Just returned home after our incredibly delightful journey across the Atlantic on the Costa Mediterranea with a few day's post-cruise stay in Trieste, Italy. We began our trip with very low expectations due to most of the recent Mediterranea reviews blasting the "tasteless" food and other problems. Our personal experience was so much the opposite that I almost feel I was on an entirely different ship! I did come armed with my own shaker of garlic powder for the pizza and pastas and Crystal Light drops to make the USA water more palatable for me, I enjoyed the vast majority of the dishes served in the dining room. One night we even were able to have surf and turf by combining a steak option with a grilled shrimp entree! Our waiter made it happen for the four of us at our table. I was particularly delighted with the sundried tomatoes and olives on the lunch buffet, and I ate those almost exclusively for lunch most days, except one time I had a juicy burger from the pool deck, and a couple salad lunches in the main restaurant. On one of our first port days, when most everyone was ashore, we found shrimp tempura on the buffet! The only time we saw it, but it was YUM!!!! Keep in mind with my review that we traveled across the Atlantic with less than 1200 passengers on board a ship designed for 2600. SO luxurious! Our premium balcony cabin near the aft on deck seven starboard was a wonderful retreat with plenty of storage for our 22 nights onboard and one of the best room stewards, Renee, that we have ever experienced. We had fresh ice twice a day, and even extra pillows and bathrobes when we asked. We only used the free room service one morning. We were so close to the buffet that it just seemed unnecessary. we also had only one dinner sitting for the first 16 nights of the cruise until we took on about 500 more passengers in Savonna for the last week when they finally added a late seating and a second show time. Not impressed with the CD, Antonio Serra. but most of the nightly entertainment was very good. Major exceptions - the "video" nights and the passenger "talent" show. YUCK! Walked out of the balcony (as we suspected they might be poor) on those.Really liked the in-cabin free movies! Too bad they started repeating over again instead of getting new ones after the first two weeks. The flamenco dancers who performed after our Teneriffe port stop were absolutely amazing! The ship was beautifully maintained and always kept sparkling clean. Thought we were going to escape any illnesses until we went on a long bus excursion from Savonna to Genoa where we had "hackers" in front AND behind us, Even the tour guide made a comment about them! Sure enough, the day before we were to fly back home, we BOTH developed the same upper respiratory symptoms and coughs! We both have a ways to go before we will be over this and are keeping ourselves isolated away from family and friends until we are free of symptoms. An interesting happening on this sailing was that on the day after we left our port stop in St. Maarten, early in the cruise, my husband noticed we seemed to have turned around and were headed back toward St. Maarten. sure enough, when we checked at the front desk, we found out that that an announcement (we obviously missed), stated that we were turning around due to the health needs of a passenger. Finally a helicopter with a basket met the ship in the early evening and the patient was transferred to the helicopter via the basket and thn on to St. Maarten. There was not room for the spouse on the chopper and she had to wait until our next port stop, Teneriffe, 6 days later, to fly to meet her husband at the hospital! Sure hope they had insurance! Will we cruise with Costa again? This was our third Costa sailing and due to the 22 nights and double points for our premium balcony cabin we will now be at the Pearl level for future sailings and get those extra benefits, so if the itinerary and price are right we will! Read Less

I have been on several cruise ships (Royal, Carnival, Norwegian) and this last one on Costa. I will not even try to compare them because they have very little in common. I will start off with embarkment in Miami. We were scheduled to embark at 1300hours in Miami. It was a hot and humid day and they had no lines clearly marked, no water or shade provided for the elderly or kids. The line at one point looked like a herd of buffallos stampedeing towards the ship and my 2 year old was over run by some guy trying to get to the ship first. Once on the ship we got our cabin pretty soon and were happy to learn that we actually got a obstructed ocean view instead of inside cabin. Our room steaward introduced herself and that is the friendliest we saw her the whole trip. Every time she would come in the room she had a frown on her face and was very short with her answers. She knew we were traveling with two young children and never once asked if we needed anything. At one point she took the milk that we brought from the buffet into the fridge and threw it out. I asked several time for diaper bags and was never provided with one so i had to go to the elevators and dispose dirty diapers in there. The dinners were the only free option and you had to be there on time or else you missed it and had to either pay for the pizza or specialty restaurants. (big minus). the whole duration of the trip they had the ice cream machines in the buffet area but never served ice cream out of them.... (teasing the passengers???). It being a european ship it attracted a lot of Europeans and it seemed like everone on the ship smoked. (something i have no control over but something to consider when choosing your hard earned vacation cruise). The ship had no real children program for any kids under 3 years old and we did not expect it. However, I would have loved to seee the option of dining with children in buffet area because dining with little children in a formal setting is not the best. The ports were all nice although at some points it seemed a little unorganized. To summarize our experience I would have to say if they had better crew and more caring crew members it would be a more pleasent way to travel. I will definitely not travel with Costa ever again. Read Less

I'm starting right with an issue that, in my belief, overwhelms any other comment possible on this cruise. Every cruise day, after 6:30 p.m., simply there is no food or drink whatsoever available in the whole ship, except for the main Restaurant. This means that, if you're on first seating (6:30 p.m.) after the show (9:15 pm or later), for instance, not only you don't have any station at all available, for a snack or anything else for that matter, but even if you want to drink a glass of water or a cup of coffee you must go to one of the bars and pay for it (yes, water included). Also attending the main restaurant for dinner is mandatory, as you don't have any choice, inluding formal dinner nights. (Imagine when you have small children with you). Mind you that some days we leave port at 7 p.m. and also there are plenty of daily activities on board at 10 or 11 pm. This said, and regarding other aspects of the cruise, the cabin was fine as well as the general embarking process. Public rooms with heavy decoration (too heavy for my taste) and poor use of the space on the self-service (huge lines for food and hard to find seats for eating). Good shows and entertainment in general, as well as the food, in the main restaurant as well as in the self-service, but the level of service, in both, is clearly sub-standard.   Read Less

