Review summary

Costa Cruises has room for improvement based on customer feedback. Customers particularly appreciate service and professional, though some mention concerns about communication and customer service.

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HC

Hanxiao CAI

1 out of 5 stars
🚨 Disappointed with Costa Cruises Shore Excursion to Rome (Code#02FY) 🚨

Just a heads-up for anyone planning to book shore excursions with Costa Cruises — especially if you're an English-speaking guest. We paid €95 per person for what was clearly advertised as an English-speaking tour to Rome on 10 July. But when we arrived, we found out it was actually a bilingual tour shared with German guests, without any prior notice! The guide had to repeat everything in two languages, meaning we got half the content and rushed explanations in English, while the German part was much longer and clearer. It felt like the tour was really meant for German speakers, and English guests were just tacked on. There were 17 English-speaking guests on our bus — more than enough for a separate guide, but Costa didn’t provide one. Ironically, the Pompeii excursion the day before (also with Costa) had two guides on one bus, split by language. So clearly, it can be done! Worse still, I emailed Costa’s customer service and got a generic, dismissive reply that ignored key issues. When I followed up with more details, they stopped replying altogether. So if you're booking an excursion with Costa Cruises, be careful — you might end up in a bilingual tour you didn’t sign up for, and still be charged the full price. 😠 Feel free to share if you've had similar experiences — let’s make sure these issues don’t keep getting swept under the rug. #CostaCruises #ShoreExcursionFail #RomeTour #CruiseTips #TravelFairness

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TA

Toth Andras

1 out of 5 stars
The worst cruise ever out of 50+ we have been on...f a Norway cruise on Costa…

WE went of a Norway cruise on Costa Diadema in June. It was the worst cruise - out of over 50 we have done on many different ships. The breakfast Buffet was a complete disaster, terribly organised, long queues, hard to access items, not being able to serve yourself - what is the point, when guests keep touching other surfaces like elevator buttons all the time? No free coffee after breakfast, many services have been removed or are now paid only. Generally, a stingy, mean, poorly organised cruise experience, much worse than other cruise lines we sailed with, and even much worse that Costa used to be.... Costa was always a low-class cruise, but at least it had a cheerful, generous Italian spirit. This is now all gone... Many standard services disappeared - for example, there is no longer salt or pepper at the tables and you have to queue separately to get some salt with your eggs... this is just insane! There are no tablecloths anywhere. everything is now charged as an extra. It is high-pressure merchandising everywhere, what used to be social activities have now turned into high-pressure sales meetings. The whole experience is low class, irritating and mean, and the buffet restaurant manager should be sacked for quietly standing by at the disastrous breakfast queues without doing anything. Return to earlier standards of service, arrange for multi-queue self-service islands at the buffet, and generally stop treating your customers like idiots trying to make them pay for everything!

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SM

Seyed Mehrdad

1 out of 5 stars
No safe company to plan your holidays

They sell the tickets and after cancelled with all bookings from airplane London to Barcelona.days off from work .hotel suddenly they can selling all of them, even no money back.Don't trust this company to book in your holiday

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KA

KASEV ALEKSANDAR

1 out of 5 stars
We had an alwful experience with Costa…

We had an awful experience with Costa cruise lines. 1. Their application is not user-friendly and their informational campaign before the cruise was intended only to sell us upper package and next cruises instead of highlighting the embarking period in the onboarding day. Lack of instructions regarding the embarkation process. We nearly miss the ship because they showed in the application "all on board 6 PM" in our onboarding day without emphasizing that customs is leaving 4 PM and our embarking hour is 3:30 PM. 2.Our cabin smells disgusting, I believe that vent system from the kitchen somehow was close to our AC system and we could smell what they cooked. 3. No free tap water in the restaurants. The first cruise ship that requires to pay our tap water. 4.Dirty cups, forks and spoons in the buffet all the time. The suspicious hygiene was everywhere. 5.Long queues in the buffet 6. Extremely humble list of dishes in the buffet. Usually, the good taste was not their higher priority. 7. On Costa Pacifica Cabin 2202 is for the crew, two separated beds that they even do not have an eye contact. They promoted this cabin as standard and assign it to our friends. For 4 nights they refused to change it because they were "full". On the 4 our of 7 nights they found a normal cabin and compensate is with champaign for 5 $ and 5 macaroons. 7. Reception team was full of non-professionals. NEVER ever I will book a cruise with Costa cruises line. Don't do it too!

