Costa Smeralda Review

Lovely ship.. But..

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Costa Smeralda
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bckl
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Feb 2020
Cabin: Premium Inside Stateroom

We boarded the ship in Barcelona and our immediate thought was that the ship was stunning. The staff were excellent and our restaurant waiter Chi was great. Food was of a very high standard in our assigned restaurant. The buffet restaurant, while it had lots of choice, was a revelation.... Lots of queues, people pushing and shoving, over crowded and really not a pleasant experience most of the time. Tea, coffee and water was only available at breakfast, so unless you bought a drinks package, you would have to pay for these throughout the day. Having said that, there are 3 different drinks packages, we had the basic, unknown to us when we booked an all inclusive cruise. While I could order prosecco, by the glass, at the bar, in the restaurant I would have to pay for it... Crazy!!! Also couldn't get a cocktail on this package...

You have to bear in mind that this is an Italian ship, so most entertainment was in Italian and therefore we could not avail of some of the shows.

The ship has a new concept, that at every port, passengers disembark and new passengers embark... This resulted in safety drills each day, which became quite a nuisance.. Lots of confusion between these passengers, crowds trying to get into lifts at the same time, which one day I felt was dangerous and frightening.

Cabin Review

Premium Inside Stateroom

Nice cabin but TV in an awkward place, causing you to bump your head on it.

Port Reviews

La Spezia (Cinque Terre)

Took the Florence and Pisa tour. Not much to do or see in Pisa, apart from the tower and church. Florence was lovely, worth a visit..

Savona

Savona was a lovely city and definitely worth it. 5min walk into it from the ship.

Marseille

We paid E11 each for the shuttle bus into Marseille which is huge,but if you walk about 500 yards into the port, there's a free shuttle bus.

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