Mediterranea - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Just back from the 2/4 sailing and thought I would add my 2 cents worth. Please understand that these are only my observations and experiences so take them for what they are worth. My DH and I are 53 and this was our 21st cruise and second on Costa. We sailed 11 years ago on the Classica to the Southern Carribean. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale from the Jacksonville area the morning of the cruise. We arrived at the port around 11 AM. We decided to use Park and Fly and was told there was a half hour wait for the shuttle. That proved to be accurate and we arrived at pier 29 at 11:45. We handed off our luggage to a porter with a tip and an apology for the weight of our bags. We walked into the terminal and sat down. An agent approached us and asked if we were waiting for someone. We said no and she said well come with me. She walked us directly to the counter where we turned in our tickets, registered our credit card and walked through security. Our last stop was the obligatory picture and then straight onto the ship. It was the best embarkation ever. We were on the ship in 15 minutes. We were told there was a buffet on deck 9 and that our cabin would be ready at 1 PM. We went directly to our cabin where our cruise cards were on our bed and we left our carry ons in the closet and went to have lunch. Let me just say that we had booked an inside guarantee and ended up with a Category 10 extended balcony cabin. It was bigger than a mini-suite and we loved it.

The ship is beautiful. We didn't find it gaudy but maybe a little over the top. Gaudy to us is the old Carnival ships with the pink neon. The Mediterranea has a lot of glass and tile and an eight deck atrium. There are a lot of public spaces but we thought they were underutilized. The main show lounge, the Osiris Theater has many seats with obstructed views so check it out and pick where you want to sit and go early to the shows. The on deck restaurant has many stations both inside and outside on deck 9. We never stood in line for breakfast or lunch unless we wanted an omelette or pasta. We were disappointed in the salad choices with both ingredients and dressings. The key is not to give up. Not all stations have the same things. One may have italian and thousand island dressings where another has blue cheese or ranch. Every day breakfast was the same but again you may have to go to three or four stations before you find the waffles or pancakes etc. At lunch there was a station that concentrated on a special food such as Mexican or German. We ate all our breakfast and lunches at the buffet and our major complaint was that the food is not hot. All the bagels and toast had been precooked and was cold when served. Even the pizza seemed to have been cooked ahead and had been sitting waiting to replace the previous one.

We ate all our dinners in the dining room. We sat at a table for eight and were very lucky with our table mates. Our waiter and his assistant seemed to struggle with the number of people at their tables. I believe they served around 24 people. The food in the dining room was good but not great. The beef was better than the seafood which was pretty bland. The exception was the crab legs which were very good. There was no lobster. The food in the dining room was not very hot either. It could have been because it took our waiter longer from kitchen to table but I'm not sure. One night the menu listed a lukewarm souffle for desert so at least they were honest. There were two formal nights. In the days paper it said "Gala Night. Tonight is Gala Night. You may choose to either dress formally, elegantly in a suit for men and a cocktail dress for the ladies, or more casually in elegant resort wear, as how you want to enjoy your night is up to you." There was probably a 50/50 split in the dining room. We dressed formally the first night and casually the second. Had we known their policy I think we would have left the dressy clothes at home.

We were not impressed with the shows for the most part. We thought the production shows were the worst we had seen on a ship. There was a tenor sing one night and a woman another. They were both pretty good. We enjoyed the circus show the best which is usually the type of show I like the least.

Our biggest disappointment was the lack of good music in the lounges. We enjoy listening to a band which plays music to dance to as well as just enjoy the music. There were so many lounges we thought there would be a lot of choices but there were mainly duos where only one of them had any talent.

There was a deck band that was good and in the covered pool area they had a dedicated stage where they played almost every afternoon.

There were three pool areas and a children's pool. There was also a large water slide which was hardly ever open and didn't empty into a pool but just stopped. We never saw it open but heard that some people used it but mostly only once.

The hot tubs were very big and were not too hot but a good temperature. Children under 12 are not allowed in the hot tubs and we did see them being asked to leave. We didn't spend much time in the adult pool area because we had bad weather on both sea days so we stayed in the covered pool area. There are plenty of deck chairs and a lot of quiet areas on deck as long as being right next to the pool or in the shade are not your thing. Chair saving is rampant both on deck and in the theater and is not discouraged at all.