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Showing 1 - 10 of 63 reviews
G

15 day Med cruise on Costa Pacifica

Cruise experiences are different for everyone, it really depends on your expectations and the itinerary that you choose. Since cruise companies can not be held responsible for what your impression of a particular destination, port or city is like I will not go into commenting on those other than to simply state where we docked: Toulon - Valencia - Palma - Souda Bay - Santorini - Heraklion - Argostoli - Palermo - Olbia - Civitavecchia - Savona - Toulon. We were supposed to go to Mykonos but this was cancelled due to poor weather conditions for disembarking (wind) I will however, go into life and experiences on board. We boarded Pacifica in Toulon (whichn in reality is La Seyne sur Mer). Bording and check-in go really smooth and without a hitch. Once our bags deposited, we could freely discover the ship. It is a somewhat older vessel and the interior is a bit dated, having said that, I think all cruise ship interiors are kitsch. Nevertheless, the ship is well maintained, everything is clean and well looked after. The welcome and throughout our entire stay on board, the service in the atrium welcome bar on deck 3 is faboulous. Particular thanks go out to Henry, Jonathan, Asish (I hope I got this right), Joanna, Raphael, Marco, Sagar and Randy, they deserve special thanks for always being there and smiling! They made our stay on board an experience we will not forget. Give them a raise! Service and ambiance in this bar was always so good we never bothered visiting any of the other bars. Restaurants, there are several but we only visited 3: New York New York was our designated restaurant for diner and since the setup and menu is identical to My Way, we never went there. We did have our fixed table on deck 4 for diner, which was actually really nice since it is less crowdy and noisy than the deck below. The menu has 4 choices of starters, first and main courses. It is very heavily Italian themed, so pasta lovers will be in heaven. It could do with a little more inspiration from other cuisines to cater for other nationalities on board, not everyone is Italian. But overall quality is relatively good. Service, here too, is perfect. La Paloma is a buffet restaurant. It can get crowdy, particularly at lunchtime, but with four buffet setups we never really needed to queu. It offers a wider variety of foods, but sadly meats are often overcooked and nothing is ever warm, only if you are lucky enough to see a new dish being placed in front of you. There is a Streetfood, basically only hamburgers, hot dogs and fries, near the swimming pool on deck 9 (same as La Paloma) that serves all day long and these are decent. All these are included in your basic package. Other restaurants like Sushi, Tepanyaki, pizza and Archipelago cost extra. We only tried the pizza, these were good but It is a little dissapointing having to pay additional for pizza whilst on an Italian ship… the same applies to the icecream parlor. The rates charged for sushi and tepanyaki were a bit stiff in our opinion, so we didn’t try them. Archipelago is the Michelin star dining experience that is designed by 3 Italian chefs, each a star holder. We didn’t go since we have a large choice of Michelin star restaurants back home, and this wasn’t why we came on a cruise. Our cabin was on deck 2 in the back. It can be a little noisy from the engines but not to a degree that it is unbearable. We were 3 adults and an interior cabin is a little cramped, however since we were only in there to sleep or shower, it didn’t bother us much. Would I recommend this cruise/ship, yes most certainly I would.

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MC

A COSTA CRUCEROS SE LES CAYERON 8 MALETAS AL AGUA EN EL DESEMBARQUE EN MALAGA

El crucero en el barco Costa Fortuna, había ido bien, pero en el desembarque, SE LES CAYÓ MI MALETA AL AGUA,( junto con otras 7). Es algo inconcebible que eso pueda ocurrir. El seguro sólo cubre tras mil papeleos la maleta y ropa estropeada, y yo tengo que compartir el gasto,(240 el seguro y 50 euros yo). COSTA CRUCEROS dice que lamenta el incidente y ya está. Nada por no avisarme antes de ver que mi maleta no estaba en el lugar de recogerlas, nada por las muchas lavadoras llenas de ropa pringando de agua de mar, ni por el disgusto. Vergonzoso e increíble.

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ER

Do Not Sail Costa—Even If It Were Free

Do Not Sail Costa—Even If It Were Free Ship: Costa Pacifica Duration: 14 days Staterooms: Interior and Balcony Total Cost: ~$10,000 for four passengers including excursions Redeeming Features: None identified   This was, without question, the worst cruise I’ve experienced in over 20 years and more than 50 voyages. I’ve sailed with budget lines like Carnival and luxury lines like Viking, so I understand different standards—but Costa’s performance fell drastically below even the most basic expectations for safety, sanitation, service, and organization.

