Costa Victoria Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My wife and I spent 3 weeks on the Costa Victoria in 1/2000 and 4/2000. I found the dining and dancing in the Private Dining Room to be close to dreamlike if not perfection. Dancing to Fausto's band was from Heaven in the 6th Floor lounge. The staff was friendly and gracious to the point of unbelievable. A year and half later I still remember the kindness of Sarah, Veronica, Max and a young lady from Rome whose classic beauty is a memory I shall savor forever. I shall definitely cruise Costa again.Randy Brieger

This is from a 16 day transatlantic cruise from Italy to Fort Lauderdale. Because the cruise was out of Genoa, the majority of the passengers were Europeans. If you are a nonsmoker, do not take this cruise. The Europeans are heavy smokers. The only place that there was no cigarette fumes was outside (and still there were people outside smoking) and at the Festival Theatre for the shows. On the Caribbean cruises, it should be better. It is a great ship, big, places to go and walk. Surprisingly, they had specials at their marketplace. Some items were at 50% off. The stores staff is very attentive and friendly. The cabin attendants are the best. The walls are mainly plain with no designs, plain elevator area (three floors), just simple colors. No portraits on the decks, stairs and elevators. Just the panoramic rooms area had a few portraits on the walls, but not as many as other ships and they looked cheap. Just what you will find on any ship, the pools and Jacuzzis. The bathrooms were always kept clean. Some seats are worn. Walking around is nice. After a while, you learn where to walk to avoid the smoking fumes. There was not a single seat on the side of the ship to watch the sea. You need to go to the top to get a seat, but you need to mostly get a tan for that. I had to get a seat everyday from inside to relax outside.It is hard to give an impartial opinion on the food because this will be from my own taste. From day one, I could not find anything to find on the menu. After four days, the chief waiter asked me what I wanted because they told him that I was not eating. After I told him about my tastes, the next day, it was cooked. There was a better variety on the buffet. The pizzas are very thin. There are different toppings on the menu everyday. If you want a pepperoni pizza, you have to wait that it is made on that day. They will not make you one. The room service is very attentive, friendly and fast.The restaurant decor is OK. They have different rolling backgrounds on their windows.

The cabin was the smallest I have ever seen on a cruise ship despite the fact that we had a deluxe cabin. The picture windows that you were supposed to be able to look out of had not been cleaned in what appeared to be several trips. All the food was served cold, not that it mattered much because the food was terrible, especially the soups. There was no selection for room service and the continental breakfast buns were so hard it seemed as if they were days old. If you were 15 minutes late for your lunch sitting you couldn't get in and were forced to go to the buffet line which served mystery food and leftover pastries from some other day. The only good thing about the ship was our food servers and cabin steward. The ship was overall bland in appearance and in several areas quite dirty. The information desk was always helpful, unlike the room service, which was argumentative. The shows were an attempt to imitate Las Vegas. There was only 1 formal night and we never saw the Captain, or even the other officers, for that matter. This ship was a large disappointment for all the money we spent for this trip. I will say though that Costa did a great job on the travel arrangements and all the tours.