This was our second Eastern Med cruise. The previous cruise was with Celebrity and was fantastic. We were looking for a cruise that went to Istanbul and Costa had what we were looking for. We took a water taxi from our hotel to the embarkation pier. There was a costa rep on the pier and he said to leave the luggage with him and he would look after it. We then went to the second floor of the building and were told to get a numbered tag from the desk. When your number was called you got on the ship. Embarkation was fairly quick and in no time we were in our cabin. The difference between Celebrity and Costa is that on Celebrity you are taken to your cabin, and with costa you find your own way. For those never having been on a large ship before this can be a little intimidating. Just ask for directions. The room was large and the balcony was also a good size. The room was well laid out, and there was storage for the suitcases under the bed. My negative in the room was that the beds were as hard as a rock. The same with the pillows. Even though the bathroom was clean, it smelled of urine for the whole trip. There were quite a few shelves in the bathroom, plenty of space to hold all our items. Our shower's water pressure was great, but our tablemates complained that theirs was weak and sometimes they had no hot water.

We had breakfast in bed every morning. This is one of the romantic things about cruising. Cappuccino, coffee, fresh juice, croissants, Danishes, yogurt and milk. It was all good. Lunches were onshore during the excursions. Twice we ate at the free for all buffet..ie push and shove to get at the food you want. Pizza and pasta were nice. So was the fresh fruit salad. We had the early seating for dinner. This was the 6:30 seating. We aren't the wait until 9PM to eat kind of people. The only drawback to the early seating is that there were a lot of children at this meal. For the most part they were all very well behaved. The serving staff were great. They knew your name by the second meal. I gave both of the waiters a $20 tip during the first meal, and we were well taken care of for the rest of the trip. My wife and I had purchased drink cards before the cruise. These are called X1 and you need to phone Costa directly to get these. They give you unlimited bear, pop, and a bottle of wine at supper. Also you can use it for lunch. We were 10 people at our table for supper, and by the second night all of the others were wishing they had an x1 cards no one else had heard of it.. The meals were all 7 courses. Appetizers, soup, pasta, main course, salad, cheese plate and desert. The appetizers were ok, I am not a soup eater, so for most of the meals I started with a salad. These were of normal quality, until the last couple of days. The lettuce was beginning to turn brown by then. My wife enjoyed some of the soups. The main courses were pretty to look at but the portions were small and most of the meats (steak, roast, pork, rabbit, and duck) were all tough. I had to send back a couple of them. The pastas were good as well as the cheese plates. The desserts were very ho-hum. More than once I left the table still a little hungry.

How to dress for the dinners was very confusing. There are 3 types of meals. Formal,informal and casual. This meant absolutely nothing for most of the passengers. On Celebrity formal was a tux or suit and a tie, informal was a jacket and tie, and casual was an open collared shirt. On this ship they all meant the same thing. Wear whatever you want to supper as long as it is not shorts or a t-shirt. There were jeans at formal night and hardly a tie in sight.The majority seemed to be more on the dressy side (what you would wear to a wedding) The daily information sheet (today Magazine) that was delivered to your cabin each night told you the dress code for the next evening meal. This obviously was only a suggested attire. Read more