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Before the cruise I read a lot critical reviews about Costa but I just thought that Americans are to demanding and as an European I can manage with European customers and service. I was totally wrong. We have cruised before e.g. Princess Cruises and have loved every second. This time was different. Ok, I have to admit that the ship seemed quite nice and cabin was also proper and clean. For first hour I was satisfied with my choise. Then it began: We did not get our luggage to our cabin until around 6:45 pm and were late few minutes from dinner (7:00) even though we changed our clothes in a hurry. We were not let in anymore and we were advised to go to dinner buffet. That was something I have never seen in a cruise ship and we are not even picky. Plastic plates, nothing to eat, nothing. Normal 5 Euros lunch buffet for construction workes is fine dining compared to this one. I would describe it as a snack bar with unappealing choises. Then we noticed that there is also pizza available which would have made this dinner buffet somehow ok. Pizza, pay extra 4,25$. As going through the ship I also noticed directly that you have to pay extra for everything. We had a drinking package but not even water available in a cabin and you cannot get water bottle from bar. So, you pay to get water to your cabin. Ice-cream extra 1,5$ etc. At this point we were quite disappointed already but still tried to make our cruise comfortable. It did not work, the whole cruise was just pain. Customer service is slow, announcement spoken in bad english after many other languages. Many customers like us are not native english speakers but that is the only language we can use there, so it was hard to handle things because my english is not in excellent level and staff spoke even worse english. Still I could have lived with this food issue, bad customer service and all extra payings. But fellow travelers.... Loud, rude, unpolite. We spend the end of our vacation again in a AI-hotel in Dominican Rep. and were so thankful for civilized way other customers acted in a hotel. Customers were north americans and from Scandinavia. Not pushing in line, not shouting in big groups, always paying attention to other peoples presence and not just thinking of themselves. Read Less

