We wanted a cruise that included the Greek Islands, leaving from Athens, for around a week, in August. This cruise fitted the bill. After booking and visiting the agents in Auckland, NZ to confirm our cabin, we then read some of the reviews which were less than flattering! We had cruised with our 4 children years ago and so decided we would make the best of maybe a bad choice. We were very happy with our choice. From the moment we stepped on board we felt comfortable - the service was always with a smile, the food was good, the included excursions on shore were excellent, we had no real complaints. We ate each night at the restaurant on deck 5 and my wife and I were escorted by Dimitrius or Angelo to our table which always had the reserve sign on it. We found the food very good with the various selections and the house wine was very acceptable. The breakfast buffet was typical of a good resort except the pastries were disappointing. The bar service was excellent - you just needed to order right. I took a bottle of brandy on board as it was not showing on the list of spirits in the drinks package but it was there, so you order a brandy and a bottle of your mixer, ice, and then make your own drink! They do not serve doubles, fair enough. Getting numbers of people off the boat for excursions was done very well and the three tour guides we had were excellent. We only watched one show which was good as we tended to retire early and then be up for the next days activities. The only negatives were the men eating in the restaurants at night in shorts when there were many notices to advise not to. The restaurant staff we spoke to said they thought it was disrespectful to them as they dress up in white jackets etc and most of the passengers make the effort but there are always a few spoilers! Very enjoyable. Read Less

so here I am again with my reviews,i tell it as it is ,im not petty I just want a nice holiday the costa classica was my trial run to see if I liked a cruise, everone said it wood be great so we gave it a try 7 days cruising the islands. ok the ship is poor and not what I was expecting, maybe I expected to much after I what had been told anway the bad first the ship is like a large d and s ferry the entertainment is very poor and ive had better at butlins the couple of shops on board are very expensive the pool is a joke and not much bigger than my hot tub...im not joking you cant opt out of the gratuitys and will cost you 60 euros a week each added onto yor bill the laundry costs are extortionate the theatre acts are like auditions for the x factor the photos they take of you are 15 euros each ,if they were cheaper we wood buy more, they only throw them away if you don't buy them the fat barman in the lounge bar on dek 8 is rude the toilets block up regular the cost of the day trips are daylight robbery and they should wear masks the good the rooms are clean cool and comfortable ,beds made twice a day ,never saw my sreward but room was well looked after, staff were on the whole well mannered and polite but not all plenty of food reasonable variety but lots of it, all inclusive was expensive but very good choices of drinks on the whole very disappointing for my first cruise ,not what I was expecting but ok if you get it cheap otherwise forget it get an outside room with a porthole if you can Read Less

Our second cruise this year with Costa and probably our last. We embarked at Heraklion on 25th October and, with hindsight, this experience set the tone for the entire cruise. The queue to check in and deposit luggage was not particularly long so we thought we'd be on board quite quickly, we were wrong! We waited in line for around two hours whilst 1 person checked passports etc. and one luggage scanner was in use despite there being other staff around. Not a great start but sadly indicative of the very poor organisation on this ship and cruise. Once on board we noticed our Costa cards were not marked for 'all inclusive' (happened on the previous Costa cruise also) so we had to queue again to get this rectified so we could get a drink, the system was up to date so only one card could be changed and we had to go back later and queue yet again! This is despite us having booked 'all inclusive' some weeks before on line. Next we went to change our dinner sitting as we'd been allocated to the early mealtime (no means to do this before you arrive on the Costa website - why?) - the Maitre De was so disorganised (a common theme) despite us heading to sort this out in the early afternoon and could only manage to offer a 'turn up and be allocated card' - so again another wasted time in a queue. The dinner service that night, on an ad hoc table, was appalling with no choice of wine etc. and extreme difficulty getting wine or water in any case. Next night we were allocated a regular table which was better but the drinks service in the restaurant remained abysmal throughout the cruise, and this is despite my complaining to the restaurant manager which I was loathe to do. Our table of 8 had to have one of us leave the table regularly if we wanted a top up of water or wine (often there was none in the wine bucket in any case) and this seemed to be common in the restaurant. There seemed to be just two waiters for at least 6 tables so, however hard they tried, they just couldn't keep up. Costa cost cutting maybe? The same was true in the bars and self service restaurants at lunch where bar service waiters were hard to find so the only way to get a drink was to go to the bar and fight your way through the crowd - not exactly relaxing! I'm guessing this is down to Costa cutting costs as our previous cruise in April this year had good service - I suppose it could be down to very poor officers on this ship but I doubt we'll use Costa again to find out. I'd think long and hard before you book with Costa as we will next time. Read Less

