My wife and I recently returned on a 7-day Honeymoon cruise on the CostaAtlantica (01/12/ - 01/19/03). Our cruise covered their "Eastern Caribbean" Itinerary (Fort Lauderdale, San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica Republic/Catalina Island, and Nassau).
Embarkation
Of the four cruises I have been on (with several other Cruise Lines), this is always controlled mayhem at best. Costa did an admirable job in getting everyone through the process as quickly and efficiently as possible. However as will be a theme during my review, there were some missed opportunities to make the experience more enjoyable. For starters, the Fort Lauderdale port (Port Everglades) is conveniently located to Fort Lauderdale Airport (assuming you are not flying into Miami). It is only a couple of miles from the port and a $10 - $15 cab ride (Note: Costa will charge you $15+ per person for transfers - thus you can do it yourself for less $$$). While the port itself is convenient, it could use a little sprucing up (i.e. - it seemed dirty and could use a few new coats of paint). Like any cruise line, there was some waiting (we waited about 1.5 hours to board). While Costa made an effort to control the situation, they could have made it more enjoyable for their soon-to-be guests. For example, the holding area (where we waited) had enough space to accommodate the masses, but did not have enough chairs (so about 40% of the passengers had to stand for much of their wait time). In addition, they made no attempts to make the waiting more enjoyable (i.e. - no music, TV screens, etc.). It would seem like a no-brainer to at least pipe in some music (maybe an island theme to get everyone in the mood) or bring one of the bands off of the ship. However, once on board we were able to obtain easy access to our room and our luggage was delivered in a timely manner.