traveled all over the world her perspectives on cruising and shopping in the Caribbean were a real asset and an unbelievable eye opener to this Savvy Old Lady.

                                            
As we arrived at the Port Everglades Terminal at 11:15 AM we could see at least five ships in port.  The passenger lines for RCCL seemed to extend for at least two blocks outside the terminal.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that we wouldn’t be facing the same lines at Costa.   Once at the Costa terminal, our luggage was quickly and efficiently taken from the van by the terminal baggage handlers and our only concern was our carry-on luggage.  Although there was a line it went very quickly and within 15 minutes we were boarding the ship.  We were greeted by the staff and crew with smiling faces and a lovely buongiorno.  From the moment you board the ship it is not hard to realize that the
flair and charm on this ship is one of European flavor and the wonderfully romantic Italians deliver a cruising experience that you will not find on any other ship.

The Fortuna’s décor is quite impressive in a European or perhaps an Italian style and is quite different from most other cruise ships.  The central atrium has an enormous fresco by Giampaolo Amstici depicting all the ships in Costa’s fleet both past and present and a sculpture composition created by Joseph Farcus with models of Costa’s twenty six ships suspended upside down.  I was told that these glorious ships are reminders of all the millions of passengers that have been welcomed and cruised on Costa since their first passenger ship the Anna C. which sailed in 1947 on route to South America.  There are close to 5,000 works of art aboard the Fortuna for passengers to look at and enjoy.  For the nautical history buffs there are small niches and display cabinets that encompass various antiques and historical artifacts. 

My favorite spot on the ship is the Conte di Savoia, the Grand Bar and dance floor.  Although the room seats 300 people it still provides an area that feels cozy and comfortable and with the seating arrangement and tables it allows passengers to either sit and listen to the music or engage other passengers in conversation.  It was so relaxing
after dinner to sit down with a glass of chardonnay and watch the passengers trip the light fantastic (okay so I’m showing my age with that little description.)  For all of you dancing fanatics the Fortuna’s dance floor is the largest of any cruise ship and it often attracts many ballroom dancers and competitions. 

The complement of passengers on the ship was a broad mixture of cultures, ages (over 250 children onboard) and ethnic groups which made the cruising experience that much more enjoyable. We met passengers from France, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, Russia, Italy, Romania, and of course, the Unites States along with many other nationalities.  There is no doubt that Costa is the United Nations of the Seas. Just watching and listening to all of these people join a global community on the seas sharing
camaraderie and laughter really makes one pause and appreciate Costa’s unique ability to bring together such diverse groups of people in such a peaceful and enjoyable environment.   Perhaps, the politicians of the world should take a Costa cruise to see how peace can be achieved by nations.  Although, there was often a language barrier between the passengers onboard it was interesting to see how easily we all communicated through gestures (the good kind) while recognizing that laughter and humor are definitely universal.

The food onboard was very good.  The buffet on the Lido deck was a mixture of Caribbean and Mediterranean with of course the Asian Station.  However, I found the dinner entrees to be lacking in the zesty flavors that I found so apparent at the Lido Buffet each day.  Chef Perfetto explained to me (read my interview with him and enjoy two of his great recipes on Chefs and Recipes on my website) that there has to be a fine balance of entrees at dinner in order to please all the palates. 

What really makes a Costa cruise different than most other cruises is their three celebratory galas…Italiano night, Circus night and of course the unforgettable Toga night.  If you want to laugh so hard that tears stream down your face these are the venues for you.  Each event sometime requires some passenger participation from tossing pizzas to playing Bocce ball to making masks and flowers to learning to dance the Tarantella and many, many, other wonderful events. Since it said that a picture is worth a thousand words I will cut to the chase and let you all see for yourselves what we on the Fortuna were able to enjoy.

      

     

     

     

     

     

Toga night is an absolute hoot but unfortunately since it was our last evening onboard I wasn’t able to get any pictures so you will just have to cruise on Costa to see for yourself. More than 60% of the passengers take part in this fun and crazy night by wearing the traditional Costa “sheet” toga.  Thankfully, the air conditioning is turned down so everyone at dinner is quite comfortable in their togas.  I would recommend that you pack a white tee shirt and light colored pants to wear under your see through toga. Surprisingly there are passengers who bring their own professionally made togas on board but I personally think it’s much more fun struggling with the sheet.  If you want to be creative you can purchase some gold braid or a gold belt and bring it with you to spice up your toga.  Max, the Social Director reminds everyone that since toga night is the last night on board and we all pack our bags and leave them outside our cabins…REMEMBER to leave out an outfit for disembarkation.  He chuckles as he tells us that on more than one occasion passengers have shown up in front of the Immigration Officers wearing nothing but their togas.

My one complaint and recommendation to Costa is that they place a diagram of the ship’s interior at each elevator.  The Galley on the ship is in the center and therefore you can’t go directly from fore to aft.  We found ourselves riding elevators up and down and constantly asking the crew how to get to one venue or another.  Yes, they did place a small pocket diagram in each cabin but if you forgot it or misplaced it you were lost.  However, since I try to always use my “half cup full” mentality I did get to meet a number of really wonderful people who also were searching for their venue. LOL Thankfully, the Fortuna is in the process of having their phone system updated and now you won’t have to go down to the main desk to get your messages.

The Hotel Director, Attilio Sissa was kind enough to arrange a meeting for me with Executive Chef Perfetto.  My visit with the Chef and his two delicious recipes can be found on my website under Chefs and Recipes.  The Captain and crew of the Fortuna made this a memorable and fun filled week.  Cruising with my good friend Irma was a wonderful chance to rekindle old memories and have a fantastic “girls” week in the best of environments.  So once again grazie mille to Il Commandante Benini and the Fortuna crew.   The Savvy Old Lady will definitely be seeing you again.  CIAO!

                                                                        HUGS,

                                                            THE SAVVY OLD LADY