The cruise was chosen as part of travel package. I have cruises before, but this was the worst for the following reasons: - Lack of food choices and repetitive. They serve pasta and spaghetti with light sauce, lack of flavouring - Entertainment all in Spanish (good for South American passengers) - Day of departure (must leave room by 8am) - Restaurants- can not chose where to sit and you get half hour slot to attend restaurant otherwise you will not enter. For instance, number 312 must attend dinner by 7-7:30pm. Furthermore, lido desk 9 all 5 restaurants serve same food - No English Channel on TV - You must pay tips at the end in American dollars, and must be on credit card. Coming from UK we only had debit card -Orange juice is waterly, and jo hot drink throughout the day apart from breakfast and afternoon tea at 4pm - Desk 2 is noisy and you hear music playing. It is annoying to hear at 11pm! Good: -Some islands were beautiful -We had nice guy who did the room -Gym - interior nice Read Less

Upon boarding there was no one available to greet our group, no greeter to welcome us (that was probably our first clue to disaster). I got to my room, it’s clean but had a very musty smell so I needed to open the balcony to air it out as it had a strong stench. Beds hard as hell and unable to control the temperature in the room. There were no English channels on the television only AL-jerze new, no CSI, Barnaby Jones, Murder she wrote or Matlock. There were no activites for people who spoke English. I have never been in a room which did not have a clock, therefore I constantly had to call the front desk for the time or go to the hall by the steps, just so not to be late for my excursions. Speaking of the Excursions I selected easy tours but there was a lot more walking which did not allow me to take in the views. I take cruises to determine which places I liked the most and would revisit by land but I was not able to make a decision being on the Costa Mediterranean cruise. Announcements were all in Italian which made me make several calls to the operator, as I did not know if the message pertained to me as something I should know. Customer Service Personnel was outrageously, rude and rather disrespectful. Here are two examples: I was standing in line at the customer service desk waiting for help, the lady overlooked me and addressed a man behind me like I was not there, so yes, I spoke up and in Italian she asked the guy to wait. She never said sorry. Another, example again I went to customer service for so clarification about my bill, the young guy was not clear and very impatience, so I said to him I am not following what you’re saying as your explanation does not make sense. I said I didn’t feel like I was getting good customer service. He said he's giving excellent customer service and he don't understand. I said it is your job to ensure I understand he said oh well and went on to the next person. So, I waited for morning. Food: The food on the buffet was cold, under cooked, no flavoring or seasoning. The food in the Dining room was not much better. The waiters were very slow at serving dinner then wanted you to hurry up because you are now interfering with the next service. REALLY. You’re slow so I got to hurry. REALLY. Then there was no food available after 9 pm, this is the first cruise that food was not available during the evening and early morning hours unless it was purchased (hamburgers and pizza) which should have been available as part of the price of the cruise. I would understand aa separate price if it was a specialty restaurant but not for something that should be available. SO, since I’m diabetic I had to ensure I brought some snacks on board, so my when my sugars drop, I had something available to bring my sugars up (this is a real issue for people with Diabetes). Drink Package: my understanding was it unlimited bottle water, can soda and selected alcoholic beverage including mix drinks but the bar personnel said they could not give me a bottle of water but could pour the contents in a glass (therefore, I was getting 8 ounces instead of a whole bottle or 6 ounces instead of a can. So, I had to drink it then order another. I was told if I wanted a can or bottle, that I would have to pay for them. WHY? Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the ports being visited and the low cost. The internet service was horrible, and when I complained and asked for a refund, I was told that it wouldn't be possible. They canceled two of our pre-booked shore excursions - one because it was on disembarkation day (hello - why was it even offered, and why did they let us book it?), and the other because there were not enough English speaking passengers. The next day; however, we were on a shore excursion with 47 English speaking passengers and 4 German passengers, so we had to listen to the whole thing in both languages. Why couldn't they have done that for us on the previous day? The entire cruise catered to the Italians, and it was tiresome to have to hear everything in 6 languages, not to mention that it was clear that they were joking and laughing with the Italian passengers and not translating what was happening to everyone else. They were very chintzy when it came to game prizes (one prize for the whole team, and it was always a thin little tote bag), and the only activities were one or two video quizzes and dance lessons. Bingo was expensive, only played twice, and only one game each time. The food was awful - obviously frozen and thawed, not cooked fresh, and the same old items every day in the buffet, and only 3 choices in the dining room. Water, anywhere but the dining room or buffet, was not free, and in the dining room it was only free for the Americans. Staff was often rude for the most part and didn't offer any accommodation for any complaints or problems. Because every port was an embarkation/debarkation port, the elevators near our room were closed down all afternoon, and then we had to listen to the muster drill more than once. Your credit card is billed in daily increments that never match the daily charges, though the total did appear to be correct. Read Less

