Lovely ship with the Deck 5 outside walkway all round the ship an excellent feature. Well designed cabins. Entertainment to suit all tastes. Younger ones can enjoy loud music up in Deck 10 and the Disco, while older ones can enjoy the quieter bars, music, dancing available on Deck 4 and 5. Theatre shows were excellent but you have to get in 30 minutes before to get a decent seat. Not a problem as you can sit and have a cocktail. Food was good with reasonable choice in the main restaurant. The food in the buffet was also good but often struggled to find a table. No hot breakfast in the buffet but great choice with waiter service in the main restaurant. Staff on board were all very efficient and friendly. The all inclusive drinks package was excellent with big choice of cocktails, branded spirits and liqueurs, wine by the glass with limited choice but OK. Avoid the ship during school holidays if you are an older couple. Even in March, the pools were monopolised by families with kids. Three downsides which could be improved by Costa would be, (a) Port disembarkation manned by 1 member of staff to barcode read your Costa on board card ! Caused havoc when trying to get off the ship. (b) No encouragement from Costa for passengers to use hand washes.

(c) Tour 1495 to Scenery of Cinque National Park was the worst ever tour from a tour operator and logistics viewpoint. (the 3 places visited met expectations). Costa had subcontracted the tour to Trumpy Tours and did not point out that the rail portion was public transport in an overcrowded, smelly train with little or no chance of getting a seat but a higher chance of being pick pocketed ! The supposed tour guide was a joke, very poor communication in English and lacked organisation skills. Avoid this tour. I dread to think how it would be in the height of season.