WORST CRUISE EVER!!
Costa Mediterranea Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
11 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 09, 2015
Ship: Costa Mediterranea
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 5189
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
My husband & I have taken 20+cruises on many cruise lines & this was by far the WORST CRUISE EVER! We had booked an UNOBSTRUCTED balcony cabin & got and OBSTRUCTED cabin. When I called the company & the cruise line about this, they both agreed that I had booked unobstructed & that the agent I was working with knew she booked an obstructed cabin...bait & switch! They would nor change my cabin, unless I paid an additional $350.00, and it was their fault! All they would do was give a $50.00 on board credit! Not much compensation. The cabins were the smallest of any ship we have ever been on. Not enough space to store luggage. Barely enough room to walk on the side of the bed near the balcony - I am only 4'11" & weigh 115lbs. & it was hard for me to fit! There was just a shower, no tub. No handrail in shower. Only space for a bar of soap - not room for shampoo, razor, etc. The lip on the shower was very small & the shower curtain not long enough, so water got all over the floor & had to be wiped up with a towel. Wash clothes were not provided - had to ask for them - repeatedly! Shampoo, conditioner, lotion & shower caps not provided - had to ask for them. They were always provided on our other cruises . Ice was not automatically provided in cabin - had to ask for it. No electrical outlet near bed for clock or medical equipment (cpap). Had to stretch extension cord across the room on the floor to outlet - very dangerous. Had to pay $4.00 for a glass of iced tea, no refills - outrageous! Water, milk, juice & hot tea were free - not iced tea - don't get it! These were always free on all other cruises. If not from US, had to pay for water at dinner - unheard of! No brewed decaf coffee in dining room at dinner - only instant! There were bones in the Salmon & Sea Bass - inexcusable! The mussels were so salty you couldn't eat them. Chicken was tough you couldn't cut it! Food portions for dinner were skimpy at best. Food went from being totally bland to over seasoned with sat. Rancid walnuts in dining room at breakfast! They were told about this 4 times & they did nothing & still served them. Ran out of Caesar dressing in buffet at lunch - took 20 min. to refill. There was no where to get a snack after 6:30 pm - the buffet closed at 6:30 even though it was stated it was open until 12 midnight, unless you wanted pizza, which you had to pay for! Most of the time the ice machines in the buffet were not working - had coolers with ice in them - not very sanitary! Soft serve machines were not working most of the time We ordered Diet Coke & were told they only have Pepsi products. Later we saw people drinking Diet Coke! We ordered again & were told the same thing - don't have it. We told them we saw people drinking it & were told they must have brought it with them! So, amazingly, they found some! They like to lie! One day, none of the elevators were working on the entire ship for over 1 hour, so you had to walk up or down the stairs - inexcusable for handicapped people! They said they were doing maintenance. They should have shut down one bank of elevators at a time, but that would require consideration for the passengers! I booked my tours 9 months ahead of time. The tickets were in our cabin. We gathered for our first tour & were told we had the wrong tickets. They gave us Italian speaking tours, not English! They wouldn't let us go & had to change all future tours. This was their fault, not mine! They should put the times of tours online so you know if you want go at that time. Some were way to early 8:15 am! There were only 2 shows in the theater that were good. The rest were terrible - like high school musicals! Most of the crew spoke very little English & was very hard to communicate with them. I WOULD NEVER, EVER RECOMMEND THIS CRUISE LINE! THE WORST WE HAVE EVER BEEN ON!! A ROW BOAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Not enough to do after dinner - unless you drink! Even had to pay for coffee in evening! No snack bar or any food (except pizza, which you had to pay for) in evening
Ports of call
Miami, Florida Did not visit port
Tortola, British Virgin Islands