I’ve never submitted a negative review before—until now. 🚨 Safety & Sanitation: Inexcusable Failures - Crew inexperience: A majority of onboard crew seemed to be on their first cruise or first contract. They couldn’t accurately locate muster stations or provide assistance—an alarming oversight given Costa’s recent safety incidents.
- Sanitation: Public restrooms on Deck 5 and near the buffet were frequently out of order. In staterooms, only one toilet worked at a time—thankfully, we had two rooms. Out of 19 hand-sanitizer stations, 13 were empty or broken. This violates basic maritime health codes.
- Hygiene breakdown: Illness spread rapidly across the ship. A fellow passenger openly urinated in a public hallway—a scene that sadly didn’t seem out of place. Glassware and plates were often so poorly cleaned that my 8-year-old asked why the water “tasted funny.” 🍽 Dining: Inconsistent, Often Inedible - Only 3 of 14 dinner nights were genuinely enjoyable. On the others, well-intentioned but overburdened staff struggled to serve basic needs.
- Drink woes: Even with a drinks package, water was hard to come by. Wine or beer—never more than one drink per person over a two-hour dinner unless chased repeatedly.
- Buffet blunders: Spoiled yogurt, green cheese, and almost nonexistent butter were regular features. Lines took 15–20 minutes, and disputes even turned physical.
- I’ve never had to grocery shop during a cruise before—but this time I did. Food quality was so unreliable that we bought staples ashore. On the plus side—I lost some weight. 🥤 Drink Package & Water Access: A Waste I purchased Costa’s “My Drinks” package expecting value. But with broken water dispensers and long bar lines, a bottle of store-bought water and local wine would have been more reliable. Unless you drink heavily and can wrangle a second pour, don’t expect it to deliver. 🛳 Excursions & Shore Access: Mismanaged Chaos - Ports changed four times—three pre-cruise, once mid-voyage. Our main port, Mykonos, was removed with under 24-hour notice and minimal explanation.
- No shore access without Costa excursions—tender ports meant up to three hours of waiting just to disembark during a six–eight-hour stop.
- The “My Excursions 3-pack” deal was abruptly cancelled by desk agents, even though it was active in the Costa app.
- At Argostoli, four lifeboats handled all passengers on a 40 °C day—families stood under relentless sun with no shade or seating for over an hour. 📱 App & Wi‑Fi: Completely Unreliable The Costa app was required for menus, programs, and excursions—but it seldom worked. Full internet access was purchased by a member of our party—and still we faced multiple horizon-wide connectivity failures with no compensation or fallback.

No printed menus were provided. If the app failed—which it often did—you could only get help by waiting in another line. 🛏 Cabins & Staff: The Only Bright Spots When the toilets functioned, the cabins were fine. Stewards were attentive and hardworking—but it felt like they were holding up a collapsing system. 👧 Kids Club: Disastrous Our daughters, usually thrilled by cruise kids clubs, went once and refused to return. Their verdict: “It’s just coloring. No games, no fun.” That’s it. 🛑 Bottom Line: Avoid Costa at All Costs I would have disembarked early if not for logistical constraints. Costa offered zero compensation or apology for widespread failures. Two weeks of vacation were wasted.

At this price point, any other cruise line will deliver a vastly superior experience.

DO NOT CRUISE WITH COSTA—NOT EVEN IF IT’S FREE.