We were surprised that there are no free movies on the ship. The few selections on the TV cost $8.95 each and were about 6 months old. On rainy days it would have been nice to sit in a lounge and watch a movie.

We didn't take any shore excursions through the ship so we can't comment. We did enjoy snorkeling in Grand Cayman and Roatan and did some shopping in Cozumel. We tendered only in Grand Cayman and we had no trouble with that although later in the morning there was quite a wait for tenders.

Overall this cruise was probably 70% non-american with mostly Italians and Germans. We think the entertainment and food is mostly geared to their tastes. There were very few staff members whose first language was English. The cruise director was no where to be seen until the second night on the cruise. We did see him loading tenders in Grand Cayman and when we disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale. We signed up for early disembarkation and was off the ship by 7:30AM. There were no cabs waiting and there was a long line. We had called the park-n-fly shuttle and waited about 15 minutes. We were in our car and on I95 by 8AM.

Now for the ugly. NATO really needs to make a general rule regarding people over 250 pounds wearing Speedos and Bikinis. If you want to make sure your children realize that not everyone has the perfect body then this would be the cruise for them.

Overall we enjoyed our cruise. Would we cruise Costa again? Sure if the price and itinerary were right. In my comment card I wrote, "I wish Princess would steal the Mediterranea". I have all my Costa Today papers and would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Which of the two formal nights did the most dress up for?

Did you wear a toga? How were the facilities at Pier 29?

Thanks for the review, it is so nice that people take the time to inform all of us.

Is duty free liquor available in the terminal they use?

More people dressed for the second formal night. Yes we wore togas but the majority did not. My husband wished he hadn't! The facilities were pretty much the same as all the terminals. It was a distance from the midport parking garage and you would need to take the shuttle. There was no duty free liquor in the terminal.

Hello:

I enjoyed reading your experiences on the Costa Med...My husband and I first sailed on this ship in 2005 to the Eastern Caribbean. It was a good experience. I can agree with a lot of things that you said!

We are really considering booking with Costa again but this time we would do the Western Caribbean as you did. Can you give us hints about any of the ports? Things to do and what not to do! We usually don't go with any of the ships excursions because they are too pricey. So any info you can give would be helpful!

Sounds like you had a good time....I am really looking forward to our trip in April.

Thank you! Mikeswifee:)

Hello:

I enjoyed reading your experiences on the Costa Med...My husband and I first sailed on this ship in 2005 to the Eastern Caribbean. It was a good experience. I can agree with a lot of things that you said!

We are really considering booking with Costa again but this time we would do the Western Caribbean as you did. Can you give us hints about any of the ports? Things to do and what not to do! We usually don't go with any of the ships excursions because they are too pricey. So any info you can give would be helpful!

Sounds like you had a good time....I am really looking forward to our trip in April.

Thank you! Mikeswifee:)

We loved this cruise, and agree with some of sopos1953's comments, but not all. I posted a review in the Review section and gave plenty of stars in lots of categories. It's a little hard to read because all the paragraph returns were deleted in the process of submitting it. I'll copy it here too, and you all can see the comparisions between our two trips. You made a good point about checking out the different stations at the buffet. Sometimes there was fresh pineapple at one outside at breakfast, and canned at the inside stations, for example. PS I'm very jealous of your large balcony!!!

I wrote this yesterday:

Costa Mediterranea Feb 4-11

I wasn’t planning to write a review, but after reading some of the CC reviews of the Mediterranea, I began to wonder if it was the same ship and crew.

1. It did not rock: in fact it was smooth as glass most of the time. Surely this depends on the sea conditions.

2. The only place we saw smokers was on the smoking side of the pool deck (which we avoided.)

3. The crew (front office, housekeeping, entertainment, officers, bartenders, waiters, everyone!) could not have been friendlier or more helpful.

