We feel we are a good judge of cruises this being our 26th, the Embarkation seem slow but we were on board by 2pm & I will say that this ship is well presented & our Cabin was good & the Public area's very good. My first surprise was the Cabin Steward asked us when he should come to our Cabin morning or evening, we have never been asked that before but we opted for the morning & that was it. No change of towels in the evening or a 'Turn Down' Service. Unfortunately we suspect it was our waiters first week & he was unable to put the knives & forks on our table correctly & took an age. I did complain & the next night he was given extra help. The food was average I would say & not being a pasta lover this restricted my choice of dinner. One of my complaints was that on every other cruise that we have taken water is given to all seated guests at Dinner as a matter of course, NO, not on Costa ships YOU PAY for water. My other main complaints are that at 10.30am after the breakfast period ALL Coffee machines are closed down & you are then unable to get any hot drink at all, except water. Unless you PAY for a coffee/Tea etc. At 9.30pm all food outlets are closed down & you are not even able to get a biscuit or hot Coffee, unless ofcourse you go to one of the PAY outlets & get a pizza or burger!!!! One thing to watch out for & I missed in all the small print, is that the GRATUITIES/SERVICES ARE MANDATORY & so you are unable to amend even if the service is rubbish. The other thing to be warned about with Costa is that the Information Sheet that you get each day is very limited & does not give you sufficient information about the Port of Call. i.e. in Mykonos, Costa charge you 10 Euro per person for a 3 minute Bus ride into 'Town', which including my 5 yr old Granddaughter. I paid for the 6 tickets & the Bus drops you off about 200 yards from the town, not too far I hear you say. But as you got off the Ship in Port the Water Bus (which you walk past to get to the Costa Bus) costs 2 Euro's each & takes you to the middle of the town. No mention of that in the info sheet. Another observation shall I say is that this Ship has a large outdoor screen which on other ships I have been on, show Music Type video's etc.during the day or cartoons which transcend the language barrier, NO, not Costa all it showed during the day was adverts for their Services i.e. Photo Shop etc. Costa with limited warning changed the Disembarkation Port from Venice to Trieste & because, they say, there was 'civil unrest' in the town & therefore not their choice to amend the Port (to avoid compensation claims). We were intending to get off the ship in Venice & get a taxi to the Airport, but as we were getting off in Trieste this necessitated us taking a 2 hour Bus journey back to the Venice Port & then trying to get a taxi through the 'Civil unrest', (as Costa put it) to the Airport for our flight home. My fear was, we may miss the flight so we were forced to purchase Transfers. Costa then charged us 30 Euros each (including 5 yr old) for a Transfer from Trieste to the Venice Airport. No sorry I will NOT being going with Costa ever again. Read Less

DONT CRUISE WITH THEM!!! Customer service very poor, they didn't help you at all and give wrong advices, they treat us very bad when asked for some help. I puthink money in the account to pay for excursions for 2 cabin as they asked and then they took money from each account..and when I asked to take 500€ from 1500€ to give back the other family they said I can't take out any money until I disembark. ..but they treat us badly. Restaurant: food was horrible...but the worst was that after 9pm was no food...only pizza which we had to pay extra for it. Housekeeping: terrible...linen bed was never changed in a week and was very dirty...and I was with a baby so I had to stay in that misery. Beach towels was left wet on bed for 2 days ..I put them outside the door to be changed but was taken and never brought back new ones. We had to pay for everything on board ... The drinks was only but glass never by can or bottle.!!! I asked for iced coffe and I received a glass with ice and a expresso. I have more to say but most important DON'T CRUISE WITH THEM!!! Read Less

