CFC Christmas and New Year's Cruise

My wife and I are going on the "Christmas and Holiday Traditions" cruise from December 22 to January 5. This is our first time with CFC. We’ve done dozens of cruises over the past 35 years—including three world cruises with Costa—but we’re tired of the Italian attitude. We’ve also done 3 or 4 with MSC, Club Med 2, and a long time ago, the Mermoz with Croisières Paquet, in short… Given the reviews, we’re wondering about the all-French aspect, since the Filipino crews are nice but French is complicated for them. And the comments about the food aren’t exactly reassuring. Yes, the drink packages are way too expensive. We’ll have to wait and see how much the excursions cost… It’s an old ship, so let’s hope everything still works. See you soon!

Hi Jacques, To answer your questions about the excursions, we did 3 with CFC. The prices are similar to those of Costa. In any case, the excursions are organized by local providers who more or less charge the same prices regardless of the cruise company. Maybe CFC requires more to have French-speaking guides, though they don’t guarantee it. If you leave on December 22nd, you should have the excursions available online (they’re posted at the earliest 2 months before departure). Best regards

Hello and thanks for the info. I’ve gone ahead and booked the excursions (the ones we’re interested in), since we’ve already done Barcelona, Valencia, and Mallorca too many times before. I’ll share my thoughts when we get back. The problem is, with the number of cruises we’ve taken, we’ve become—wrongly—critical and hard to please. We’re thinking of doing a 4th round-the-world trip in 2026, but we can’t stand Italians anymore (even though we’re of Italian descent). Maybe an American cruise line. See you later, and thanks for the reply.

Hello Jacques, To answer your questions about excursions, we’ve done 3 with CFC. The prices are similar to those on Costa. In any case, excursions are organized by local providers who more or less charge the same prices regardless of the cruise line. Maybe CFC demands more to have French-speaking guides, though they don’t guarantee it. If you’re leaving on December 22nd, you should see the excursions online (they’re available at the earliest 2 months before departure). Best regards,

Hello, we’ve taken about forty cruises with Costa, MSC, Croisières de France (which no longer exists), and Ponant. Last year, we discovered CFC’s renaissance and really enjoyed it. There were only 480 passengers, so it was nothing like Costa or MSC. We’ve sworn off Costa—they have no respect for their customers. It’s chaotic, noisy everywhere, not to mention the behavior of thousands of passengers. With MSC, we’re treated better, we keep our loyalty points, and we’re often upgraded. The food is much better on CFC—at the buffet, there was always a cheese spread and an ice cream station. The meat was always well-cooked, unlike on Costa or MSC (though that might have changed by now at CFC). There are also self-service laundry machines available... We’ve also booked the cruise from December 22 to January 5. You’ll spot me—I’m over 2 meters tall... We’re boarding the *Renaissance* this Sunday, November 3, until November 11, for a Mediterranean cruise. We’ll see if the standards have improved since last year...

Hello and thank you for your message. You can let me know when you get back if this ship is still as nice. I see we’re taking the same cruise at the end of December for 15 days. If I spot someone over 2 meters tall, I’ll know it’s you. Have a great cruise for your departure on November 3rd. Looking forward to it, Peyregoue B

Hello, we’ve done around forty cruises with Costa, MSC, Croisières de France (which no longer exists), and Ponant. Last year, we discovered the rebirth of CFC and really enjoyed it. There were 480 passengers, so it was nothing like Costa or MSC. We’ve fallen out with Costa—they have no respect for their customers. It’s chaotic, noisy everywhere, not to mention the behavior of thousands of passengers. With MSC, we’re treated better, we keep our loyalty points, and we often get upgrades. The food is much better on CFC—at the buffet, there was always a cheese buffet and an ice cream station. The meat was always well-cooked, unlike on Costa or MSC. But things may have changed at CFC since then. There are also self-service laundry machines... We’ve also booked the cruise from December 22nd to January 5th. You’ll spot me easily—I’m over 2 meters tall... We board the Renaissance this Sunday, November 3rd, until November 11th in the Mediterranean. We’ll see if the standards have improved since last year...

Hello! You’ve barely returned, and I’m already looking forward to your next trip—were you still happy with CFC? How were the meals? I’ve read that the food quality has really gone downhill, with hardly anything on the plate. Would you recommend getting the drink package? Thanks! Josiane

