First I want to say thanks to previous reviewers for the Costa Mediterranea, it really helped to set expectations. Now on with the review...

Embarkation went pretty quickly considering the number of people boarding during spring break week. The line was long but moved well and the Costa staff was helpful and courteous. Port Everglades was very easy to navigate and determine where you needed to go for each ship. The ship itself really blew us away, up until this cruise, we had sailed with Norwegian and Royal Caribbean and the decor on Costa was just over the top. Sure we did our research and looked at their website and brochures and read the reviews, but seeing it in person just put it all into perspective. I still can't figure out how the made all those patterns and textures work together, but the effect was not garish as I had anticipated. We kept walking around and finding more and new things in the decor, it really was a visual feast.

Speaking of feasts, they never stopped feeding you, which is true for more cruises I know. But it seemed like there was always something...and with almost 600 kids/teens on board, I think that was a good thing! I will agree that some of the offerings were on the average side (still haven't figured out how the traditional Thanksgiving type turkey dinner fit in with the coastal Italian menu), but overall we enjoyed the food and service. Especially the desserts, my husband tried a couple of the sugar free offerings and was extremely pleased, and he has a true southerner's taste for sweet desserts. Service in the dining room still needs some refining, but nothing worse than you would find at a local Applebee's or mainstream restaurant chain. Read more