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 chose it because of the port of call and the price "seemed" right? The service was poor and the customer service desk was not much better, staffed by people who had very little experience with travelers and were misleading and uninformed. Promises made were not kept resulting in our wasted time. Time is money$$$ ! Little or no efforts were made to fix issues. We read about problems in Italy, political and organization wise and this ship encompasses all that is wrong with Italy in one spot! Food in the restaurant was often cold and orders delivered to our table were mixed up. Simple things like ice were not available. The printed menu did not cover the actual dishes served so that a number of allergies were only discovered at the last minute. There were no substitutions so you basically went without food if you could not eat the food the waiter brought you. You could always fall back on the buffet on the 9th deck and that was the only "safe" place to eat. The wifi package did not work...but no refunds and the service desk did not understand how it worked. Read Less

Full disclosure: I won this cruise, so my only choice was itinerary, and after reading many negative reviews, I was quite worried. My worries were unfounded and we had an amazing time...as Americans, the Italian flavor added to the experience...rather than detracted, in our opinion. The last night, the dining room was rocking as waiters danced with passengers, the Italians started a conga line and everyone...Italians, Americans, Germans, French, etc....sang Italian songs. There are some things that will seem inefficient to Americans, but just chill out and enjoy a little bit of the European experience. It was particularly fun to watch the Super Bowl on the big screen by the pool with the other American passengers and stand for the national anthem...the grill was also open late that night, so we could indulge in burgers, hot dogs and fries. I will never forget the look on some of the crew's faces when Big Boi performed in that giant fur coat for the halftime show! As far as entertainment, we liked all the shows, but especially Davide, the tenor and "The Voice at Sea"...where passengers competed in a sing-off. All competitiors got encouragement from the audience and we had a little nationalistic pride when an American won. Bingo was done a little differently with push-in cards and the caller reading off the numbers in 5 or 6 languages...again, FUN! I didn't buy a drink in a bar, but my son and his fiance did and they said prices were even a bit lower than those in Vegas, where they live. We only took one tour with Costa...in Jamaica...and it was well-run with awesome guides. They only spoke English, so I'm not sure if the Europeans enjoyed it as much as we did, but most of the activities did not really require a narration. We loved the dance lessons and shout out to the Latin Dance team who would dance with passengers in one of the bars at night. The musicians at all of the venues were excellent....if you like to dance, you will LOVE this ship! Cabins were okay...maybe a little dated, but comfortable. Many complain about lack of turndown service...I think most of us are capable of doing that ourselves. My room was always made up when I returned from breakfast, gym and spa. We had second dinner seating, which started out tough for us, being American, but we adapted by eating a salad or dessert at the buffet and then going down and having a delicious dinner in the dining room. I have seen complaints re charges for pizza and burgers...you can eat those for free at lunch...no need to pay at all. As our itinerary progressed, we were actually glad for late seating, as we got back late at some of the ports and would have rushed to get to the first seating. I used the spa and gym daily...part of the reason I only gained 1 lb, despite indulging in dessert 2x/day. Both are excellent and the spa package was a great value...especially during sea days. Be sure to register your credit card at one of the kiosks when you get on the ship (this was one of my only complaints...why can't you register it upon check-in at thea port?) or you will need to settle your bill in person at the Hospitality Desk, which had a very long line as our trip concluded. My only other complaint has nothing to do with the ship or cruise, but just that the Costa customer service department in the US had an incredibly long wait time on the phone before I was even connected with an agent...and that they would not return phone calls or emails. All in all, a fantastic cruise...one of the best I've been on...and it had little to do with the ship, but mostly because of the atmosphere. I lived in Germany for 3 years when I was much younger and loved it...I always found that if you travel to other countries and want things the same way as they are at home...maybe you should just stay home. Read Less

Regardless of poor reviews that we read, we embarked on the Costa Deliziosa due to provided price discounts (~70%) for 2 x 10 consecutive days. And, the following is our personal opinion: 1. Food and its variety was very good in taste and the quality terms. Except: a) there was very poor choice of tropical & exotic fruits like Papaya (popular in Central America), Dragon, Pepino,.....etc. Kiwi were to hard and not well matured. b) often we encountered a shortage of water melons. c) often there was an annoying line-up for the food at pick hours d) service over the supper lasted too long (~ 2 hrs). e) free coffee was of poor quality 2.There was too many outdoor cigarette smoking places. The smoke from outside was entering main corridors through the door openings into the Buffet area making difficult to find a smoke-free place. Smoke was even evaporating on walking / jogging path on the top deck. Also, the walking path was blocked by people laying on chairs. Cigarette's smoke from the balcony was penetrating over the day and some night hrs inside of our balcony, hence we were very limited to have the benefits of balcony. Read Less

