Costa Smeralda Review
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I chose the cruise not because of the ship but mainly due to the dates 22/12 from Barcelona suited my work break and family commitments. Living on the island of Lanzarote my plan was to take an internal flight to BCN and catch the cruise ship for our 7 day festive trip. Boarding the ship at Barcelona was fast and efficient although be aware in the departure lounge there is no cafe/bar in fact no place selling cold drinks or food however as the boarding was extremely fast it wasn’t an issue.
Once onboard we weren’t greeted by anyone nor we we offered any kind of instructions as what or where we should go. I sought advice from a a member fo the crew who gave me some directions of where to find my mothers cabin. We had booked 2 cabins an internal on the 9th floor ( room 9145 ) this room was super small and at this point i decided to ask for an upgrade. My own room was 12267 an external with a balcony. The room itself was more than adequate with nice new furnishings and fixtures.
The reception staff were not able to offer me any kind of upgrade as the ship was full. At first they thought i wanted the upgrade for free, i explained that i was more than happy to pay for it but the response was no upgrade available. Not to worry “or so i thought”. Each restaurant we very well furnished and clean I can not express how clean and new everything was so much so that the crew were mostly clueless as to where things are or what entitlement was for drinks. I had upgraded to the Intendore Package This is a big mistake as you don’t really get anything extra for this. Absolute waste of money. The wine list is set out so any bottle of wine you have to buy but i could have a glass of certain wines but if i wanted a bottle it was to pay for. All very very confusing. All the bars onboard display the same drinks menu but be warned as not all the bars serve the drinks on the menu. Example .... in the sports bar i asked for a cocktail from the menu but was told no, then in the pizza bar i asked for a red wine i was told no and so on. The guys in the Campari Bar really are a great bunch and were the saving grace for the night time crew.
Cabin Review
Classic Balcony Stateroom
Extremely clean everything shiny and new the size was adequate the room cleaning service was lazy guy who needs to get on board but the actual cabin i liked. I would go for the internal cabins as they are tiny too small but this external with balcony yes.