The Ship was amazing, we were well impressed with the Shows, the food was lovely and a good choice but it was never more than lukewarm which was a shame, the staff work so hard and are so friendly. We bought one of the middle drinks packages it and proved to be a godsend as the drinks were expensive. We did find it hard work getting back on the Ship after a trip. I also slipped up on deck 10 near the Lido Buffet and had to see the hospital doctor who's bill was €352.00 of which €100 was for a BANDAGE which is a bit extreme by any standards, really thought I would at least be able to use my EHIC as it was an accident onboard , this then spoilt my holiday as I had badly damaged my knee so was in a wheelchair for the 4 days out of 7 and unable to take the wheelchair on shore. Read Less

We chose this cruise to extend our warm weather holiday and because the dates worked. We had just come off a 19 night Ft.Lauderdale - B.A. cruise on the Royal Princess plus a 2 day visit to Iguazu Falls. Your first impression starts at the cruise terminal check in which is disorganized. Once on the ship we were pleasantly surprised at the size of our premium balcony stateroom, but the balcony itself is small and the furniture is old,uncomfortable and soiled looking. We found out the next morning that the bathroom shower is poorly designed and the water leaks all over the floor because the shower curtain is too short. We pointed this out to our harried room steward who said he would have it replaced, but it never was. We used towels to soak up the leaking water every day for our 7 day cruise...how is this more efficient than fixing the shower? Our next disappointment was a the buffet restaurant which was chaos for breakfast and lunch. It is so poorly laid out that each meal turns into a free for all just to get your meal then another free for all to find a table.There seems to be a chronic shortage of seating which made us dread going up to the buffet. On sea days, when everyone is onboard the buffet situation is even worse, so we resorted to the dining room where it was marginally less chaotic for breakfast, but still unpleasant. We chose the early assigned seating for dinner in the dining room because they don’t offer open seating. Dinner was a relief because it was calm and collected and our waiter”Dino” was a Pro. The dinner menu’s were good as was the food quality, but beware that water is not included with dinner unless paid for i.e. bottled water. The wine prices on Costa are slightly less that other Cruise Lines i.e. a bottle of Chianti was $25 whereas the cheapest red wine on a Princess was $32. Aside from our balcony, which was never cleaned, the general condition of the ship was good. The decor could be described as “gaudy” The fitness centre had an adequate number of machines (some defective) but disinfecting wipes were not provided. There is a good sauna in the fitness center’s change room which was a welcome inclusion We usually cruise on Celebrity,Holland America and Princess, so if you are used to any of these lines you will be in for a culture shock. If you can get over it (as we did) you willappreciate the diversity of entertainment which is quite good on Costa, with many lounges,a very large theatre with excellent shows and a nightclub with good bands and dancing every night. Our itinerary along the Brazilian coast involved 3 stops in small ports that requiredtendering for each (one being 1/2 hour in each direction) English is not common on shoreso our general routine was walking around town,a bit of shopping then wifi and a drink allaccomplished with sign language. We both agreed that we would not sail on Costa again, which is a shame, because we felt the staff all worked hard,and the entertainment was good,but they could not make up for the buffet chaos,understaffing,poor ship design, and poor management. Read Less

We were looking for a week of winter sun in February and chose Costa because of the itinerary, and location. We made our own travel arrangements and flew to Dubai on Emirates, and with a short transfer, we were at the port within an hour of landing. Embarkation was quick and efficient and our luggage was delivered to our cabin quickly. The ship was clean, all the crew we met were polite, and service was excellent. The other travellers were a diverse group from many different countries. Dining : We ate in the main dining room every night, the food was very good ( despite some criticisms I'd read before we travelled ) fresh pasta, wonderful mozzarella - made fresh on the ship - and well cooked and prepared meat dishes. Our server Emmanuel was polite and courteous. We had the Piu Gusto drinks package which included house wine with our meals and this was constantly topped up without us needing to ask, as was water. Entertainment : We did a morning back stage tour of the ship that was very interesting and well worth doing. The shows were of a high standard, and very enjoyable. There was music in every bar - and there were plenty of bars...and dancing, if thats your thing. Excursions : We didnt do any of the official tours so I cant comment, though we had no problem finding our own way round Muscat, and Abu Dhabi, visiting the Grand Mosque and the heritage village using local cabs. We also spent a day at a hotel pool in Abu Dhabi Saadiyat beach which ws good value and lovely. We would definitely travel with Costa again. Read Less

