My wife and I had heard and read very mixed reviews on Costa but this cruise which included flights and a two night stay in Venice at a very affordable price booked through Cruise Nation looked too good to turn down. Even had the ship been like a budget hotel on sea the itinerary was great so we had a chance to visit Croatia and Montenegro for the first time. Well, our expectations were significantly exceeded. Some specifics - we paid for an inside cabin, we got upgraded to a balcony. Our account was credited with two free cocktails on the first night, a nice touch. The bed was excellent. The entertainment surprisingly good. With one or two exceptions the Costa staff we engaged with were friendly, professional and service oriented. The food - especially in the buffet restaurant - was very good. There were a few niggles - the main restaurant food was often a little colder than it should have been, but Costa had decided to give the waiters small tablet computers to record orders on our cruise and there were the obvious teething troubles. Costa has a different approach to the mainly US based cruise companies we have sailed with in the past and the passengers were mainly Italian and French with some obvious language issues - it's amazing how many foreign language words you can remember when you have to (!) - but overall our experience was very good.
Very good cabin - slightly aft. Quiet, not near lift lobbies. Good bed. Storage facilities adequate. Flat screen TV,. Safe. Good hot shower. Usual shampoo/gel combo provided. Our steward (Stanley) very attentive. Nice balcony - small (2 chairs and a small table) but adequate, especially as we were upgraded from an inside.
It's Venice, enough said. We did some walking tours, La Traviatta, Harry's Bar, Pegy Guggenheim and lots of other things. There is always something new to do in Venice.
Got map from tourist centre and walked old town, very nice. Needed local currency (Kuna) to use in bars.
Got map from tourist office and walked old town. First time in Montenegro. They use the euro so no need to convert money.
Took the train to Olympia which IS running - 10 euro return. Station is 15 minute walk from cruise port. Olympia fantastic. Katakolon seems a nice small port.
Corfu town was OK, a bit run down. Worth a look.
Great old town, Pearl of the Adriatic. Long walk from the port to the old town - about 3km - but needed the exercise. Lots of other travel options from ships bus to taxi's. Took cable car to top of hills overlooking the old town. Excellent.
Free walking tour very good