My brother (34) and I (31) took my parents (retirement aged) on this cruise for their anniversary. While my parents like to sleep late and my brother is happy laying at the pool all day, I like to do all sorts of things on the ship. I will write this review from the perspective of a younger, professional male while occasionally adding thoughts of my travelmates.

Since I live in Houston, my parents and brother flew into town and stayed with me leading up to the cruise. We were the last group to leave out of Houston, which is a nice facility. The only negative about Houston vs. Galveston that I can tell is that there are no alternative parking venues in Houston, so you are forced to pay $70 for a weeklong cruise as opposed to $50 in Galveston at Lighthouse or EZ Cruise. Not a huge deal, just a thought.

I had read that the ship was starting to show her age, but I did not agree with this. I thought she was in pretty good shape, and she will be going into drydock in January, I believe, so there won't be any issues after that for sure. I cruised the Costa Fortuna last year, and the layout is virtually the same, so I was able to get around fairly easily. Again, don't worry about those who complain about the layout. You can cross the ship entirely on several decks. You'll learn that you have to think ahead of time before going to Deck 3 or 4, but if you are flexible, you'll be fine. Anyone that complains about it is either drunk or not using their bean. Read more