Everyone who complained about the cruise ( mostly the food ) said I couldn't really be objective about this ship as I was a newbie to cruising, therefore I had nothing to compare it to. While that might be valid I truly felt that it would be hard to find a more beautiful ship to cruise on. Nay sayers be darned! As mentioned it was our first cruise. Found a great lot to leave our car ( Safe Parking Miami) and boarding was easy. Stayed in Coconut Grove for two nights before cruise at a B+B which was close enough to the port. Liked the fact that even though we didn't sail until 10 pm we boarded by 3 and had lunch and a tour of the ship, so excited to be on board! First night on board took some getting used to.. vibration and slight swaying of ship, my husband wore acupuncture bands on wrist and he was fine. We have been on many large ferries etc. but nothing compares to being on a large cruise ship with its opulence and services. THE PEOPLE: Mostly European passenger i.e: Italians with a smattering of other nationalities, very few North Americans. We were basically in the minority as Canadians. All officers appeared to be Italian with rest of crew from basically all over the world. If you want to feel like you have arrived in Europe the Costa line is the way to go. A friend on board said Americans did not want to cruise on a ship that had any connection to the Costa Concordia. One aside was the presence of many Guadaloupean passengers. They were dropped off and picked up in Gaudaloupe, they got a seven day passage with a cheaper rate. Liked the fact that there were at least some Caribbean folk on the ship, but got the sense that crew wasn't too impressed with them, although they appeared to be bread and butter passengers for the ship as they formed a sizeable group on board. There was an incident of a fight between two family groups but it was quickly quashed. It happened just up the hall from our room. Security came quickly and I never felt it was a huge thing, just a lot of loud noise for about half an hour. Glad we made friends with some American people as it was hard to converse with most people as they did not speak English at least around us. Several other people we met were travel agents who got a special rate, said they probably wouldn't have taken this line if the price wasn't right for them. ACTIVITIES: We didn't participate in very many activities. Mostly spent days on shore and days at sea we spent swimming, eating and visiting with our friends. Attended the theatre twice, entertainment okay but after just being in Cuba at a resort the entertainment seemed pretty generic. One of our friends did enjoy the disco but we never went. We did walk through the bar areas, casino and disco but didn't partake as by the time our second dining sitting ended we were ready to just chill in our cabin or on our balcony. One thing we did do was use the gym every night before dinner. This was a good time to use it because most people were at first sitting for dinner and staff weren't there. The steam room/ sauna was great ( women's was quite musty unfortunately). Lots of equipment in gym, on your own for sanitizing as never any wipes and didn't like smell of chlorine or steamy effect as there was a giant hot tub in middle of area, not sure why they would put it there. Had a foot and head massage from Renata, which was heavenly. Her, Alex and Diana were all great to deal with in the spa. Also found the running track pretty small but still if you wanted to walk around at night on top decks hardly ever any people and the view of the moon on the water was pretty spectacular. THE NOISE LEVEL: Wanted to mention this before I went any further. The level of sound for most events was unbelievably loud. The noise at the bow end by the gym and outdoor pool was absolutely ridiculous. Often it might be for a dance contest or other activity but it was always cranked up so loud that I can't even imagine why no one complained. I just couldn't swim in that area when events were going on. Even at night for several of our gala dinners they had recorded music at a really high decibel level. For passengers it was only a few days of it but for the crew I can't imagine how a health and safety review wouldn't have put limitations on the noise for the staff. Why do people think loud noise equates with great entertainment? End of my rant about noise levels. SERVICE: Our hotel steward was great, didn't feel need for turn down service every night so often just put Don't Disturb sign on door if we didn't want to be bothered. Always had buffet for breakfast and lunch so not much to write about service there. Our evening waiter Rigaberto and his assistant were great. When we had questions about other things went to service desk where they were okay. Did find when we disembarked in Miami and there was a big delay with no announcement to explain why, the service desk was not very helpful or nice. I know many ships were letting off passengers at the same time but a polite announcement about delays would have been a good thing. Tip: Take the early disembarkation, we would next time. PORT/SHORE EXCURSIONS: We did not do any ship excursions except a snorkelling one in Grand Turk. (Which was good). Found most of the beaches we went to by taxi or bus had many people from the cruise there. Some complained that they were whisked there and back much quicker than we were as we had the option of staying longer without someone herding us back on a bus. Unfortunately we felt that because we did not use the ship excursions we were left to our own devices for information about the ports and activities on shore. The English guide John Patrick told us that he only gave out information about excursions, not what happened or was available on shore. I certainly was glad I had done research ahead with a Fodor and Lonely Planet Guide. Ship excursions seemed to concentrate on touring, boating and shopping at ship authorized stores etc. No mention of being dropped off at museums or other historic locales. When we landed at the port there really wasn't much in information at most locations. Some tourist booths had maps etc. but you had to be prepared so you knew ahead what you wanted to do and then you had to deal with taxi drivers, rates and distance to where you wanted to go. Taking more ship excursions might have been a good idea but still suspect about rates and time spent loading and getting there, would have to do more research before doing more ship excursions. MONEY MAKERS: As I had not been on a cruise before it was a bit of an adjustment to the level of selling that went on. We knew it wasn't like an all inclusive so we were prepared to pay for drinks etc. ( drinks didn't cost a lot more than at a Canadian bar) but not used to announcements being made over PA about buying items on the ship e.g. jewellery, etc. Poor spa staff even had to shill special rates for massages etc. when you came back on board from shore. They even charged 55 dollars for an insider tour of the ship. Seemed a bit excessive! Generally though felt for what we paid through Vacations To Go we got a good deal. DINING: My husband and I found the food okay. As I don't eat any meat but fish I did find the choices for evening dining a little limited. The breakfast, lunch choices were okay, most of the problem was the number of people getting food at the same time. Too bad there wasn't a better way to configure the way food was presented so there would be less lining up. I know people who have travelled on other lines talk about the great choice, the 24 hour dining, the free room service and that the newer ships have more restaurants but for me it was adequate. I've heard new ships will soon have bakery restaurants etc. but I don't want to gain ten pounds on a cruise and it would be more tempting with more food choice. One thing that the Costa line has is special gala nights with Italian music and presentations by the waiters etc. I found that was fun. Presented with beautifully printed menus on those nights. We usually had the snack at five to tide us over to the late evening sitting. Can see how some lines that offer any time sitting would be a good idea as second sitting was so late. THE STAR: This ship was the star to me. The ship designer who does all the newer Costa and Carnival ships Joe Farcas has certainly created a surreal, beautiful palace of a ship. I never got tired of looking at the details from Italian glass to fanciful pottery lighthouses. Every surface was embellished. It was interesting to see into the crew areas, kitchens etc. and see how plain it looked there. SUMMARY: Not sure if I would go on another cruise but now that I'm not a first time cruiser I will be able to compare a possible future cruise to this quite enjoyable trip. Read Less

I dont know where to start about this cruise, this is my 15th cruise so I know what to expect. For our first dinner I had the spaghetti bolognese, this was the worse ever and not even warm, went to the Lido deck to have something to eat. Next morning the orange juice is watered down Tang, coffee so strong had to have hot water added and they brought it 10 minutes later so when added the coffee it was undrinkeable, switched to tea after a few day or went to Lido deck and brought some with me to the dining room. My husband asked for eggs benedict and when he received his plate it was a poached egg on a dried piece of toast, no sauce no nothing, I should of taken a picture, what kind of cooks do they have to serve something like this. Toasts were always brought 10 minutes before the eggs so cold by the time we ate. Lunch were ok but so disorganised, had some salad and when I asked for some salad dressing I was told to go to an other counter and had to wait in line to get some dressing, same with everything else, one day I was lost after getting my lunch from all the running around. Coming from a family of french pastry chefs, I love my desserts and these tasted all the same and again what a dissapointment when I got my tiramisu or sabayon it was a pudding. One evening we were so dissapointed with our meal that we went to the Lido deck to get something to eat to find out that it was closed after 4 and we could get only pizza for 8,00 per person, I could not even get hot water for a herbal tea. Asked at the bar and was told to call room service, but there is a cost for this on Costa, we are used to sometime have breakfast in our stateroom and again there is a cost with them. Let just say that we did not gain any weight on this cruise. As for entertainment on a few occasions they had movies, one evening they had cruise employees for their talent show....went a few times and left before the end. Another dissapointment was the fact that they did not want to open the partition on our balcony to have access to my sister's balcony which was always done on other cruise line. The only good thing about this cruise was the ports of call but then again in Guadeloupe we had 800 persons getting off the ship and we could not get any ground transportation to make a tour of the island, walked 30 minutes to a bus terminal to get a bus and went to the beach, the good thing is I am french speaking and could communicate with them. They were very helpful. All in all we were happy to get off, the disembarkation went very well we got off with our luggages and we were one of the first off. Costa NEVER AGAIN Read Less

