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Ship staff make a real effort to accommodate various nationalities when it comes to announcements, excursions, entertainment, menus and signage. Major announcements are made in Italian, English, French, Spanish and German -- and there are designated hosts who conduct separate passenger orientations in those languages as well. Many staff are multilingual, instantly hopping from one language to another. On the downside, repetition of info in multiple languages can get tedious.
Princess Cruises
Suite and Elite passengers of Costa's Circle C past passenger program are invited to dine in their own intimate restaurant on Deck 8 forward. The Bellavista Restaurant is an elegantly-styled venue that wouldn't be out of place on upscale Carnival brand Seabourn, serving up cuisine that is prepared a' la minute for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nicel touches include multiple lighting options, from overhead lights to accent and reading lights over the sofa/daybed and bed -- though balconies curiously have no passenger-controllable lighting. Beds are recessed into a small alcove with attractive blue-and-white padding on walls, and daybeds and sitting areas are adorned with a colored, patterned wall that also doubles as a work of art in its own right. Staterooms are thoughtfully designed across the board, with vibrant colors, unique design accents, and comfortable furnishings.
Costa Mediterranea Review
Carnival Venezia cruise ship review: What to expect on board - The Points Guy
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Least expensive options are Interior cabins, which are found throughout the ship and do not have a window—these can be as small as 140 square feet (snug for two). There are a variety of Sea View cabins with a rectangular window. Sea Balcony cabins start at 146 square feet inside, plus balcony (about 44 square feet), while 106 Sea Terrace units on decks 8 and 9 are larger and have a balcony about twice as deep.
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The ship’s 11 restaurants include a bustling buffet, La Sagra dei Sapori, located midship on deck 8, which serves three meals through the day. The packed venue can be a bit of a scramble at 9 a.m., but lunchtime is easier on port days, and dinner is modestly attended. Owing to the pandemic, the buffet is not self-serve, and servers pile plates generously. Naturally, Italian cuisine is a focus for Smeralda—Costa claims the ship works its way through 500 traditional recipes from across Italy’s 18 regions, and the wine list is thick with bottles from fine Italian vineyards. The menu for the main dining room, located on decks 5, 6 and 7 aft, might be better described as continental, overall. Typical dinner entrées include such daily changing fare as pasta with sardines, lobster au gratin with vegetable tagliatelle, and pork knuckle medallion confit with cous cous.
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Drink packages start as low as $22 per day for wine and beer with lunch and dinner. Note that many passengers do speak some English, and many (particularly younger cruisers) speak it fluently. Dancing and music are also held nightly in the classy Leonardo Gran Bar on Deck 6, a massive venue reminiscent of the large single-story shipboard lounges of the 1990's.
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Even so, those familiar with Farcus' previous designs will find Costa Diadema less brash and more, shall we say, regal. Note that much of the ship’s entertainment is conducted in Italian, but the music needs little translation—even the game shows in Italian can be entertaining for non-native speakers. With interior cabins selling for under $1,000 per person, even during summer, Costa Smeralda is a good option for anyone wishing to combine a traditional Italian holiday with a Mediterranean cruise. Costa Toscana might be the most family-friendly ship we've ever sailed on.
The good news is you can choose the air gateway (or train station for Europeans) that's most convenient for you. The bad news is there's a lifeboat drill almost daily, accompanied by shipwide announcements in multiple languages, and there's little first-day sailaway fanfare. The captain's welcome, for example, could happen on the last day of your trip, rather than the usual second night out. This is a party ship that comes alive from cocktail hour well into the wee hours. Italians (the majority of the passengers) and their fellow Europeans know how to live it up, including families with small children who go everywhere at all hours. Either you love being immersed in the European lifestyle onboard, or you're pining for familiar American ways of doing things, including dining.
Families can spring for the Sea Terrace Premium units, which include an interior covered terrace with day beds (ideal for cool-weather sailings), plus an oversized balcony; these sleep four. There are 28 suites, all located at the four corners of the ship, fore and aft, with wraparound balconies. This can result in fluctuating numbers of passengers, particularly for English speakers. On our sailing, all four of our pre-booked shore excursions were cancelled due to lack of English participants. Generally speaking, only one excursion -- and often none -- were available in English, despite the website's assurance that all excursions are offered in a multitude of languages. Costa Cruises is an Italian-based cruise line that was founded in 1854.
Our biggest reason for giving Costa a below-average rating is its track record for safety. Despite implementing new safety procedures and improving protocols overall, Costa ships still had collisions in 2017 and 2019, though fortunately there was no loss of life resulting from those incidents. Costa Smeralda has a staffed medical facility with a physician available for more serious issues; consultations are charged to an on-board account. Hand sanitizer stations are everywhere, and restaurant entrances feature high-tech automated hand-washing stations. A selection of cabins are set aside for quarantine guests or crew, as needed. You’ll also find a live jazz combo at Quelli della Notte, a piano bar at Il Cielo in una Stanza with live music and singalongs, while the Mastroianni Grand Bar is the main dance floor offering a variety of musical genres.
Be aware that tips for bartenders, poolside servers, and professional services provided in the spa or elsewhere are not included in the daily suggested gratuity and may be charged automatically at the time of service. Speaking of amenities, make sure you understand what you'll get as part of your fare and which extras will come with an additional cost. For example, most cruises offer drink packages for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, but a few have drink stations where you can get complimentary lemonade, coffee and tea.
Caribbean sailings are one of their specialties, with budget-friendly fares often starting at $139 per person for a three-night Bahamas cruise. However, guests should be aware of additional costs for gratuities, drinks, and dining packages, and even for basics like choosing the stateroom or dining room seating time. While the low initial fares may seem like a bargain, fees for "extras" can add up quickly, so it's worth comparing MSC to other cruise lines before booking your sailing. Speaking of weeklong Mediterranean itineraries, cruisers have the option of embarking and disembarking at nearly every port of call. In other words, several hundred (or thousand) cruisers board and leave the ship on any given day. We overheard one Canadian passenger describe it as a floating hop-on, hop-off tour.
Though Costa does not reference jeans directly in its written policy, denim is allowed in the dining room. Deliziosa's Mediterranean itineraries attract cruisers of all ages, and summers see lots of families onboard. The world cruises attract an older demographic, with an average age of about 65, and travelers are typically retired and affluent.
Campari is another famous Italian brand, while Kartell is a Milan-based company that produces coffee and incredible glassware (which you can purchase right onboard Costa Toscana). Costa Mediterranea attracts an international crowd, which varies depending on the itinerary. For European sailings, the vast majority of passengers will be European, with new passengers embarking and disembarking at every port. When the ship moves to the Caribbean, the mix starts to shift, with more and more passengers from North and South America as the season progresses. Though you might expect a lot of Italians, the ship is also popular with French passengers on its Caribbean itinerary, due to a call on French Guadeloupe.
