I just returned (Jan. 15) from a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the CostaMagica. The ship is only a little over a year old and is very well maintained. What hit me immediately is the gaudiness of the ships interior design. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but this was one of the most overstated interiors of a ship I have ever seen. Although there were some nicely decorated areas, the colors of gold and red dominate the interiors. On deck 9 where the Bellagio buffet is located, the light fixtures are molded arms holding bare light bulbs  much too crazy for my taste. If you enjoy the atmosphere of the old Las Vegas casinos this would be great. Also, many of the chairs in the various lounges were rather low and small scale and quite uncomfortable. This was not my first cruise and I have experienced the grandeur of the Queen Elizabeth ll to the tackiness of the Magica.

One of my avocations is cooking and I really enjoy cruising because I am an adventurous eater. I can usually remember most dinners and what I had to eat. There were only two dishes on the cruise that I can say were memorable  one was a pasta dish of gorgonzola sauced gnocchi and the other was a risotto with mussels. Im not saying the food was bad, rather Im saying that the food lacked creativity and did not live up to my expectations based on what people had told me who had cruised on other Costa ships. Most disappointing were the pastries and desserts. Dessert at dinner was much improved over the offerings at the buffet which tended to be average in taste, unimaginative, repetitive, and sometimes scarce. The nice thing was I saved some calories from not eating them. I did enjoy, however, the bake shops rolls which were crusty and delicious.

One thing that concerned me was the Bellagio buffet area did not have hand sanitizers for the passengers. This made me feel a little uneasy especially after all of the outbreaks that occur on many cruise ships. We mainly ate our meals in the full service restaurant. Read more