Costa Cruises Recenzje 100

Having read some of the reviews before going on one I did think surely it can’t be that bad, now having just returned home from a costa cruise, I can assure you it is.
The pros, you’re on holidays.
The cons, where do I start:
We thought it strange but there was a sewerage smell in the casino and over the next few days it got worse and went throughout the ship.
The toilets in the room were a lottery if they worked.
The buffet, known as “The trough” was exactly that, lots of foods fried, no real nutrition, very few vegetables and more than one couple calling breakfast a s$&t show.
The tour desk extremely unhelpful and not able to flex or help with any adjustments to tours and when questioned further spoke in another language so you can not listen.
Overall if I could give less stars I would.
Would I go on another costa cruise, not a hope in hell, I have more important things to do like watch grass grow.

Mi crucero anterior fue maravilloso me trataron con mucha atención y amabilidad. Pero fue otra compañía. Está no la recomiendo a nadie. Pagamos casi 2 mil dolares por persona y fue decepcionante y estresante con muchas faltas de respeto.
Voy a contar todos los casos uno por uno para que saques vuestras propias conclusiones. No quiero que nadie pase por lo mismo que yo.
Costa Deliziosa. Por muy bonito y grande que sea el barco la mitad del personal de servicio fue horrible.
Pregunte por bandeja para las bebidas en la piscina exterior y el supervisor me respondió borde que vaya a por ella al buffet y dijo al resto de las personas que estaban recogiendo sus bebidas que se muevan más rápido y no frenen la cola .
No son maneras de tratar a un cliente.
Nunca vi tanto personal maleducado y borde en el mismo lugar y vi que trataba así no sólo Ami sino a muchos clientes y decidí poner hojas de reclamaciones y mis cometarios. Pagan si estrés con los clientes. Supongo que las condiciones de empleados son pésimas pero eso no soluciona el problema.
Durante el desayuno buffet el chico que repone tazas limpias m dijo que no puedo usar la taza pequeña que usé un vaso.
Era increíble que me dé lesiones de vida de cual taza debo usar.
Me enferme de gripe durante el crucero y fue al centro médico a pedir ayuda.
Explique que estoy embarazada y si tenían Paracetamol ya que no puedo tomar otro medicamento. Me dijo grosera la mujer que no son una farmacia y que es de pago la revisión médica. Me parece bien pero tan difícil es explicar las tarifas son ser borde?
Se me quitaron las ganas de seguir ablando con ella y al irme me preguntó el número de mi camarote... Para que? Para cobrarme sin ayudarme.
Si es cierto que se nota mucho que los camareros te aconsejan pedir lo que no incluye en tu paquete de myDrinks para cobrarlo extra, hasta m engañaron una vez diciendo que zumo natural de naranja cuesta 8€ y vi que en el menú está a 5€. Supongo que es bien plan de llevarse propina en efectivo. En las agecias dicen que ese pack es sin límite. En agua hacen el truco de darte una botella pequeña de agua por día o 7 de todo l crucero y las e tras cobrarlas a 3€ cada una. Y el paquete de SoftDrinks que se supone que es de refrescos no incluye el agua hay que pagarla aparte.
Continuó al volver al barco cuando aún faltaba una hora para irnos de la Costa la mujer de seguridad me estaba metiendo prisa para que vayamos corriendo a entrar sin ningún motivo. Solo dejo de gritar cuando le dije que estoy embarazada y no pienso correr. Pero no son las maneras.
Al escanear nuestra bolsas le dijimos a otra muchacha filipina que tenga cuidado por qué compramos decoraciones caras de cristal y se puso a imitar la voz de mi amiga diciendo que si yo también necesito cuidado. Es inaceptable ese tipo de bullying.
En el restaurante quise sentarme cerca de la ventana para grabar mejores videos , el camarero me reclamo por qué me cambié de mesa que me dio. Y hubo muchísimas libres. Son situaciones ridículas y cometarios y no deben que existir.
Se puede pedir y repetir la comida sin límite tanto en buffet como en el restaurante, algunos clientes no lo saben.
El primer día de la cena no le gustó nada la pasta que nos trajeron Ami amiga y Ami le volví pedir el menú y el camarero borde me contestó que solo se puede pedir una vez. Le dije que no es así . Estaba serio y enfadado toda la noche.
Otro día paso lo mismo durante la comida y otro camarero supervisor de grupo directamente se negó a tomarme otra comanda, no quiso explicarme que contenían algunos platos y cuando le exigir que me sirva más comida me decía algo más ? Algo mas?borde. Fue desagradable .
Le dije que no tengo la culpa de que no le guste su trabajo y que no pague su estrés con migo, estuvo riéndose en mi cara poniendo cara de burla.y tuve que llamar a dos mánagers. Pero obvio que ya se me quitó el apetito y no tenía ganas de volver a ese restaurante por nada en mundo.
Se pusieron de acuerdo todos los supervisores de los grupos a mentir que solo puedes ordenar una vez para tener menos trabajo y por vi visto les iba funcionando muy bien. Por qué al ablar con más huéspedes me di cuenta que muchos se quedaban con hambre sin que les guste algo haciéndoles caso.
El colmo fue lo que pasó con House keepinh de nuestra habitación y la gota que colmo el vaso.
Desde la primera mañana yo pedí al chico dos almohadas extra por mi embarazo. Me las trajo le di las gracias y iba a cerrar la puerta al girarme me di cuenta que entró a la habitación... Sin permiso . Presentándose diciendo que si necesito algo más que se lo pida ... Preguntado de donde somos.Pero entró como a su casa y mi amiga estaba en la cama descansando.Nos sorprendió mucho pero no quisimos ser groseras.despues estuvo cambiando las batas de sitio y cambio la ropa interior de sitio. Su nombre es Vincent, mi amiga se sintió acosada,le va a poner una denuncia con la policia.