Our 32nd cruise, Costa Mediterranea; First cruise with Costa and last. Sad because the ship is beautiful, clean, easy embarkation, but food quality is poor! Same soup everyday, ministrome, did get watery chicken soup one day. Well done meat is not red! Breakfast and lunch is buffet style even in the dining room. Watery looking scrambled eggs. If they ran out of something they were in no hurry to replace it including plates and silverware. Always a mad house in the buffet. God forbid they could put out some butter with the bread. Don't look for tea or coffee after 5pm or between servings! No food after 5 unless you pay $8 for lousy pizza. I don't understand other reviews I read that said the food was great, must have been different. The Costa website is very clunky It wouldn't even let me put in the name Kristen in, so changed it to Chris just so it woul take the name, unreal! I have a charge for a FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE of $6.90 charged the first day. I called was told to email, called again as no reply and told it would take 2 weeks to research-BULL. Anyone else been charged?   Read Less

The Costa Mediterranea is arguably a beautiful ship. It is our third cruise on this very ship, the years have reduced her status. Had we known about the service or lack thereof we would never have chosen this cruise line. Please know that on Costa... All daily food services as well as beverage services close at 2:30 (or sooner). The pizza and burger station remain open until 4:00 some days. On a given day, I tried to get a burger, there was none to be had and it was 3:15. You need to know that there are no snacks or beverages... no coffee no tea no water... nothing... until the next day. Shore excursions??? you must plan on buying your lunch ashore or hurry back to the ship.. to meet this curfew... UNBELIEVABLE!!! The food offerings are very low quality. The dining room is your only evening option... second seating is 9:00... doors typically open 20 minutes later... The pasta offerings... are a disgrace... probably plated hours before... one evening I summoned the wait staff, took my plate of pasta and turned the plate to a 90 degree angle the paste stayed glued to the plate... the waitress apologized and added that that is what she had been sent... Embarrassing for any proud liner let alone an Italian ship. The risotto another Italian artistic offering... was 'sciffo' think muck..probably defrosted microwaved hours earlier. The duck... sounded good...leg of duck was tasteless, room temperature with the consistency of a rubber band. Horrible. I asked for an espresso and was told 'no' the dining room does not serve espresso... I was told that some bars on the ship do... if I wanted one later. THATS' UN-ITALIAN!!! Room service has very very limited choices and is further complicated by schedules... and is fee based. Suite guests might order from a restricted limited sandwich menu... the L'Italiano offering sounded good... "focaccia with prosciutto, cheese,lettuce and tomato." I asked for fries on the side. What was delivered... white bread with the crust cut-off, a pale slice of some lunch meat, a slice of processed cheddar, lettuce slathered with mayo. The fries... were a cellophane pack containing four crackers... diner style. There is a blatant disconnect between what is offered and what the guests are presented. The pay venue "Medusa" $35 pp is good. Thats' Cost a. The young entertainers are dedicated but I did miss the live music band... must also be a thing of the past with Costa. The hotel staff keeps the rooms within expectations and work hard. This line does not value its guests. The restrictive nature and low quality affirms a careless attitude. Although the guests were from many different countries... virtually all guests we met agreed that this experience was the worst.   Read Less

This was our second time to cruise with Costa and we are experienced cruisers. We chose this cruise line because we were happy with our previous one with Costa as well as the itinerary. The itinerary did not disappoint, Embarkation was smooth and easy, getting on and off at the ports including where we were docked and tendered also was smooth and easy. No problem with disembarkation either. Our cabin was comfortable, good cabin steward, pleasant waiter staff in the dining who tried hard to please but that is about where the positives ended. Overall the food was disappointing. Breakfast and lunch buffet were satisfactory although time for the lunch buffet was quite limited and there was no dinner buffet, leaving little options for families with young children. Pizza was offered every evening for a price( no charge up to 4:00 for the pizza). Each evening we( six of us in our party) were hopeful that we would see items on the menu we looked forward to eating. Generally choices were limited and the food was tasteless. Nothing really special was offered on formal/gala night night. Some entertainment by the staff was offered at dinner, this was quite enjoyable. Our waiter made an effort to accommodate special requests at our table. I think even for him he found limited what he could do. Entertainment was limited. Two evenings movies were offered. I think movies should be an extra form of entertainment, not the sole entertainment . Entertainment was generally mediocre at best, one or two shows were good. The final evening due to the incident in Tunisia the entertainment was cancelled out of respect for those injured and those who died was cancelled. Yet the bars with the bands could stay open. Found that hard to understand. Day time programming on sea days was non existing. WE have been on several cruise where different activities were offered on sea days, lectures, computer courses etc. Unless you playing the games around the pool, involved with the dance club not much else was offered. Unfortunately we ended up with a cabin just below one of the bars which didn't close until 1:30 am. We complained about this noise three times. Offered a room two doors down, which was also just below the same bar with the same noise problem. Staff person we spoke to was going to email her boss and get back to us. No follow up. We do know there had to be more rooms available as 600 got off in Gaudaloupe and 400 got on. Cannot comment on the excursions as we simply got off the ship found a taxi and went off to the beach. We were quite satisfied with these arrangements. We will certainly cruise the Caribbean again but never again on Costa. There are too many other good choices out there Read Less

To pre-register on Costa website you need lots of patience. Their website is not very advanced. Boarding in Miami was easy. Ships was clean and neat. Lots of passengers get on at French Guadeloupe - so you have about 85% of the ship passengers as being Italian, French, German and Spanish. Biggest complaint was the food service. If you did not eat at specific breakfast or lunch times, you missed out. Evening food was only dining room or $8 for a pizza dinner. No other food venue was available for the entire cruise. Water, juice, coffee, warm/cold milk and tea was available for breakfast. For lunch the available beverage was water, coffee or tea. Evening dinner was a nice selection on the menu. We were in late seating which started at 9pm. It was a long time from lunch until 9pm. Costa only served cold bread roll sandwiches each day from 4pm to 6pm. Spoken english among the passengers was few in number. Staff did a good job keeping all nationalities of passengers happy. Shore excursions booked thru the ship were well planned. Evening entertainment was nice - very international in flavor. Biggest disappointment was the lack of selection and food availability on the cruise. Food service menu to the cabin was few selection options. Trip agenda of ports was great, but will select a different cruise line next time. Read Less

