We have just returned from our Costa Classica Treasures of the Far East cruise and we had a fantastic time. We had sailed with Costa before and after reading reviews, our expectaions were not high and we were determined to have a good cruise and make the most out of our holiday, we were paying for it after all. With a good attitude we believe that you can enjoy this cruise. Yes, the ship is tired, and the bathroom in cabin could do with a complete refurbishement, food is just average, but the efficient friendly staff and interesting call of ports make up for it.

Embarkation We boarded the ship in Singapore, and as most of the guests had already boarded in Hong Kong a week earlier, the process was very quick and smooth. Make sure you have your cruise ticket, and your email registration printed to hand in. Our photographs were taken for security and we were on board within 15 minutes. We boarded at 3.30pm and our luggage was in our room by 5 pm. We immediately went to the cabin and were pleasantly surprised by the large size. Our cabin was # 5113 and was an inside, did miss a window, but it was not a major problem. Cabin had few hangers, but we asked for more and they were brought to us. We did not use the mini bar. There were three sockets which seemed to be fitted for US and UK plugs. The voltage was 220 volt/60 Hz current and the bathroom was 220/110 volts. There was a small kettle and plenty of tea bags, coffee sachets and creamers. Normally our suitcases fit under the bed, but in this cabin they did not, but still not a problem. There was only one chair in the cabin and a small table, this was only not a problem as we noticed most of the cabins had two chairs. I am sure they would have brought us another chair if we had of asked. Cabin walls are not that thick and we often heard the TV noise and toilet flushing from other cabins, again this did not bother us.

Key Cards and Dinner Table Nubmer Our key cards, costa cards and table number were all in the room when we arrived. We immediately noticed that we were confirmed on first dinner, which was a disappointment as our TA told us we were confirmed on second. This happened on our previous Costa cruise also, and we spent over one and a half hours queuing to change it, so we decided to try it out. We stuck to our first sitting dinner, but we will never do it again. Dinner was at 6.15 every night, for us this was a rush, especially when coming back from excursions and we were never that hungry at this time, because we normally had a late lunch every day. We also missed being able to be on deck when the ship was leaving port some days, which was annoying. Whether you choose first or second is a personal preference and for us we would not agree to first again. First is 6.15pm and second is 8.45pm. Read more