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Costa Cruise Line

MS CostaMediterranea

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Tom Duncan
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: November 23, 2003
Itinerary: Caribbean - Eastern

As a first-time cruiser, we didn't have a lot of expectations or pre-conceived notions, but we enjoyed our Costa Mediterranea experience very much.

All of the public areas are absolutely beautiful. All of the lounges were comfortable and very accessible. We spent most of our time at the small pool at the stern. That is the best place for sun, but the pool is quite small. The hot tub above the pool always seemed to be full, usually of kids.

We found the food to be very good, but not outstanding. The Italian items were excellent, but some of the beef, chicken and pork items in the main dining room were disappointing. The buffets were very good, and the desserts were much too good!

We enjoyed the pizza, but Americans expecting Pizza Hut-style pizza will be disappointed. It's much more like traditional Italian pizza.

The food at the grill was perfect for a lunch a the pool. Nothing fancy, but tasty.

The service was generally good. The language barrier was a problem at times. However, most of the Italian staff spoke excellent English. Our asst. waiter was Indian, and did not know much English. He was very pleasant, however and tried very hard. Our waiter and the assistant head waiter were terrific.

Again, being first timers, we didn't know what to expect. However, we found our cabin with a balcony to be quite comfortable and spacious. The bathroom was plenty big enough. Two sinks would have been nice, but I'm reaching for that complaint.

The only "big" show we attended was the final night talent show, which was very good. We heard from others in our group that the other, main theatre, shows were very good as well.

We attended a few of the "fun" shows, Mr. Mediterranea, etc., which were very funny. The head of the cruise entertainment staff was absolutely fantastic.

Our ports were San Juan, St. Thomas, Isla Catalina (Dominican Republic) and Nassau. All of the stops were brief, which I suppose is typical for a 7 day cruise. We loved San Juan, but arrived at 4pm and left at 1:30am...too short. Plus, by the time we finished dinner in Old Town, almost all the shops were closed.

The only excursion we took was in St. Thomas on the Dancing Dolphin. This was a catamaran snorkeling trip. That was great fun, and highly recommended. If you're interested, check out their web site.

We have no children, so we didn't experience any of the child care or babysitting services.

The one complaint is that there were very few announcements about activities of any sort. I guess the staff expected you to read the daily newsletter and plan your day accordingly, which, of course, we did. However, an occasional announcement would have been nice.

We were with a group of 30-40 relatives and friends, so we would have had fun no matter what. The other passengers were about a 50/50 mix of Americans and Europeans. A word of warning: some of the European women are not shy about topless sun bathing.

We shared a table with an Italian couple who now live in Florida. They were delightful.