This was my 5th cruise and BY FAR the worst cruise I've ever taken, which is a shame because it was my wife and I's honeymoon. This was her first cruise ever. Needless to say, she doesn't ever want to take one again. Told her not to judge cruise after being on the Mediterranea. Issues started upon arrival. As any cruiser knows, upon entering your room you usually find your room key cards for the stateroom Our two room key card belonged to the room next to us. We could get in and out of our room after brining in our luggage and getting situated for a few hours. Had to go to guest services and explain to them what happened. They made us two new key cards and we could finally get back into the room and use them for drinks/food etc. I'm sure it was just an honest mistake, but a mistake none the less. To try and keep this review short and to the point...food was just terrible everyday/every night. Very disappointed. Food was catered to the Italian pallet, since about 80% of the ship were Italians from Italy, or French, Dutch, or German. There were some Canadians and Americans, but they were hard to find. Did meet some English speaking Italians and we asked if the food is like this in Italy, and they said, Oh noooo, not ever close. Even the waiter and bartenders said the food had taken a turn for the worst since the Concordia accident. I was urged by our own waiter during the dinner sessions to complain about the food or nothing would ever get fixed. How awful is that?...No food on the entire ship after 6:30pm for the rest of the night (except for your assigned dinner). The only thing was a pizza bar (that was the worst pizza in the history of mankind with only ever two choices to pick from, cheese or pesto) and they charged $8.00 per person to get it. What a joke. It was hard to ever get or order water/ice. Sometimes the bartenders would give you a glare or a snark remark about ordering water and glass of ice. Ice cream machines were never working properly, almost all food was bread, bread, and more bread. Food choices were slim and almost always the same. Drink prices were pretty high. Stopped getting them after the 3rd day and drank on the islands we visited. Entertainment was highly lacking and pretty disappointing. The acrobats were actually good. Most shows were bad. High school talent show competition bad. Basically it was just music and dancing on the deck every evening with the same music over and over again. Not many fun games/no comedian/cost $20 to buy 1 bingo card/etc etc. We found ourselves checking out playing cards and playing rummy for the last 5-6 days to keep us entertained. Some of the quizzes were fun. Hot tubs were always cold or luke warm. However, the Turkish spa on the men's side in the massage/gym area were about the only highlight of the ship. The hot steam sauna and dry rock sauna were excellent. The massage staff was nice and we did get a massage which was excellent. Kudos to the massage staff folks for doing a good job. The internet never worked on the ship. The library where the computers were were always down or booted you off while trying to login. It was just as bad with the wifi access (that they charged you for to use at a crappy price per minute) on your phones to use. The T.V. signal had 4 channels and they were always crackling and fading in an out. Could never watch a show or any program because every few seconds there was a signal issue the entire cruise if you ever just wanted to stay in the room to relax). We also weren't aware that this was a non-English speaking guest ship. There were 6 languages on the ship, so announcements took forever to be repeated over and over again in all languages. Hard to meet and talk to anyone. I have to say, the French, Germans, Canadians were all nice and ok, but the Italians (with the exception of a few good apples) were terrible. Very pompous, rude, arrogant, etc. They'd walk passed you in the hall and bump into you constantly without ever saying excuse me or sorry. They would bum rush the elevator door every time it would open instead of letting the people on the elevator already on it, off. How rude. Most of them would get up around 6-7 am on days at sea, and go lay their pool towels out on pool chairs to reserved them for their family/friends and disappear. Half the time you couldn't find a pool chair on the pool decks because they were all taken by people that weren't there, or would leave an come back all day. We did have a good waiter and assistant waiter at our dinner seating. Very nice and polite. When the food was bad, he'd offer to bring us something else or make something off menu for us which we appreciated. We had to special request butter for the bread every night!, it was always just oil and vinegar. Special requested natural water as well, as it was always either wine, coffee, or sparkling water. So much for short and sweet, but find yourself another cruise line and ship to go on. I'm sure I left a few things out, lol....This will be our first and last Costa Cruise ever!!! Read Less

Just when I thought I was a seasoned cruiser I took this Costa Mediterannea out of Miami and what a shock I got. First let me say that my observations are not really to be critical just to alert others of an alternative cruising experience, you could say the phrase "You get what you pay for" could be tag line for this cruise. One thing nobody complained about was the price and the unique itinerary. Departure Miami 11 PM Feb 4 Wed with typical unpacking and assigned sit down dinner at 9 PM. The wife prefers late seating whenever such a thing is required, rarely is anymore. Which leads me into the other quirk there is ONLY sit down dinner no buffet option. After dinner only food to be found is a 14-16 inch pizza $8. For the wife and I this is not an issue and frankly seeing the waste off food on other cruises I personally gave this feature cudos. Having to search for water and coffee without paying is something different. To us Americans I heard of the inconvience and at first mob jams at the buffet and coffee dispenser areas where both lines going every which way merged and spills happened regularly. A redesign of the whole buffet area should be done. Having a variety of food in each service area adds to the mix by having to want an item at one area only to wait in another line for a second item. Americans do not pay for water others do? Whats up with that? Nothing but praise for the staff and the CAPTAIN, when I grow up I want to be like him. Those on the cruise know what I am talking about hubba hubba and how about Ciiro Chow Chow Chow Entertainment Good and enough dancing to hurt your feet at 68 anything past 11pm is a miracle and unfortunately most of the nightlife did not start until 11:45 and later, a young person's clock. Nassau Since the boat arrived past 9 pm Millie and I could not catch a dive boat so chartered a snorkel catamaran on our own. The water was 72 degrees and for this Florida Boy way toooooo Cold, Millie stayed iin it for over 40 minutes as well as others wearing hardly anything mmmmmmmmmmmm. Grand Turk was rained out for diving to took a cab ride to downtown Grand Turk consisting of a main street a 1/4 mile long with buildings dating back to 1799. Seem to have good trinket prices Tortola Had to tender in due to dock improvements so between tender and a short stop we could do little but take a $15 roundtrip per person bus ride to Kings Beach See Kitty just outside the gate on the street. The remaining stops of Antigua,Guadeloupe, St Kitts, St Maarten were as we had hoped clear and warm water. This has been our second Costa experience and have always enjoyed our time and this was cruise was no different Millie and I would both recommend The Mediterannea but be prepared for an unique experience. visit me at www.lunarcon.com for videos of this cruise and others we have taken. Read Less

We have never been disappointed to this level in over 30 years of cruising. Starting with the food: First there were no ice tea or lemonade at the meal, which was a first for us and the 3 other couples with our group. Had to ask for ice, lemon and butter every night. It took 30-40 minutes to receive the first course and often not all 8 of us would receive our courses together. Often several of us at our table were getting our desert while others were still waiting for their main coursers. The suckling pig still had hair and bristles attached. The steaks rarely came out the way we ordered them and at one dinner the Matre de was asked to our table because we could not get the steaks as ordered and his response was " it looks fine, eat it". Many of the meals were unedible every single night. The soups were watered down and extremely salty. The buffet was shut down during dinner hours which eliminated a possible choice. The dinners took so long (we were at the early sitting) that the waiter asked us to skip the coffee because he needed the time to set up for the late seating. The scrambled eggs were watery and when asked if we can have them cooked some more the answer was simple, no! There was no bananas and oranges by the second day out and by the fifth no grapefruit or prunes. The lunch buffet was not much better, it was hard to figure out what the food was since there were many dishes without an explanation sign. The best food was the hot dogs by the pool but when we asked for a fresh roll to replace the stale ones my wife heard one server say to the other "this lady is nuts"? Paying for pizza at night was an insult. We say flatware dropped on the floor than picked up and put on a table, charger plates wiped off from the early seating and put back on the table for the late seating. Bathroom were often dirty and out of paper and napkins. One evening instead of a show there was a movie. When there were shows, few were that good. They seemed to have eliminate the position of Cruise Director as none were ever visible. The 8 of us in our group have had over 100 cruises under our belt and all without except were never as disappointed to this degree and would not return to Costa. We could say it must just be this ship but it seemed to be a decision by management to cut their expenses. The management at Costa should be ashamed of themselves. Read Less