I read a lot of bad critics before going but we really enjoyed the cruise. Sure there were things we would like to change but overall it was a good one. -the embarkation was at venice. We went with the people mover from piazza roma ( tip- remember to buy tickets for the coming back to venice and skip the lines at the ticket machine). The embarkation is very very slow! We waited more then 2 hours, so no need to harry , come very early or very late. We came around 12 and and entered the ship around 3 o'clock. The rest of disembarkation at ports and at venice was pretty good )we had a flight to catch so asked to get first at venice). The ship was very clean, i thought the decor will be italian -something special, but i didn't like it- looked old fashion not at all impressive to my taste. The cabin was a little smaller the the celebrity but clean and the stewart was all the time there- very good. There was cigarette smoke in the corridor (i think from the inner rooms) , complained several times but nothing was done. The food- was very good in the restaurants, good attention and good quality of food. We were worried about the water but because our agency was from the usa we received free bottles at dinner. At the embarkation we did the water package - 13 bottles for 39 euro( don't remember exactly) - so we had water at night and at gym. About the drinking package - we were 2 adults and a 14 years kid - all of us are not great drinking - not soda or alcohol so didn't take the drinking package and bought a wine and water package- 6 wines and some 7 bottles of water for 130 euro. We were glad with this package. Had some beer (4-5 euro plus tax) and some cocktiles ( 7-8 euro). Cappuccino 3-4 euro at evening. During the last days they also selled some wine =very cheap =some 10 euro (not so good but we had for the evening at dinner). The entertainment was mediocre - had a great tenor one evening , the rest were the entertainment stuff - not at all the same level as the celebrity. The theater is very big and very well equipped. The buffer is chaos!! Very bad organised - the tables are for 6 and couples or singles occupy them leaving you no place to seat. Usually we strolled with plates and looked for a place to seat. A lot of noise and a lot of queues ...very bad experience and we preferd to go to the restaurant. Maybe less selection but quieter. The service was very good ! Last problem- there was supposed to be a teens club - a spacial room with play station and etc. No place like this just an announcement to gather near the disco...and the activity was at night with parties- this is a shame because our teen couldn't meet other children his age. OVERALL WE KNEW THIS IS NOT A CELEBRITY OR CARNIVAL CRUISE SO HAD LOWER EXPECTATIONS BUT ENJOYED IT AND HAD GREAT PORTS (AGAIN VERY SHORT TIME AT PORTS...) Read Less

Friends found cruise at a reasonable price. A group of 8 decided it would be a fun trip. The written instructions we received after purchase informed us that our luggage must be smaller than allowed by the airline. This was a 29 day trip. Our carry on was to meet very small criteria and was not allowed to have wheels. The reason was that there would not be room on the land tour buses. There was plenty of room on the buses. The written material explained that we would be charged a daily per person amount for gratuity that would be divided among certain staff. We learned this was not accurate and that this money would go to Costa to help defer salaries. We were asked on regular basis to tip all who served. The amount charged for “gratuity” was about $600 per couple and was in addition to regular tips. We learned that this could be removed but we were not informed of this by staff or YMT. Tours provided by the ship were more expensive than private tours. There were many, many complaints about the food. Many items free on other cruises were purchase items on this cruise. You purchase water for your room, soft drinks, ice cream and various other items. You were provided one bar of soap and no wash cloths. You could ask for extra soap. Wash cloths were harder to obtain. TV was limited. You could usually get BBC. WiFi was a charge item. Entertainment was very average and often put on by the Costa staff. We saw some really interesting places but I would not take this tour again. Many people on the ship got a upper respiratory illness near the conclusion of tour and of course you can get no help without paying to see a doctor. Read Less

We knew what we were getting into, but never ever thought it would be as bad as it wo as. Food was never served hot or warm or body temperature, it was cold as a dead fish. Eggs, if you call the that, slimy kind of yellow. bacon burned and really greasy. Hamburgers, well below body temperature. If you like bones with your salmon, you have chosen the right ship. If you like Prime Rib Sant cut you have picked the right ship. Entertainment, well stay hoe home and watch TV, it was terrible. Shore Excursions, OMG, no whispers, No Knowledge, horrible times in ports. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, TRY IT. Your money is wasted. Good Luck if you like smokers on balcony. cough cough. I was so sick of Dance Band Music I could puke. How about some good music to listen to. No music except some Jazz and who knows what on the ship. No music at all in many places during the evening. These cruises are sure as could be totally European. Go with Celebrity or Royal if you want a good cruse. We were just trying to escape the cold of March in the US. Typical Carnival, the owner of Costa, Read Less