4. The food was (mostly) very good. 5. The ship is gorgeous and memorable.

This was our 12th cruise (10th since 2004), and second on Costa, the first being on the Victoria from Venice in April 2006. Unlike our Victoria experience, embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale was very smooth. Since we live in Ft Lauderdale, my mom dropped us off at the pier about 3pm, for a 7pm departure. T

here was almost no line and the staff was efficient. We carried our own luggage aboard—it was a very painless process. Since we had eaten lunch at home, we didn't have to search for food right away, as we've done in the past. We were able to unpack immediately and then explore. The cabin was on the port side, on deck 5, forward and it was comfortable and clean; our steward, Ronoldo was very efficient, helpful and friendly. There were usual amenities: micro fridge, safe, hairdryer, sufficient storage. The bed seemed larger than standard ships’ beds, more like a king than a queen size, and we had a sofa and little table.

This was our first stateroom with a balcony. I’ve always heard that once you have one, you won't go back…but I’m not so sure. No one mentioned the drawbacks: perhaps there are loud talkers on the veranda next to you; perhaps the people in the one above yours start moving their chairs around early in the morning; perhaps it is so tiny that you have to put the table on top of the chair in order to get the door open. We did bring bungee cords to hold it open, having learned that tip on the CC boards, but it wouldn't have been necessary, as the table or chair blocked it from closing, once it was open. (At one port we docked beside the Coral Princess and I could see the balconies had room for four chairs AND a table AND there were people standing.) Ours had room for two chairs, one table, the door either open or closed, and no one standing. Sliding doors would be something to look for in the future. I think that might be the last negative thing you'll hear from me about the Mediterranea!

The décor was over-the-top Venetian—even in the elevators. Some ships splash the elevator walls with tacky signs advertising the day’s special jewelry sale or bingo game—not this one! Speaking of elevators: they were the best! We never had to wait more than a few seconds. We were constantly amazed, in particular after the Caribbean Princess last month, where it seemed we spent lots of time every day waiting and waiting for elevators. We love Venice, so we enjoyed the ornate furnishings. I like the way the hallways were broken up in segments (and decorated with murals) so you weren't looking down a hallway the length of the ship!

We also love the mix of Europeans and other foreigners, although this apparently bothers some people. We had no trouble finding people to communicate with, as most were from the US or Canada. Plus we like to practice our rudimentary Italian whenever possible. We ate in the dining room every night, second seating (8:30). The first night we were the only two people at the table set for eight; not surprising since the Super Bowl was on TV elsewhere on the ship and most people seemed to prefer hamburgers and hot dogs. The following night there were four of us and four empty chairs. The next morning we met a couple at breakfast who wanted to join our table. That made six and we were a very compatible group, similar in ages (60ish) and interests. Other than a few items, the food was mainly quite good and the service was just right. Our waiter, Rex, and his helpers were friendly and efficient. I had the seafood and/or pasta every night. There was a nice variety of offerings in all categories. One bad dish was supposed to be grilled grouper but it was more like boiled or steamed non-grouper and actually was inedible. After that one time (first or second night), the meals were good.

Our tablemates enjoyed steaks, chops, etc. For dessert, the waiters accommodated requests for strawberries and/or raspberries, which were not menu offerings. My husband was disappointed by the "gourmet" cheese/cracker dessert: cheddar, saltines in cellophane. He asked them to do better, and they brought the brie and gorgonzola (still no fruit, still the saltines in cello). There was not a lobster night, but there was king crab (not great) on one of the gala nights. It was unfortunate that many of the entrees had the asterisk, indicating frozen, and some of them were inferior. The calamari was also unsatisfactory (you'd think Italians could get that right, wouldn't you?)

The “dress code” for Gala Night, which is Costa’s term for what is generally called formal night, is interesting. Here is the wording: “Tonight is Gala Night. You may choose to either dress formally, elegantly in a suit for men and cocktail dress for the ladies, or more casually in elegant resort wear, as how you want to enjoy your night is up to you.” The grammar isn't perfect, but I highly approve of and appreciate such an attitude! I didn't see anyone abuse this policy. (I’ve seen folks in denim shorts on other ships’ “formal” nights mingling in the public areas.)