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IA

Our Costa Cruise Honeymoon: A Deep Disappointment

This was our third cruise together, but the first as a married couple — and sadly, our first (and last) experience with Costa Cruises. We had hoped it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, especially as it was our honeymoon. Unfortunately, from the moment we arrived at the port in Catania to board the Costa Fascinosa, things began to go downhill. The check-in process was chaotic. We waited in long queues under the sun without being offered even a glass of water. Eventually, we found someone handing out drinks, but they clearly did not want to be there — unfriendly, uninterested, and certainly not welcoming. You’d expect staff in a holiday setting to set a positive tone, but that was far from the case. After dropping off our luggage, we joined yet another line — again, in a stuffy area where the air conditioning could have been turned on but wasn’t. By the time they took our photo for the boarding card, I looked like I had just come out of a sauna. I thought that would be the end of the queues, but no — we were forced to queue yet again in a tent, this time for a photo we didn’t even want. When I politely declined, I was rudely told to wait in line anyway. After several back-and-forths, they finally allowed us to move on. Access to our cabin was only available at 3 PM, which is standard, so no complaints there. However, once onboard, the service only got worse. The majority of the staff — I’d say 9 out of 10 — seemed determined to make our experience miserable. When I tried to order two coffees and two Pepsis, I was bluntly told I could only order two drinks at a time. Despite having a paid drinks package, I had to fetch my husband’s card just to get four basic beverages. That level of inflexibility and rudeness is unacceptable. Dinner was another letdown. The food was shockingly poor — honestly, I wouldn’t feed it to my dogs. Plates were slammed down in front of us at the sit-down restaurant with no care or courtesy. The ship itself is outdated and, frankly, it smells bad. We also needed a UK plug adapter and asked at reception and multiple other staff, only to be repeatedly told none were available. Eventually, we found one in a shop onboard where the employee casually mentioned they’d been in stock for over two years. Clearly, no effort was made to help us. On another occasion, when returning to our cabin, a staff member blocked our access and angrily told us we had to walk all the way around the ship — simply because she didn’t want to move her trolley. A little flexibility or even basic courtesy would have gone a long way. Staff frequently bumped into us or passed by with carts without so much as an apology or even a nod. It’s the little things — an acknowledgment, a smile — that make a difference, and we experienced none of that here. And then there were the other guests — many were just as rude and inconsiderate. Perhaps the staff’s attitude is a reflection of the clientele Costa Cruises attracts. Either way, the atmosphere onboard was anything but enjoyable. In short, this cruise was an enormous disappointment. If I could give it zero stars, I would. We will never book with Costa Cruises again.

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A

Cheap and nasty, awful organisation...

Costa has never been a top-class cruise company, but a sense of easy-going fun and Italian good humour have compensated for an atmosphere mostly catering for a less demanding mass audience. Alas, things have gotten much worse in recent years, especially since Carnival took over the company. Cruising with Costa is no longer much fun due to its nasty penny pinching policies, and pushy attempts to extract as much money from gullible customers as possible. Here is just a partial list of the mean and intrusive penny pinching reductions in service on our recent cruise on Costa Diadema to Norway – - they no longer provide salt and pepper on any restaurant table - they no longer provide butter with the dinner rolls in the a la carte restaurant - no printed menus anywhere, your have to struggle with their unreliable QR codes - there are no longer tablecloths in the a la carte restaurants - only flimsy paper serviettes in the buffet restaurant - no tissues provided in the cabin, although one was provided on requests - no toiletries in the cabin, only a small packaged soap - Costa Club receptions no longer feature the usual glass of prosecco - minimalist menu choices in the a la carte restaurant - no free coffee after meals anywhere - no Nescafe available - sugar only provided in a disgusting plastic bottles, not in hygienic packages - tea bags locked away except at breakfast time - no decaf option even at breakfast - all other coffee to be paid for in automatic coffee machines - watery orange and apple juice only at breakfast time - no water in a la carte restaurant In addition to these nasty reductions in service, the organization of the catering services is also unacceptable. In the buffet restaurant, customers are forced to queue in a single endless line (!) for up to half and hour before they get near the serving counters. Service is incredibly slow, as everything is served by hand at every station, no self-service at all anywhere. At every station new plates are used, portions are not self-chosen – so the food waste is incredible, and every meal produces 6-8 dirty plates per customer. Other cruise lines (like Norwegian, Royal Carribean and Holland America we recently sailed on) have long revised their buffet systems to use multiple, freely accessible stations, reducing crowding and queuing time, giving customers random access to different food categories and reducing food waste. Costa alone continues with the ridiculously inefficient practice of forcing people into interminable single queues? Service in the full service restaurants is also terrible. It took us half an hour even to order after sitting down, and the dinner took 2 ½ hours altogether. Is there anything good to say about Costa? Well, yes. The food quality is still quite good for low-class cruise line, especially in comparison with MSC, but the terrible organisation and slow service destroys the experience. The crew are still very hard working, efficient and friendly but the senior management is hopeless, forcing them to work in a system that largely defeats their efforts. Costa is no longer a good choice at any level – avoid this cruise line if you have other options…

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kP

Poor budget cruise company …

Bottle water you can only have 50ml per day and they don’t check the system and make you pay for it. They forget they have British people on board and only speak French, Spanish and Italian you dont have a chance of understanding anything. Beach towels are supposed to be changed daily but ours were never changed, just folded back up and put on the sofa in our room. Don’t get coffee after your meals in the restaurant you have to go to a bar. Can only use some bars as they don’t serve everything at all the bars. They charge you €11 per person per day on top of what you paid. Most entertainment is poor and only last 30 mins WiFi doesn’t always work. Your daily what’s on doesn’t always appear in your cabin. At least two tours we didn’t know where to meet as not on notice board or in the what’s on. The day of leaving are coloured code for are bags etc was not on the notice board

