Joined the Costa Serena in Savona, Northern Italy in Costa's very efficient cruise terminal. Boarding was painless and the ship spotless. The crew were excellent in every respect as was the food on board. However, if you did not want to eat in the main restaurant in the evening, the only other option was the pizza buffet. The only drawback from a British point of view was the on-board daytime entertainment which was a little weak for British tastes. Although as over 80% of the clientele were Italian and who appeared to thoroughly enjoy this type of entertainment, there is little chance of it ever being changed to appeal to British tastes.

The drinks on board are expensive and I would recommend you taking one of the drinks packages which are cheaper to book directly with Costa.

For the money we paid for this relaxing pre-Christmas cruise, it was excellent and would recommend it to anyone.