Costa Mediterranea 12/18 Review

[justin_vt]

DISCLAIMER: Allow me to preface this by saying that this was our first cruise, and quitely honestly the idea of cruises really turned us off - but you can't be a critic until you try, right?

 

My girlfriend and I booked our cruise about a week before departure (as a graduate student, her schedule wasn't certain until the last minute.) We primarily selected Costa because it fit into our date range, and was exceptionally inexpensive for a balcony stateroom. The fact it was Italian themed and owned was a bonus, since I love Italian food and wine, and she loves to be around international people (being a non-US citizen herself.)

 

EMBARKATION: We arrived 6 hours before departure and embarkation was in full swing. We probably cleared all of it in about 30 minutes. Everything went smooth, even with her student visa status. We checked our luggage with a porter and got on board.

 

We first stopped at our room, then quickly buzzed upstairs to the 'welcome aboard buffet', or whatever they called it. The food was great, although we noticed a lack of good beverages. Our luggage came to our room piece-meal, and we still hadn't received one of our bags 15 minutes before departure. I located it down the hall and dragged it to our room myself. We then took a long deserved nap.

 

THE CABIN: We had a balcony stateroom on mid-ship deck 7, which was a great location because we had a deck of cabins above us and a deck of cabins below us, and we were only 50 feet or so from the elevators. The room was fantastic and exactly as described; it was roomy, the balcony was big and featured a table and two chairs. The minibar was puny and poorly stocked, but had enough room for us to store our own stuff. A large bottle of water was provided for $2.80, and we took advantage of it.

 

The shower--ohmygod the shower--was amazing. I fully expected no water pressure but it was fantastic and plenty warm. It also had one of those detachable shower heads. The bathroom itself was tiny, but adequate for one person. It had a jack for razors, but irons were strictly prohibited. We were only provided with soap - no shampoo or anything, but we had brought our own so it was no problem. There was a litle note saying that our cabin steward could get that stuff for us if we needed it. There was a resevoir of shower gel in the shower, too.

 

The TV featured a few channels and a lot of on-board programming, such as some of the variety shows and the lectures that occurred on-board. Major cable networks were absent, but we were able to glean as much information about the outside world as we wanted. News junkies may be disappointed.

 

Our cabin steward was fine but didn't seem to have a terrific grasp of English. Our room was made up promptly and he respected our do not disturb signs.

 

Our biggest complaint about the cabin was the beds, which were pretty bad. Our queen sized bed was made up of two twin beds hooked together. The seam was particularly uncomfortable, but we were able to manage by squeezing onto one side or the other. Larger passengers may have a problem. You might be able to get an extra mattress or an egg crate or something, but our steward said since the ship was full (2,600 passengers) there wasn't much availability for that sort of thing. In short, we asked too late, I think.

 

THE SHIP: The ship was gorgeous. It reminded me of a really classy Las Vegas casino (along the lines of Caesar's Palace or the Bellagio) but a little less tacky and more authentic feeling. There was plenty of original paintings (including in our cabin), as well as sculptures and all sorts of very Italian looking pieces of artwork. The restaurant was particularly classy. The buffet was modern and uninteresting, but being on deck 9 had great views. There was also outdoor seating.

 

There were (I believe) 3 sets of 3 elevators, one rear, one midship, one front, as well as 3 glass elevators in the atrium. The elevators were great, but very popular, so you often had to ride with others. Oddly enough the glass elevators were often the best bet.

 

There were only two real dining options, the buffet and the restaurant. Both were fine. There have been a lot of remarks about Costa's food (I'll address that seperately below), but needless to say we didn't feel we didn't have enough choices.

 

There were innumerable bars - we happened upon each of them throughout the 5 night cruise. Each served the same beverages (although it was rumored only one served wine) and offered nuts and pretzels and things. Drinks were average priced, about $6.50 for premium drinks, and the selection was excellent. There was a daily special which was $5, $5.50 for the XL sized glass.

