We booked this trip last minute to sail over Christmas. We had sailed on Costa a few years ago in the Mediterranean, and thought it was average at best. Thought we'd give it another try to see if anything would be different sailing from the US. The short answer is NOPE. The ship itself is fine, we don't put much stock in decor and room size and such. It is the food, the staff, and the clientele that put us off a second time. If you think that an Italian cruise will serve fantastic Italian meals, think again. Barillo pasta from a box, almost al dente but not quite cooked enough. Absolutely nothing special about the food, and really the selections were quite mundane. The staff seemed tired and bored. Our cabin steward(ess) was scattered and finally left us pool towels on the last two days aboard. Other passengers were pushy and rude when expected to queue up for anything. We talked to fellow passengers who had these same experiences. This will definitely be our last Costa cruise. Two strikes and we're out!