zCosta Atlantica

Everything went brilliantly well with the transfers to and from a wonderfull hotel (Fairmont the Palm )and then it all started to go downhill when we arrived at the cruise terminal.We were picked up from the hotel at 12.00 and arrived at the terminal at 12.30 only to be told that check-in would not open until 15.00,only to be told that we could not have access to the cabin until 20.00 - what a waste of our time just hanging around !
The first of several horrors then started to appear :- I booked and paid good money for a balcony cabin and I am sure you can imagine my horror when I went out onto the balcony only to discover that it had a restricted view due to the lifeboats.I went to querry this with reception and they told me that there were 2 types of balcony available (normal and restricted view).Now nobody at Cruise Club had ever mentioned this to me and I was very disappointed to start the cruise under these conditions.

Another thing worth mentioning is the complete lack of forethought by whoever decided where to have the smoking areas on board ship.I had to walk down a smoke filled passageway just to get from the Atrium to the Tiziano restaurant every evening - surely in this day and age a better solution could be found to placate the smokers.

One other thing that cannot go unmentioned is the location of the gents toilet at the forward end of the Botticelli restaurant :- it is possible to see men using the urinals when seated at the 2 tables outside the single door,all other toilets onboard have 2 doors to eliminate this major health issue,not to mention the visual impact .

Overall the food and service was very good in the Tiziano restaurant,but the bar service in the Botticelli was somewhat lacking at times.

I don't think I would travel with Costa again and I would advise people to think twice before they chose Costa.