Costa Magica

We were somewhat apprehensive about this cruise.  Reports of mobs not queuing at the lido, too many announcements in several languages did not come true.  Passengers were all respectful of each other.  Many italian families enjoying a muti-generational holiday.  The service by all the staff was excellent, our room steward supplying us with extras on request, and the wait staff always remembering our favorite beverages. We purchased the beverage package and were very pleased with that, had no difficulty getting drinks of any kind at any venue. We did pay for a dinner called "dining under the stars", which was not up to any cruise line standard. Our impression was that this was a new addition and was horribly disorganized, orders not placed correctly and wait staff tripping over themselves. This was the only negative of the trip. The dining room food was not to our tastes, but it appeared that most other cruisers enjoyed it.  We felt it lacked flavor.  We did purchases 2 ship excursions and were pleased with both.  One was a walking tour of Cadiz, the other bus transport to Rome.  Both were very well organized and we felt well taken care of.  Embarkment and disembarkment were a breeze.  The one thing that did catch us off guard is that they do take your passports at embarkment and returning the morning of disembarkation-we were caught unaware on this.  They did provide a copy of our passport delivered to the room-to be used when leaving the ship. We did attend some of the evening shows and they were good.  There were lots of opportunites for dancing, always classes, and big group dancing.  The Italians love to dance, young and old alike.  I had need to visit the ship doctor on two occasions and was treated professionally and received the care and prescriptions needed.  We were on board on the 4th of July, the ship gave a small party for the American citizens with cake, live music and a visit with the ship caption and all the officers.  The extra effort was appreciated.