The thing to remember is that this is an Italian ship. Although it departed from Miami, it is an Italian ship. Most the passengers were Italian followed by French and Spanish with the number of Americans far behind. Everything was in five languages: first Italian, then english followed by French, German and Spanish. Imagine the safety drill – repeated five times. When it was over,the two minute two minute wrap up comments took nearly ten minutes to repeat in each language. This goes on and on. The ship is relatively new and beautifully appointed. The cabins are nicely appointed and ample size. King size beds can be divided into doubles. The toilet is turned at an angle, giving the bathroom more useable room. A safe was included in the room. The balcony was probably the largest we have had. Dining was interesting. The breakfast selection was perhaps a little more limited than previous cruises although an omelet station was available. Dinner was a different experience. There are two dinner seatings – an early and a late. Remember,this is an Italian ship and late dining means really late – 9:15. The menu choices are presented in typical Italian fashion. Antipasta first, followed by a serving of pasta, then the entrée. The salad is last, just before desert. It is after all,an Italian ship. Most ships have carving stations with ham, beef or turkey; however, this ship. Had a carving station with octopus! Published guidelines indicate “there is no set dress code in the evening…. Casual; informal (jacket for Gentlemen); Formal/gala(smart:evening dresses are per existed for Ladies; jacket and tie or dark suite for gentlemen). Just the opposite was the case jeans were commonplace each night and even some shorts. The gala nights were big time dress up for some, but not most. It seemed that for dinner almost anything went dress wise. The food was excellent with a very appealing presentation. There was a standard set of favorites available everyday in addition to the evening’s choices. Portions were not large, but more than ample, especially given the number of courses. The food was probably the best we had ever had on a cruise ship. Coffee was not served with dinner. The evening’s menus was never posted in advance. Different beverage packages were available. Ones with beer and soda were available for purchase at additional cost. We had the “Water USA” package which meant that we had we had free water with our meal. Folks without that had to pay for their water. How we ended up with this was never clear, but we thought it might have been tied into the kind of cabin you had booked. We had aPremium Balcony and thought that the difference. We also had fee room service in the morning because of the premium room. Cj. Others had to pay for room service. We read reviews of folks saying they had to get their wine before dinner and carry it in with them. That was not the case. Upon entry, each table had on it a wine list. It seemed as if the maitre d’ wanted the wine list taken down as quickly as possible he would circulate and seemingly scold the staff if it were on the table. As a result, they quickly removed the wine list after entry, usually before one could look over the menu choices and make a selection. Once removed, it was difficult to get back. Beware! The public bathrooms in some sections of the ship are for both sexes which came as a rather awkward surprise to our American ways. Excursions were a challenge. Because of the number of languages, there were never enough English only to make a group. As a result, English was always mixed with another. On one tour, the guide on the bus spoke no English. We were met by an English speaker upon arrival. On another, the guide gave the information first in French. When he began in English,the French began to talk among themselves, making it impossible to hear the guide. The time and meeting point for excursions was never made available until late the night before. The reason given was that arrangements were being finalized which is absurd since they run this cruise over and over. Onboard activities on sea days were rather limited. We have been accustomed to a much larger variety of possibilities. For instance, on one sea day they had just eleven planned activities. On the previous shore day there were ten. Since this is an Italian ship, we were concerned about whether it would have American or European electrical plugs. We co contacted support the company and were reassured that it was American. In actuality, there was one American and one European plug in the entire cabin! We had taken along our European adapter and were able to operate two which was enough to recharge our devices. In all, the Costa Luminosa was a nice, modern ship with excellent food. Language was a problem, but not an insurmountable one.   Read Less

Our recent cruise on Costa Cruise line’s 11 day Caribbean Cruise was not a positive experience. While we found the efforts of the wait staff and cabin stewards to be very positive, our interactions with those above that level was found to be more than dissatisfying. We had 2 of our 4 excursions cancelled due to “lack of enough sign ups”, yet discovered the other guests had taken the same excursions with no problems. We also experienced the opposite where we took an excursion and others had been told theirs was cancelled due to “lack of enough sign ups”. We found after the fact, that important information relating to how guests needed to register their credit cards for expenditures while on the cruise, had actually been included in fine print in a list of events for that day. We were put ashore using the ships life rafts at one dock, only to find out at the time of departure for re-boarding that we were to go to a different dock to get back on board. Why hadn’t we been told ahead of time? We found a great difficulty in carrying on a discussion with middle management due to what we perceived to be their lack of communication skills regarding their policies. The lack of variation in menu for breakfasts and lunches was noticeable. As well, even though they had frozen yogurt machines at every buffet counter, none had the dispenser heads on them during the entire cruise. When asked about this, we were told we could “buy” ice cream bars from a machine dispenser at one of the pool areas. Compared to other cruises taken in the past, there was a noticeable dearth of quality entertainment on board for those days at sea. All in all, it was quite apparent that the Costa Cruise line is experiencing some major financial crises and is cutting corners at every opportunity to them. Our experiences varied considerably from experiences on other cruise lines. We will definitely not be on any future passenger manifest of Costa Cruise line. Read Less

We do a lot of cruising. We cruised 7 times this past year and usually love it. We are not picky. We usually eat in the buffets on board, so you know that we can't be that picky. We have cruised many times on Royal Caribbean (not as good as it was several years ago), Norwegian and Carnival. The ship was 90% international travelers, which did not bother us. Matter of fact we became good friends with some German couples that we meet on board. What bothered us the most that there is no place to eat on this ship after 6 pm unless you want to pay. From 2:30 until 5:30 or 6 pm you may get some salad, terrible pizza and some lunch meat sandwiches, but that is it. If you don't want to eat in the dining room then you starve until the next morning. Dinner takes 2 hours. The rolls must be leftover from breakfast because you could use them as baseballs. We found in the morning they are very good. It is the same menu every day in the buffet for breakfast. At least they did have an omelet station. Cold cereal is not in boxes, but dumped in a plastic bin. I can only imagine how stale the cereal is by the end of the cruise. Be aware that the difference between a premium balcony and a classic balcony on the website is that you can receive a full breakfast in your cabin for free each morning. Since we did not want a full breakfast, only coffee, we did not upgrade. Little did we know that that meant you couldn't even get coffee in your room unless you paid $7 per person. There is no place on the ship to get coffee BEFORE the buffet opens in the morning. You have to wait until they officially open the coffee pots each morning to get any. At dinner they had been charging $7 per bottle to get water at dinner. They said that so many Americans had complained on previous cruises that they provided all Americans, and Canadians, with the dinner water package. It was marked "US water" on our cards. So nice of them. That meant that you could get water by the glass, no ice, when you could get someone to give it to you. Trying to find a seat in the buffet was nearly impossible. Often we asked an officer why there was no seating to be told that there was. Our reply was, "Find us a seat then", which they couldn't. It seems that many people would sit there and drink their wine with lunch and never leave. Also, many tables for 6-8, but few for 2-4, which meant that there were many seats not being utilized properly. Everything done on the ship was done in 5-6 languages. The boat drill was held at 10:15 at night because the ship leaves at 11 pm. This is one of the few ships that still makes you put on a life vest and stand in lines on the deck. The drill took forever because it had to be done in each of the 6 languages. Port days were a mess. There was never an announcement of where to go to get off the ship. Sometimes you would go down the midship elevators to be told when there to the forward elevators. Would have been nice to have had some information. The room steward and our server were nice, but all other staff were not. They really didn't want to be bothered by anyone. There seemed to be a lot of officers doing nothing, while a few regular staff did all of the work. Many of the staff stated that there used to be a buffet at night, but that they took it away. Guess they wanted to save money. They have many soft serve ice cream machines, none of which were ever working while we were on the ship. They do have a freezer next to one ice cream machine from which you can BUY an ice cream bar. Now you know why none of the machines work. When we booked the cruise all of the reviews available were either from their European cruises or the transatlantic cruise. We were hoping that that trips in the states would be better, but not so. If we had seen the latest reviews we wouldn't have booked this cruise. The debarkation process was a disaster. We did not get off the ship until 1:30 pm!! They blamed it on US customs, but I am not really sure that that was the problem. You do immigration on board since you do not return to the same dock from which you embarked. Luggage is in a tent, not a terminal. Overall this cruise line is not what most cruisers expect from a cruise line. Even the Europeans were disappointed with the amenities on the ship that one usually expects. DON"T GO ON THIS CRUISE LINE IF YOU HAVE EVER CRUISED BEFORE!!!!!   Read Less

