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I was with T, Anna, Pirkko, Tate
and the PACCD (Philippine Association of Cosmetic and Clinical Dermatologists)
We were there primarily because T was the tour leader/escort of the PACCD group.
His duty was to facilitate the transfers from the airport to the ship.
And since there were people who came with us on our Hong Kong-Macau trip,
he’s in charge of the city tours on HK and Macau.
Our cruise started in Hong Kong.
And so did my frustration.
The Costa Philippine Group sent a representative to facilitate
PACCD’s events on the ship.
To my frustration,
T did all the work for her.
The PACCD secretaries kept on looking for T for questions.
Because the Costa representative couldn’t handle their questions well.
In short, T was not with us.
I couldn’t help but remember the very words of T’s mom
“Once on the ship, you do your own thing and let the PACCD do their thing”
But that didn’t happen much to my dismay.
It was T this and T that.
I had to babysit Pirkko and Anna, not that I’m complaining
but it wasn’t what WE expected.
For them it was, “where’s kuya?”
“should we wait for kuya?”
Arggghhh. So much for the vacation.
So much for the Costa representative they sent with us.
To make matters WORST,
some of the PACCD doctors were soooooooooo annoying.
To a point I had to ask, “Are they really doctors?”
because their etiquette says otherwise.
I realized one can easily see a seasoned traveler from a first time wanna be.
It breaks my heart typing all this words. But it’s the truth.
It was not a vacation for all of us.
It gave us stress.
Specially me and T.
We had to fight over things he shouldn’t be doing but kept on doing
because “he’s too kind”.
Imagine, there was this instance were one doctor was held from
the immigration (exit) because the entry on her passport was wrong.
The husband (who was already pass the immigration) yelled at T to
go and talk to the immigration officer and fix whatever the problem was
because he (T) was their TOUR GUIDE.
HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!!
Even if you’re a VIP,
you can’t question an immigration officer!
I heard him say: ” Anung klaseng tour guide ka?”
GRRR….
Plus, T was never their TOUR GUIDE.
At that point we were not at the ship anymore
that doctor’s family was with us joining our private HK-Macau trip.
The nerve!
Talk about wannabes…
Ohhh, and they didn’t want to give tips for the tourist guide on HK and Macau.
And they had to cut our HK city tour short for their shopping.
Sheesh. Why would you join a city tour if you wanted to shop?
The kids (Pirkko and Anna) had to settle for 2 sights because of them.
To think that tour was for them since it was their first time in HK.
We didn’t even had the time to go to Victoria Peak.
Poor thing.
Stress noh?
I swear I’ll never be caught even for a facial on those wanna bes.
Nuff of my rants.
More on the ship.
Costa Allegra is a refurbished vessel by an Italian company.
It was not as grand as the Virgo Star Cruises but for a first timer,
it was great.
The food was so-so.
They have 2 buffets
and 1 fine dining open for everyone. They serve Italian and Chinese cuisines.
They had shows for entertainment every night
that’s being published on their daily newspaper
which are given on your cabins.
Every occupant were given a Costa card
which served as our “credit card” while on board.
There were shops, casino, internet cafe, bars
spa, salon, gym, pools.
One thing I appreciate in Costa is the crew.
They were all courteous and accommodating.
Specially the Filipinos who were serving us.
I was given free cocktails on the bar because the bar
tender was a Filipino! Yipeee.
T had a Baileys as well.
Anna had her fill of free iced tea.
Will I recommend it to my friends?
Sure, if it’s your first time to cruise and you’re with
your family and friends,
it’ll be great!
Plus it’s cheap.
A good start before trying the star cruises. teeehheee.
