Read Less

This was our first ever cruise, every one told us to go on another to find out how bad this one was !!! Embarkation was good and easy, however our bags took 5 hours to get to our room, not a good start, however the room was clean and fit for purpose. Meals - we were on the late sitting for the evening meal, 9pm, by the time we got our meal it was 9.30 -9.45pm which was far to late, and the majority of the time the food was cold, and not to our tastes, why is there no other restaurants to eat in, one choice only is a joke. But the waiters tried their best, we eventually go a table on the early sitting with 3 days left. Breakfast - we could not face the bun fight that was the buffet and we went to the main restaurant which was very good. Lunch back to the main restaurant as we do not like burnt burgers and chips all the time, or fighting at the buffet which is a joke. Bars were good drinks served well presented and good selection, no real complaints. Shows - saw 2 did not bother with the rest such poor quality video show and staff from the ship singing and dancing, not what I expected Pool - always got a bed, pools got gradually dirtier as time went on, the rear pool was particularly bad, which reflected the fact that virtually all the beds were free !!!!! In general we were disappointed, but it has not put us off cruising, but put us off Costa, the general opinion was that after the Concordia fiasco they may have made an effort, sadly no, we never had a member of the crew speak to us, they strut around all day with a mobile stuck to their ear, bad impression chaps. Looking to next year, but with another company. Sorry   Read Less

I was thrilled to be going on a cruise for Christmas. Arriving in Miami and seeing the ship , I was very excited because the ship was beautiful. Once we reached our cabin there was a full bed. WMy son had booked the cruise and requested separate beds. We asked for it to be changed and were asked if we could sleep together for the night. What? I don't want to sleep with my son. Next, the air condition did not work, however the steward kept trying to convince us that it was working. They finally admitted three days later that they were having a problem. Then we had a premium cabin which we were told by the person that booked the cruise included free room service and free breakfast in the cabin. Customer service told us basically that we were lying (this was our first time on Costa cruise how would we have known this). Next, we ordered water USA which gave us free water during meals. However, we found out that breakfast is not a meal and were charged for water. Things kept going on like this. I understand that this was an European cruise, but you allowed other nationalities to board and should consider this. Customer Service was horrible, many people were complaining about the service. My son lost his phone and he was told that a passenger had stolen it and it would not be returned by an employee. She worked with the pictures and continued to tell us how the passengers steal pictures all time. Really, this is not what we want to hear. As an American, I give the total Costa Cruise a 2 out of 10. My waiter Dee Dee was great! But thank God for French fries. Definitely will go back to American Cruise lines. Read Less

