I was with two friends. We want to go with a different cruise line when we cruise again. The cruise ports were great, but the cruise itself was somewhat off a disappointment.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
It was easy to drop off my bags at the Stockholm on Saturday. However, the information wasn't clear from that point on. We arrived at 10:30 am and told that we couldn't get on to the ship until 2 pm. We then decided to go back to Stockholm to explore. The cruise Rep told us we can get back anytime we wanted as long as prior to Sunday 6 AM, the ship depart time. As a result, we missed the safety drill on Saturday at 5 PM. We purchased Hop-on and Hop-off tour at the Info Center at the Port and we were told it runs until 7 pm. That information also wasn't correct. The bus stopped running at 4:30 pm. We had to take a taxi to get back to the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
This is an Italian cruise line. So there were a lot pasta selections every day. This is not a cruise for people watching carbs closely. The selections for other type of main course were limited. I had shrimps twice and both time the shrimps were already very mossy and not fresh. The service was very slow. The main dinning hall closed the door half pass the seating time. You cannot get in if you are late. The dinning service was good, but slow. They did try to accommodating us as much as they could towards the 2nd half of the trip.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
We tried to go to other music events for dance in a few nights, but the musician happened to be on break all at the same time. The end result was no dance on this trip.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The shows were good, but hosted in languages other than English.
Children's Programs
No children on this trip.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
The custom service was good.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Costa Mediterranean is not a very large ship. The gym was small and packed all the time. And it was very hot in there. One-third of machines were out of order.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Dean kept our room very clean. He provided us extra towels up on our request.
Ship tip
This is budget cruise. The price is right but it is not a cruise for good food.
It's beautiful city with a lot history. For taxi services, don't hop in the first one available. I found out on the last day of my trip that you should at least check for three or more taxi drivers first. The price could vary significantly from one to another.
We made the right decision to go with the Cruise excursion in Russia. You need a visa to go into Russia. Since we were there two days, you need a visa with multiple entries. Two ladies sit at our dinning table from Bulgaria only had single entry visa. They had to stay overnight in St. Petersburg for the two-day stay in Russia. The customs line was long and slow. You need to have all the documents ready when get off board. No visa required when we booked the excursion with Costa.
It was easy since we managed our own luggage. We'd miss our flight if the cruise managed our luggage at the time we were given for disembarkation. And we left ship before 8 am before most of people scheduled to get off the ship.
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