Everything negative that I read & worried about never came true. We are Canadians & after Oasis of the Seas last year, Costa did not disappoint. There was lots of water ( jugs of it ) at the dining room table. We could get free water any time in the buffet. I even bought a light that sterilizes tap water for the cruise after hearing the nightmare reviews but never needed it. Our daughter had the room attendant provide 2 wine coolers of ice twice a day to have hers cold. The produce was fresh, always ripe, plenty of it & great the last day same as the first. I have followed a raw diet in the past & it would be easy to do on Costa.

Good bang for our buck ...Dec 2013 we paid less than $50 a day per person & got $50 ship credit each besides being upgraded to 4th floor balcony with clear view. The staff totally, absolutely knocked themselves out to be accommodating. Especially at our table we were entertained by magic tricks, jokes & pranks for the kids ..always things like like putting 4 extra desserts in front of them or hiding requested strawberries under piles of ice cream for the preteen. She loves hot chocolate & got all she wanted, made in front of her without asking during every meal for 9 days. Three cakes with names came for father & son birthdays in our family. One lunch we didn't get back in time & at supper the several of the diningroom staff showed emotionally how they had missed us & lots of hugs. Our daughter has lost count of her cruises & after back-to-back cruises all winter her family are quite demanding & accustom to the best of service. It was her first time with Costa as well & she was continually impressed in the dining room. For food, Costa topped my experience with Carnival & Royal Caribbean hands down.

Our family during embarkation brought fruit, a lg bottle of soda pop, & electric hair straightener as well as other food through security. They gave each room a good sized fruit cake as gift (Xmas) to take home. One couple didn't know of the room service fee & had a surprise at the end because it is $7 per person even just for coffee or 1 thing. We just carried drinks from the buffet for our room. The moral of the story is if you do room service once in a while at least choose wisely to make it worth while. Mini golf was $5. for 1/2 an hour. 3 D movie with special effect sensory & moving chairs is $8. There was a built in charge of $11 US gratuities per day per person but my daughter & her family had no problem arranging to pay staff on their own. They told Costa on the 2nd day & just signed a waiver. Read more