I have to say that embarkation at Barcelona was really very smooth, maybe this was because we were last on the ship at 7pm after our flight was cancelled due to the Volcanic dust problem. A special mention must go the Costa Customer Services who speedily arranged alternative flights when others abandoned us at Edinburgh Airport!

Our balcony cabin on deck 6 was spacious with adequate shelf/cupboard space. It also had a comfortable queen sized bed but tough if you are a light sleeper with all the families with children, many of whom were on our deck! My only other criticisms of the cabin were the shampoo/wash container on the shower room wall, the niggardly soap bars and the awful shower curtain you have a wrestle with when showering!A ship of this standard with superb cabins would have had a shower door and large proper soapy bars!!

This ship has a musical theme with symbols and instruments on lots of the doors all over the ship. It has a claustrophobic feel with a narrow effect, low ceilings particularly in the dining room. The passenger flow is very congested especially around the end of first sitting dining and the start of the second sitting. We usually prefer second sitting but having experienced the European preference for late dining we changed to first. I would keep this in mind as second sitting is much earlier on other cruise lines of at least an hour! Read more