Great destinations, terrible ship.

Costa Serena Cruise Review to Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East)

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 58

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5
Costa Serena

7 Night Emirates & Oman (Dubai Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 13, 2015

Ship: Costa Serena

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

I will keep this concise and to the point. Major shop fitting/building work taking place on the ship throughout the 7 days, Cutting , grinding and drilling on a continuous basis. This is not classed as routine maintenance in my opinion. The main bar was regularly closed for "exclusive cocktail parties"??? This severely limited your chances of sitting down and enjoying a drink. Breakfasts were poor. Toast was like cardboard, no beans and the cereals were cheap and nasty imitations. The grill was only open 12 till 3. The restaurant only catered for Italians and the portions were tiny. The restaurant food was presented well but this did not hide the poor standard of the meals being offered. I was often hungry in the evening but there was literally nowhere to grab a snack after having your evening meal. The theatre`s entertainment was extremely poor. The general entertainment was poor. The ship was old and tired. The holiday was ruined by the time spent on the ship. Princess cruises was a far more enjoyable experience. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
Not enough variety, no food available at certain times of the day. Catered for Italian pallets only. Generally felt hungry throughout the holiday.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Ok if you are Italian.

Entertainment

1 out of 5
One word: TERRIBLE.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
I salute you Sujento on keeping my cabin spotlessly clean at all times.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
Tired ship in need of updating and fixing!

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Clean and tidy throughout.

Ship tip

If you want to come on a ship and lose weight then I recommend costa.

Ports of call

Muscat, Oman

5 out of 5

Khasab, Oman

5 out of 5

Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

5 out of 5
Similar to Dubai. A must see destination.

Dubai, U.A.E.

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 58

3 Comments

cruisellama    5 years ago

bren44    9 years ago

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are fantastic. Dubai palm beach and the exclusive island resort in Abu Dhabi are out of this world. Muscat is a more traditional middle eastern city which is a must see. Temperature in March was a consistent 30 degrees, just the right climate to get a nice tan without being oppressively hot.

+

glomarrone    9 years ago

I will be visiting Dubai & Oman next year.  Do you have any recommendations?