This was our first cruise so we don't have anything to compare it to. We went on this cruise with open minds.

Overall a great time. Getting on the boat was busy but well organized. We didn't get to our cabin till noon and it was ready. Our luggage was another 2 hours or so. Our recommendation is to put sunscreen and your bathing suit into the bags you carry on the ship. We got burnt on the first day. Silly Canadians. Our cabin boy "etiquio" was fantastic. He seemed to have our names memorized before we showed up. He took great care of everything. All announcements made on board were done in 5 or 6 different languages. The food in the main restaurants was very good. No temperature issues like some other reviewers. The wait staff was a little less attentive and less personable than we would have expected. Drinks and water were very slow. We were seated in the Rafaelle room early seating. We sat with a couple from Norway and NY and had a great time. The buffet when we went for breakfast or supper was never fantastic, just ok. Most of the food was warm but not hot. Same goes for the breakfast buffet. The choice of fruit was good at the buffet. One thing we did notice,being Canadians was the freedom of being allowed to smoke indoors in some of the lounges and casinos. Not sure if all cruise lines allow this but something to be aware of.

Now let me speak about that orange juice. I love my orange juice, and it deserves a whole paragraph....COSTA TAKE NOTE....LOL The first time I went to the machine I thought I got the wrong stuff. It was almost drinkable but I thought it was some kind of punch mixture. Over the next few days it became a joke. "Would you like some orange juice sweety???" That stuff was much worse than no name from concentrate. It tasted like unsweetened dishwater with citrus cleaner in it. IF you don't drink alot, like me, get the "kids non-alcoholic coupons" You can get virgin daiquiris etc. for much cheaper that way. To avoid paying for drinks, your choices are really just unsweetened iced tea, water from the machine, milk from the cereal area, coffee, tea and and that pond water ala citrus we discussed earlier. There were lots of choices of Latin dancing and ballroom in a few of the lounges. Nothing particularly modern with regards to music. However we never hit the disco because it was close to March break and there was a fair amount of teenagers on the cruise and they had a few hours reserved for them at the disco every night. We were impressed with the overall ship and it was always being cleaned. The ship layout does make it a little confusing when trying to get from A to B. The entertainment was very good-night and day. The shows were very impressive. The comedy was very good for all ages, although a couple at our table stayed on for the western trip the next week and said all the shows were the same. So be warned if you are going for two weeks they will repeat. Seemed to have a good club for children called Squok club with about 20 crew members dedicated to kids programs. We didn't have kids on the cruise, but judging by the activities we saw for them, it looked like they kept them entertained for quite some time(so mom and dad could have some alone time) In Jamaica (Ocho Rios) we did the Dunns River Falls,but beware, there are usually a few excursions there at the same time so the time they say it will take to climb the Falls.....triple it due to crowds of people going up at the same time. The second part of our excursion was snorkeling,but it was in a dull area. 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman-nice port,beautiful beach! GET AN UMBRELLA as soon as you get there if you can rent one. Wow....that sun. Was not alot of shade around the beach area. We went to the Best Western part of seven mile beach. The Beach at Turks and Caicos was absolutely beautiful. Lots of chairs to use on the beach and at Margaritaville there are pools and chairs for you to use as well(all free of charge).Plenty of conch shells scattered along to sand to see. Back to the boat- Deck chair mayhem....Early in the morning this is what seems to happen. People get up. Put book, shoes, towels on chair. Go back to bed. All chairs reserved (although this is not supposed to happen) by 7:30-8:00am....Good luck. Overall we would go on Costa again-no real reason why we wouldn't, but I think we would like to try other cruise lines first to compare.