Costa Cruise Lines
Costa Atlantica
7-Day Western Caribbean

Barry
Age: 42
Occupation: travel agent
Number of Cruises: 20+
Sailing Date: November 28th, 2004

I have been on many cruises with most of the major cruise lines . I had heard good and bad about Costa , just like with anything there is good and bad . I went on Costa Cruises mainly to see how it stacked up verses the other cruise lines . Wow! The ship was amazing , very clean , very well laid out , great size for the cabins and a wonderful value for the money . The staff was among the most helpful , friendly staff of any I have ever been on . They tried very hard to please everyone ( which is always a hard thing , especially with some people ) .

The shows at night were simple variety type shows . I have seen better on some other ships but because i have been so many times I asked around to other passengers . The other passengers loved the shows and thought the presentation, costumes , music were wonderful . The food , this is an issue for Costa as they are trying to please the Americans on board as well as their European clients that come to America to enjoy Costa and the Caribbean . The meals have a little of everything . At breakfast there is the usual American fare and also things the Europeans eat like cold cuts , hard boiled eggs , cheese plates were available . The lunches were good , the afternoon tea was among the best of any cruise line to date . The dinner seemed rather plain without a lot of thought . This was disappointing to me as Italians are great cooks and they much have left them in Italy when the ship crossed the Atlantic . The food was plain old Sysco mass market food that was rather bland . I was expecting wonderful Italian desserts ,gelato,etc. The ice cream was like a generic store brand , the cakes and pies - Sara Lee does a much better job . However, again , I am comparing to other cruise lines . The other guests onboard loved the food and desserts and thought it was wonderful . I never heard any complaints .

Smoking seems to be a common thing that is brought up in many reviews . Yes , people smoke. They do on all ships . I think that Costa did a decent job in having things divided into smoking and non smoking areas . However, there should not be smoking allowed in the lobby area or at the lobby bar as it is a very common space and seemed to bother both smokers and non smokers alike in that one area . I never saw anyone smoke in a non smoking area and never saw anyone on an elevator smoking .

Overall - Costa was a great ship ! Great staff and a wonderful value for the money! I would definitely go again and again!

Ask a Question About Costa Cruises