We booked with Virgin who advertised it, about 5 months before; the price remained static until about 1 month prior to cruise then it halved!! I read the other reviews for this ship and was concerned about the prices onboard, so checked Costa website to see if an 'all inclusive' drink deal was listed - everything but; then a month before, I noticed that another company was listing this cruise half price together with a drinks package at £7.85 a day. I immediately rang Virgin who confirmed that this was available only PRIOR to sailing, but it was only for unlimited wine, soft drinks, draught beer & mineral water IN THE MAIN DINING ROOM-LUNCH & DINNER ONLY. We decided to go ahead with this 'X1' drinks package on the basis of 1 bottle of wine costing min 15 euros (£15)- Thank goodness we did - (it was also available in the buffet restaurant we found out-even better!!) the prices onboard are bad enough but the poor rate of £ against euro is crippling.  A can of coke 2.50; litre of water 2.50, small beer 3.50 & ALL PLUS 15% service charge!!! Very few passengers we spoke to were aware of this deal, so Costa is not surprisingly, keeping this one very quiet. Also as a first on this cruise to boost spending, Costa introduced 'Happy Hour' - the first 2 nights it was 8-9pm but this was obviously too successful so it changed then to 10-12noon & 4-6pm. EMBARKATION: We flew into Hong Kong's beautiful airport about 5pm and having declined Virgin's optional coach transfer at £32 each return, grabbed a taxi to Ocean Terminal (£23) & arrived within an hour of landing. Great start we thought, until we saw the queue ahead... 2 HOURS LATER we boarded the ship - and was asked by a young Italian girl if we knew the way to our cabin!!! Just what we needed after a 12 hr flight & 2 hrs queueing in 25' heat.Very spacious cabin 4054 on lowest deck 4, which was only deck available when we booked. Well appointed with comfortable queen sized double bed, fridge (mini-bar), kettle, large porthole and wardrobes, table & 2 easy chairs, dressing table and spacious bathroom with adequate shower and hairdryer.  We did have occasional generator noise from below cabin, which we learned from our cabin steward should go off at 9pm, but one evening, after it had been on for over 24 hrs, my husband complained to Italian girls at Reception, who were totally disinterested, didn't grasp the problem & even walked off to answer the phone whilst he was patiently trying to explain.  One even offered him earplugs!!!  DINING: We had no complaints from either the main restaurant, where there was always a good selection of meat/fish/pasta, and nicely cooked (steaks were delicious) though veg portions were minimal; or the buffet restaurant, although the menu here for breakfast & lunch didn't vary much.  The waiting staff as well as the cabin stewards were brilliant, hard working and a real plus point of the ship, unlike the Italian front of house crew. Only Negative was the drink prices - see above- the 'X1' drink package is a MUST!!ENTERTAINMENT: In our opinion, not even worth mentioning - probably ok if you like magic, acrobats etc but shows were amateurish and bar musicians had same repertoire EVERY night. Only high spot was Italian Male Tenor Singer - absolutely fantastic and totally transcended the 5 languages all announcements and silly games were done in.SUMMARY: Ship was well kept and clean. 2 pools were very small. Sufficient comfortable sun beds with ample towels. All charges onboard (due in small part to euro) were crippling - photos, shops, all drinks and especially excursions - average 70 euros half day, 135-170 full day, so apart from 2 ports, we did our own thing via taxi or local bus.  Internet is costly and useless - cost 2.50 euros just to log in, then didn't work-also soooo slow-complained to reception and they credited immediately! Be aware, you need minimum of 3G mobile phone in Japan-others don't work so then reliant on phone cards-difficult to juggle phone box availability with UK time difference.

