Costa Serena Review

Relaxing and Enjoyable Cruise

Review for the Middle East Cruise on Costa Serena
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patti7441
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2015

We have just returned from a lovely holiday on the Costa Serena visiting, Dubai, Muscat, Khasab and Abu Dhabi. We have travelled on Costa before so were prepared for the typical Italian style. Checking in could have been an issue if you just had just flew in early in the morning as access to cabins was not until the evening. We were staying in Dubai before so arrived about 5pm which was perfect and the checking in process efficient. We found everything clean and comfortable but the ship's decor is looking a little tired. The food was very good. We didn't always get what we thought we might but it was never bad but we are adventurous. There was no shortage of sun loungers on deck but that didn't stop the inevitable "reserving with towels". Pool towels were provided and changed in the room. The optional drinks package was worth taking out to make the stay "all inclusive". Sadly Costa no longer include bottles of mineral water and there was a silly situation of people taking several glasses of water to their cabins to drink. The water provided in the cabin was charged separately at a ridiculous price. Also we discovered too late that a kettle and tea and coffee facilities are not provided in the cabin either. Another annoyance was that there was only one electrical power point. We were juggling with charging, phones, tablets and camera batteries. A hair dryer was provided separately. Entertainment was excellent and we liked the way that both early diners and late diners are able to watch the shows as there are two every night, except one when it was the Captain's Cocktail party, but the timings were arranged around that. The Samsara spa was lovely, using Elemis products but it is a bit expensive. We counted approx 15 nationalities of guests on the ship and announcements were made in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish. We only took one excursion arranged by the ship and it was very good. Other guests spoke highly of their excursions too and they were well arranged. Costa also had city Big Bus services meet the ship in Dubai and Anu Dhabi. All in all a good trip.

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