We took this cruise for two reasons: the great itinerary (initially 6 port stops in 6 days, although the last one in St. Maarten was cancelled after the Sept. hurricanes), and the fact that it was one of the only cruise ships departing from the Dominican Republic where we were spending 3 more weeks on this trip. All-in-all, we weren’t disappointed. We expected that the other passengers would be mostly European, but we were flabbergasted to find out that we were the amongst the only English-first-language passengers on the entire ship! (we only heard English being spoken by any passengers between themselves once on the entire cruise). The passengers were about 30% Italian, 30% French (including many from Martinique and Guadeloupe, and some French-Canadians), 30% Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking (I think mainly from South America), and 9.99% Northern European, who mostly had to communicate with the service crew in English, who were mostly Fillipino, Chinese and Indian, and English was their only second language. Anyway, we didn’t view this as a disadvantage since it lent a decidedly European flair to the cruise, and this may have been the reason that they assigned us our own table-for-two at dinner. The Isla Catalina stop was basically a beach day at a very nice island beach just a few km off the coast of the D.R. near La Romana. The other four port stops were four very interesting and beautiful islands of the Lesser Antilles, St. Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. We were not interested in beach, catamaran or scuba tours and wanted to see the interior, seascapes, and historical sites on these islands. We only took one Costa tour (in St. Kitts) due to the relatively short port stop, and we had previously booked the remainder of shore tours via the internet with private operators, all of which were probably better, longer, and cheaper than those offered by Costa. The food was generally very good, especially in the main dining room, where the dinners were six courses with fresh plates and the right cutlery for each course, and the service was excellent. It was mainly Italian with only limited pasta, with mainly fresh ingredients in imaginative dishes. However, beef and shrimp offerings were limited, and steak and lobster were never offered except for a significant additional cost, even for the gala dinner. The desserts at dinner, especially the chocolate ones, and also in the buffet at meal and snack times, were excellent. Every day they offered excellent small sandwiches, real Italian pizza, and those excellent desserts in the buffet. However, that was it for snack foods. The ship was very clean, with handrails and walls being wiped down often. The entertainment in the theatre was pretty good, as far as it went. The lead male and female singers, as well at the dozen dancers were very good, but most of the shows were limited to 45-60 minutes. However there was no show at all one night, and another night was wasted on “The Voice of the Sea”, basically a corny passenger karaoke show with judges (although this drew the largest crowd from the mostly European passengers – Italian culture at its finest!). However, we had recently taken an MSC cruise which, although no better in other regards, offered far superior, longer, and more varied theatre entertainment. In fairness, MSC seems to be head and shoulders above most other cruise lines in this one cruise feature. The bigger disappointment was the remaining entertainment in the lounges, where the singers and musicians were quite mediocre. In the main dance lounge, I kid you not, they actually sang that classic, great 1960s hit “Itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini” in heavily-accented English with a Latin beat with dozens dancing to it! Again, Italian culture at it’s finest! Drink prices were EUR 5-6 for basic beer/wine/liquor, up to EUR 10 for fancy cocktails. The basic drink package was EUR 188, so you would each have to have almost 6 drinks/day to break even. Like all cruise lines, they state that bringing alcohol on board is not allowed, but we put a bag of wine and a bottle of scotch in a plastic bottle in our luggage and it was not detected, saving us a few hundred dollars. Juice/water/coffee/tea was available free only at breakfast, but only water at lunch/dinner, and they had the audacity to put up a sign saying not to fill your water bottles with the free bulk water (yeah, right!). However, this is a remnant of European culture where one must never stoop to drinking safe tap water, but only expensive bottled water that costs as much as the wine or beer! As I said, the lower level Filipino, Indian and Chinese staff were generally hard-working, polite, and excellent at their jobs, but some of the mostly Italian senior staff were insufferably snotty. I asked one of them a simple question, which they replied in a haughty and rude tone, and then later it turned out the answer they gave me was totally wrong! One little thing, however, really showed their attempt to extract every Euro from the passengers: at the port stop in St. Kitts the ship docked at the commercial port some 3 km from the city centre where the two other piers were taken by other cruise ships. I would guess that the port authorities would charge more for the premium central piers, however its not unusual for a cruise ship to have to dock at a more distant pier and run a shuttle bus service to the town centre. What is unusual, however is to have the audacity to charge the passengers EUR 7 to take this shuttle! However, apart from these minor annoyances, this was a pretty good cruise, and is recommended if you want to see these particular ports and you can get the cruise for a good price. Read Less

for the ilands , the menbers off the excursions were not very patient whit people from quebec, everytime we ask for information they said read your paper you get at your room ,only 1 restaurent la carte and buffet all the reste must pay ,theatre show are done by 9pm then left whit there bars ship,there was entertainement was ok. was clean and cabin also the dinning the service was very good exelente waiters excursions were goog but expensive and everything in euro , one off our freinds was at the pool a italien lady took the long chair he ask for it back. went to explain to the people in charge they said nothing cold be done fellt very ognored,when we were leaving the cruize they ask how many people were loking foward to go home everybody put there hand up exept 1 ,then he ask wouls anyone like to spend another week on board only 1 person put her hand up, so i think you need to work on the social for quebec everyone was desappointed did not feel support was good Read Less

We picked this cruise as a package leaving La Romana in the Dominican Republic a one week cruise and then a one week stay at the Be Live Canoa in La Romana. At almost every port new travellers boarding the ship, and every time a safety drill onboard even as late as10:30pm at night blasting in our rooms even us who already did our drill on the first day. Food menu is basically always the same day to day. If you look for tea in the evening the hide it away, and you must ask for it. Who knows why? The state rooms are well kept, and ship is clean. We had a cabine on the second level and heard loud noises from the floor above us which were the fridge units for the dining area. At all times of the night heard shovelling noises and piling of boxes or so. Last day of cruise they offered us to sleep on the eight floor balcony room, and we did, sleped like a baby no noise. We should have complained sooner. I had my lounge chair taken away from me by an Italian tourist, him saying its an italian boat and they have sonority over us. Called security and argued for a while but he won, and me off looking for another place to sit. We watched him and his group to get off the chair but they never left. He had people relaying him to sit in my place. They can keep there ships. Never again will our group of 10 travel on any Italian ship including the Costa line. Does not compare in any way to Celebrity or Royal Caribbean which we both did years before. Read Less