Viajamos recientemente en el Costa Esmeralda y ha sido, con diferencia, la peor experiencia que hemos tenido con Costa.
Tuvimos múltiples incidencias no resueltas: un cajero automático que se tragó parte del dinero (20 €) y nunca se nos devolvió; a mi padre le cobraron un cóctel que no pidió, que casualmente no estaba ni incluido en la carta; y en mi caso, me registraron como menor de edad (2 años) cuando había pagado como adulto, lo que me impidió usar mi paquete de bebidas durante los tres primeros días.
A pesar de que la agencia de viajes corrigió el error desde tierra, a bordo tardaron dos días más en actualizarlo, alegando que “esperaban respuesta” y negándose incluso a hacer una simple llamada interna para resolverlo.
Durante varios días perdimos horas en recepción —a veces colas de más de una hora, hasta cuatro veces al día— sin recibir soluciones efectivas. Incluso llegamos a escuchar que solo me correspondía un vaso de agua, cuando mi paquete incluía botellas diarias.
En resumen, una vergüenza de gestión y atención. Hemos viajado antes con Costa Diadema y fue excelente, pero esta experiencia con Costa Esmeralda deja muchísimo que desear.
No pienso recomendar esta naviera ni volver a viajar con ellos mientras no mejoren su servicio al cliente y su capacidad de resolver incidencias básicas a bordo.

Nooit meer met Costa cruises. Eten was afschuwelijk. Complete chaos op de boot vooral tijdens eten.
Kamers werden niet goed schoongemaakt en kregen iedere dag een handdoek minder.

Dit was onze 1e cruise, dus na lang wikken en wegen na het lezen van de reviews toch gekozen voor de "La Dolce Vita"cruise met de Costa Smeralda.
Geen seconde spijt van gehad.
Ik heb misschien de lat wat lager liggen als alle passagiers die hier zo negatief reageren.
Maar ik kan nu echt NIETS noemen waar ik van zeg oooohhhh wat was dat toch slecht.
Iedereen aan boord was tegen ons gewoon vriendelijk en het eten was ook gewoon meer dan prima.
Zeker in specialiteiten restaurants en de teppanyaki waren zelfs uitmuntend te noemen.
De Balkonhut was fantastisch wij zaten op dek 15 voor in het schip wat een rust en wat een uitzicht vanaf het balkon, heerlijk.
Verder vonden wij de shows van een zeer hoogwaardig niveau en buiten deze shows is er ook altijd wel wat te beleven aan boord.
Ook de behind the scene tour gedaan aan boord en met mijn nautische achtergrond was dit een waar feestje om mee te mogen maken.
Ook de excursies 5 in totaal allemaal even leuk en leerzaam om mee te mogen maken.
En idd Italianen en fransen zijn wat rumoeriger, maar dit geeft juist wat reuring aan boord en heb daar absoluut geen moeite mee.
Extra pluim ook voor Zoë van Costa en Nicole van Stip deze hebben ons Fantastisch geholpen als er wat was aan boord.
Misschien zoals ik/wij al aangaven zijn wij misschien wat sneller tevreden, maar voor ons niets dan lof voor Costa en zouden deze zo weer opnieuw boeken.