On Italian night, you are encouraged to wear red, white and green. (Not knowing this ahead of time, I had packed nothing remotely close to that.) The wine prices are very reasonable. If you are not a wine snob, you may want to order a carafe (or half-carafe) of wine (as one does in Italy) and you'll pay about half the price of a bottle. Of course if you buy a bottle, you can finish it at a later meal. The drink prices also seemed reasonable. I think a regular sized cocktail was $5.25 but you could “super-size” it for 5.75.

We ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet on deck 9. Nothing was spectacular, but the food was more than acceptable and the area is enjoyable. As someone mentioned, there are no trays and yes, the plates were usually hot. I’ve found this to be the case on every cruise ship recently. One thing this one lacked (OK this is a negative) there were NO hand sanitizers, ANYWHERE. Not near the food, not at the gangway (although we were handed via tongs a small wipe when returning from shore), not at all. We found this very odd in this day and age. There were salt and pepper shakers on the tables, and the buffets were self-serve: also less germ-safe than paper packets and having staff dish out the food. In spite of this, we didn't hear of anyone being sick…although of course they may have, but there were certainly no outbreaks of a virus. We didn't do any ship’s shore excursions, and we didn't go to the casino, so can't comment.

We did not go to the special restaurant, but our tablemates did and they hated it. OK, it's hearsay, but I'm passing it on. They said the food was terrible and definitely not worth the extra money.

We didn't go to any of the shows in the theater because we prefer to find a dance floor or other music, and in general find ships’ shows to be uninteresting if not downright amateurish. An exception was the last night’s talent show with Caesar and the lions. We had laughed hard at it (yes, it’s corny and outlandish, but really funny) on the Victoria and planned see it. That was toga night and we got into the spirit, even brought garlands of olive branches (philodendron from the dollar store) to wear on our heads. The show was a lot of fun, with Stefano, the cruise director, playing the role of Caesar and two staff members romping around as the lions. Unlike the Victoria, where most of it was in Italian and the comedy was mostly physical, English was the dominant language here.

Which brings me to one of the best parts: the entertainment staff. The animation team, as they're called, are an amazing group of outgoing, multi-lingual, very talented young people. They presided over lively and hilarious games and other activities by the pool by day and in the Casanova Lounge every night. They are real pros at a job that has to be difficult at times. I can't imagine keeping up the energy level every day, and repeating what they did for us, every week with a new group of passengers. (I did mention that they are young!)

The ports were Key West, Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Cozumel and the ship arrived on schedule in all of them. The tendering process in Cayman could have been better, but then what’s new about that? We loved the beach in Roatan (we spent a week there in 2004) and Cayman. It rained a bit in Cozumel so we spent time on the ship (the pool has a retractable cover) and then had a great Mexican lunch at Pancho’s Backyard, near the dock. One other negative comment: the tv programming was poor. Sometimes we'd get abc, nbc or cbs, but you never could predict what was on (sometimes Family Feud at 8AM instead of a news show.) About half of the 20+ channels had only Costa info. The others were non-English channels. We're news junkies and missed CNN, at least in the beginning.

:-) If this is a deal-breaker for you, then don't go.

We chose self-assist disembarkation, which meant we had to be up and out by about 7AM. It was quite easy, but you had to sign up for it ahead of time, and you had to be US citizens…and you had to be able to carry your own luggage. We caught a cab at the curb and were home by 8! It was a great trip. Bravo to Costa. We will return.

Hello:

 

Can you give us hints about any of the ports? Things to do and what not to do! We usually don't go with any of the ships excursions because they are too pricey. So any info you can give would be helpful!

You can probably get better info on the ports of call boards about this. We also don't do ship's excursions. We like to snorkel and usually find a beach or boat for a snorkeling trip. In Grand Cayman we walked to a place called Eden Rock. It's a restaurant/bar about 15 minutes from our tender terminal (go right and look for green roof.) There is a bit of sand with beach chairs, and stairs over the rocks to the water. We saw more fish --inculding startlingly huge tarpon which seem to hang around the area--there than many a trip that we paid for. It's $12 to rent equipment, but free if you have your own. The chairs may have cost money, but we didn't see anyone paying and no one came around to collect.

