On Jan. 18, 2015 we booked a 12 night cruise to the eastern Caribbean sailing Jan. 23, 2015 out of Miami. We had never been on Costa before, but the price was right ($599 per person) and we liked the itinerary. The ship was going to a couple of ports that we had never been to; Samana in the Dominican Republic, Tortola and Guadeloupe.
The ship was clean and nicely decorated. We booked an inside guarantee, but were assigned a balcony. Nice upgrade….right? The cabin was a nice size and the set up was decent. So far, so good.
Your shipboard account had to be set up at a kiosk, not online or in the terminal when you checked in. The kiosk would not accept our debit card and instructed us to go to guest services. After standing in line, we were told that they did not accept debit cards. We tried to explain that our debit card could be used as a credit card, but it was useless. We asked what we were supposed to do. The rep said that we could either get off the ship now and go to a bank to get cash or we could wait until we arrived in our first port and do the same. Luckily, we had cash in our stateroom safe. Things are going downhill, but we are on vacation!
The food was bland and didn’t look appetizing. The beef they served was tough. The choices weren’t appealing. Although pasta is supposed to be served al dente, theirs seemed undercooked. Our salads were served after the entree. The best meals during the cruise were breakfast, in the dining room. To top things off, the only people at the table that spoke English didn’t show up half the time.
The dining room staff, housekeeping and pool staff were friendly enough. The officers were another story. When we asked an officer why there wasn’t any ice on deck, he turned and walked away. No smile, now hand signals….nothing! We asked another why the jacuzzis were cold. He grabbed a pool attendant. They set up a time, with an English speaking guest services rep, that you could express any complaints or comments you had. When talked to the rep about the officers being rude, about the ice machine not working and not taking our debit card. He never looked at us. Never gave us an explanation. Never apologized for the rudeness.
If memory serves me correctly, the entertainment was not to our liking. It was geared more to the European crowd. We entertained ourselves by playing Gin or Yahtzee.
Now, we realize that this review is almost 4 years after we took the cruise. Some details have a tendency to stick with you. We can honestly tell you that Costa is the only cruise line that we will not refer to anyone. Costa is the only cruise line that we will probably never cruise on again! If we won a Costa Cruise or if they gave it to us for free, we may consider it. It was worth the money in some aspects. You can’t beat 12 nights in a balcony cabin to the Caribbean for $599 each, but this was the only cruise that we got off the ship in almost every port to eat. If we took an excursion and didn’t have time for a restaurant, we bought snacks to take back to the ship. We enjoyed the itinerary. We made our own fun, but we felt like we were on a ship full of robots! It wasn’t until we went through customs that we found out why. When we handed our passports to the agent, he started knocking on the windows of the surrounding agents. He kept saying 2 of 12….2 of 12. We asked why he was saying that. He said, “You are 2 of the 12 Americans that were on the ship!”