This is coming from an American point of view. First the pros. We had a balcony room and it was was good with somewhat comfortable bed and good water pressure. That's it for the pros. Cons, The food is like the other reviews say, horrible. Absolutely tasteless and I think they cook everything then put in the freezer before they serve them because everything is cold. Scrambled eggs are runny (and cold), vegetables are chewy, (and ice cold), even the bacon (how do you screw up bacon) was not cooked and disgusting. The entertainment wasn't much better but mainly that's because I didn't understand most of it. The first night they had an interpretive dance and an animated whale movie which was stupid. The service people were nice people but not a lot of them so if you want a drink good luck. There's no free water, in fact at the food buffets they only had a couple places to get drinks and they were mostly broken. They always had a line to get drinks because there's no place on the ship to get a drink unless you buy it. If everything is closed up you don't get water, or anything to drink because there is no free drink stations on the ship. Having sailed on carnival before I assumed this would be like that but it's not it's worse. Zero out of 5 stars!

Jättedåligt fungerande hemsida och icke fungerande kommunikation via mejl!

The places we visited were beautiful. The staff is very friendly and really wants to make you happy. Unfortunately, the refund of excursions cancelled by Costa takes quite a long time. We have been waiting for our money for 8 weeks now. Hence a somewhat mediocre review.

Overall an excellent holiday .

The ship is clean smart and everything runs like clockwork. Staff whilst not friendly as such were efficient and happy to help although did tend to migrate towards Italian guests first !!

The cabin was spotless and well equipped. Digital safe. Tv. Daily fresh bedding & towels with soaps / gels supplied.

Public areas were clean and today, we didn’t experience issues with crowding or queues as reported by others despite the ship being almost full.

Evening table was allocated to one restaurant but it was also possible to use the self serve or indeed the staff served buffet restaurants. Queuing again was not an issue. We did tend to eat slightly outside of typical European meal times which helps.

There are a few issues that cannot be overlooked.

Safety - I did have to ask multiple staff multiple times to get one adult life vest switched for a child one which took several days !!

The cabin tv has nothing in English at all. Disappointing for children when it has viewing in other European languages.

We did not meet a single other native English speaking person all cruise. This didn’t matter to us and in fact has many advantages especially as I’ve had negative experiences with some “Brits abroad” historically.

Shows and entertainment were good although obviously being multilingual focus on music and display not language which is fine. The main theatre area as you know is ridiculously designed for good viewing unless you’re seated and seated early.

The pools are crowded and made unsafe by unsupervised children leaping in and out. Adults do tend to leave the kids and vanish. Signs should be placed saying no jumping in or rough play. Water became very cloudy as the day progressed which again could be a safety issue.

Food is an issue if you’re vegetarian or vegan ! Whilst they do have an alternative menu available Vegetarian food will contain animal rennet in the cheese and gelatine in desserts as they don’t (want to) understand. There are eggs if you eat them.

Vegan food will feature no protein at all. No tofu quorn pulses lentils nuts milk alternatives or anything. This is absolutely appalling. Even the sous chef didn’t really seem to understand at all. Perhaps they would like to consult with me on more suitable menus !!

That aside the food available was well cooked and presented and reasonably varied. It does cater to European tastes, not an issue for my family but perhaps more so for some. Seafood and shellfish feature heavily. Meats such as veal, guinea fowl etc served often.