The cruise in October was my 65th birthday present to myself and also the itinerary had great appeal, embarking in Barcelona. Interestingly , there were new passengers on a daily basis, so there were new faces most mornings at breakfast.I noticed at least 8-10 wheelchair bound passengers during the seven day trip, fantastic to have such provision for disabled people.For once , the British speaking passengers were the minority, which added to the fun we had. large Italian families travelling together in addition to other folk from all over the world.Offshore shuttles, for those of us not wishing to join booked excursions were punctilious and well organised.The office"staff' went to so much trouble to assist us on disembarkation day, we hade a late evening flight to Dubai, so they kept our luggage in the office and let us stay on Board until 15h00, they phoned the taxi company to change our collection time, all with a smile and such efficiency (Laura and Miekle) World Class Service indeed. Read Less

First of all Good prices - Wifi was too expensive and not properly received - The ship cleaned all day long and the pool well kept Our Cabin was properly done every time we needed by Ian Magdaraog - Astonished entertainment by people singing different languages - Good and various food for all tastes - Hospitality Service well managed with the help of foreign languages - Mainly Rodrigo with his smile - Very good and warm bar services - with smiling and friendly bar maids - mainly Remy and the blonde girl (forgot her name) The everyday shows were very good with different teams and the show delivered by the various people (non entertainment team) on the day before our departure was great- can't imagine such good talents behind the scene We bought various good excursions - value for money - To end : Very Good cruise to be renewed every time now and then when in need of rest Read Less

Sail Date: 08 September 2017 Destination: Europe - Western Mediterranean Embarkation: Kiel Just returned from a cruise, the Costa Pacifica.We chose this cruise for the itinerary and we were not disappointed. We enjoyed every port of call, stunning scenery combined with history and beautiful buildings. The Costa Pacifica is a lovely ship with lots to offer My husband and I are cruising enthusiasts. this was my first cruise. Being both retired we have chosen cruises to have the opportunity to visit different country but most of all to discover all the entertainment on board and to meet such wonderful and charming people on board. My husband is already a Costa Club member , the last time it was on Costa Victoria. The staff was as usual fantastic and really did all what they could to keep up the hospitality of Costa. It was an excellent and very amusing experience. We dined in the New York restaurant and the food was excellent as was the waiter service. We had a fantastic wine waiter called Boaquina Santos II who was excellent at his job. The food was really good and the service was amazing. The show in the evening was good. We have been so lucky to meet people such as Beautiful Cynthia Bulka, very good and warm bar maid services with the smiling and charming Lalremruati (Remy) (Cocktail Waitress), the very beautiful friendly blonde from Portugal, Zaenal Mustopa F& B server. These persons have really touched our heart with their kindness, great devotion and most of all with the communicating friendly smile, a great thanks to them who have make our day and night a real dream. I wish them all the best in their professional and personal life. Do not change anything, be always the same .You are wonderful persons. We watched all the dance shows in the theatre and the lounge bar, the Afro Arimba dance productions were brilliant. A big thank and applause to the beautiful fantastic singer Julia & the great and talented Saxophonist Roberts for their romantic song. The everyday shows were excellent with different teams and the unforgettable show delivered by the various people (non entertainment team) on the day before our departure was just fabulous, talented and surprising Just can't imagine such good and hidden talents behind the scene. Hospitality Service well managed and very helpful with different foreign languages - Mainly the smiling Rodrigo and the charming Laura Sini. A big kiss from Costa Pacifica Boutique to the beautiful and smiling waiter 407 Michele Pereire, excuse us for not writing well the name. We will not forget our two Francophone Hospitality Service Senior Specialists namely the charming and smiling Lisa Coppola and Julia Fouquet with their unconditional devotion. They were more than helpful A big thank to the very talented photographer Alexandre Bega and his team. We did various good excursions - value for money - A big thanks for the hospitality and animation team, the fantastic and talented Josuah. Wish him Good luck VIGO City Tour Visited a city in Spain and then Portugal. Was an interesting tour. CHERBOURG The trip to Normandy was our favorite excursion of the cruise. It was very moving, our guide well informed, and the museum at the graveyard very well done. Overall it was a fantastic cruise with great values. Read Less