We are a family of 3 and this was our 6th cruise but First with Costa! We had booked with cruise because of the price and kids sail free program. I had read amny, many negative reviews about Costa but we decided to give them a chance. WE ARE GLAD WE DID! We had an Awesome time during our cruise. EMBARKATION: Well, we probably mest up by getting to the cruise port so early! We were the 2nd family in the terminal for this cruise. So, we had to wait about 1-2 hours to board. That was our fault though and we were not in a hurry. There were a form everyone had to fill out prior to boarding (it had to do with if you were felling ill). So, no big deal. They also had Boarding Forms (if you had not yet filled them out online.) We had ours already. We did ask the staff if we had to fill new ones out since we had changed rooms...They said no. Just scratch out the old room # and put in the new one next to it. Did this, and no problem!! After they opened the doors, we were on the ship in about 5 minutes!! SHIP: Beautiful decor! Very nice and clean! CABIN: We were originally booked in room 2352 on Deck 2. However, about a week before our cruise I called our T/A and she was able to get a Complimentry Upgrade to a Balcony Room on Deck 10 Room 1060!! This room was Beautiful, Spacious and Clean! We loved our room! Our room steward (Darvin) was Awesome! Always kept the room clean and was very nice. We learned a lot about him and he was very courteous! He was always around if we needed him. STAFF: Very courteous! Always greeted by staff members and very helpful when asked questions. We went to the pursers desk several times and only had to wait once (about 10 min). Otherwise, always quick and helpful. CRUISE DIRECTOR & ENTERTAIMENT: Max, he was ok...not too funny but he tried. At least he was attentive and the shows were pretty good. The Costa Dancers are good. We really enjoyed the Elton John show! There was always dancing on the pool deck and in the 5th foor lounge. Loved watching them dance! The Pianist and violinist were very good as well. Casino: Typical cruise casino...we liked the roulette tables...had luck on these and won something for a change! Plenty of Slot Machines. FOOD: Okay, we read so may bad reviews about the Costa food on cruise critic. HOWEVER, WE LOVED IT! Now, mind you, were are not picky or finicky eaters. We are hispanic and the most we know about Italian Food is Olice Garden!! I really thought my husband would be disappointed with the food but NO! They had a very large variety to choose from every night! We had First Seating at the Michael Angelo Reaturant. They always had beef, chicken, fish, or another kind of meat available. The pasta was great! And, you could get seconds if you wanted. They had shrimp 2-3 times during the week and crab legs once. My husband loved the steaks they served during the week! There was once thing we were disappointed in...that was our waitress and helper. They never made an effort to talk to us or for us to get to know them. I say thei because it looked like they only had 2 tables per session. And even though I know they were busy....they just never spoke? Just always hello, take order, pick up plates and good bye. Oh well, at least we always had good service!! Very fast and great food!! FYI----We were seated with 2 other families so, we had a total of 9 people at out table. WE GOT ALONG WELL WITH THE OTHER FAMILIES.Oh...forgot to mention that we ate Breakfast in the buffet once then went to the Micxhael Angelo Restaurant...AND WERE HOOKED AFTER THAT!! WOW...The food in the restaurant is no comparrison to the buffet! Nice and hot and always fresh!!! Take my advice and eat breakfast in the Restaurant!! Hardly ever ate lunch but...heard the restaurant was better than the buffet! Oh and they always has really good COOKIES and Pasteries in the Colombo Buffet from 3-4:40PM.....And yes....gelato always available!!! Yummyyyyy KIDS CLUB: In my 10 y/o Daughters words AWESOME!! Ok, we have used other kids clubs on the other cruises we have been on however, COSTA EXCEEDS THESE!!! Our daughter really enjoyed this place and did not ever want to leave with us when we would go and pick her up. The Costa Kids Staff is AWESOME. They are always friendly and have so much for the kids to do! There hours are form 9:30 AM to 11:30 PM...NONSTOP!! Now...of course we did not leave her there that long....but those hours are great!! I mean...you don't see that on other cruise lines!! My daughter also made many great friends and was so sad to leave the last day. PORTS: St. Thomas...we did a tour with Godfrey for $25...HAD A GREAT TIME! He is so proud of where he is from and very knowledgeable! Saw so, so much of the Island! San Juan: It was raining on this day and as we got off the ship THEY WERE GIVING EVERYONE PONCHOS!! WHAT AN AWESOME TOUCH COSTA!! There was another cruise ship in port and the people getting off of there had nothing! Anyway, we rented a car (from Carribbean Cars Online) here and drove around the Eastern Part of the country...Very beautiful!! Grand Turks: Beach day for us here! Also hung out at Margaritaville...Cool place! TIP: The beach chairs on the beach ARE FREE!!! They announced this to us on the Costa Ship! Although, we saw a guy on the beack (a local) who was scamming people for money to sit in the chairs!!! BE AWARE!!! Chairs and pool at Margaritaville are free too!! DISEMBARKATION: You have the option to sign up for early disembarkation in you want (only the 1st 500 people). We chose this option because we had to get an early start driving home to Texas! YOU HAVE TO CARRY OFF YOUR OWN LUGGAGE...Which was ok...We had breakfast in the restaurant and were off the ship by 7:50 AM!!! It was a breeze. Overall, my family and I had a FANTASTIC time and would DEFINTELY sail again with Costa if we have the opportunity!!! Read Less

This cruise was set up as a pre Christmas weekend 3 day get away on Costa Cruise Lines Magica which my wife and I thought was ideal. We travel with our friend who happened to a travel agent and she got us a tremendous deal on a balcony. From the beginning there total confusion on the ship. During embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale we ask the lady at check in if she needed a credit card for my sail away card and she informed us that the procedure would be complete on board. Once on board the ship no knew what I was asking. We finally saw a line with one crew person working. We ask what the line was about and the lady reply sail away card credit card registration. There were no sign to inform the guest on what this line was about. There must have been about 20 people waiting in line and only person doing the registration. Our boarding ticket said that our sail away was at 4:30 pm we did not pulled out until 7:30 pm. We read the ship whats going on paper and it said that the muster drill would promptly begging at 4:30 we asked a couple of crew member and they had no idea what we were talking about. Finally around 5:30 we heard to prepare for the muster drill. Finally the ship sailed away at 7:30 pm. The next day we woke up in Freeport, Bahamas not the greatest port in the world. In our boarding ticket it said that we would depart on Sunday at 8:00 am then a crew member told that it was 8:00 pm then we asked the cruise director he told us it would leave at 11:00 am on Sunday. We finally departed at 12:00 pm on Sunday. We had second seating on this cruise WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!! The second seating started at 8:45 pm we generally did not get out of the dining room after 11:30 pm. The food was not good many passengers complained. The buffet was something less to be desired the portion were small and not very attractive food. The food variety was small. The staff for the most part were very friendly courteous. The ship was beautiful the layout was great. My wife and I were very please to see so many NON Smoking area on this ship. The NON SMOKING were very well label which was great. If anyone ever decide to cruise on this ship please be warn confusion is the norm and the food is bad. This is our tenth cruise and we have cruise Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess and by far this was our worst cruise. I can truly say I will never cruise on Costa. Read Less

