Embarkation was slow and a little chaotic but bags were waiting at our cabin. Don't stay in 8312, we were disturbed by the constant scraping of chairs in the cafe above. Cabin kept immaculate by our steward, towels changed daily and beach/pool towels on request. Plenty of storage, surprisingly spacious and a large comfortable bed. Very few TV channels. Tatty balcony and scratched windows.

Main restaurants were good, waiters fantastic, food just nice not amazing. A couple of fun entertainment nights in the restaurant made the holiday. Most of the staff were pretty helpful but very slow service and not so friendly at the pool bar. Buffet restaurants were noisy and chaotic. Very average food. Holiday camp style entertainment at the pool venue, theatre was a little better but still very amateur. We decided to do one organised trip just to see what it was like. We hung around in a queue for over an hour before disembarking, were not advised that the shops would be closed on a Sunday but were dumped in the town in the Dutch side of StMaarten anyway. The trip was supposed to be English speaking but the Italian tourists on the coach were extremely rude speaking over the tour guide who did not do much to help.Photos/videos of our trip for sale were extortionate. The cruise line is money grabbing to say the least. There were very few English speakers on this cruise so if that bothers you be careful what trip you book. After a few days of being shoved out the way and trying to do the normal Brit queuing thing, we just had to give up and become one of the crowd... Not nice !!! Everywhere was very clean and pretty well organised. Disembarkation at La Romana was shocking, waiting for hours, for immigration, who stamped the paperwork and chucked it on the floor. We will not be cruising with Costa again.