Consider ourselves seasoned cruisers (25years) for some time. Costa Cruise Lines was by far the worst ever experience we have ever had. The food was horrible, if you missed your scheduled dinning room seating...you had to pay 8.00 for the buffet pizza which had no cheese nor topping on it. They shut down the juice and water machines after breakfast and lunch forcing you to buy drinks or water. None of the ice cream machines worked. The staff was somewhat cordial, only when you made the effort to be nice. Most of the time you felt they were doing you a favor. Since we only speak English...all the shows were in a foreign language, so we did not enjoy that. The pools and hot tubs were very small and over crowded. Not enough chairs or lounge chairs on the deck to accomodate the passengers. Lesson learned.