 

Tea time was particularly pleasurable - around 330p each day, both the buffet and the Asian themed lounge served a variety of loose tea, small sandwiches and cookies. This became very popular on our cruise - by the last day, it was quite crowded.

 

The Casino was fine, although there was a lack of interest in the table games - I would have liked to see a lively game of craps! There were plenty of slot machines and video games, and it was never too crowded.

 

The pools were small and saltwater, although they also seemed to be chlorinated. The hot tubs were freshwater and were great -- the were also surrounded by glass which kept out the wind. There was an adult pool in the rear that kept out the kids, and they enforced this pretty severely.

 

Regrettably, we didn't use the gym. It was really windy on our cruise and we didn't use the running track either, although it seemed adequate. The gym looked great from the outside :-) It was also quite popular.

 

It was great to go above decks at night, when nobody was around. We also found no problem finding chez lounges, although this may have had to do in part with the wind. We often found ourselves wondering -- where is everyone? There were 2,600 people on board and we found it to be very uncrowded.

 

Overall, the ship gets about a 98/100 in my book. We docked with a bunch of other cruise ships, and they all seemed lackluster in comparison. They also mentioned that the CDC gave the ship a 100/100 in a surprise inspection a week before our cruise. We believe it. The ship was EXCEPTIONALLY clean, and they were always cleaning/painting. In fact, the only sign that it wasn't brand new was the (occasional) finger smudges on the elevator buttons. Seriously.

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT: We popped in and watched most of the shows. They were adequate but not exceptional. The newlywed game and the talent show were quite amusing. Especially good were the laser shows in the Osiris Theatre, which were never announced and were often a part of some other show. We also went to the art auction, which seemed to have a lot of great deals, and karaoke, which was also great. We watched a few other activities but didn't really participate in many of the 200 activities on-board, mostly because we were just interested in relaxing. We never felt a lack of something to do. There was a bocce ball court on the top deck, which we never saw used (although it may have been) -- my guess is that it was more there for the Italians!

 

THE CREW: Our cruise director appeared to be American, but most of the senior staff was Italian. There were a variety of other nationalities amongst the crew as well. Most of the waitstaff seemed to be Filipino. Everyone spoke decent English and was attentative. We had no real complaints about the staff or crew at all. Everyone was professional and nobody was rude as described in earlier reviews.

 

THE PASSENGERS: Mostly Americans. They told us there were 27 different nationalities amongst the passengers, and I believe it. There were a number of Italians, Spanish, Canadians and others. You heard a lot of different languages spoken during the cruise. Most notable was the character of the passengers, which was nothing like I expected. Everyone was well behaved, even classy, including the children. Children even took tea. This was in sharp contrast to some of the passengers from a Carnival cruise ship we encountered in port; they were loud, drunk and disorderly. I don't mean to sound stiff, we're both fairly young (20s/30s), but we found the passengers really well behaved and generally nice to be around. It was nice that we didn't have to deal with a bunch of loud drunkards (I consider myself a quiet drunkard).I should mention that there were a large number of families (something around 600 kids) on our cruise, probably because of the holidays. The kids, particularly the teenagers, could be a bit noisy--but they were generally well behaved.

 

Costa seated us at dinner with two other young couples, and we all got along quite well. I'm not sure if this was purposeful, but it worked out well. Other couples, we noticed, were seated alone.

 

THE FOOD: There have been many negative reviews about Costa's food, but I think they're way exaggerated. The food selection in the restaurant was excellent, and the ingredients were great. The preperation, as echoed in earlier reviews, was nothing to write home about. Sauces were bland, but nothing was -bad-. To give you an idea, I had veal scallopini, lobster tail, filet mignon, beef medallions and .. er, I forget. But anyway, the food choices were excellent, so much that we never even visited to the fancy restaurant ($20 p/p) on board. They also brought me my limoncello and espresso for desert each night (extra $$), so I didn't have much to complain about.

 

The buffet was good all around, and I had no complaints there. Breakfast was great (when we ate it), and there was plenty of Italian meats and such during lunch. We never had dinner at the buffet, but many chose to. There was also a Mexican area, and a burgers/hot dogs/fries area.

