Talk about being nervous after reading Cruise Critic reviews! I organized this cruise for 135 people, and I didn't want to spend my vacation listening to complaints. I was very pleasantly surprised and relieved with the entire cruise experience!! I have cruised with Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Viking and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my week with Costa.

Embarkation was smooth. The people I traveled with insisted on getting to the port early, so it took about an hour to board. Had we waited until later, as was suggested, I'm sure the wait would have been shorter. The procedure was smooth and the help very efficient. Our cabin was great! Not at all noisy, very spacious, and plenty of storage, even with a third adult in our room. The bathroom was the best ever, on any ship!! The comments about the mattresses are true however. They ARE thin and hard. Our steward, Allan was terrific. Everyone in my group (135)was pleased with their cabin service. Some discovered that if you asked, you could get an extra mattress! The Magica is beautiful, spotless and very well maintained. There are so many interesting touches that are really cool. For example, I was very taken with the beautiful and elaborate puppets throughout the casino. They reminded me of window-shopping in Venice. They also made me wonder whether the slots or the person sitting in front of them were the puppets? The murals in the staircases were soft and beautiful and it was interesting to find the "surprises" each one held. The stateroom corridors were anything but bland, and the art added interest to a normally boring area of a ship.

Most people, myself included, found the food to be fine. Yes, there could have been more variety at the buffet, but I always found more than enough that I enjoyed. Yes, there was always pizza on the buffet, but no one forced anyone to eat it everyday!! The service at the buffet was OK, but could have been better. I found the waiters to be more European than American, meaning they did not bother you every five minutes to clear away dishes etc. I would have liked them to be a bit more American, but I don't get bent out of shape about stuff like that!! Yes, the dishes were plastic - a bit odd but OK. The dining room service was excellent for lunch, a bit rushed/understaffed for dinner. Early seating was completely filled, as was the ship, so I'm sure that didn't help. The food itself was excellent. The pasta was always great; the salads OK (ever had salad in Italy?!?); the entrees, overall very good. As usual, if you don't care for what you ordered, just speak up! There were lots of seafood choices and always a midwest, meat and potato entree. The desserts were yummy! One person in our party ate cheesecake, from the "available anytime" menu EVERY NIGHT and was totally happy!! We did have a problem with seating the first night. It was a communication problem with the Ft Lauderdale office and the ship. The maitre'd and staff were more that gracious and helpful in getting things worked out for the next night. Read more