This was the first time we cruised with Costa. We loved the itinerary and the ports. The balcony room was nice and we had smooth seas. Everything was laid out differently than the ships departing from the U.S. which made it harder to find the buffet and common spaces. Our main problems were with the excursions. The descriptions did not provide accurate information, especially about the the difficulty level. We had our 90 year old mother with us, and she had to skip parts of excursions, or get a cab back to the ship in two ports.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was easy, but there was not good direction once aboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The restaurants were nice with good menu options. However, the buffets were hard to navigate and seating was not adequate for the number of guests aboard.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
All common areas were overcrowded.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The stage shows were top quality!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff were multilingual and very attentive to guest needs.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The layout and design of the common areas and buffet made it difficult to navigate. There was no map of the decks given to guests at embarkation to help.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The balcony cabin was a good size and the bathroom layout was better than other cruise lines.
Ship tip
Eat in the dining rooms due to overcrowded buffet area.
We only purchased a shuttle from the ship to the city center to explore on our own. Barcelona offers a hop on/hop off bus to see the sites at your own pace.
We liked the town, but the excursion was described as "easy" required quite a bit of walking (steps, hills, uneven roads). Also, the description said there would be a stop at the beach, but we only drove by it. This is not for older people or those with health limitations.
The excursion to the Palace at Caserta was not as organized as it should have been. While the tour guide was great once at the palace, the bus driver went the wrong way and let us off quite a distance away from the palace. It cost us about 30-45 minutes so we were not able to visit the gardens as the excursion described.
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