We wanted a break in mid April.. . . . . . it turned out to be very disappointing. 1. All jacuzzis were always full of people with no control of time limits so we stayed out. 2. Very young children (some with dummies) were uncontrolled, both on the dance floor and at the evening meal. No problem with children playing at the right time and place.. 3. The evening's theater music reverberated in the theater, your ears and at close cabins. 4. A solely Staff Drill was announced in a blurring volume inside our cabin. What for? 5. Hospitality staff told us to go ashore to find out info regarding the next port of call!. 6. Hospitality staff never answered the telephone whenever we needed them and queuing at their desk took at least 20 minutes to get serviced. 7. Coffee after dinner is taboo. You have to go to a bar and buy it. 8. Shows were about acceptable, and the illusionist performed some acts in darkness! 9 I was taken aback when I found that while meals were included, plain water was not. The above points were raised with the Costa local agents. They were grateful for raising these shortcomings and promised to look into the points raised for future passengers, but no refund of any sort was forthcoming. Our compensation was therefore their gratitude for raising the matter!. I am not rushing to book another cruise with Costa. Read Less

Greatly recommend to those who are keen to go for a cruise managed by a poor management who always put on an "unhappy" face on all their cruise with no proper instructions given and when questions were raised by their guest to their crew, the standard reply was "I don't know, please check with another crew.". Also if you do not wish that the crew to enter your cabins, do remember to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign at your door as our room was entered multiple times for no particular reasons even though we didn't call for housekeeping and we realised that our laptop had been touched ( as we left room for a short time to attend their concert, we left our laptop open and when we were back, it was closed and the whole room was pitch dark - even side table lights were offed. ) When asked to the information counter, they said we didn't put "DTD" thus the crews can enter and leave anytime they like. Toilets were filled with moulds at bathing area, beds were stained with black stains even after a housekeeping session done.. Smoke can be smelt along the corridor of the cabins, insufficient kettles available as well. The adapter given by the crew had sparks coming out from it when it was plucked it and when asked for an exchange, the crew said that they ran out of it. Long queues during meal times and there was no one controlling the crowd nor guiding the passengers. Ice cream stall only open for 1 meal throughout the 5 days of cruise. Speciality restaurant does not offer all indicated food items and we were not told before we sat down for our meal. Waste of money. There is 3 eating area for the passengers, however, only 2 is available as 1 is converted to "FOR SUITE" passengers only. We purchased the non-alcoholic beverage package but the crew would keep on telling us that the non-alcoholic drinks are not included and we had to pay extra (don't buy package as they don't honour it). No proper lightings near the swimming pool where some kids are found running in dark as well which is very dangerous. Entertainment were the same for the 5 days. Poor management on disembarkation and embarkation as well as no proper direction nor instructions given, announcement system is also not clear. Overall, its a waste of money and time, both my partner and I are very displeased with the service provided, management control, experience, condition of the cabin and the embarkation and disembarkation process. This is not our first time cruising on a cruise liner but it will be the first time and LAST TIME cruising with COSTA VICTORIA. Read Less

Horror!!! Horror! Could not wait to disembark after a week from hell !!! The most mercenary employees in tourism i have ever met in my numerous travels, the managers have absolutely no consideration for the passengers, only for their business. My family live on different continents hence we thought a week together on a cruise would mean both rest and togetherness, something to remember fondly. We booked together,we flew together, we embarked together only to be split on different decks by the company ( you do not want to know the distances between the decks and the daily hassle). The stewards told us they had rooms on the same decks and we repetitively tried to reason with the management/ guests services explaining that the very reaons for the cruise was for us to be together. it was to no avail. We were all hassled non-stop, we ended the one week exhausted since we had not had a single restful day. They are extremely mercenary in everything, thin air is the only thing you do not pay for on costa diadema. No rest, no afternoon naps ever, every afternoon emergency drills and announcements