Our cruise was my husband, 18 year old son and 11 year old daughter. As our son is graduating this year, we told him as his last family vacation he could pick anywhere he wanted to go,he choose a cruise.I booked through Costa.The vacation planner was very helpful. We went a day early to Ft. Lauderdale. we stayed at the Rode Way Inn.A great place to stay before or after your cruise The time it took going through customs to board the ship was less than 20 minutes. The main lobby of the ship we thought was beautiful.We went to the buffet,until we could enter our cabin.The food was beautiful,fruits and vegetables designed into flowers and animals. We all stayed in one cabin,which was small,but we were not in the cabin enough to really care.Our cabin steward did a wonderful job all week. we didn't see her much,but we could always tell she had been there. Our 11 year old daughter joined the Squok club for kids. She had a great time there. She had dinner with them almost every night. She liked all the night activities they had,spending most of the days with us at the pool areas. She met a friend from New York. We spent alot of time with their whole family. The activities they had for adults in the evening was wonderful. My husband and son entered the Mr. Costa Atlantica contest( better known as Mr. Pizza).I laughed so hard I cried.It was a proud moment for me when my husband won the title.He made such a fool out of himself to do it,but it was so worth it and now I have it on dvd to show all of our friends.My son and husband also tied for the belly flop contest. The entertainment cruise staff work very hard to keep everyone entertained.If you think you're not going to participate, think again they will get you up and doing things in front of people you never dreamed of doing and you will have a great time doing it. We went to Key West,Grand Cayman,Cozumel and Roatan,Honduras. The kids had a great time at all the ports.Honduras was our favorite.The kids were amazed how poor the people in Honduras are, but also the friendliest people we had met. Our waiter in the dining room was Julio Cseaser Ortiz. He worked extremely hard to serve us all week.He also worked the morning breakfast buffet and lunch buffet.The food was always very beautiful but not as good as it looked. All the workers had multiple jobs,doing each one to the best of their ability. I was concerned when one officer was screaming and cursing at one of the buffet workers in front of guests. One woman reported his behavior,but I doubt if anything was done about it. Also I witnessed one server being fired for eating food from the buffet. I thought that was harsh. I offered to pay for his meal, but was told it would be handled. They start closing the decks down about 7 p.m.We like the cruises where the decks are opened till the late hours. We all had a great time,taking wonderful memories with us.It was the first cruise for the kids, but I'm sure not the last.My daughter is ready to go again. Over all we had a great time and I know we will cruise again. All the entertainment was excellent. The guest talent show was very entertaining.One woman from Chicago received a standing ovation.She even sang on another night at the main lobby.Her name is Betty and I will be down loading her music from i tunes. We celebrated our anniversary, valentines day and my birthday on the cruise. my husband surprised me in Cozumel when he bought me a beautiful flawless diamond ring.I don't think I have put my hand down since I put the ring on. When we cruise again we will probably not choose Costa again,but only because we prefer a ship that has a giant screen tv on deck and a deck that stays open late. Also we did not enjoy the food,we loved looking at how beautiful it was. Other than that it was perfect.