This was only our second cruise. The first was on Royal Caribbean-Voyager of the Seas. The embarkation was slow and it required establishing your credit card information after. (Instead of getting it done at the same time.) The cabin was too hot for our comfort. Nothing was done after reporting this to the cabin attendant. The ship's configuration was such that you must pass thru their deck which contained most of their shops and the casino. Great for marketing: inconvenient for travelers. The food was mediocre at best. The service desk informed me that getting an early dining slot was about impossible-even though I informed them of my medical issues. The staff, however, was well trained and helpful. The entertainment was also not great. The shore excursions were chaotic, at best, as was the disembarkation. The ship was very well maintained. We heard many frequent travelers who reported that they would never sail on this cruise line again. We had to agree. We were disappointed or just spoiled by our sailing on the Voyager of the Seas who reported that they would never sail on this cruise line again. We had to agree. We were disappointed or just spoiled by our sailing on the Voyager of the Seas. Read Less

The CostaMediterranea is a beautiful ship (score 9.5 of 10) and the big shows were very enjoyable (score 9 of 10). The service was very poor, food was fair to poor -- both service and food a 3 of 10 score and I am being generous at that! The help is slow, getting water at your meal at the formal dining room (1st seating) was very slow and dinner a 2 1/2 hour ordeal. Not one time was the high chair cleaned off when we arrived. Head table waiter was very disorganized, the assistant waiter by the 3rd of the 5 days put himself together. The other members of our table after the 1st night went to the buffet, never to return to the formal dinner as did many other people. The cabin steward was slow and sloppy, getting to our cabin by dinner time, failing to do the cabin 2 days, and only fully cleaning our cabin 1 time, the day before we left. She stated she had been on the ship for several months and relied on tips for most of her money. She was painfully slow and never delivered our crib (thank goodness I brought a portable playpen). I cruised the Celebrity Summit over the summer and the service and food on Celebrity (5.5 star) was a 10 of 10. Here I give room service a 3. I tipped everyone except my head waiter because he deserved nothing because he did less than nothing. My son went upstairs to the 9th floor to get himself a drink and food faster than the waiter on the 3rd floor could do. This is the first time I failed to leave anyone a tip, although I believe no one deserved anything. The service at the desk was also awful. Upon leaving for an excursion, one of our 4 cards was not functioning properly to disembark (working fine to charge us but not to leave?) and we were told by security that they would contact the excursion and inform them we would be late. I RAN to the front desk only to find I had to wait another 15 minutes because so many other people had this problem too. By the time they let us off the ship, more lines, we missed the excursion and the head Costa Excursion Manager said too bad for us and was nasty and not helpful. We heard people all the time complaining about bad Service, bad food and lack of help. There was definitely a major language barrier for English; they say Yes, Yes, but evidently have no idea what you are saying. I would give the Celebrity Summit a 9.5 of 10 and the CostaMediterranea a very generous 3! So sad to have such a gorgeous ship and everything else LOUSY. Might I add, my baby was in their wooden highchair and a moment later my baby disappeared and I heard screaming. I look around and realize my child is on the floor, the middle piece of the high chair broke/or maybe was never put together properly and my child is lying on the floor to my horror and shock. I scoop up my child and after making sure she was OK and calming both her and myself down, and my other 2 shocked children, I tried to get someone FROM THE SHIP to help me and no one cared less, they just took the chair away. Afterward, I tried to go down to the service desk to report the incident, 15 minutes waiting in line with no hope in site, I realized this was no Celebrity Cruise ship and unless you are dying, or they want your money, forget it. I tried calling the desk from my cabin but it was busy, busy, busy, probably with so many people always complaining. Disembarkation was another joy. I was up clearing my account at 6:30 in the morning and again at 7 a.m. to readjust the tips. Upon leaving, my first child left first with the stroller, the security placed our cards in and again the baby was held up and we had to go back in the ship to clear the account. evidently the ship was able to charge soda to the baby's account and had not billed us. They would not allow my son (age 12) back on the ship and I was stuck inside the ship. I had to leave my 10 year old by the exit unable to leave, my 12 year old had just exited and I yelled for him not to move and I went back upstairs a 3rd time to clear the account. Although there were massive lines with more people than I could count in 6 lines complaining and trying to clear their accounts (also problem with Costa's credit card and computers), I cut up in front of the lines because my kids were downstairs without supervision and I couldn't get my son back on the ship. Unhappily again they assured me it was my problem that the soda tab was not paid because the baby did not receive a bill...whose problem is that given I have been there already twice since 6:30 a.m. and it was now 10ish in the morning? Another lovely note, I bought the 20 sodas card for $35 at the beginning of the ship and I asked if the kids could share one card and the gentleman told me that they could not (when in reality they could have). On the 4th day, the ship ran out of SPRITE, so with 9 sodas left, there was no more Sprite either at the 9th floor buffet or at at least 2 of the bars upstairs.... again their running out of Sprite Soda was our fault! Again, gorgeous ship, service lousy, help lousier!!!!! On Celebrity, we never heard anyone complain because if you had a complaint, they bent over backward to correct and improve immediately! CHOOSE ANOTHER CRUISE!!!! Read Less