Great Baltic Sea Adventure, Very Nice Ship!

We chose this cruise for its itemerary and price. It was a very good value. You need to understand Costa is an Italian/German line and there's not many English speaking guests on board. If this is a problem for you DO NOTGO ON THIS CRUISE, My wife and I enjoy being around people from around the world. If we want to only be around overweight people speaking English we can just go to the local Cracker Barrel. We had many interesting conversations with guests from all over the world. Unlike Americans, most Europeans can speak English in addition to their native language.

Embarkation was a bit chaotic. We waited 2 hours or more in line checking in, On the flip side, disembarkation was very smooth and fast.

The food was fine. Not as many choices as to where to eat as we are used to but pretty soon you figure out where to go eat during the day. If you can't decide what to order off the menu just order both choices. You have to pay for most anything, colas, ice cream, etc.

The ship is called the Music of the Seas and it lives up to its name, with numerous bars with a variety of music. Our only complaint is that although most of the performers sing and play instruments quite well, they always accompany pre-recorded music. It sounds great having an orchestra behind them but I would prefer the music being all live.

Evening shows were very good and good seats were usually available.

We did not go on the ship excursions, preferring to arrange them on our own. We used Viator for tours in St. Petersburg and for biking in Tallinn and were very pleased. If you do go rogue and schedule your own tours beforehand in St. Petersburg be absolutely sure your documents are in order or customs won't let you off the ship which would be a major bummer.

Overall, we thought the ship was beautiful. Staff was attentitive and food was good.

We had a great time!

Our cabin was large and spacious. Steward kept it very clean. In-room fridge didn't get that cold. Ship was very stable. Hardly ever felt any motion even when the sea looked rough. Only 2 English speaking channels on TV (BBC and CNBC). Would have liked a little more English on TV. Many of the programs were American but had been dubbed so we couldn't understand them
Lots of closet space and large bath with good shower.
Really enjoyed having a 110 volt receptical in the room and not having to use a converter.