I've been planning my honeymoon (Mar 2003) and we've settle on a CostaAllegra cruise. It'll be our 1st ever. I wanted some advice about booking the best price and people's experiences with this line. The good, the bad and especially the ugly. Trying to avoid a horrible memory.

Hi Troi,<BR><BR>Costa is a wonderful 5-star cruise line, expecially since it is now owned by Carnival. I have only sailed two of their ships and they were new at the time. I do not know about the Allegra since it was built in 1969.<BR><BR>You shouldn't worry about the food since the beef is purchased in the USA.<BR><BR>Possibly some one has just recently sailed the Allegra and could help.<BR><BR>Paul<BR>

Troi - I'm not sure where Paul gets his information, but the Allegra was built in 1992. It is small by todays comparison with 800 and some passengers while the mega liners of today run over 3,000.<BR><BR>Paul's comment about the beef is probably confusing to those that don't know the history of this cruislines postings on Fodors. While I have never sailed Costa personally, I know people who have and have read enough reviews on multiple boards to tell you that the single biggest complaint about them is the food. Don't take my word for it - go to the other message boards and do a search on Costa - you will see for yourself. The friends of ours that I mentioned said that the beef was so tough that they couldn't chew it.

Troi, I would recommend that you book passage on one of Celebrity's earlier ships ... Mercury, for example. Avoid their newest liners at all costs ... Millenium, for example.

Peter<BR>So whats the history??I'm a newby and dont know...where's the beef???????LOL<BR>Jason

I disagree concerning RCCL. Their older ships are neglected in service, style, and food.

xman - where do you see any recommendation for taking the RCCL older ships in this thread. Are you looking at the reference to Celebrity and since they are owned by RCCL you think the older Celebrity ships like the Century are comparable to the Monarch? Get real.