Costa Mediterranea Review
Rating by category
Additional details
My wife and I wanted a good price, port visits to places we had not visited (Genoa, Herculaneum and Valleta, Malta) and a return visit after 30 years or so to Barcelona. We had spent 2 nights on our own long ago in downtown Palermo, but knew there was more to see. Costa offered all the right ports and a good price. MSC Cruises had a much larger ship (3200 passengers vs 2100), visited Rome, not Naples, and had roughly similar reviews to Costa.and similar prices. Ship size and Herculaneum (Naples) made Costa the obvious choice
Some reviews said the Mediterranea was over-decorated. It is bright and colorful inside, but we quickly got used to the colors and other eye-catchers. Soon the decorations added to the fun we were having. Languages posed no probem. We got the daily bulletin in English, our cabin steard (Remudia) spoke good English, as did our dinner waiter (Raj) and most other staff members we spoke with. Our excursions were in English and either German or Spanish. The ship has hospitality desk employees whose first language is English and German and at least French. Not sure about Spanish.
We enjoyed the food (not counting a cheeseburger with a dried bun at the pool buffet.) We lived in Germany for 9 years long ago and traveled as often as we could across Europe so cold breakfast was no surprise. We were happy with the cold buffet breakfast for 4 days, mixed with a variety of hot eggs and meat breakfasts in the main dining room the other 3 days. Coffee, tea and juices were all free at breakfast. Like on land in Europe, coffee, tea and water were not free at other meal times. Variety was okay at lunch and dinner menus, food quality and service were excellent at dinner. We bought their lunch and dinner wine package. My wife almost always drinks red wine, even with fish, while I pair red food with red wine and fish or cream pasta dishes with white wine. Our wine package came by the glass, not full bottles, so each of us could drink the wine we wanted. Both red and white were nice wines and getting 2 or 3 refills was no problem.
Cabin Review
Balcony Classic
Well thought out. More closet and drawer space than many other cruises we have taken. Lots of shelf space in the bathroom. Comfortable bed. Balcony was like any other balcony for those of us who do not pay for a suite.
Port Reviews
Palermo (Sicily)
Our English language cruise line excusrsion was cancelled; not enough sign-ups for English. So we listened to people selling tours on the pier, liked the price and convenience of this bus tour. We had a short walk from the pier to the bus. We mostly stayed on the bus, but hopped off to visit the Cathedral. Glad we did. Hopped back on the next bus and enjoyed our visit.