Burgers, pizzas etc can be purchased on board and I found the prices very reasonable.

Drinks package we had (middle range) permits only one bottle of water per day but ice cold water is freely available at meals and other times on request. The menu for alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks on our package was more that adequate and menus clearly list which is included.

One excursion we had pre booked was cancelled the night before citing lack of English speaking ticket sales. Pretty appalling and reflects Costa Cruises “profit before customer” ethos.

Before booking excursions do explore the port as many do in fact offer free shuttle bus services to the nearest main areas. This can save a good amount of money. Also little land trains are available at many European ports and cheap to explore the area. Definitely worth doing your homework. There are also many other excursion companies with back to ship guarantees that offer a variety of days out to suit different budgets.

Having never experienced Costa cruises before (this was a fly cruise and we have travelled with other cruise lines) I was skeptical as many reviews are dreadful BUT in fact I was pleasantly surprised and would travel with them again if my dates / location made it necessary.

A very satisfactory albeit it tiring vacation this time and Costa definitely could make a few easy small changes that would vastly improve customer satisfaction.

** @costacruises if you want to reach out I am happy to assist and expand on the challenges mentioned and other small ones ! Improving your UK reputation is something you could easily do if you choose to !!

ATTENTION ATTENTION - for the crew only, what an obnoxious, poorly planned, ad filled, cesspool of an experience. The effort that goes into finding packages and micro transaction opportunities could go into making a cohesive logistics and program structure. The staff is as overwhelmed as the crowd, making this an experience that no one but the costa shareholders enjoy.

Bingo bingo, bingo time.

Onze hutten werden ad random aan ons toegewezen.
Zodra wij dit op onze reispapieren zagen, hebben we meteen gebeld met de reisorganisatie. Die konden niks voor ons betekenen, dit lag in handen van de rederij. De rederij kon niks voor ons betekenen, we moesten aan boord bij de receptie om andere hutten vragen.
De receptie kon niks voor ons betekenen....
Gevolg:
1 hut op de achtersteven deck 1
1 hut op de voorsteven deck 9
Fijne gezinsvakanie!

Horrible quality foods and drinks. Old ship. Showerhead broken. Terrible shows and entertainment. 3 out of 5 tours we booked and paid for were cancelled. We missed Marseille and Valencia. We had to take the Genoa tour in French, which we don’t speak. No drinking water was available outside meal times. We had to purchase bottled water for €4. We had to pay €22 daily room service charge per person. We had to pay 15% service charge on everything. Sun bathing chairs were reserved by people against cruise regulations. We notified the reception many times, but they never honoured their own regulations and did not remove the towels. Therefore, we were never able to use the chairs.

Just a heads-up for anyone planning to book shore excursions with Costa Cruises — especially if you're an English-speaking guest.

We paid €95 per person for what was clearly advertised as an English-speaking tour to Rome on 10 July. But when we arrived, we found out it was actually a bilingual tour shared with German guests, without any prior notice!

The guide had to repeat everything in two languages, meaning we got half the content and rushed explanations in English, while the German part was much longer and clearer. It felt like the tour was really meant for German speakers, and English guests were just tacked on.

There were 17 English-speaking guests on our bus — more than enough for a separate guide, but Costa didn’t provide one. Ironically, the Pompeii excursion the day before (also with Costa) had two guides on one bus, split by language. So clearly, it can be done!

Worse still, I emailed Costa’s customer service and got a generic, dismissive reply that ignored key issues. When I followed up with more details, they stopped replying altogether.

So if you're booking an excursion with Costa Cruises, be careful — you might end up in a bilingual tour you didn’t sign up for, and still be charged the full price. 😠

Feel free to share if you've had similar experiences — let’s make sure these issues don’t keep getting swept under the rug. #CostaCruises #ShoreExcursionFail #RomeTour #CruiseTips #TravelFairness