No matter what nationality you are, when you travel with Costa Cruise you will become Italian and live in an atmosphere full of love and human warmth. Italians are different from everyone, they are unique in the way they live their lives with others. The secret is in human contact, in the way they make you feel comfortable and important at same time , they know that everyone has a weakness for good food, pizza, pasta. wine, sweets and the beautiful Italian and Neapolitan melodic songs, I have had experiences with other Cruise Companies as: Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean but with Costa I reserve indelible memories, I do not exaggerate but the cleanliness that I have always found on Costa Cruise ships I have not found them from any others Cruises Ship For this and more if you decide to take a cruise I recommend Costa Cruise My next cruise will be with Costa Cruise again Read Less

Cruising for me is a wonderful experience no matter what. I have traveled by cruise ship 30+ Times. This shop was by far the worst in terms of food quality and options. I would gladly pay more for better quality food. The drink package is deceptive. We upgraded 2 times and still had to pay for a bottle of water to take in shore. Their menu in the dining room was not what I expected. Very limited and mostly lie cost meals prepared poorly. When I complained about this I was given a complimentary dinner at one of the specialty restaurants. It was the worst lobster I have ever had! How in the world do you mess up a lobster?? Never got ice with my drunks even though I asked multiple times. I will never cruise with costa again. The excuse that they cater to a European crowd as unacceptable. I have had some amazing food at restaurants in the untied states. Read Less

Bought the cruise as an alternate Christmas gift. Looking forward to seeing the islands and just getting away. What a disappointment! Most of the staff had trouble with English. The cabins had daily changes of towels but the bedding was not changed for the whole 11 days. The tour office gave incorrect information and if you wanted to cancel a tour you were out of luck. That required a doctors note. Tours were not as advertised, well some were, some not. I was sick 5 out of 11 days due to the food...and not the only one. Table selection was not available and after waiting an hour to have seating changed were advised what we wanted Was not possible. We paid for the specialty restaurants, not so special. The menu on the specialty restaurants were similar to regular dining rooms on other cruise lines. The entertainment was marginal. A lot was from the crew...no headliners. Read Less

So I'm just gonna be straightforward with the good, bad, and the ugly. Buckle up kiddos, because you're in for quite a ride with this one. GOOD: -Embarking and Disembarking was a very simple process -- usually pretty quick. -Rooms were nice and clean with decent amount of space -- Balcony rooms came at a great rate. -Photographers were experienced and friendly. Pretty much were willing to try whatever you wanted for memorable photos. -Great if you want to interact with people from different cultures & diverse backgrounds. BAD: -You could literally feel the ship moving at all times. We've been on other cruise ships before and no other ship has rocked as much as this one to the point where it interrupts your day. Members of my family were literally sick for whole days on this ship because you could constantly feel the rocking. Apparently this is a common problem because the front desk gives out seasickness pills for free... -All help desks/excursion desks are open at strange times and for very short hours. -There is a language barrier a lot of times in general with most employees because most of them speak Italian, French, or Spanish as a primary language. Service overall is TERRIBLE. -Waitstaff is understaffed, especially in the main dining room. Service is slow due to the fact that one waiter is assigned to about 4 tables to serve 3-5 course meals per table without assistance. Meals can last up to 3 hours. -Nothing is included in your package except for dinner and the buffet. All other food places, spa areas, snacks, movie theater, decent fitness classes, even WATER, etc. all cost extra. This was different for us compared to Royal Carribean because all snacks, movies, and such were included. -Pool is tiny. Only two hot tubs. Not much on the top deck. -Not much to do when at sea. Entertainment is basically the same performers doing different things. Mostly music acts. "Parties" only include a DJ and pretty much nothing else. The only club on board is what the ship uses as the "Teen Club" during the day and converts it into the adult club at starting at midnight. UGLY: -Excursions poorly planned and priced. Most excursions are 2x-3x more expensive than if you purchased the same trip after arrival at the local excursion booths. We signed up for an ATV adventure and it was not in the pamphlet nor did they tell us ahead of time that we needed Sneakers and Drivers Licenses with us when we arrived. One employee told us it was fine, but another told us 15 min before departure that it was mandatory. Had to run all the way back to the ship to collect our things frantically, returned only for the group to have left without us. Employees were rude when we asked questions and basically told us it wasn't their problem. Highly DO NOT recommend doing excursions with Costa. If you HAVE to take this ship, do excursions with the locals on land!!! -Food is poor quality-- bland and very strong/unclean tasting fish. For an Italian ship, pasta was often not made very well. Was often undercooked and sauces were bland. There was also never much variety. You will basically be eating the same food every day. -Food areas are open at weird times. The buffet is open for about 2-3 hours at a time for meals. If you're hungry for a snack or something in between, you will have to pay extra at other places. TL;DR The service sucks. The food sucks. The experience sucks. This ship sucks. If you want a floating hotel, this is a cheap option. If you want a cruise, look to Royal Carribean, Princess, Carnival, or Norwegian instead. This is not worth your time or money. Read Less