Costa -Deliziosa Our 11-day cruise (February 21, 2019) generally was made most enjoyable by the crew. Very helpful, pleasant & happy to serve you. Everybody spoke English as well as two or three other languages as well, so there was always someone to help you as needed. This was a very International passenger list as the 11 days thru the Western Caribbean was the intro trip to the repositioning of the ship to Italy after we disembarked in Fort Lauderdale. Of the 2,800 passengers, 800 disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale with the other 2000 + passengers remaining on board continuing on to Italy via the Eastern Caribbean Islands. My constructive criticism first comes on the Costa website that is a disaster, probably built years ago for the Costa management but not the passenger. Costa is now owned under the Carnival Line ownership umbrella but you would never know it. Costa does not even acknowledge you as a previous passenger of Carnival, no points, rewards everything is about Costa. Again the website at first glance looks great, but all it wants you to do is book everything before you get on board. For example, there are three drink packages available yet you have nothing to compare their prices. They do not list or show the wine list, the liquor or beer list. Onboard almost every drink (cocktail & wine) by the glass averages $7.50 plus 15% service charge. Wines by the bottle start at $20.00+ and on this leg of the trip luckily, everything on the ship was priced in USA Dollars. Prices change to Euros as soon as they leave for Italy. There are no lists for Spa services nor beauty services yet they want you to book everything on line. My spouse wanted a haircut and nowhere could you find a price for any beauty services. I would highly recommend purchasing an all-inclusive liquor package along with your cruise ticket from your agent or travel advisor. Yes, it brings up your costs but you can negotiate this with them or some travel agents will work with you and even add onboard ship credits. Packages & Tours Do not buy online, wait until you get on board to see what you are buying and paying without leaving money on the table. Same with restaurant reservations, buying onboard restaurant packages is so much cheaper aboard ship as opposed to the website. Anything you book on the website you cannot change nor cancel. Buy tours on board, same prices but you have the flexibility to change or cancel your tours. Another huge faux pas by Costa. We boarded the ship in Ft. Lauderdale @ 2 pm and before dinner @ 6 pm every bar on board was out of Draft Beer. They only serve Heineken Draft. The bartenders were taking canned Miller beer and filling the draft beer glasses apologizing with every customer. Within two days they were out of Crown Royal, then Canadian Club and then any Canadian whiskey. This running out of product continued with liquors, Pernod, Richard, 451, & Sambucca. We had bought the $350 drink package each as both occupants fo the same cabin must do so. Crew management said they were waiting for a supply of beer, wine, liquor aboard a ship from Italy but it never showed up in Ft. Lauderdale. The second day we arrived in Miami and for sure the Costa Deliziosa should have had the Miami beer & wine Distributors replenish & load on board supplies they were out of and ones that were in short supply. Granted there were other bottled beers available, albeit every bar (over 10) did not have the luxury of this selection but definitely someone screwed up. Entertainment was excellent with a magician, juggler, and singers as it is so hard to address people of so many languages so no comedians nor comedy clubs. Finally, the Costa “APP” on your smartphone is just mediocre. It does not list nor monitor your expenses even after you have left the ship. Most of the listed links do not work with the exception of “Chat” that was good, where you can communicate with other passengers. Definite upgrading of this service and app is needed. Carefully look and monitor everything you do on the website as this Costa ship is behind in technology that you will be paying for if you are not awake nor aware. Internet on board is painfully slow almost like “dial up”. If someone else is paying for your cabin & passage you will have a great trip & experience, plus you will enjoy your cruise immensely with no worries with anything I have listed above. Read Less