We chosen this Cruise because it was an opportunity to know dfferent places like Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallin, Riga, Port of Kleipeda and Gdingen and Gdansk finally back to Kiel. The trip was great, the Staff amazing polited and helpful. The cabin was very clean, several times a day it was checked. The food floor, nineth floor was very clean and offered several meals and the quality was very good. The special restaurant was very goo also. We only did the Ship Excursion in St Petersburg and it was very well organized and well done! The great setback is the internet connection. It would be better and more correct to say there was NO INTERNET ON BOARD. Either you have a twenty fours hours package for five euros a day, which does NOT WORK PROPERLY. Or you have choices of packages of 250 MEGABYTES or 500MEGABYTES or 3 GIGABYTES. Prices hanging from 32, 47 or 109 EUROS per package. BUT then comes the BIG catch , which you find out later written in very small letter at the botton of the page ...remember to disconnect by typing logout... What happens if you do not do so, there is a stopwatch measuring your use and then your package is gone almost without using it. An absurdity, it seems done with really bad faith!!!!!! Who after each use of your phone, whatsapp, or anything similar connect and disconnect every time. PLEASE Sirs, either you do not offer this lousy type of internet connection OR offer a reasonable one which might be used in your favor to send family and friends how we are enjoying the Cruise. Read Less

Daily, each passenger is charged 10€ for "tips". On the first day, I asked what the tips went for, and I was informed that they were given to those people who provided services: busboys, waiters and waitresses, bartenders, food servers, cabin cleaners. GOOD! These professions are often underpaid and many people do not tip for those services. The day before my cruise ended, I asked one of the service people what they were going to do with their tips at the end of the cruise. (I don't want to get anyone in trouble, so I am making the job of the person generic.) There were slightly over 3500 customers and slightly under 1000 service workers. 11 days x 3500 people x 10 € = 385000 € ! So, I talked with one of the officers of food and beverage and asked where the money went. He smiled indulgently and explained that Americans view "tips" differently than Europeans. The money, he explained, went to the people in charge of the service workers! He further justified NOT giving it to any of the service people by saying that when they signed a contract, they KNEW it was for salary only. I told him that if I had known that my tip money did NOT go to the folks who provided DIRECT service, I would have carried euros around with me to tip those folks who served me! I talked to German, Italian and French cruise mates....and asked them what they thought the "tip" money was for and they explained to me that it was for those people who provide service: busboys, waiters and waitresses, bartenders, food servers, cabin cleaners! SO, they had the same thought as I. Fortunately, there was time to give the person who cleaned my cabin a tip. BUT, all those others didn't get tips and the person who cleaned my cabin told me that it is rare! (OF COURSE IT IS! PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE GIVING EVERY DAY!) The daily excursions were pricey and there were FEW (only 2 out of 11) that had head sets for each member of the tour group. There were often 3-5 cruise ships in the port which meant that there were hundreds, possibly thousands going ashore to see THE sights that made the town famous/important etc. Each tour group was 30-40 people and unless you were directly in front of the person (obviously impossible) you couldn't hear what was being said. The tour companies were hired/subcontracted by COSTA and when this issue was raised with the excursion folks on board, they explained that there was nothing they could do. When I spoke with the tour guides, they explained that the cost of head sets was too much for them....Additionally, the tour guides seemed to routinely get paid less than what I paid for the tour itself! (Another place to tip if you enjoyed the tour.) Read Less