WE went of a Norway cruise on Costa Diadema in June. It was the worst cruise - out of over 50 we have done on many different ships. The breakfast Buffet was a complete disaster, terribly organised, long queues, hard to access items, not being able to serve yourself - what is the point, when guests keep touching other surfaces like elevator buttons all the time? No free coffee after breakfast, many services have been removed or are now paid only. Generally, a stingy, mean, poorly organised cruise experience, much worse than other cruise lines we sailed with, and even much worse that Costa used to be.... Costa was always a low-class cruise, but at least it had a cheerful, generous Italian spirit. This is now all gone... Many standard services disappeared - for example, there is no longer salt or pepper at the tables and you have to queue separately to get some salt with your eggs... this is just insane! There are no tablecloths anywhere. everything is now charged as an extra. It is high-pressure merchandising everywhere, what used to be social activities have now turned into high-pressure sales meetings. The whole experience is low class, irritating and mean, and the buffet restaurant manager should be sacked for quietly standing by at the disastrous breakfast queues without doing anything.

Return to earlier standards of service, arrange for multi-queue self-service islands at the buffet, and generally stop treating your customers like idiots trying to make them pay for everything!

They sell the tickets and after cancelled with all bookings from airplane London to Barcelona.days off from work .hotel suddenly they can selling all of them, even no money back.Don't trust this company to book in your holiday

We had an awful experience with Costa cruise lines.
1. Their application is not user-friendly and their informational campaign before the cruise was intended only to sell us upper package and next cruises instead of highlighting the embarking period in the onboarding day.
Lack of instructions regarding the embarkation process. We nearly miss the ship because they showed in the application "all on board 6 PM" in our onboarding day without emphasizing that customs is leaving 4 PM and our embarking hour is 3:30 PM.
2.Our cabin smells disgusting, I believe that vent system from the kitchen somehow was close to our AC system and we could smell what they cooked.
3. No free tap water in the restaurants. The first cruise ship that requires to pay our tap water.
4.Dirty cups, forks and spoons in the buffet all the time. The suspicious hygiene was everywhere.
5.Long queues in the buffet
6. Extremely humble list of dishes in the buffet. Usually, the good taste was not their higher priority.
7. On Costa Pacifica Cabin 2202 is for the crew, two separated beds that they even do not have an eye contact. They promoted this cabin as standard and assign it to our friends. For 4 nights they refused to change it because they were "full". On the 4 our of 7 nights they found a normal cabin and compensate is with champaign for 5 $ and 5 macaroons.
7. Reception team was full of non-professionals.

NEVER ever I will book a cruise with Costa cruises line. Don't do it too!

Cruise experiences are different for everyone, it really depends on your expectations and the itinerary that you choose. Since cruise companies can not be held responsible for what your impression of a particular destination, port or city is like I will not go into commenting on those other than to simply state where we docked: Toulon - Valencia - Palma - Souda Bay - Santorini - Heraklion - Argostoli - Palermo - Olbia - Civitavecchia - Savona - Toulon. We were supposed to go to Mykonos but this was cancelled due to poor weather conditions for disembarking (wind)

I will however, go into life and experiences on board. We boarded Pacifica in Toulon (whichn in reality is La Seyne sur Mer). Bording and check-in go really smooth and without a hitch. Once our bags deposited, we could freely discover the ship. It is a somewhat older vessel and the interior is a bit dated, having said that, I think all cruise ship interiors are kitsch. Nevertheless, the ship is well maintained, everything is clean and well looked after.

The welcome and throughout our entire stay on board, the service in the atrium welcome bar on deck 3 is faboulous. Particular thanks go out to Henry, Jonathan, Asish (I hope I got this right), Joanna, Raphael, Marco, Sagar and Randy, they deserve special thanks for always being there and smiling! They made our stay on board an experience we will not forget. Give them a raise! Service and ambiance in this bar was always so good we never bothered visiting any of the other bars.

Restaurants, there are several but we only visited 3:
New York New York was our designated restaurant for diner and since the setup and menu is identical to My Way, we never went there. We did have our fixed table on deck 4 for diner, which was actually really nice since it is less crowdy and noisy than the deck below. The menu has 4 choices of starters, first and main courses. It is very heavily Italian themed, so pasta lovers will be in heaven. It could do with a little more inspiration from other cuisines to cater for other nationalities on board, not everyone is Italian. But overall quality is relatively good. Service, here too, is perfect.