in all cabins (!!!), even if you were drilled upon embarkation you repeat everything every single day, every single afternoon for about 2 hours both in your cabin and on the halls in 5-6 languages. A total of 7 days x 2 hours / day afternoon drills resulted in a large number of hysterical passengers who embarked in the same hope to be able to enjoy a few restful days, only to literally weep with joy at the end of the cruise. Moreover, again, on a daily basis, all the crew only announcements are heard in all cabins, non- stop, as they are way too cheap to buy walkie talkies or professional switchboards to only announce the drills in specific rooms or crew only announcements delivered only to staff. By the end of a week we were bone tired, traumatized, a bundle of nerves and happy to crawl off this pathetic ship swearing never ever to book costa cruises again. Everything on this ship is focused on covering them against any complaints/claims coming from passengers, it is never about the passengers' wellbeing. Nothing works properly hence you have to run to and fro for several km/ day from upper decks to reception to sort out malfunctioning cards, misunderstandings etc after, obviously, repetitively standing in huge queues. 5000 people and two tiny pools ( one in the middle of the buffet area- imagine the chlorine smell and the flooding restrooms nearby - pictures upon request) . Ever day they automatically withdraw 10 euro/ passenger from your card unilaterally - you are compelled to put money on their card and they administer it as they think fit- conveniently forgetting to mention that this is a daily tax not legal to impose on passengers in european waters. On the contrary, the management at guest services insists that it is a must. In european waters, it is the passengers' decision to offer the sum if you are happy with the services, at the end of the journey as all other companies know and accept. Generally speaking on cruises you comply gladly because you are satisfied and well rested, happy with the services provided. here, whether you are a satisfied customer or an extremely dissatisfied one you are told that " bad luck", you have to pay (i have recorded proof i can provide in this respect). On costa diadema everything is on savings mode. On other cruises you are looking forward to the fabulous performances in the theatres every evening. On costa diadema they have a weekly evening show ( one of your 7 paid evening shows!!) delivered by the employees - pathetic amateur night they claim the passengers must appreciate as it is a gesture for them. I shall not be imposed amateur shows upon myself and my family as we did not pay for them ( can provide some videos for general hilarity). I suggested we, the passengers, could also help with further savings, some can sing, others dance, a few recite, numerous hum etc. It is extremely embarrassing for both sides: passengers who are told that they should be grateful and appreciate this " nice" gesture on the part of the staff, and the staff themselves who are ridiculed on stage. When compared with the grandiose shows on other cruise lines you feel like crying at your stupidity of having chosen costa. On the other nights a few pathetic dancers/ singers on a big stage on which they get lost, try hard to warm up the passengers, again to no avail. Non stop mix ups, attitude problems, laziness, misunderstandings because of language difficulties of employees ( we suspect super overworked and very cheap for the company, hence no special skills are needed). Should you - god forbid - expect an egg for breakfast, you are told to go down two decks and buy one in a specific restaurant:)) how cool is that ?! Fabulous Diadema savings mode Part of my family accommodated forcefully- as i have shown above-on a superior deck hardly saw their steward ( we had a very good steward on a lower deck). When they complained at reception they were sent a few apples in a basket and a bottle of cheap champagne and nothing changed, they were told that they should be pleased. No further comment. Do not recommend costa diadema to anyone ever!!! Those who worked hard for their money and wish to rest and enjoy a few nice days are in for a very nasty surprise. Buffet closed and cordoned off 1-1.30 hours before closing hour, resulting in even longer queues, even machine water and coffee are attentively monitored and offered only for a short time, while staff watch eagle-eyed so that you do not take 3-4 cups of water. Have been waiting for months on end for this cruise together with my family only to find that at the end of it i had to apologize to them all for the week from hell i had imposed on them. Never, never again costa. We have been on very many cruises before but never experienced anything of the kind. I had expected february to be a more savings oriented cruise but nothing to this extent. If that is the way they treat passengers i do not think i can afford to throw money away on them and, meanwhile, on my own money, masochistically torment myself and my entire family. Read Less