Hello, we got back today and weren’t disappointed. I was worried after reading some comments, but we found everything we loved—the calm (only 650 of us), impeccable service, and the great lunch buffet, with the cheese platter and ice cream stand still there. The only changes: the ice cream was lower quality than last year (strawberry, chocolate, lemon vanilla, raspberry, mango, and pistachio yesterday), but still good. The coffee from the automatic machines also wasn’t as good—tasted like Nescafé powder, but that’s a minor detail. For dinner at Vatel, portions were indeed smaller than last year, but more than enough for one night, especially since you can have two starters or two mains, plus extra sides (mashed potatoes, spinach, veggies). The cheese selection is still more varied than on Costa or MSC. Some sauces weren’t homemade (sometimes gelatinous, like industrial sauces), but nothing major. Overall, we ate very well—varied and tasty dishes, elaborate desserts, definitely better than MSC or Costa. No lobster or Black Angus beef this year, but the meat was still very good. We had a small issue with the AC in our cabin, but reception fixed it quickly and upgraded us to another cabin. Worth noting: no wait at reception. For drinks, I think they’re too expensive—aperitifs at 9 €, cocktails at 11-12 €—so the drink package pays for itself if you want two aperitifs and two cocktails per day each, but it’s a big budget. Note that still or sparkling water is unlimited at the dispensers on Deck 11, and carafe water is served at Vatel restaurant. The cherry on top: this cruise had a humor theme, with Titoff, Sandrine Alexi, Élie Seimoun, Maxime, Denise, Bernard Mabille, and the *Journal des Agités* columnists on board. Quality shows every day—brilliant.

We had an excellent cruise. CFC still delivers on its promises, and the value for money is great.

Small downside: the jacuzzis weren’t well adjusted—the bubbles only lasted 40 seconds, then you had to wait 2 minutes for them to restart.

In short, CFC remains our favorite cruise line. We loved spending the holidays on board and will definitely go back...

Awesome, thanks for your quick reply! I think I’ll book the British Isles 😄. Yes for meals (for me, MSC)—I read the first line of the menu and already know the whole thing, which really disappointed me during the Greenland cruise. There was hardly any fish except for Fish and Chips ☹️. Okay, I’m not going on the cruise to eat but for the destinations, but still. 🤪🤪🤪🤪 And wishing you many more wonderful cruises! Have a great eve

Hi, we saw some people who did the British Isles in June—they were happy. Their layover in Dublin had been canceled due to the weather...

Hello and thank you for the info about the ship we’re taking (like you) from 12/22 to 01/05. We’ve booked some excursions. Your comments really put us at ease. Hope we can meet up during this cruise!

Hi Jacques (same name as me!), we’ve also been traveling with Costa, MSC, Croisières de France, etc. for years, and for over a year now with CFC *Le Renaissance*—what a contrast compared to its competitors! The ship is smaller, with far fewer people, so much less noise... The staff is lovely and all speak French, the restaurants and buffet meet our expectations with fine, complete meals, good meat, cheeses even at the buffet, and ice cream every day. We’re also going for two weeks at the end of the year, for Christmas and New Year’s. We’re looking for fellow cruisers to share a taxi to Florence during the Livorno stop. We live in the Var region and I’m 77 years old, still eager to travel with my wife to discover new horizons! Looking forward to meeting you on board. Warm regards,

😕Hello. Thanks for the info about this ship. Yes, there are lots of cruises, but I’m fed up with Italian passengers (even though I’m of Italian descent), especially on round-the-world trips. We’re excited to try a smaller ship, even though we’ve experienced similar ones with Costa back in the 1980s/1995. For Florence, we’ve already booked the excursion because, despite our many travels, we’ve never been there. So, the organized excursion, a first for us, works perfectly. I see you’re in the south too, like us—we’ve been in Antibes for 15 years and still have our house in Fontainebleau. We’d love to meet you, and I wonder if I’ve already seen you on a cruise. Though I’m terrible with faces… Best regards, Martine and Jacques (or Jacky, since birth).

Hello Jacques (like me!), we’ve also traveled for years with Costa, MSC, Croisières de France, etc., and for over a year now with CFC’s *Le Renaissance*—what a contrast to the competition! Smaller ship, far fewer people, so much less noise… The staff is lovely and all speak French, the restaurants and buffet meet expectations—fine dining, complete meals, good meat, cheeses even at the buffet, with ice cream every day. We’re also going for two weeks at the end of the year, for Christmas and New Year’s. We’re looking for fellow cruisers to share a taxi to Florence during the Livorno stop. We live in the Var and I’m 77, still eager to travel with my wife to discover new horizons! Looking forward to meeting you on board. Warm regards,

Hi, a taxi should cost around 150 € for the trip. There are also trains every hour, 30 € round-trip (about 1h15 journey). Last time we went to Livorno, there were agencies offering bus trips to Pisa and Florence. We went to Pisa for 25 € round-trip per person (in 2019)...

Thanks Alain for the info. We looked into going to Florence by train, but the returns from Florence to Livorno are really complicated—nothing like the trip there! We already visited Florence earlier this year on the MSC Orchestra, with the ship’s excursion. Unfortunately, it rained all day, so there are still so many sights to see that we’d like to go back. We’ve already seen Pisa some time ago. We’ll see about sharing a taxi when we get off the ship. Have a great day! Best regards, Jacky

Hello, we’re discovering cruises for the first time! What I’ve read here is reassuring. We board on December 29th in Marseille, and I just realized there’ll already be quite a few people on board 😊. Wishing you all a great first week! Maybe we’ll run into each other!