Cruise date 3-23-08. This was my first time on Costa. I tried Costa after cruising Carnival 3 times. Costa is an Italian cruise line and being American and speaking only English was the biggest problem. The muster drill was done in five languages and you had to stand there in your lifejacket for all five language safety drills. The cruise line did a terrible job communicating about the dress code for dinner. You never knew what night was formal and they had an Italian night they requested you were red/green/white, we did not bring any. The majority of the people on the ship were over 50 and it seemed that the same 30 young people did most of the partying. The disco allowed all ages and the dance floor was filled with teenagers. There were young children in the casino and in the Karaoke lounges. The Grande Bar had ball room dancing and tango. The piano bar was a violin and a piano player playing elevator music. Not like Carnival were the piano bar is a fun sing a long bar. The live music at night was mainly Spanish oriented songs. So if you're under 60 and don't ballroom dance or Salsa dance you're going to be disappointed. The food was also very disappointing. The breakfast was the same every day and very greasy. The beef meals we ordered were always tough. On Carnival we had such great food and a wide variety of choice to order from. The desserts were boring and nothing worth ever remembering. Our waiter was very dry and I observed the other waiters to be the same. On Carnival the waiter always learned our names and certain little things we liked such as we drink tea with our dinner every night. On Carnival the waiter would have it waiting on the table. On Costa we were lucky to get if after our meal was half over. On Carnival the waiter and assistant would joke around, the most entertainment we got at the meal was the waiter tossing the parmesan cheese into our pasta. There was only dinner entrainment one night on Costa. They also sat our party of four with four NON English speaking people. That was uncomfortable. The party moved to first seating thank goodness for all of us. They closed the pool deck buffet every day at five to change to dinner and they were very rude if you tried to sneak in as they were closing. We always seemed to be coming back from a port when they were closing and had late seating 8:45 and needed a snack. On Carnival you can view your account on the TV anytime and if you see a problem you can correct it right away. On Costa you never know what your bill is until the morning of disembarkation and you have to go to a conference room between 6-7am to have it corrected. The bar service on the upper sun decks seem to be far and few between. We had to get up and go to the bar for our drinks. On Carnival they are coming by every ten minuets. Our room steward did not speak English and we struggled with our Spanish to understand each other. There were no top sheets on the bed. The comforter was in a sheet, so you slept with a heavy comforter or nothing. OK here are the few things they did great; luggage was in our room by 2pm. It only took 35 min from the time we arrived until we were on the deck having lunch. Getting off the ship was quick and easy if your American (our line was short not many of us on the ship).