Ive been on 46 cruises ,, 3 on Costa... I read the reviews on Costa Luminosa before going but I had booked the cruise already at a good price ... I was really disappointed in this cruise... We thought we were on a Timeshare cruise... 5 of us went , 2 suites 1 balcony cabins... 1st thing we found was no water was supplied at sitdown meals including the specialty dining room Club Costa.. We were charged $7.00 per bottle... We figured Costa cut the food budget to $5.00 per person per day... Prime rib was cut 3/16 of an inch thick... We figured the meat at each meal was between 2 and 4 oz.. Meals were almost the same every day... Small varances ... Pizza was a joke.. Pizza crust with sauce only... No cheese or meat ... No daily movies.. The big screen only showed advertisements... hardly anyone spoke American.. Ship was kept spotless... Shows were ok but mostly ships singers and dancers every night.. The downfall I think is ships automatic tips... Service has gone to crap... In the specialty dining room we usally had 2 waiters per table.. on this ship we had 1 server for 6 tables..We paid $34 for meal that took 3 hrs to get served and it wasn't a $8.00 meal... I would have expected it in the regular dining room... 1 steak on menu a poor grade ribeye .. I could go on but I think you get the way this is going... I WOULD NEVER PAY TO GO ON COSTA AGAIN... Read Less

Costa Luminosa: 24.02.2015 Miami, Cozumel, Roatan, Jamaica, Caymans, Grand Turk, Nassau, Miami. The cruise was value for money and to be honest the ship was in really good shape and on a par with any other "mid range" ships we have been on. Balcony Cabin: as big if not bigger than anything else we have been on inc P&O, Celeb, Princess, Norwegian and RC. Tiny TV however with very limited channels in English and what there was, was pretty poor. Only interested in selling you movies not providing entertainment. Food: Yes portions are small but I am very, very fussy and there was plenty for me to choose from at dinner. Lunch buffet plenty of choice but tends to drift to pastas and cold meats, Italian based food on an Italian ship, just what you would expect. Breakfast, both English and Continental style no issues at all. Ice Cream: There is none, all machines unplugged and have been for months I was told. Take them away or sort them out. Entertainment: Poor show on this front, not a lot going on and what is going on is pretty poor. Huge TV on pool deck wasted, all it does it revolve round the same commercial paid advertisements over and over again, waste of a quality feature to save a few $. Staff: Overworked and I am sure underpaid, why do so many cruise going people behave so badly to the staff. Rude and ignorant customers who just can not bring themselves to say please or thank you to the staff. Tips: Pre-paid, not good for customers as staff don't have the incentive to do that little bit extra as you have already tipped them. Cancelled port Of Grand Turk: Too windy said the Captain so will go to the private Island owned by Carnival being Princess Quay, handy for them! I asked reception if I could have 2 minutes of email time as I needed to inform someone we were meeting on Grand Turk we would not be coming. No we don't give free email away was the reply, no compromise, no discussion, go away we are not interested, very very annoying and a silly thing to do after the Captain changed the plans. Would have cost pennies and a happy customer there would be. Very annoying as the day before they allowed me to use the ships phone "for free" to sort out my Credit card which had been refused for authorization to Costa for security reasons, then again they would not have been paid. A beautiful ship with good staff but a cruise line which penny pinches on things it should it not. If you want water with your dinner you have to pay for it, If you want to play table tennis you have to buy the ping pong balls and hire the bats, if you want to play golf (very poor golf) you have to pay ,if you want to try the car racing get your cruise card ready you know what is coming. Value for money cruise with some annoying traits which could be easily resolved but guess what nothing will change as long as people keep cruising with them. I would superb value for money.   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 advised against cruising on Costa lines and rightly so! The shower has no cold/hot water pressure regulators so you are either getting cold or scalding hot. The dining room is 100% staffed with waiters from Asia who learned a bit of waitering on the job. We consistently got our fist course 1 hour and 15 minutes after we sat down and finished in 2.5 - 3 hours. The food was the worst on any of my last 22 cruises both lunch and dinner. Make sure you don't order steak or lamb chops, they are inedible unless you sharpen your teeth before the meal. The breakfast buffet area is totally inadequate for the number of passengers. In 12 days I never found a table to have my meal inside, only around the pool. The shows were a step below Karaoke grade with the exception of a male baritone/tenor duo. I found the announcements in 5 languages annoying especially since the volume was at its maximum. The product is geared towards 3rd world passengers and the proof is that they embark / disembark about 500 guests in Guadeloupe who make a mess in the buffet area especially around the food stations. In conclusion I counted the hours left to disembarkation time. Read Less

Just finished back to back 10 and 11 day cruise in the Caribbean. If you like a European experience, you will like this cruise, if you are expecting US style food / entertainment look elsewhere. Most of the passengers were from Italy, Germany, and South America, English among passengers was not the most spoken language. Like I said, this is a European experience, and its a little different. First off the service was great. The cabin was clean and comfortable and the Cabin steward Ronald, was so very helpful. Bar staff, especially Roachan, and Franklin were always around, even for the all inclusive drinkers like us. The restaurant waiters Angelica and Maitre D Carlos looked after all our special needs and provided us with custom food orders due to dietary restrictions. Fernando Sanna, the Restaurant Manager went out of his way to make this family's holiday a wonderful memory. We have only two complaints 1. Why isn't the pool heated on deck? Most days it was only 69 - 72degrees F, its pretty bad when on a hot day, no one is in the pool. Even for us Canadians it was cold and we will swim in any cold lake. 2. Don't try to get breakfast after 10.00 am for some reason unlike other lines, if you like to sleep in a little bit there is no bite except coffe and donuts after ten. Someone please tell Costa breakfast should be till 11.00 am at least for us North Americans. 3. Lousy internet services .... slow service .... expensive for what you get .... 50 cents per minute and most of the time you are waiting and paying for download .... think AOL Dial Up speed. 4. Lousy Satellite Dish TV .... O sure Italy, Greece and Germany come in .... but once you leave Miami forget anything US .... worst part was losing the signal during the Divisional Finals for the NFL ..... This was a major problem for all NFL fans .... picture looking at the TV and watching a play with a signal that goes out every ten seconds for a minute or so ..... TERRIBLE!!!!! All in all, except for the above it was a good trip .... BUT WARM UP THAT POOL!!!!!!!! Read Less

The Mediterranea is a beautifully appointed ship. Marble everywhere including the salon floors. The food is wonderfully prepared and served by excellent waiters. I had a balcony cabin on 8th floor it was spacious and well laid out for two people with plenty of storage space. Bathroom was a good size. The staff was at all times friendly and helpful. One of the nice things: You arrive at the ports early in the morning and have all day for your tours. There was music in all the lounges at night, fun gambling and lots to do on the ship if you wanted to play games on the decks. Improvement: They could get better entertainment for the main show at night -- it was sometimes good, sometimes not. But if you didn't like the main stage entertainment they did have nice music in the lounges. All in all it was a wonderful cruise. Read Less