In Roatan, a great thing to do is take a taxi to West End (you MUST see West End!!!) and then a water taxi to West Bay--all the way to the last "stop." You can swim right out to the reef and it's a beautiful place. Our taxi met us at West Bay later in the day, so we didn't have to backtrack to West End. Again, check out the Ports boards for Roatan. It's a beautiful place.

In Cozumel, a great thing to do is take a taxi to Chankannub National Park. There is a beach, concessions, botanical garden, etc. We didn't do it this time because it rained a bit that day. It's about a $25 cab ride for up to 4 people, and $18 entry (or 16 if you get the coupon off the website.)

Hope this helps.

Joyce

Joyce and Tim

I particularly enjoyed your review. We are going on the Med, leaving on the 25th of February. We just booked it a week ago because we found a fantastic price from an online TA. We just got off of the Crown Princess on Jan 27th, and I see you were on the Caribbean Princess just before that, so I am wondering how you would compare the two.

We are in the same age group as you, and are not terribly interested in any of the ports on our itinerary, which is the opposite of yours. We will probably spend a fair amount of time on the ship, especially since we were just in San Juan and St. Thomas.

We are driving down from central Florida and staying at the Embassy Suites in Boca the day before. I am planning on using the Park and Fly, as recommended by Costa. Do you know if the shuttle vans run fairly promptly. I understand that the midport parking garage is not close to the terminal (29?) used by Costa. Any recommendations along these lines?

Thank you for the good report of Costa. We will sail with the Mediterranean from the 4th - 18th of March. This will be our first cruise with Costa. We read many bad rewiews. I heard that there are many Germans on the ship my husband will be pleased to practice his German. We are really looking forward since we have for too many weeks winter in MO.

Hi everyone!

Amazing that, I was on the same cruise too.

First of all excuse me for my bad English, but I'm half Italian and half German and living in the States just since last November.

I love cruising and so far I took 16 of them with 5 different companies (NCL, Carnival, Costa, Cunard and RCCL).

This has been my second time with Costa and I simply LOVED it!!!!

Great fun every day, unfortunately weather wasn't very nice for 3-4 days and in Cozumel was REALLY heavy rain! Anyway I was going for shopping with my family and had a great time.

I loved the food, my waiter (Ronald) was simply fantastic. Compare to the other cruise lines, I did appreciate the familiar atmposphere you can enjoy at Costa. I love as well all the desserts. The only little "complaint" was that our table neighbours were pretty noisy and unrespectful of the other guests.

Ports of call: My favourite has always been Grand Cayman, where I can go for wild shopping. Didn't enjoy Roatan very much, but actually has been my fault because decided to go on my own and the village is pretty dirty and little. Tulem and Xelha tour is nice but too long, when we were coming back, me and my family were literary destroyed!! But it did worth it for sure.

Cabins: We had a mini suite and everything was really good. I was surprised one day because I was looking for some more ice and there was a cleaner guy who took care of that and in few minutes solved my problem. On other crusie ships we've been usual that it takes much longer and mainly just our butler is in charge of our cabin......bah.....

Entertainment: We like just one production show (Beat the rhytm) very much, the other (The Elements) was good, buy maybe too much "moder" for our tastes. We loved Victoria Horne and SO MUCH FUN during the Roman Night. That's such a crazy amazing show, I'm just sorry I didn't bring my camera with me.......I would have love to keep good memories of that.

Cruise Staff was always smily and taking care. They have such an incredible energy and I don't really know where they can get all that stamina.

Cruise Director Stefano is excellent! I saw him everywhere, actually is the first time after so many crusie in my life that I see a cruise director every morning at the pier to greet the guests. I had the chance to meet him several times in the lounge and talk to him. Such a nice person, and, amazing that, he speaks 5 languages!!! I thought I was very good for being able to speak German, English and Italian, but he's better than me...... :-). I think him and all his staff were very accessible compare to other cruise lines.

Pool games were fun even if sometimes when they closed the roof by the pool it was too loud and noisy.

Ship: I just like a part of that. I love the Casanova, Talia and the Disco, but I REALLY don't like the Club Medusa and the Main Lobby, they're too "dark" for me.

Final balance: I'll sure be back at Costa.

Ok, please if anybody nees any suggestion or help about the Mediterranea I''ll be much more than happy to assist.

