On September 23, having just disembarked from MSC Fantasia in Genoa, I took a taxi to Savona (the driver offered me a special price of EUR100) and embarked on Costa Fascinosa, a back-to-back cruise though changing ship. I had bought this second cruise last minute via internet while still on MSC Fantasia. What I got was nothing more than an Outside cabin without balcony that was still available, but paying a very good price. This cruise had a similar but not a same itinerary as the one I just left. Only two ports are repeated (Barcelona and Palma). Simply because I had another spare slot of time in the area before yet another cruise, and another cruise is always a good way to spend time (probably cheaper than simple living on land in Europe).

I have previously cruised Costa a lot, but in recent years I preferred MSC which operates almost side by side. It was good to return to see how Costa fare, which I am still familiar with.

What differences between the two! Simply put, MSC operates a more mature, more traditional cruise, while still cater to some younger cruisers, but Costa remains still the craziest and noisiest of cruise lines, cater to the youngest. Few cruise lines, if any, has main activities starting near midnight that can last till dawn. Read more