Where do I start? After reading many terrible reviews of the Costa Serena after I had booked this cruise I should've learnt my lesson & cancelled it! Several times I tried to contact Costa by email prior to departing with some requests but to no avail, they don't seem to acknowledge any sort of email enquiry. So why was I suprised that when I tried to call them they didn't answer the phone either? To my better judgement we decided to go ahead with the cruise, as we particularly wanted to see this side of the world & with only Costa available to this area we had no choice. We spent 3 wonderful days in Dubai staying in a lovely hotel before boarding the Costa Serena. (Wish we had stayed in Dubai now!) we wanted to board the ship during the day but all the information we had told us we could only board after 8pm. What utter rubbish!! We decided to go to the port early & try to get on board. Evidently people had been boarding since about 1pm, we got there about 4pm. My first impression was at the port, there was one girl doing the check in with a face like a fish and no courtesy what so ever. On other ships we had to leave a deposit on either on a card or cash, nothing was requested here? On arrival into the main atrium I found it dowdy and gloomy with not much light. The decor was appalling!! Then I noticed what sounded like drilling and chipping noises, LOUD!! When I looked up on the next deck there were maintenance men working on what would've been the shops? I just assumed that perhaps it was something they done when in port? How wrong was I, the work was continuous the whole duration of our cruise. The noise limits were endless. You couldn't sit to relax with a drink you couldn't hear the music being played for the horrendous sounds coming from the workforce above. We then ventured to other parts of the ship to find some areas divided where some areas were not accessible, workmen were walking around the ship carrying huge boards of plasterboards over guests heads?? What have we come to I asked myself?? As our cabin was not available until 8pm & we couldn't access our bags as all the doors to the cabins on each deck were not only shut but locked?? We had no choice but to arrive in the dining for our evening meal in the clothes we had travelled in.lucky for us we had a table of 6 & we were all English ( not many on board) the waiters were very attentive but we did seem to wait a while between each course. The choice was not very large (compared to other cruise ships) & the food was not very variable and tasteless. We were on the all inclusive drinks package & it was worth every penny as the drinks on board were expensive. Only trouble was you were not allowed a bottle of water it had to be a glass! The dining room was fine for the evening meal we ate in Vesta restaurant, but forget having breakfast or lunch there, it was a nightmare! We went twice to each then forgot it. The service was appalling & so was the food. Once I waited 20 minutes for a coffee?? So we went to the self service restaurant on deck 9. Although it was the same choice every day, breakfast was continental, cereals, fruit, pastries,anything that was suppose to be hot clearly was not & the waiters made no attempt to clear the tables until you walked away & had finished. At lunchtime there was pasta, carvery, salad, bread, soup & desserts of fruit, cakes of some description. It was not horrendous but the only trouble is after getting your food there were no tables available so by the time you found a table your food was cold!! The bar staff that continually parade around the restaurant conveniently chose to ignore the British guests unless you were lucky enough to grab one & ask them to serve you. The entertainment team were very amateurish & the shows were the worst I've ever witnessed. The first was a magician, we walked out half way through it was unbelievable! Most of the staff had a couldn't give a damn attitude & it became very stressful! The noise & dust from the continuous Maintenance going on around the ship really ruined our cruise along with the attitude of the staff, the dim gloomy cabins and dreadful decor on board, together with the awful entertainment and plain unimaginable food made this our worst cruise ever! The jacuzzi turned my new swimsuit brown (far too much chlorine in the water) when I complained to the guests services they were not interested & told me to claim on my insurance?! After a lengthy argument with them I demanded to see the Captain, who obviously doesn't deal with such trivialities!! I was told it will be dealt with & a letter will be with you within a few hours with a decision as to what can be done. After 8 hours I had heard nothing so returning to see them I demanded to see someone of higher authority. When speaking to her I was told nothing can be done on board & it has to be dealt with when I get home. With my previous experience of trying to contact Costa I don't hold out much hope?? There attitude was