*6= Having booked this Cruise as part of a 2 week package including a week on Crete we were slightly nervous of what to expect as the Price was ridiculously cheap even having upgraded to outside Cabins.We were a party of 3 as we took our disabled 84 y.o. mother (who is totally wheelchair dependent) and this in itself can be problematical if things don't go smoothly with Transport,Transfers,Access,etc. From the moment we stepped on Board until the very last moment we disembarked we had NO criticisms or disappointments with the Ship & its' Crew & the whole experienced surpassed our expectations. The Ship is awe inspiring in the Decor & Flamboyant "renaissance" styling of most recent Italian Cruise Lines & the lay-out is excellent with all 3 Lift Stations (Bow Mid-Ships & Stern) giving swift & easy access to all amenities. The Food & Service were impeccable especially as my Wife has Coeliac Disease & cannot tolerate any Gluten or wheat items....there was always ample & delicious options during the day & the Evening Dinner was a unique Menu individually prepared by the Ship's dedicated Special diet Chef. The Ports of Call varied from Dirty Industrial Docks (Limassol) to beautiful Scenic Harbours (Rhodes) but we couldn't partake of any of the excursiosn as none were WheelChair friendly......this did however mean that we thoroughly enjoyed the quiet & peace of a mostly deserted sunDeck on most days. The Drinks on board are seriously over priced as individual untis from the Bars but this is easily overcome by any of the Range of Drinks "packages" on offer and by far the best VFM option would be the all inclusive deal at E19.50 per person per day. In summary a fabulous Ship with amazing Service,Great Food & INCREDIBLE value for money....we will certainly travel again with COSTA Read Less

This was the 1st time we had sailed with Costa and it will be our last. The worst meals on board were dinner, if you didn't like the food served in the restaurant you were pretty stuck as the buffet restaurant wasn't open in the evening. The food wasn't that great in the restaurant most of the meat dishes didn't come with vegetables or salad, the food was luke warm some were cold you had to request the vegetables and when they did arrive they consisted of onions and aubergines and nothing else. very little choice on the menus. The only drinks you could have in the restaurant were wine, beer or water. If you wanted something else you had to go and get it yourself from the bar. The buffet wasn't always open and they closed it at odd times during the day with no other options for the passengers to eat. If you were late getting in because you had been on an organized trip nothing was open the buffet closed at 5pm and the snack bar was also closed only the bars served drinks. The majority of the staff were pleasant, some of the waiting staff however in the buffet restaurant were rude and abrupt. The safety issues seem to have been addressed and i was comfortable with the lifeboat drills etc, the only thing on that though however they did say it in about 7 different languages, which could be interesting in an emergency situation. The entertainment was dismal, the majority of the passengers were rude arrogant Italians and you certainly felt outnumbered we had only one rep who was called Tamaye she was lovely and very helpful. One of the dutch girls was also very friendly and came with us on one of the trips. The trips that Costa provided were good and the local tour guides that they used in the main were very knowledgeable. We had an outside cabin and the room was clean and very pleasant, the bed however was rock hard. The ship was clean and well designed with lots of seating areas and bars. The were several pools and hot tubs all very clean. the deck was well designed with lots of sun beds, bars etc. I have been with several different companies in the past and the best so far was Princess they are leaps and bounds ahead of Costa even though they are both owned by carnival.   Read Less