I got up at around 6:30 am as the group of people I was with on the cruise were due to meet at the disembarkation point at 7:30 am. I went to a coffee bar & had a Cappucino & some pastries for my breakfast & then went to the place where I had to go to wait to be disembarked.
Valencia.
I sat around until I was told by the Costa Toscana rep that I could leave & go to collect my case. As I disembarked the ship I was met by another rep who told me that I had to board the coach & get my case at the terminal where we originally boarded & dropped our cases at the start of the trip.
I joined the coach with about 20 other people & we were driven to the terminal where I saw the rep from the company I booked the tour with. She told me that cases were normally in the terminal so I crossed the road into the terminal. I asked another Costa rep where my case was & she said I had to get on another coach & showed me to another coach. I sat on this coach for about 10 minutes before another rep told me I was on the wrong coach & moved me to yet another coach. This coach was full of the people who had been sent to the terminal by the original rep.
As we were being driven back towards the ship we had just left, the rep from the tour booking company called me on my phone. I explained to her what was happening & she said she would try to find out what was going on with my luggage. When we eventually got back to the ship we were all taken to a tent outside the ship where all our cases were waiting for us. We quickly jumped back on another coach to go back to the terminal.
As I approached the terminal I rang the rep on my coach home to tell her I was on my way back & she met me at the terminal where she grabbed my case & put it on the coach which was now full of people waiting for me. I got on the coach & apologised to all the waiting people who greeted me with a big cheer. The coach set off & started to drop people off, when it approached Quesada the rep came on the tannoy to tell me & my friends Sue & Bryan that we were being transferred to a taxi at Quesada for the last leg of our trip home.
The taxi got us home safely but pretty much summed up a lot of the organisation from the ground side people on this trip. It was non-existent, I certainly wouldn't hurry to go on a brewery tour with them in case I needed to use a toilet.
Summary.
I enjoyed most of this, my first real cruise. I loved meeting some very nice people, I thought the places I went to were fantastic & the majority of the crew on board the Costa Toscana were very good.
The trip was let down by the poor service on the ground side of the trips & the number of screaming kids onboard the ship. I would go on another cruise but I will look for a smaller ship next time & make sure it is either adults only or that the kids are confined below decks swabbing out the bilge or doing other tasks to keep them away from the adults who pay a lot of money to enjoy a relaxing break. I am not sure I would hurry back to use any of the Costa Cruise ships again as they were very understaffed & a lot of the cafes, bars & entertainment areas were very underused & many were closed.
I will now start looking for a new cruise to go on, if you fancy joining me let me know.