We realised it was not a 5 star cruise but value for money. Heading shows 10 day Caribbean but this was a back to back cruise ending up in Venice. They had a gratuities charge of US$12.50 per day and with 3 passengers in our group for 34 days worked out to be US$1,275 or AUS$1,653. I do not know of many people who will part with Aus$1,653 as a tip. We always tip the waiter, waiters assistant and cabin person and STRONGLY object to this money grab by Costa. In my opinion they use these funds to subsidise their wage bill. All cruise lines should get rid of this tax and just quote an all up fare. Most of the other cruisers we met were very unhappy about this surcharge. We did find out that any of the Americans that complained had it refunded. No refund for Australians despite taking to four levels of staff. They missed two ports blaming it on rough seas (debatable) with no refund to cruisers. Costa would have saved on Port charges etc. We travelled Norwegian last November and when they missed a port due to bad weather they reimbursed each passenger. Service was very good overall except for bar staff. They seemed to have a different idea than us of service. They served you when and if they wanted and it was not only us that noticed it as other passengers in conversation complained as well. We ate in the restaurant every night and our waiter and waiters assistant were first class. In fact the meal was the highlight of every day and we would look forward to interacting with the staff over a meal. (Francesca and Willy) Our cabin man was very friendly and kept our room clean and comfortable every day. We were more than impressed with the entertainment staff who encouraged us to join their games which made for a lot of fun. You really need to join in to get the most of this free add on. Read Less

I enjoy the opportunity to meet people from other countries and find out about their food and culture. Costa Deliziosa has a very diverse clientel from Europe and North America. All the staff we met spoke enough english to converse with. It's very humbling to realize how many people speak several languages and I only speak english. The ship was sparkling clean when we arrived and stayed that way all 10 days. We really enjoyed the entertainment. Lots of opportunity to learn new dance steps by the pool or in the grand bar.. The main shows consisted of very good acrobatics, Vegas style dancers and costumes and a couple of operah nights. We loved the diningroom for evening meals.We were given the 9:00 seating which we didn't think would work well for us. It actually worked very well. There were 4-6 courses each night and we found everything delicious. Many new tastes for us. It is designed to be slow dining and it is. The soups are exceptional in variety and taste.The waiters were know to break into dance routines occasionally giving the diningroom a carnival atmosphere. The buffet food was average with little change. We found it better for breakfast than the diningroom. We embarked early with no problems . It went quickly. We debarked early bringing our suitcases with us. It was superfast and easy. You need to let them know you are going early. Service was a little on the slow side but very good. Cabins were cleaned either once or twice daily, depending on what box you check on the form left in your cabin. We found a morning cleaning sufficient. We had asmall balcony cabin. Perfect for us with lots of storage spaces. It was too windy to use the balcony much except for early morning in port. I usually ended upstairs anyway so I could see both sides. Ports were as we expected with lots of time to explore.We did not do any of the ship excursions. We did rent a car in Roatan as the price was the same as a taxi. It was an adventure. Roads were like swiss cheese. We managed well and remember Roatan as our favourite wih great snorkling right off the beach in West Bay. We went to Geoff Cay in Belize with a private outfit . It was very good. In Cozumal, we went by Taxi to a private beach club. It was good but expensive for a few hours at the beach and we felt we didn"t really see the island. The announcements that you need to hear are in Englsh but may start with other languages first. Ahe range on this ship was 30-70. I would not hesitate to recommend this cruise to a friend who is looking for a slightly different expoerience than the typical American cruise. Read Less

Here is a review for those who are wondering about trying Costa. There are not many reviews on this site for Costa. For the reviews that do exist the type of traveler that wrote them is unclear. We have traveled to Europe a half dozen times and loved it. We are only fluent in English but are perfectly comfortable traveling in non English speaking parts of the world. This was our ninth cruise, most of them on Princess and RCCL. We are not picky cruisers, do not expect perfection. Our main love of cruises is being out on the ocean and escaping the cold winter weather for a couple of weeks. We always get a balcony room but really have no interest in a suite. We enjoy good food but do not go on a cruise to find it. We have never been compelled to eat in a ship’s specialty restaurant. We picked this cruise because it fit our allowable dates, the price was very good, and we liked the features of the ship (promenade deck is a must). We also liked the itinerary because it went a couple of places we have not been to before. Showing the conclusion up front: Our cruise was good but we will probably not choose Costa again. Things we liked: Our room was good. Our room steward was great. We like ballroom dancing and it is true that Costa is great for this. The shows in the theater each night were some of the best we have seen at sea. The ship has a great promenade deck which we used for walking each day. We loved the way the Europeans partied and danced each night. Enjoyed all the nights the waiters did a show in the dining room. Enjoyed the captain’s cocktail party. The ship was clean and well maintained. Things we did not like but were not big issues to us: Our bags were very late getting to our room. Check in was not very efficient. Example, had to take our cruise cards to a kiosk on the ship to link a credit card instead of doing it with the lady that checked us in? We wanted a couple of postcards of the ship. First of all they cost and second there was only one available at the shop. I was told to come back the next day and they would have more printed. Really? One card for a ship with 2800 people on it? On disembarkation day we waited an hour past our time with very little announcement as to what was going on. We ordered a frozen drink one time it was so bad we never tried again. We ordered a Bloody Mary one time; it was so bad never again. After that we ordered beer or wine or a wine cooler. Things that influenced our thumbs down: Service in the restaurants and bars was definitely below what we have experienced on other lines. I would guess 1 waiter for 5 waiters on other lines. Our poor waiter at dinner was taking care of twenty people. Our dining time and table did not get linked to the other couple we were traveling with. The head maître d never did get this problem solved (unbelievable?). We didn’t like all the extra charge items on the menu every night (no lobster unless you pay for it). No coffee after desert unless you pay for it. I really think every cruise line should let you bring on at least one bottle of wine and some soft drinks if you want to. We hope this review is helpful for other cruisers like us. Costa is not horrible, just not quite good enough for us to come back. And for what it’s worth, the few other Americans we talked to during the cruise seemed to feel the same way. The Europeans on the cruise seemed to be having the time of their life. Read Less