La Paloma is a buffet restaurant. It can get crowdy, particularly at lunchtime, but with four buffet setups we never really needed to queu.
It offers a wider variety of foods, but sadly meats are often overcooked and nothing is ever warm, only if you are lucky enough to see a new dish being placed in front of you.

There is a Streetfood, basically only hamburgers, hot dogs and fries, near the swimming pool on deck 9 (same as La Paloma) that serves all day long and these are decent. All these are included in your basic package.

Other restaurants like Sushi, Tepanyaki, pizza and Archipelago cost extra. We only tried the pizza, these were good but It is a little dissapointing having to pay additional for pizza whilst on an Italian ship… the same applies to the icecream parlor. The rates charged for sushi and tepanyaki were a bit stiff in our opinion, so we didn’t try them. Archipelago is the Michelin star dining experience that is designed by 3 Italian chefs, each a star holder. We didn’t go since we have a large choice of Michelin star restaurants back home, and this wasn’t why we came on a cruise.

Our cabin was on deck 2 in the back. It can be a little noisy from the engines but not to a degree that it is unbearable. We were 3 adults and an interior cabin is a little cramped, however since we were only in there to sleep or shower, it didn’t bother us much.

Would I recommend this cruise/ship, yes most certainly I would.

El crucero en el barco Costa Fortuna, había ido bien, pero en el desembarque, SE LES CAYÓ MI MALETA AL AGUA,( junto con otras 7). Es algo inconcebible que eso pueda ocurrir. El seguro sólo cubre tras mil papeleos la maleta y ropa estropeada, y yo tengo que compartir el gasto,(240 el seguro y 50 euros yo). COSTA CRUCEROS dice que lamenta el incidente y ya está. Nada por no avisarme antes de ver que mi maleta no estaba en el lugar de recogerlas, nada por las muchas lavadoras llenas de ropa pringando de agua de mar, ni por el disgusto. Vergonzoso e increíble.

Do Not Sail Costa—Even If It Were Free
Ship: Costa Pacifica
Duration: 14 days
Staterooms: Interior and Balcony
Total Cost: ~$10,000 for four passengers including excursions
Redeeming Features: None identified
 
This was, without question, the worst cruise I’ve experienced in over 20 years and more than 50 voyages. I’ve sailed with budget lines like Carnival and luxury lines like Viking, so I understand different standards—but Costa’s performance fell drastically below even the most basic expectations for safety, sanitation, service, and organization.

I’ve never submitted a negative review before—until now.
🚨 Safety & Sanitation: Inexcusable Failures
- Crew inexperience: A majority of onboard crew seemed to be on their first cruise or first contract. They couldn’t accurately locate muster stations or provide assistance—an alarming oversight given Costa’s recent safety incidents.
- Sanitation: Public restrooms on Deck 5 and near the buffet were frequently out of order. In staterooms, only one toilet worked at a time—thankfully, we had two rooms. Out of 19 hand-sanitizer stations, 13 were empty or broken. This violates basic maritime health codes.
- Hygiene breakdown: Illness spread rapidly across the ship. A fellow passenger openly urinated in a public hallway—a scene that sadly didn’t seem out of place. Glassware and plates were often so poorly cleaned that my 8-year-old asked why the water “tasted funny.”
🍽 Dining: Inconsistent, Often Inedible
- Only 3 of 14 dinner nights were genuinely enjoyable. On the others, well-intentioned but overburdened staff struggled to serve basic needs.
- Drink woes: Even with a drinks package, water was hard to come by. Wine or beer—never more than one drink per person over a two-hour dinner unless chased repeatedly.
- Buffet blunders: Spoiled yogurt, green cheese, and almost nonexistent butter were regular features. Lines took 15–20 minutes, and disputes even turned physical.
- I’ve never had to grocery shop during a cruise before—but this time I did. Food quality was so unreliable that we bought staples ashore. On the plus side—I lost some weight.
🥤 Drink Package & Water Access: A Waste
I purchased Costa’s “My Drinks” package expecting value. But with broken water dispensers and long bar lines, a bottle of store-bought water and local wine would have been more reliable. Unless you drink heavily and can wrangle a second pour, don’t expect it to deliver.
🛳 Excursions & Shore Access: Mismanaged Chaos
- Ports changed four times—three pre-cruise, once mid-voyage. Our main port, Mykonos, was removed with under 24-hour notice and minimal explanation.
- No shore access without Costa excursions—tender ports meant up to three hours of waiting just to disembark during a six–eight-hour stop.
- The “My Excursions 3-pack” deal was abruptly cancelled by desk agents, even though it was active in the Costa app.
- At Argostoli, four lifeboats handled all passengers on a 40 °C day—families stood under relentless sun with no shade or seating for over an hour.
📱 App & Wi‑Fi: Completely Unreliable
The Costa app was required for menus, programs, and excursions—but it seldom worked. Full internet access was purchased by a member of our party—and still we faced multiple horizon-wide connectivity failures with no compensation or fallback.

