We heard many negatives about Costa but went against them and chose this cruise line because of the Mediterranea's Adriatic port intensive itinerary, round trip Venice, and the reasonable price . . . and so glad we did. Day 1: Venice, Italy; Day 2: Trieste, Italy; Day 3: Split, Croatia; Day 4: Kotor, Montenegro; Day 5: Katakolon (Olympia), Greece; Day 6: Corfu, Greece Day 7: Dubrovnik, Croatia; Day 8: Venice. Over the past 40 years we’ve been on every mid-range cruise ship including the QE2, Princess, NCL, HAL, RCCL, Carnival and similar.

Cabin – we always book the least expensive outside cabin. The Mediterranea’s was the largest and had the most storage space of any ship we’ve been on. Cabin spotlessly clean. Cabin lighting great for applying makeup. In addition, even though our view was obstructed by the lifeboats, Teseo Deck 4, Cabin 4131, we did get daylight and were able to open our floor length window to sleep with a sea breeze blowing in. There is a bar across the window at waist level so you can’t escape! Because we only use the stairs – more exercise – our cabin was in a great location, halfway between Deck 9 buffet/fitness center, Deck 1 shore excursions exit, Deck 2 dining room, and Deck 3 promenade.

Passengers – we enjoyed the international atmosphere, mostly Italian, then German, and a smattering of other Europeans. We are two active senior citizen widows and our table for 8 in the dining room included passengers from South Africa, Denmark and Israel. Very few of us Americans. Read more