This was our seventh cruise, the second with Costa. We previously sailed with Royal Caribbean and NCL. We booked a back-to-back cruise, doing the same six-day route twice in the Western Mediterranean. For the first cruise we received a free upgrade from inside to balcony, which was a real treat. My wife has special dietary needs and was looked after superbly by the crew, delivering food to the room every morning at no extra charge. The interior is tastefully done, certainly the most appealing of all cruise ships we have been on. The ship was kept impeccably clean. The entertainment was good with a variety of lounges where musicians perform. The food however did not compare well with the other two cruise lines mentioned above, e.g. cold buffet breakfast (it is called an Italian breakfast); so there is no bacon, eggs and sausages which I associate a buffet breakfast with. You can have an English breakfast in the formal restaurant, but it closes around 9:00. Being a late sleeper, I usually did not get to the formal restaurant, but the two times I did eat there the bacon and eggs were cold and not worth the effort. Free drinking water is not served at dinner, you have to pay for it. Ice cream is charged at Euro 1.50 per scoop. I thought that was a bit stingy on the side of Costa. On our NCL cruise earlier this year self help soft serve ice cream was freely available at the pool area from mid morning to late afternoon. The internet is expensive, slow and unreliable. I used the internet early in the cruise but had difficulty to log off ("unable to connect" appeared on the screen). I immediately went to the help desk to report it and found I was logged on for another six minutes after I tried to log off. I requested a refund, they "investigated" and "found" I had used the internet for the entire period and they would not refund. I did not make a fuss about it because it only cost an extra Euro 1.50, but after this incident I did my internet connections at internet cafes and coffee shops in the port cities. Despite the small hick ups we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.