I went on the Costa Smeralda cruise to the Mediterranean with three friends. We had two premium balcony cabins with the upgraded drink package. We found the ship to be beautiful, the service to be excellent, and the on board activities to be lots of fun! We had read the awful reviews and were prepared for the worst. To out delight, the cruise couldn't have gone more smoothly. Embarkment and disembarkment were the easiest I've ever encountered and I've been on several other cruises. The ship was clean and the cabins were larger than others I'd stayed in. We always had our breakfast delivered to our rooms as we left the ship early each day to go on excursions. We were able to get coffee, butter, or anything else that we wanted. We often ate lunch on shore, but when we did eat in the dining room we found there to be many wonderful choices. For dinner, we ate in the regular dining room three times and tried the specialty restaurants the other nights. We didn't mind paying a little extra for finer dining, as the cruise was very cheap to begin with. We enjoyed the casino, the special theme nights, the dance parties, and the overall ambiance of the ship. I would definitely recommend this cruise to others looking for a good time at a great price.