I was really excited to get back and give Costa Deliziosa a proper review. I am not sure which cruise most folks that have had issues with this cruise sailed on though my experience was completely opposite. So yes I have been on about 10 cruises in The U S and one out of Rome. Also I used to work on a ship (Everyone a large vessel is not a boat. It is a ship) years ago. Pre registration was super easy and the port personnel shared that I was one of the first people he encountered that actually read and filled out all of the needed paperwork before reaching the port. Our ship didn’t leave port until 11 p.m. I showed up around 12:30 p.m. Check In was about 5 minutes. I sat down and waited for my group # to be called. It was called about a 1/2hr after I checked in. On this cruise (Keep in mind this may change) your actual stateroom key is not given to you at check in. It is on your bed in an envelope. I did a quick check of my room, said hello to my stateroom host and went exploring the ship. A tip. Walk around the ship if you arrive early and take pictures of the different decks, spaces and areas. Just about everyone else is at the buffet so you will get some amazing unobstructed pictures. After the pictures I went to the buffet. I was pretty surprised due to the bad reviews. The food was good. There is something for everyone. Obviously yes there was pasta though lots of proteins, salads, cheeses, breads, soups, etc. There is free pizza and hamburgers and fries for lunch each day at the buffet. Yes there is an additional charge if you wanted to partake in a special experience of them at night though it is a larger portion and presented in a meal function vs. self serve. My bags were delivered to my room about 2 hours after I boarded. I did receive a drink package with my room though choose to upgrade it to the highest tier. Honestly there was no need for me to do that because the drink I had for the 10 days was included in my initial package. Oh well Update as of February 2019 (This may have changed by time you are reading this). The Samsara regular cabins only get access to the spa area stairs/elevator, spa rooms (Not included are massages and services). You do not get access to The Samsara Resturant anymore and need to make a reservation like everyone else and pay the extra charge. Samsara Suites do get all of the above privileges along with a drink package minus the massages and services. First thing to do is join Costa Club. It takes seconds and is free. Your new club number may not show up online on your reservation if you get the number after you book the reservation though it will be noted and recognized on board. There are quite a bit of perks along with 50% of the specialty restaurants on board along with discounts on certain drinks, shops and spa. A couple I met are loyal members and receive major discounts on their cruises along with upgrades. Shared it was for sure worth it. The buffet was so good I ate lunch and dinner there everyday except for dinner in the dining room on my first night. I did meet a cool cruise mate the first night and build a friendship for the next few days. I travel by myself and it was nice to have company for a few days. He was on a work trip and left after 4 days. Out of the numerous crew members I encountered only one was a bit grumpy. Came to find out he had a newborn at home and had months left on his current contract. This didn’t give him the excuse not to be “on” though it sort of made sense. He did lighten up a bit as the cruise came to a close. So I had an absolute great time on my first 10 day Costa Cruise. I made friends with a few of the crew members. If you do eat at the buffet do read the hours in the daily guide. For some odd reason the hours changed on the 8th night and create some unhappy moments. I shared with the staff that was simply silly and moved on. I opted to take my bags off the ship in Ft Lauderdale. Lined up about 15 minutes before the published times. Was about 15th or so in line. Cleared Customs in 5 minutes. There was a van directly outside the exit hall that took about a dozen of us to the airport. I am getting ready to head out on another cruise on a different line in a few weeks though will have Costa on my mind for some time. Read Less

Booked this cruise because we were already in Florida and we thought it would be great to get away. This sailing was convenient for us. Well where do I begin, the staff was not very knowledgeable about disembarking when we got to the islands, some said level one , some level two that day ended up being level three. My husband and I purchased the beverage package, I was disappointed to find out that bottled water was not included, we got all we wanted by the glass, I needed it for my room so I can take my medications. When I asked for a bottled water it cost me $4.50. Next another issue with the dinner seating I was not happy with the people they sat us with so we asked for a table for 2 they told us to come to the dining area and we had to wait to be seated until 8:55 to see which tables were empty we did that and we were given a table. The following evening we went to that table and another couple was there we asked the maitre 'd and he said we had to wait again, meanwhile we are getting frustrated because there were lots of empty tables. So we were finally assigned a table. The server we had was awesome and so was the cabin Stewart. My husband plays in the casino a bit heavily so he asked the pit boss if we can get comped a dinner at club Costa restaurant on the 10th deck, after talking to the manager they gave us the dinner. Well I want to say the menus is almost the same as the restaurant. We ordered dinner, my husband got the fillet and a lobster and I got just the lobster . The waiter came back to the table and informed us that we had to pay and I paid for my lobster so I had it charged to my room. Dinner proceeded well until we got to the main course. The fillet my husband ordered was not a fillet, you couldn't even cut into it very tough cut of meat and both lobsters were black inside. We informed our server , and we took a video and pictures. The maitre 'd came and asked what happened. He contacted the manager and they had a meeting in the kitchen. The manager came to our table and said I'm sorry about this the chef didn't notice it was like that, the claws were cracked and I noticed it right away how could he have not noticed. We got up to leave and she said I'll be in contact with you. Someone called the following morning and asked my husband what happened? My husband said exactly how he felt and she said I'll make a note of it. The amount they charged me was never deducted from my onboarding account. I have been trying to contact customer service to talk to someone and I haven't been able to get through. I did sent an email and I'm waiting for someone to get back too me. I traveled with Costa 14 years ago there was a bunch of us celebrating and everything was great. I'm very disappointed with this cruise and this line. I also want to add that the buffet food was always the sa.e and very salty. The cabin smelled like urine all the time. I couldn't wait to get off this ship. We have gone on many cruises and we enjoyed them all this was a nightmare. I have to say the casino staff was great and very friendly. Read Less

We didn't have high expecations after all bad reviews on ths website. But by the end it was a very nice surprise for us! It was an excellent cruise as we could stay almost three days on Seychelles, we spent three days on Madagaskar and two days on Reunion! Crew on the ship was just perfect, entertainment team was unbelievable (entertaining for 24 hrs a day!), teather shows were excellent!, food in the restaurants very good (Club restaurant very professional!) - and some very very nice wines! Yes, gym was too small and some equipment broken, that could be improved. Internet was also very slow, we bought 3000Mb package, but we could use only half of that, that could be improved also. Some shore excursions were ok, some could be better, but it is everybody's choice. We had a rented car on Seychelles and Mauritius. CONCLUSION: Vivat Victoria! We will definetelly go again with Costa! Read Less