Costa Mediterranea Review
If You're American, Think Twice About Costa
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The Costa Mediterranea was one of the most beautiful ships my family and I have sailed on out of the eleven cruises we have sailed. The ship was also immaculately clean and well maintained. I was extremely pleased to see the efforts made by all staff to shine the mirrors, clean the carpeting and polish the glass. Our Steward, Reggie kept the cabin neat and clean at all times. He also was the first Steward from all our cruises who, upon our arrival, immediately introduced himself, educated us on the use of the cabin safe and television, reviewed the items in the refrigerator and removed the alcohol at our request, and even placed our luggage in the cabin when it arrived and we were not present. He was an example of excellent service.
However, I cannot say the same for other areas of the ship. I must admit that for the first time in my life during this cruise, I felt discriminated against as an American by many Costa crew members. There were many instances where a non-American received preferential treatment over me and my family. For example, I had a very bad experience with the Guest Services Desk that I will go into more detail later. From the first occasion that I visited the area to the last, I received very poor attitude. As soon as I spoke English, the attitude became apparent. Other non-English speaking guests were greeted with smiles and assisted immediately. I was made to feel that my questions were bothersome.
I also must say that there were many unusual situations that occurred. It seemed for every good or positive about the cruise, there was a poor or negative that accompanied it. For example, the Costa Kids Program was amazing. My son found the theme nights each night to be exciting. The "Horror Night" on the first evening was a bit scary for a four year old; but, he thoroughly enjoyed each night thereafter. The negative was that the program didn't open until 9pm on most nights. My son's bedtime is 9pm and he had difficulty staying awake to enjoy the evening's activities. Most other cruise lines start their evening kids programs at 7pm where my son gets a good 2-3 hours of fun each night.