We visited Stockholm, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Helsinki. This was a beautiful cruise that is very well organized in every aspect. I think it also gives you a great sense of Italy and their way of life and partying. The only bad thing that I have to point out is that they have VERY small swimming pools on the ship, and this is a real problem when 3000 people want to swim at the same time. I loved the food, Italian cuisine is famous worldwide and I think there is something to eat for everyone. :))) And they have a WONDERFUL entertainment team which made me dance and stay awake every single night till God knows which hours. Important to know: - You can link your credit card to your ship card and then don't have to worry about payment. - They have totems now, so you can book your excursions there. - Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly and without any crowds and problems. I will definitely travel with Costa again! Read Less

We were very disappointed in our cruise, the food was poor with no buffet option in the evening (closed at 3 or 4 pm daily only a salad bar and pizza in the evening). Food in the restaurant was bland, service slow, but no choice if you wanted more than a salad! Costa's strange and inconsiderate no smoking/smoking policy allowed people to smoke INSIDE the ship - in all the main bars and lounges - saying that there were no-smoking tables was ridiculous as people smoking in an enclosed area pollutes the entire room. On top of this the genuien (small) no smoking lounge and bar were out of bounds, taken over for Costa (to see future cruises, i.e. The Isolobella lounge) - or only sometimes available - the very small Isolobella bar. All the rest were open and adjoining smoking areas (the Cigar bar open to the non smoking Piano bar!) Even the card room, which we enjoyed during the day, was closed at night and turned into a photo studio. On deck, smokers could smoke anywhere on the left/port side of the ship - that was fine, but many 'strayed' so that sometimes (as the ship was fulll) it took a while to find a smoke free place. Staff on deck hard to find, no one bothering to remind people who were smoking in non smoking areas that it was 'not allowed'. Staff were generally quite apathetic, I made several complaints and suggestions (about noise in the corridors outside cabins in the early hours of the morning - no response). Earplugs helped. On the plus side the gym was good, the cabins were clean, the cabin staff excellent. We were lucky to have good weather so that we could sit outside and not be breathing in smoke. If you're a smoker, this is the cruise for you - all those years of having to sit outside to have a cigarette you can now enjoy one in almost any bar or lounge in the ship - if you're a non-smoker think twice! I only wish someone had told me about this policy before I booked! Read Less

First the very bad: All our 3 excursions were cancelled. With very short notice. (No other English-speaking had booked.) As we are much more interested in the ports, than for example night shows and sunbeds, this made us very disappointed. Second, bad things of minor importance: 1. Breakfast- and lunch buffet were very crowded. After some days we find places to slip away from the most busy places. 2. Few of our fellow passengers understood English. 3. Coal flakes from the chimney were falling down on our stern-balcony. Now to the positive (including surprises): 1. Everything in our cabin was of very good quality and function. 2. The English speaking staff saved us from being totally isolated. And they were overall fantastic, both competent and friendly. 3. Food was very good. Both well cooked and high quality ingredients. (my mother was cook to the former Swedish king.) 4. The pool-area on the ship was very attractive, with its levels. 4. The "drink-package" was a very good bargain. Something like 20€/day for everything to drink. (Except the most expensive wines/drinks.) Naturally I compare this Costa-cruise, to the two on similiar ships I've made recent years. One was with Royal Caribbian (RCCL), Splendour of the Seas, the other was with Holland America (HAL.) MS Eurodam. And as I see it, all three give you, all in all, similar quality. Costa is cheaper, but have a more crowded ship. HAL offers more exclusive meals. My conclusion is that you get what you pay for. In future, I can choose any of them. When money is no problem, I prefer HAL. But if I want a wonderful ship, I choose the old Splendour of the Seas. Read Less

Here's a few of comments on our experience on the Costa Magica: We had a balcony cabin in the middle of the ship right off the elevator. Amazingly enough it wasn't noisy despite the high traffic area. The cabin was larger and more spacious than we had on both NCL and Princess. As stated by others who have been on the Magica, it took the whole cruise to figure out how to navigate the ship. I highly recommend that you get yourself one of the larger maps of the ship that the information desk and learn how to find your way around. One of the cruise critic members posted a very good explanation on how the cabins were numbered and the decks broken up. The most important lesson he gave was to look at the picture of the ship located at each elevator. It will indicate where you are and what direction the ship is pointed. When you get off the elevator look to see which direction you need to go so you won't get too frustrated trying to find your way to dinner. The Magica had two seatings for dinner. We chose the first seating and found our table mates extremely pleasant. We were all English speaking and enjoyed each other's company. In fact, the evening meal was the best part of the day with these folks. The other valuable thing I learned on cruise critic was about the 1X package for beer, wine, and water. We called our agent who called Costa and got the package for us. It saved us lots of money on drinks. This package allows you beer or wine by the glass and bottled water at lunch and dinner only. We tipped our waiter at the beginning and during the cruise and he kept our glasses filled. He also poured some for our dinner partners at our request. So each night at dinner we went through one or two bottles of wine and several of water. Big savings there. The breakfast buffet was not as expansive as is on NCL or Princess but it was adequate. We did not take advantage of the buffet for lunch so I am unable to comment. Dinner most nights was good but not outstanding. We did have one evening when they served lamb chops that everyone asked for seconds. We liked the pasta and the bread was great. If you wanted something in between meals you had to find the grill which was located at the very back of the ship where the indoor pool is. It was not like NCL where you could find food at all hours. One of the reasons that you don't see many obese Europeans, the portions were normal sized instead of supersized. I was happy about that. The coffee was only fair however you could buy cappuncino's and lattes that were pretty good. We got our "coffee fix" at the various ports where the espressos were great. The staff worked seven days a week, and usually stayed on the ship for several months. They all spoke excellent English. In addition there was an English speaking "host" by the name of Sean who was available at certain hours if you had questions. He wasn't very helpful with finding out about doing the ports on your own. He said that his job was to support the excursion so he was unwilling to give info on how to get around on public transportation.I surprized and disappointed since I found that the cruise director on NCL to be more than happy to tell you about what cheaper options available once on shore. Embarking and disembarking was the easiest of all. They had everything ready when you got there so all you had to do was go through screening and show you E tickets. Once you got to your room you found your room keys and info on setting up your credit card as well as the daily itinerary in English. They also provided a daily synopsis of the world news in the form of a little newspaper that was created on board. Read Less