We are a Sydney couple with 2 adult children, both uni students. I found the Costa Concordia Western Mediterranean April 13 cruise on the internet and booked through our local travel agency. We flew into Rome about 36 hours before the cruise embarkation time and stayed at Hotel Welrome, handy to Termini station and the Costa cruise transfer point. I had read reviews of Costa Concordia and was a little apprehensive.
We found the transfer point easily and embarkation was painless. My husband and I had cabin 6336 on Grand Bretagne level. It is a category 8 cabin with a balcony. It was very clean and pleasant with a comfortable, big bed. Very occasionally there were messages over the loudspeaker repeated in various languages, but we did not find this a problem and the stateroom was generally quiet, with good soundproofing. Our impoverished kids had cabin 1432, an inside cabin on the lowest deck, Orlandia. They were perfectly happy with it and said that it was quiet and comfortable. All of us found the cabin staff efficient and helpful. Clean towels appeared more often than once a day.
The ship is comparatively new and in excellent condition. The only wear or damage I noticed was a stain on the carpet in our cabin near the balcony door. One night we had rough seas. I looked outside to see spray pouring over our balcony. My husband, who gets seasick, had not even noticed as the stabilizers were very effective. He was impressed also with the daily activity sheet with updates in several languages on entertainment, excursions etc.