We chose Costa because of the itinerary; the first time that they had sailed into New York. We started in Savona where embarking was frankly shambolic! It took over 3 hours to embark with no announcements as to what was taking so long. Once on board we were very impressed with the 10 deck atrium and the public areas on the Atlantica are very impressive.

English speakers were definitely in the minority with the rest of the guests being Italian and French. This didn't bother us but where a film would be shown in English in a small meeting room the Italians and French got comfy seats in the theatre and inexplicably the muster/safety video on the TV was never shown in English! There were some lectures (about NYC, the history of the Atlantic crossing, etc) on sea days which were very good but again not all of them were done in English. The lectures and films were subsequently shown on the TV in the cabin but again the English version was missing. You could pay to watch a film in your cabin but at Euros 8.95 we thought it a bit steep especially as the films weren't that good anyway.

The cabin was of a good size with plenty of wardrobe space and generously sized comfortable bed. Cabin steward service was excellent. Our only problem was that (as we were on late sitting for dinner) the water wasn't as hot as we would like in the evenings, but was fine in the mornings. Read more