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c

Viajar en el Costa Diadema trae epidemia de regalo

Viajar en el Costa Diadema (crucero del 29 de mayo al 6 de junio de 2025) ha sido la peor experiencia de viaje de mi vida. Contratamos un paquete “Todo Incluido” con cuatro excursiones, creyendo que íbamos a disfrutar de un crucero cuidado y bien organizado. En realidad vivimos una pesadilla sanitaria, logística y contractual que la compañía ha ignorado por completo. Nada más llegar al camarote, encontramos una carta informando de un brote de gastroenteritis activo desde la semana anterior. Este aviso no fue comunicado antes del embarque, por lo que no pudimos tomar decisiones responsables. Todos los miembros de nuestra familia enfermamos a bordo con vómitos y diarrea. En mi caso, tengo un bypass gástrico, y la situación fue especialmente grave. Vimos incluso a camareros saliendo de cocina camino del servicio médico, y se mantuvieron bufés abiertos sin refuerzo sanitario ni desinfección. Las excursiones fueron un engaño: sin contenido, sin comida (a pesar del “todo incluido”), sin horarios claros y mal organizadas. Una de ellas se anunció de seis horas y fue de tres. No hubo ni un simple picnic para jornadas de más de seis horas. Los guías improvisaban o no estaban preparados, y no se cumplieron varias paradas prometidas. Además, nos perdieron una maleta con comida y medicamentos dentro, que apareció 4 días después en otra ciudad sin explicación, y otra llegó dañada. El itinerario de regreso, que debía ser un vuelo directo, se cambió a última hora por un infierno de cinco transportes seguidos (autobús, avión, tren...), sin asistencia ni compensación. Durante el desembarque en Geiranger, mi padre resbaló en una pasarela mojada y sin señalizar y sufrió un fuerte golpe en la cabeza y la espalda. No hubo personal para ayudarle ni revisión médica. Para rematar, actividades estrella anunciadas en el programa, como “el Mar de Estrellas” o la “Meditación Friluftsliv”, nunca se celebraron. Y cuando retiraron nuestros auriculares en cubierta, al día siguiente nos acusaron falsamente de no devolverlos y quisieron cobrarlos. Costa Cruceros se niega a asumir responsabilidad por absolutamente nada, responde con frases estándar y ni siquiera menciona los hechos más graves. Somos decenas los pasajeros que hemos interpuesto reclamaciones ante Consumo. Parece ser una práctica habitual: ocultar, minimizar y no compensar. No hay buena fe ni preocupación por el bienestar de los viajeros. ⚠️ Si estás valorando un crucero con Costa Cruceros o el Costa Diadema, piénsalo dos veces. Sale carísimo. Hay alternativas más responsables, más honestas y más humanas.

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F

Nooit meer slechte ervaring

Buiten hut met airco,bijna geen ene nacht goed geslapen van de 14 nachten.Ontbijt was goed,wel heel druk,middag eten koud waren de gerechten die warm moesten zijn,avond eten te veel vis,ook koud of niet goed gaar,nee slecht was het.Miste ook een hostess die nederlands sprak,heel veel italiaans en spaans,sluit je drankenpakket af voor een hoop geld,mag je 1 flesje water per dag,nee zeer slecht,voor onze eerste keer een tegenvaller,zal ook zeker deze maatschappij niet aanraden en zeker niet meer met deze maatschappij meegaan. Wel een dikke voldoende voor de bar medewerkers en het personeel wat iedere dag je cabine schoonmaakt 👍

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SK

The Salon and Spa in Costa Toscana have…

The Salon and Spa in Costa Toscana have thieves don’t trust anyone there they sell you produces 4 times the actual price. They lie that you need that. You can return those products as is they give some reason not to take it back or refund you in any way. I left my sunglasses in the Spa and they didn’t give it back to me and they said they haven’t seen it.

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C

Frustrating website

I’ve never taken a Costa cruise, however, I am desperate to take my family on a last minute cruise. The website is the definition of terrible. It’s glossy and is enticing but every time you click through there is nothing available. Hey Costa, if you are listening, don’t make cruises that are not available, available to click through to when a filter has been applied. Or at least have a filter for available or all cruises.

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