unbelievable & they really couldn't care less. The queue was so long when we had finished our meeting with her & everyone was complaining about one thing or another. There were several pools on board, we decided to use the "Adult Pool" at the Aft of the ship on deck 9. Unfortunately though this was not adhered to as plenty of European kids decided they would use it "bomb" every guest using it! The pool attendant asked them to use but as in the case of many situations they decided to ignore it!! The pool slide was out of action the whole duration due to maintenance but actually no work was seen to be done? The 4D Cinema was not in English & had no sound!!! Unfortunately for everyone on board on Thursday we experienced a sandstorm which meant that we couldn't really get off the ship back in Dubai. This meant it was another day we had to endure the ship! There was no additional entertainment to enjoy and soon the ship became very full with lots of disgruntled guests hanging around. im not convinced that the ports of call in Oman were of any interest, in particular Khasab! We thought as many guests did that they should forget Khasab and have 2 days in Abu Dhabi where there was so much more to see & do & not enough time for only having 1 day. Probably though knowing all the savings Costa was trying to make this was just another? So to sum it all up, would I do another Costa cruise? NO WAY NOT IF THEY PAID ME!!! Someone recently wrote saying this was the Ryanair of cruise ships, this is an understatement!! Read Less

Queues, queues and more queues: for food, for free bus tickets ( why were they not included with the daily activity sheet for each cabin ?)to get on the ship, to get off the ship, a total lack of organisation. No Emergency drill ( I think this is illegal... it certainly made me nervous approaching rocks !) Poor standard of service, other companies make you feel pampered, Costa makes you feel that you're a nuisance Food so bad it was inedible. All -inclusive booking was not all inclusive, have to pay for service and even for bottled water. Extremely expensive, for the same number of nights you could get a five star hotel in a capital city, full board for the price we paid. Dreadful decor, the whole ship is just a riot of poor taste. No information given about ports of call, not even maps. ( probably trying to get you to buy their expensive excursions !) They had forgotten to take details of our credit card ( which they shouldn't have needed anyway for all-inclusive !) and so invalidated our cabin cards until we lodged the details with the front desk ! Had to drag our own suitcases off the ship, no porterage. Read Less

A most disappointing cruise. We have cruised 10 times but this was the worst ever.It can only be described as a rip off.Every thing bought on the ship has a 15% service charge added everything ! In addition to the daily service charge which is compulsory. Another thing which irritated was that the only way you can have tea in the cabin is by room service along with the added service charge.Even all but the worst hotels have tea making facilities in the room these days. There was a coffee machine in the cabin but there was a charge of 1.50euros per cup (plus the service charge15%) To top it all there is a 15euros a day charge to sunbathe on the so called solarium which is just an enclosed deck. On the plus side the food is good although the service in the restaurant left a lot to be desired .It depended which waiter you got.Talking to other passengers it seemed most of them agreed with me. Most complaints were about the service charges put on the already very high prices. No more Costa cruises for us.they ought to all themselves Costa Fortune Read Less

I just read the review from april 30 2014, and I think we were on the same cruise. And I could not agree more. This cruise was not a nice experience. The ship was too crowded, lots of kids running around and occupying all swimmingpools. And the decks had so many sunbeds it was at times difficult to walk around. The food was not of particular good quality, and there were too much waiting in line. And a fight for table space. And often it was no coffee or orange juice to be found. Fortunately I had the possibility for breakfast in my cabin. The restaurant was no good too much time waiting. And small portions of not good food. And having to pay for water wirt dinner? And I missed the possibility to dine in the buffet restaurant, but no such luck. Another stange thing was that you had to pay to use shuttle bus from ship to the cities visited. That should have been included. These are just some of my complaints. And I also tried to talk to the english speeking hostess, but she was not of much help. Whatever I tried to explain, the reply was, it was Costa policy. I tried to be connected to a more responsible officer, but no such luck. I will prepare a long letter to Costa Cruises with all my complaints. I did not receive the cruise I prdered and paid for. Never again Costa Cruises Read Less