I coincided myself a easy going passenger on the cruises we go on and there have been 26 with this our first Costa cruise but it will be our last. i don't know where to start so lets start at the beginning. They lost a piece of luggage of my, my cpac machine so the 10 day cruse went without much sleep for me and my husband. They front desk couldn't care less, I was bothering them every time I made a inquirer. Second the rooms are old , we had a mini suit and it had seen better days, worn fabric on rugs and chairs , chipped and discolored counters and surfaces. Door would not lock and you needed a hammer to open it. They came twice to fix it and still I had to kick it to o pen it. The toilet backed up 3 times, I got to know the plumber by his first name. The electric went off several times and so on.... The food is fair at best, your lucky if you get a hot meal as they serve them all at once in the dining room. The troth as we call it ( the buffet) is even more of a disappointment , mostly casseroles and pasta, stews and no carving stations. The charge extra for a hamburger and pizza. You only get water to drink EVERYTHING else is extra , even ice tea. They nickel and dine you right from the start. The entertainment was fair at best we walked out on several shows as other did just because it just was not entertaining. All in all this was the worst of our 26 cruises and we have been on some stinkers. This was the worst.. Read Less

We originally choose this cruise because it was a 10 night cruise, was affordable $949 PP premium balcony and it went the route we did 15 cruises ago (2005) and we wanted to see the changes, if any in the various ports. The reviews we had read described the ship as 41/2 stars with many premium features. We agree with this assessment it is a very nice ship! That being said, there is very few nice things that can be said. Our waiter was very nice as was our cabin attendant the remainder of the crew suffered from "language block". This is a condition wherein they either do not understand English or simply use the ruse of lack of understanding to either ignore you or direct you to another subject or choice. Many questions we asked remain unanswered to this point in time, which is after the cruise has ended. While the ship sails out of an American port (Port Everglades) the ship is Italian and that is the dominant language spoken thus the overwhelming majority of passengers are European and that being Italian also. We (Americans) found the food to be bland, tasteless, and offering few variations. Personally, I thought the breakfast sausage was the worst I had ever encountered, the bacon was usually under cooked as were the scrambled eggs! And the general offering was unlike anything we had ever encountered. However, the Europeans seem to love it and that is just fine with us, we can simply book cruises with cruise lines such as Celebrity, Holland America, Carnival, Princess or Norwegian or any number of lines that reflect American tastes! There are NO specialty restaurants on the ship. Instead they sell you specialty meals in the dining room. eg: Lobster which is generally offered one night on any of the other cruise lines we have cruised on and in this case it was horrible! It was dry, tough and tasteless . On another night I had King Prawns and they were juicy but tasted unlike anything I had ever eaten! Oh yes, and the stage shows, well most High Schools present shows that are equal to,or better than those presented on the Deliziosa. The final night of the cruise the entertainment was provided by the crew members themselves and it proved to be the best show of the trip! We did not do any of the shore excursions offered as they seemed quite simple and uninteresting. Going back to the ship and basically its design, it is constructed so that instead of 4 large buffet areas there are many scattered around, such as Pizza here and a grill there and something else over there. This causes a major problem for Americans in that someone is always cutting in front of you, which we assumed to be poor manner or rude people. However, in hindsight I believe it to be a case of the diners get something here and then go to a different area to get something else. They seem to have adapted to this method of obtaining food and we have not and never will! We will simply not sail on a Costa Ship again! Read Less