Our first joint adventure on the high seas started at 0700HRS on the 22st July 2011 at Gatwick. It was booked through Virgin Cruises and was a Costa package cruise.
This is what happened.
We flew from Gatwick to Rome Leonardo Di Vinci, great flight (BA) under 2 hours. Arrived at Rome and our baggage arrived one hour and 20 minutes later. There were no seats at the airport and it was HOT! Found the Costa reps and they seemed happy enough to just chat amongst themselves. Finally we got our luggage and then we all galloped with our big cases, cabin cases and hand luggage to the taxi cabs waiting for us.
Very nice roomy cabin with ample storage and a nice big seating area. The balcony was fine and the chairs good with a good sized table. Bathroom great with a big shower that had excellent water pressure and temperature consistency. TV a bit dated but the programmes were rubbish so it neither distracted from or added to the cabin. The bed was large and comfortable with nice linen and pillows.