CHEJU-SOUTH KOREA: First port of call, lovely weather-25'. Due to cost of excursion, decided to team up with 2 Australians to do 6 hr taxi tour of island for US$100. Taxi driver did not speak any English but English speaking guide on quayside explained we wanted to see 'pretty areas'. He did us proud taking us first to San-gumburi Crater, Seongsan Peak (a stunning headland with strenuous uphill walking trails) and Cheju Folklore Village- extensive, pretty, well-laid out gardens containing old village huts. Our driver accompanied us at each site and the sign language worked well. NAGASAKI, JAPAN:  Again, good weather and we teamed up with the English couple on our dinner table and got a taxi to the cable car and adjacent observation tower which had fantastic 360' views around the harbour and surrounding area. We taxied back to town to the Atomic Bomb Museum, which was very thought provoking and memorable.  We walked along the river to the Spectacles bridge, the floral displays of hydrangeas was amazing and we were lucky enough to spot a new bride in her full kimono posing for photos. TOKYO, JAPAN: Took the excursion YOKAHAMA & KAMAKURA (8.5 hrs-155 euros) which visited the Kotokuin Temple, the Hase-dera Temple which is surrounded by superb japanese gardens, lunched in a 4* restaurant (inc), then finally the Sankei-en Garden-a very picturesque, extensive park housing a 3-storey pagoda, lakes and bridges. Entrance cost to all these sites is small £2-3 at most, so it's very difficult to justify the cost that Costa charge.Day 2: we weren't due to sail til 1pm, so took local bus from port to main shopping area (£1)-very busy, very expensive and caught torrential downpour so headed back to ship. KOBE, JAPAN:  Didn't arrive til 1 pm so caught local bus to local shopping mall, mixture of small boutique shops plus general shops like pharmacies, 100 yen shop, McDonalds - an interesting afternoon with some less expensive items to be had.Day 2: Due to distance of Kyoto from Kobe, needed to do ship excursion-A DAY IN KYOTO (10 hrs-170 Euros inc lunch). Visited Todaiji Temple at Nara-temple blg is the largest existing wooden structure in the world and is surrounded by sacred, very tame deer that feed from your hand-a welcome distraction from 'temple overload'. Next, japanese lunch at a city restaurant in Kyoto (poorly organised), then a walk through the local Nishiki market (upmarket, undercover food stalls), Kiyomizu Temple built overhanging a cliff, then the finale - the stunning Kinkakuji Temple, (the Golden Pavilion) set in the middle of a lake and covered in pure gold foil.  This site is how we imagined 'Japan' -very green, picturesque, tranquil gardens but in reality, it is mostly very overcrowded,busy, concrete jungles with monorails and gigantic, complex road flyovers that make our spaghetti junction look like the local village roundabout. The green space surrounding the temples is squeezed on all sides by tiny matchbox apartments.  The Japanese but English speaking guides were very informative but a strict tight schedule was in force on both trips.  Again, the cost is impossible to justify!!! OKINAWA, JAPAN: Did another taxi trip with our dinner-friends, only had 4 hours free here, so were charged about £70 to do trip around the coast of this island.  Much more spacious feel here, visited the beautiful, deserted, clean beach with resident life guard, who rushed to his post when I just dipped my toe in the clear blue turquoise water; also a stunning landscaped cliff top area and coastal drives. Again, sign language sufficed. Tourist Info at all ports very organised with marquees usually set up containing English speaking Info, money exchange (better rate than ship who changed everything to Euros first) and sometimes shuttle buses to town centre. KEELUNG, TAIWAN:  Great port as ship docks virtually in town centre but we wanted to see the tall building -101 in Taipai. Ship excursion return coach trip to Taipai-no guide- 30 euros, but we did local bus £1.50 each return!!! Unfortunately, weather was very overcast with drizzle so we didn't bother with the trip to the top.  Shopping mall within, is full of very expensive designer shops but shops around harbour area at Keelung are more realistic. Temple overlooking port is very impressive from the harbour.About 7pm, a local group of children descended on the quayside (already bedecked with red carpet, marquees and flags) complete with chinese dragon costumes and drums, then proceeded to entertain passengers for 2 hrs with music and dance-a definate improvement on the onboard entertainment!!