I have never been on a Costa cruise so I am interested in how this will differ. I think you have to make the most of any vacation and start out with a positive attitude. I will try to update this board when I return and let you know my experiences. I have been on Princess, Celebrity, Carnival and any day on a cruise boat is better than sitting in the office on a cold winter day!

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I sent a reply earlier but I don't see it posted...

Anyway, I'll summarize: jak378, I don't know about parking at the pier in Ft L, but you can check the boards on ports of call and I'm sure there is info b/c I've looked at it. It would cost us about $60 to park for a week, so we usually have my mom drop us off, and take a taxi ($30) home. We've parked in Miami and it's relatively easy and reasonable. It's probably similar in FtL.

Nokia, very nice to have multi-nationals aboard and hear their opinions! Thanks for sharing. I'm envious of anyone who can write/talk in more than one--much less two!--languages. Brava! I'm so glad you liked the cruise as much as we did.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Roatan very much, but it is a beautiful place and it's important to see how other people live, even if they are very poor--this is what traveling is all about. Our daughter served in the Peace Corps in mainland Honduras 2002-2004, so the country is a special place for us. We spent a week with her on Roatan in a little hotel in West End (OK, mainly we sat on a beach or snorkeled, I admit), but we learned to appreciate it.

Future travelers, I encourage you to leave the ship in Honduras, go to West End or West Bay or other places and see the island! Its economy isn't as developed as other ports, but the people we met are very friendly and want to share their culture.

I hope this will post this time!

Oh, to answer the question comparing to Princess, which we sailed a couple weeks ago: Princess definitely has better food and a bit more upscale feel, but Costa (as you've read all over these boards) has a European touch. It's nice when you can't make to Europe this year! We've found staff to be bending-over-backwards helpful on every cruise line without exception. These people are so hard-working that we are almost embarrassed to be on vacation!

My email is jemagee2001 at yahoo dot com if you want to write to me for more info.

Hi Joice and Tim.

Thank you for your reply.

Probably you're right, we haven't organized in the proper way the call in Roatan. Once we came back we found out many people had a great time at the beach in West Bay. This is a good lesson for next time.....being prepared in time in order not to be disappointed!

I saw in your profile you've been cruising a lot, so I have a question for you. Have you ever taken a cruise with the Carnival sistership of the Mediterranea (like for example the Spirit)? 'm really curious to find out if inside the ships klook more or less the same or if there are big differences.

Nokia

We have not cruised Carnival, but you can probably find that info somewhere on these boards! I've seen lots of comparisons between the different lines, and surely there are some comparisons between the sister ships. It's amazing how differently the same spaces can be decorated. I'll definitely remember the Med!

I have cruised the Spirit,Pride, and the Legend. The pictures I have seen of the Mediterreanea , the ship is laid out the same. Different art, but the overall layout is close to the same. I love Spirit class ships, big enough, but not too big.I will know for sure in April!!

Jan

Hi All!

My hubby and 2 boys 12 and 18 were on the 2/4/07 sailing. We had a great time.

I agree with the above reviews and I thought I would throw my 2 cents in:D

We only ate in the dining room 3 times. I was dissapointed with the food.I found it bland and not that exciting. We were on the first sitting. We were not it the main part of the dinning room but in a small room off to the side. It looks like this is where they put the families with kids. Our table mates were great! They were a couple in their 50s with their 2 5 year old grand sons. Luck kids!:p The wait staff was very slow and often got the orders wrong. They seemed to be paying attention to one of the larger tables. I started getting annoyed when I had to ask for coffee 3 times. The second night we were sung to by the waiters. I had mentioned on the registration that it was our 10th wedding annivesary. We were given a nice cake and shared it with our table mates. This was a nice touch because on other cruise lines when doing the online form I mentioned special events and nothing was ever done.

I did go in for one spa service. I felt 100$ was alot to pay for a facial. I have them done at home for 50-80$ I also got a high pressure sales spiel after the facial which I thought was a little much after I paid all that $.

