Our cruise was chosen for the itinerary and we kept reminding ourselves of that aim every day spent on board the Allegra. First impressions count and we are not first time cruisers but were still disappointed with our Costa experience. Look beyond the Italian style and scratch the surface and you will find a hard working but bewildered crew which lacks leadership from senior management. We neither saw or heard from the Captain on a daily basis, only a brief glimpse during a farewell gala dinner and he was running out of the restaurant faster than Bolt the Olympic sprinter. The on board pricing was very high, the entertainment was mediocre to awful and the ship stability was woeful in medium seas. The visits saved the cruise for us, albeit they were very expensive. The most laughable event was the briefing for the Costa experience questionnaire where the staff had the cheek to ask for excellent markings to reflect a satisfactory cruise experience as it would gain bonuses or even promotion for the crew. As part of a British group disembarking in Hong Kong we were not treated to a leaving celebration meal as we were getting off mid way through the itinerary, most guests embarking/disembarking in Singapore. The Allegra is the oldest ship in the Costa fleet and produced brown water every time a tap was turned on with no apology or explanation offered. I served in the Royal Navy for 30 years and my last ship was 35 years old - we got clean drinking water from the tap every day! Costa claim to be the biggest fleet in Europe in my opinion they are profiteers with not an ounce of care for custom.