Just returned from a 12 night cruise to So. Caribbean with the Mediterranea. My husband and I along with usually six other couples have been cruising for the past 15 years. This is the first cruise with Costa Cruises. The Mediterranea is a lovely ship and our balcony cabin was very comfortable that's where the positive ends. The food was mediocre with few choices and small portions. There was no dinner buffet; in fact after 3 pm the choices at the buffet were little tea sandwiches on rolls with a quarter slice of salami, sliver of lettuce and mayonnaise and some hard stale cookies. Nothing to drink but water and coffee until about 5 pm and then everything shuts down. Ice cubes were a luxury if you found them! All other cruise lines offer ice tea, lemonade, punch and coffee throughout the day and evening. Nothing to drink unless you go to the bar and pay for your water, etc. The Jacuzzis were cold, also the showers on deck. No towels on deck for the pool or Jacuzzi. The towels in the cabin were old, dingy and frayed. The entertainment was poor and amateurish; the theater was about a third full each time. The crew was stoic and unfriendly. Hand sanitizing was not enforced at all. The dispensers were there but no one was monitoring. Having to listen to the announcements in 5 languages was annoying and hard to understand even the English! Could not understand the policy to serve bottled water at dinner only to US passengers at no charge???? Disembarkation was a disaster! Absolutely no organization or order in which to get your bags and the lines to go though customs unreal. It took us about 2 hours to get through. Costa needs to start treating the passengers with a lot more care or they will certainly lose those that have remained with them. Another ODD situation is the letting off passengers in Guadeloupe and picking up more passengers there. HUH??? All I can say is CIAO Costa Cruises you'll never see us again. Read Less

We just returned from a 12 night Bahamas/Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Costa Mediterranean. This was our first time on Costa even though we have cruised several times before. We booked on the 18th. Sail date was the 23rd. I had called Costa to book directly. When the agent gave me the price, I told him that it was $50 per person cheaper on another website for the same room. He said that was his best price, so I booked through the other website. We booked an inside guarantee (We prefer an inside cause the cabins are so dark and I occasionally get seasick, so I don't want to go into the room and see the horizon going up and down). When we got our documents, we were assigned a balcony. We have been assigned an outside cabin in the past, but never a balcony. We figured this was a great way to try a balcony....for free! Embarkation was different than most cruise lines. Inside the terminal at check in, they tell you your Costa cards will be in your stateroom. Your picture is taken (for your card) at the gangway, as you board the ship. You set up your onboard account at a kiosk. When we tried to activate ours, it said to go to guest relations. At guest relations, we were told that Costa does not accept debit cards. We tried to explain that our debit card can be used as a credit card. They again stated that they do not accept debit cards. We could find an ATM off of the ship in Miami or there would be an ATM at our first port. Luckily, my husband had cash with him. Our cabin was nice. We used the balcony a few times, but not enough to ever pay for one. The ship was very pretty and well maintained. The cruise didn't leave Miami until 11pm. The mandatory life boat drill was at 10:15pm. That was inconvenient, but we had no choice. We aren't big drinkers, so we didn't purchase a beverage package. We have always been satisfied with the juice, coffee, hot chocolate, iced tea and lemonade that most cruise lines have on deck. That was a big mistake on Costa. They have juice and coffee available on deck in the morning. In the afternoon, the only drinks you can get are water and coffee. The drink stations close down between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner and after dinner. You can't even get water cause they take the glasses away. Pizza is free during the day, but they charge $8.00 per person for pizza, salad and dessert in the evening. Once that closes, the only food available is from room service. We never looked at the room service menu. We heard it was limited and that they charge $2.50 to deliver it. We weren't sure if the food was free or not because breakfast in your cabin was $7.00 per person. We were assigned early seating for dinner (6:30). They only have a two person wait staff compared to three persons on other cruise lines. The wait staff was friendly, but not very efficient. It didn't help that the maitre'd would allow people into the dining room 75 minutes after their assigned dining time. That not only messes up the waiter, but it affects the other passengers. The food did not compare to that of other cruise lines. Several of the items were not what I expected (minestrone soup had a white base and pasta with bolognese sauce was pasta with little bits of roast beef in gravy). The food didn't have much flavor. Salad was served with your entree of after your entree was served. The everyday menu had grilled cod or grilled chicken breast. They had 3 pools and 3 outdoor jacuzzis. The jacuzzi in the adult section was not heated. The other two were not very warm and half of the jets didn't work. The itinerary was great. We went to Freeport, Nassau, Samana, Tortola, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Antigua and Guadeloupe. Mother Nature cooperated until we hit Guadeloupe. It rained on and off most of the day, but most seemed to enjoy their tours. We went to the theater 11 of the 12 nights and enjoyed the majority of the entertainment. The two shows that we didn't care for were good although not to our personal liking. They showed a video of a Ray Charles concert. It started while we were at dinner, so we didn't go. They also showed a video of a Sting concert. We left after a few songs because we aren't huge fans. Other than the cabin steward and the wait staff, the crew was not very friendly or helpful. I went to one officer because the ice machine out by the pool wasn't working. He looked at me as I told him then turned and walked away without a word. The English speaking host was available one evening for advice, questions, etc. I told him it was our first Costa cruise and would probably be our last. He never said 'I'm sorry to hear that' or 'why'. He was looking around as if I wasn't there. He told me that he would be having a behind the scenes seminar and some quizzes for the English speaking guests. That had nothing to do with what I told him ~ the staff not being friendly or at least smiling. Talking to him was a complete waste of time. Disembarkation was a nightmare. They had told us that we would disembark about 9:15. It was 9:45 when we headed down. We found our luggage right away, but because of the line for customs we didn't get out of the terminal until almost 11:00. The customs agent told us that we were 2 of 12 Americans on the ship. Once he verified our pictures were a match to us, we were free to go. Others had to give fingerprints and I believe a picture. Read Less