I attended a weight loss seminar which was a sales pitch for a private session to measure my BMR ( rate at which the body burns calories to survive) I paid 30$ for a half hour session and was attached to the machine

but then was given another sales pitch to buy their 100$ vitamins geesh give me a break here.:(

My kids and I did the butterfly farm in Grand Cayman and beach break. I enjoyed the butterfly farm. It is owned by the same folks that own the one in Aruba and when I was at that one 5 years ago I had the same guide in Grand Cayman. The beach in GC was great too.

My Dh and kids did the zip line through Costa in Roatan they loved it. They were gone most of the day. I am not brave enough to do it but they had fun.

We all did the Deluxe beach package in Cozumel. Drinks and food were included. Nice beach. We only had about 5 minutes of rain but when we went back to the ship I see the other side of the Island got pounded with rain.

My boys used the teen club and enjoyed it. My 12 year old step son felt all grown up beacause he was allowed to stay out at one of their activities until 1am Matteo the staff member was great with the teens.

We were in 4217 and the boys next to us in 4215. Our cabins had balconies (which is what we usually do) the rooms were pretty small compared to other lines we were on. Out steward Euticko was out standing! He was great with the boys and always kept us posted when they were in the room. We also had the divider between the balconies opened so the kids walked back and forth.

Met alot of nice people. I was able to sit and visit with Joyce and Tim :D

2 super nice people! I hope I get to sail with you guys again.

Overall I found this to be a great experience. I wish we had less rain.

Since I returned to Syracuse on the 12th we have gotted almost 3 feet of snow with more coming.

To those leaving soon on the Med enjoy her!

Nora

Thanks for all the reviews, I am going on this ship in April for the transatlantic repositioning cruise. We usually sail on RCC but wanted a ship that ends in Italy. I have 1 question were the beds comfortable. Thanks Lorelle

Can't speak for all the beds, but our was comfortable, and as I noted, it seemed larger than usual.

About the wait service: ours was terrific and I sympathize with those of you who had inferior service (been there, done that!) It probably is a function of how many tables/passengers that they are serving. In our area (upstairs) there were a number of table that were half or mostly empty: two people at a table for six, eg. On paper, our guys had just as many diners, but in reality, maybe half that many, and therefore they were able to serve us better.

One observation about the teens (there were a number of teens and younger kids, and they were never a problem of any kind). On the last sea day, we walked past a table of teenaged boys up on the pool deck. They were diligently and quietly painting, ala a crafts class. At another table were 5 or 6 girls similarly engaged. This seemed unusual to us and we actually remarked, "Very impressive!" to each other. I believe they were painting t-shirts. I think the staff is to be congratulated for conducting creative group activities like this. (Of course I don't know WHAT they were painting on the shirts...:-)

Nora, thanks for the kind words. It was nice meeting you! Stay warm!!!

Joyce

Our bed was very hard. The couple that sat at our table said their bed felt like they were sleeping on a pull out sofa bed. By then end of the cruise my back was shot. However I need to get a newmatress at home. Mine is way to soft.

I want to thank you all for your reviews!!! We will be going on the 25th and are really looking forward to it. Never been on Costa, but I think I will like the decor. The hints about the buffet lines were excellant.

About the BEDS......this is one thing I really don't look forward to. My DH sells the Select Comfort/Sleep Number Beds. Now you can imagin my back after a few nights on a regular bed. If you are getting new beds you must let me know and try out the Select Comfort. WONDERFUL....we have had ours 10 years and it's just like the day we bought it.

Anyone go on the Eastern Caribbean? We have not been to San Juan. So if there are any hints on that stop, I would appreciate it!

Thanks again,

We sail in 9 days!!!

Alice

New Smyrna Beach, FL

I wish you a fantastic cruise as we had!

Please fell free to ask any questions if you need!

Have a great cruise

Nokia

WOW....thanks for everyone who posted a response here. My parents and I are sailing the Mediterranea April 8 as first time Costa cruisers!!!!! We have cruised 30+ times each on competitors like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, & Princess. We tend to favor RCL & Celebrity and hope that we won't be disappointed this trip.

Anyway, I found a lot of information from all who posted. I can go and prepare accordingly. We are excited but also a little scared..last time we ventured away from our 'perferred' lines we had a week from hell. Thanks again for all who responded making a first time Costa cruiser see what it is all about.

Tina