No printed menus were provided. If the app failed—which it often did—you could only get help by waiting in another line.
🛏 Cabins & Staff: The Only Bright Spots
When the toilets functioned, the cabins were fine. Stewards were attentive and hardworking—but it felt like they were holding up a collapsing system.
👧 Kids Club: Disastrous
Our daughters, usually thrilled by cruise kids clubs, went once and refused to return. Their verdict: “It’s just coloring. No games, no fun.” That’s it.
🛑 Bottom Line: Avoid Costa at All Costs
I would have disembarked early if not for logistical constraints. Costa offered zero compensation or apology for widespread failures. Two weeks of vacation were wasted.

At this price point, any other cruise line will deliver a vastly superior experience.

DO NOT CRUISE WITH COSTA—NOT EVEN IF IT’S FREE.

This was our third cruise together, but the first as a married couple — and sadly, our first (and last) experience with Costa Cruises. We had hoped it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, especially as it was our honeymoon. Unfortunately, from the moment we arrived at the port in Catania to board the Costa Fascinosa, things began to go downhill.

The check-in process was chaotic. We waited in long queues under the sun without being offered even a glass of water. Eventually, we found someone handing out drinks, but they clearly did not want to be there — unfriendly, uninterested, and certainly not welcoming. You’d expect staff in a holiday setting to set a positive tone, but that was far from the case.

After dropping off our luggage, we joined yet another line — again, in a stuffy area where the air conditioning could have been turned on but wasn’t. By the time they took our photo for the boarding card, I looked like I had just come out of a sauna. I thought that would be the end of the queues, but no — we were forced to queue yet again in a tent, this time for a photo we didn’t even want. When I politely declined, I was rudely told to wait in line anyway. After several back-and-forths, they finally allowed us to move on.

Access to our cabin was only available at 3 PM, which is standard, so no complaints there. However, once onboard, the service only got worse.

The majority of the staff — I’d say 9 out of 10 — seemed determined to make our experience miserable. When I tried to order two coffees and two Pepsis, I was bluntly told I could only order two drinks at a time. Despite having a paid drinks package, I had to fetch my husband’s card just to get four basic beverages. That level of inflexibility and rudeness is unacceptable.

Dinner was another letdown. The food was shockingly poor — honestly, I wouldn’t feed it to my dogs. Plates were slammed down in front of us at the sit-down restaurant with no care or courtesy. The ship itself is outdated and, frankly, it smells bad.

We also needed a UK plug adapter and asked at reception and multiple other staff, only to be repeatedly told none were available. Eventually, we found one in a shop onboard where the employee casually mentioned they’d been in stock for over two years. Clearly, no effort was made to help us.

On another occasion, when returning to our cabin, a staff member blocked our access and angrily told us we had to walk all the way around the ship — simply because she didn’t want to move her trolley. A little flexibility or even basic courtesy would have gone a long way.

Staff frequently bumped into us or passed by with carts without so much as an apology or even a nod. It’s the little things — an acknowledgment, a smile — that make a difference, and we experienced none of that here.

And then there were the other guests — many were just as rude and inconsiderate. Perhaps the staff’s attitude is a reflection of the clientele Costa Cruises attracts. Either way, the atmosphere onboard was anything but enjoyable.

In short, this cruise was an enormous disappointment. If I could give it zero stars, I would. We will never book with Costa Cruises again.