We got a real good price for an inside cabin so it made the trip worth it. The ship was refurbished in 13 but already shows wear and tear. Embarkation was a pain. First they won't let you take your own luggage on the ship. You have to give it to the luggage sharks that want money to take care of it. You go through to the first line to get papers that you have already filled out online. Then you go to another line to check in then they give you a number to go wait in another line. No one tells you so you walk up to the front and they look at you like your stupid and tell you to go sit and wait. Everyone did this big lack of communication. This dumb wait was so you could get inline for them to take your picture getting on the ship. Lots of people didn't want it but they make you wait. You finally get on board. No welcome aboard no one pointing the way. Fend for yourself. They did not even have a departure party till 11:30 when we left port. The front desk always had a line up. They were not the most helpful people or the most polite. They spoke every language well except English. BUT there was Katherine very helpful smiled a lot and got things done. We had a booze card which we had to get fixed room showed we had it but card did not. This was a stupid booze set up. They would only let you have draft beer no bottles. Why because you may give it away to someone. I asked what is the difference between you pouring draft in a glass or poring a bottle of beer into a glass.The draft was Becks good for one glass then yuck. They also had Toborg but you had to find it since it was on wheels and they moved it all over the boat.They would give you a strawberry daiquiri and a shot of tequila but not a strawberry margarita. We mixed a lot of our own drinks at the table. The aft bar had the best drink makers. The big tall guy could really make a wicked Mohito. The rest of the boat just never got it right. Along with a few other drinks.Baileys banana was good but we always got extra shots of Baileys to improve the taste. The buffet was always crowded because the water coffee juice bar was beside the buffet. So people were trying to get food going one way and people wanting drinks crowding anywhere to fill a glass. The ice machines always seemed to be broken. The scrambled eggs were hit and miss mostly miss. Once they were so runny they would not go on the spoon. The eggs benedict was horrible over cooked eggs and under cooked muffin. The hamburgers at the aft bar were good you could get it right off the grill and hot fries. If you went on an excursion you came back to a closed buffet.That seemed to be when they had the seafood. But they would make small sandwiches some were just awful. Anyone ever heard of a coleslaw sandwich yuck. They closed the buffet for dinner Dining room only. If you were hungry and did not want the dining room you had to go to the pizza bar and pay $8:00 a person for pizza. Oh the pizza I had better frozen pizza Most times it was cheese or some weird combo that was never fully cooked since they were always in a rush. The dining room dinners were good but they cook with a lot of salt. One pasta plate looked and tasted like hamburger helper and was so salty we could not eat it. They had some amazing soups some different desserts but always ice cream. They never once had lobster or scallops etc for dinner. The shows at night were really good The magician was predictable some of the musicals were amazing some were so so but good enough to watch. The announcer did everything in 5 languages beginning and end. It was annoying at the end since they would not turn on the lights till he was finished. It was the same every night telling you that the bars and casino were open The auditorium was always warm to the point of sweating. It seemed that way a lot around the boat. Some elevators were really muggy. There were piano bars with the piano player singing the songs.Some of which was very good. One guy did the Beatles that was so bad it hurt.He sang some Rod Stewart stuff that was not too bad. The other area had a piano, horn player and a drummer but they only played waltzs, cha cha, mambo etc. If you don't dance that way you can only watch so much of it. The main floor piano bar guy was always good. He knew his stuff. The other piano area played Caribbean music. Then there was the disco very loud lots of lights and very young.They also seemed to like a lot of cha cha stuff. No hip hop or anything else when we went there. The back aft area pool was adult only. I felt bad for parents that got told to move since the sign was on a post and was really small in 5 languages. But they only had a guard the first day after that it was a free for all no one to stop them.Actually all the pools were the size of a large hot tub and only 4 ft deep. As for the hot tubs not once were they warmer then the pool. Maybe the one in the gym but it was always full so it must have been warm. All the announcements were in 5 languages by the time you heard English it was done.This is the only ship I have been on that loaded in Miami sailed 3 ports at Guadalupe they let 580 people off and 580 people back on. If you went off you had to find some one who spoke english not easy. When you came back to board you had to go through all these people trying to get on board.All of which did not want to let you get past.We asked the front desk if we could have another room since we had that noise we were told they had none. Next day they said they had a room and would move us for $380 Holy crap we only had 2 nights left. They did not like where I told them to put the room. It was bedlam for the next day as new people tried to get sea legs. We were told how to disembark and it was in our daily paper. we were supposed to get off at 8:30. I phoned front desk and asked what would happen if we did not get off till 10. She said the stupidest thing You may get in trouble. I asked what will they do arrest me or throw me off the ship. I was getting off anyways. So I asked our room steward He said so long as we are out of the room by 8:30 we could sit on the ship till 10 no problem. All in all I will probably not go on another Costa boat. One guy called it the Spirit Airlines of boats Did it once won't do it again even at the price I had for the 10 days   Read Less

Multinational passenger makeup: This is 100% accurate. For those of us that enjoy meeting other cultures and interact with, who speak or want to practice: French, Indian (farcy?), Phillipeans, German, Italian, Portugease, Spanish-this is an ideal way to comfortably do so. This is not the arena to argue your dislike or personal feelings about said questions. If your not into being around different cultures and hearing different languages and having fun lotsa fun with different cultures this may not be the line for you. Pricing: There is a difference price wise than "American" styled cruise lines. Where you ARE able to gorge yourself on food and drink, there isn't really food available after you eat dinner. We were charged 2.50 as a service charge for room service. Which isn't bad so you gave 2.50 as a tip for after hours food. We only did this three times and they were super duper quick. I would have preferred to have had a steam room or sauna available without charge, and as far as I know there wasn't one. I will say the price of drinks was extremely reasonable. We got a package deal which is the smart way to go I think if you are going on the cruise for that type of fun. The last cruise line I went on we didn't get a package and I drank the same amount I was charged for the package however my ship mate saved about 2hundred dollars by getting the package. Smoking: The reviews about smoking are over exaggarated. It's not like people are walking around burning you in your thigh as you make yourway towards the swimming pool. There are designated areas and smoking on your outside balcony. I'm sorry but if it's raining I don't want to be out in the elements anymore than a non smoker would. A smoking lounge was available near the casino and an open air one with flat screen on upper deck. Events/dancing: The "Vickies" of the ship were super entertaining and approachable. They danced and talked with you. There were daily dance lessons (awesome) and ship wide parties. There is a Vicky that speaks all MAJOR languages onboard. (A Vicky is my term for the activities directors like in the TV show "Love Boat" (The disco was a bust for me, I would have preferred to have other cruisers who wanted to dance ALL NIGHT LONG---who were closer to my age (40) and could drink-though I was entertained by the numerous piano bars) The group I cruised with was a heavily couples, but I enjoyed them. In the dinning room we were treated to shows by the serving staff with high energy music, but I don't remember it being Hip Hop. Excursions: I am 50/50 on them. I would say to get the ones on the ship maybe every other time. I found some real deals on shore. HOWEVER, if you're easily swayed into doing dumb things that don't make sense then buy on the ship. So if someone wants to charge you 100 for a sea shell and you would rather buy it than say no to a poor person who probably isn't poor...buy them on the ship. As well don't be afraid to STICK TO THE MAIN ROADS and just take a simple walk. See what there is to see then get back on the ship with your all inclusive drink package and the hot tub. So hey make your money work for you..I don't have alot so I put my money into my drink package and spent maybe 100 on excursions. We spent about 20-40 max per excursion and had a fabulous time. I thought getting a dunbuggy in Turks n Caicos would have been a dumb idea as I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THE PLACE, AND NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE GOING THERE, SO taking a 20 trolly ride and seeing the entire island and learning the history made more sense...now I have new knowledge. Staff: Mr. Brown bar manager jamaica, Ruben Honduras server, Mrs. Jamaica, Jackson indian guy chef, Ms. L Brown cocktail, Maxy room steward,-- Choclate the singer --were some of the most awesome staff I've come across Food: I love different types of food. My tablemates commented on my food every night. I'm the type of person that is adventurous. Sure throw me something called grits and put shrimp on it and tell me it's awesome. I might like it. Our food is as strange and wildly combined as any in the world. I'm a seafood lover and love cheese as I'm from Wisconsin so I was all into it. I will say that they love hard bread on everything overseas so that wasn't good for me, but hey how hard was it NOT to have the bread, not hard. I found the burgers and sausages to be awesome actually especially with the Tourbo? beer. The Becks on tap was probably the worse beer next to "Old Swill" As someone said the eggs were wet, which my dad loves but I HATE. So it was omelete station for me..oh yeah..great sausages, crisp bacon. The dinner portions worked for me as I was eating all day lol. Late sitting was better for us than early as well everynight we caught a show and the dancers and italian tenor was super. All in all this wasn't a PARTY cruise ship, it was a relaxing classy cruise ship and thas ok. However I need to have bigger swimming pool and nightly dance clubs with people in it. I didn't find the Indonesian staff to be as friendly as everyone else. Very few staff from Peru they were cool..many hot dark Indians many.....The Phillipean crew members were super super friendly and outgoing.   Read Less