 

The only real complaint was beverages - the restaurant/buffet only served coffee, tea, milk, iced tea and orange juice (breakfast only) for free. And it was a real pain to get anything else - you had to present your card and get someone from the bar to fill your order. Your waiter wouldn't fill it, although he'd get somebody who would.

 

THE PORTS/EXCURSIONS: We stopped at Progreso, Mexico and Nassau, Bahamas. They couldn't have been more different. One was an undeveloped port with no infrastructure and obvious poverty, and the other was a well-established and fairly wealthy port. We didn't do any excursions, so I can't advise on that front, but we found the cultural exposure interesting. In both ports, transportation was easy (although we had to wait in a long line for the shuttle bus on the 6km pier in Progreso), and the experience was fairly pain-free. We spent most of the day in port both days, and getting back on board was a snap.

 

MISC: Here I'll describe a couple of things we couldn't get anyone to tell us about prior to the cruise. There were TWO formal nights (despite being only a 5 night cruise.) People were decked to the nines, with many people in tuxes, evening gowns, etc. Those who weren't dressed up tended to go to the buffet or hide in their cabins. All in all, most people were really ritzed up on formal nights, and even on off-nights. There was also a toga night the last night on the cruise. I'd say 30% of the passengers dressed up in their (Costa-provided) toga/sheets. Some people brought their own costumes. The toga night ended with the guest talent show, in which the audience gave the good old Roman "thumbs up/thumbs down" to send people to the "buffet" or the "lions" (uninspiring, I know.) Nonetheless, it was great entertainment.

 

Water was provided at the buffet and at dinner, but there was no place to buy bottles of water on board. We either drank water from the big bottle provided in the cabins, or bought bottles when we were in port. Wine was provided at the restaurant at reasonable prices, but you couldn't get a glass of wine brought to your room -- only a bottle. We didn't actually use room service, but they seemed they'd bring you most anything (except items on the restaurant menu.)

 

DISEMBARKATION: Quite smooth. We used Costa's transportation to the airport, so we ended up being one of the earlier groups off the ship (ugh.) We tagged our bags and put them in the hall, and they were picked up promptly. The next morning we proceeded to the theatre and waited for about 30 minutes for customs to clear us, then we marched off the ships, whipped quickly through immigration, picked up our bags and were on the bus. We were at the airport by 1030am.

 

OVERALL: We really had a fantastic time. We loved our ship, and we were sad to see it go. Even looking at pictures of it, we get nostalgic. Everything was really smooth, and it was terrific to be on the open ocean. I think many of our passengers agreed with us; we all seemed to have a sense of pride with our ship and its crew. Even a few days later, we still don't have our land legs (the boat was rocking fairly good in the Gulf of Mexico, wind is pretty typical this time of year down there), but we find ourselves missing the gentle rock of the boat. Solid ground is just so boring!

 

We highly recommend Costa. For the same money as a interior stateroom on another cruise line, you can get a balcony stateroom on a beautiful ship like the Costa Mediterranea, and you won't regret waking up to the beautiful views!

 

Happy cruising, y'all!

[ajcruise]

Thanks for the review! :) Good job for a first time cruiser!;)

[chrisk33]

WE ARE GOING ON THE 1/8/06 COSTA MAGICA..CAN'T WAIT..I'M ALITTLE NERVOUS....MY KIDS CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY ON WATER SLIDE...MY BOYS ARE 8 AND 9 YEARS....HEY DOSE ANYONE KNOW IF THE TV ONBOARD HAS AMERICAN STATION FOR THE KIDS LIKE "NICK" OR "DISNEY"...JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE BECAUSE HOPEFULLY MY HUSBAND AND I CAN TOAST OUR TENTH ANNIVARSARY ON OUR BALCONY, WHILE THE KIDS ARE SAFE IN THE ROOM WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE SHOWS...IT'S GOOD FOR "DOWN TIME " BEFORE DINER ....GOTTA HAVE THOSE STATIONS..LOL

CK

[chrisk33]

WE ARE GOING ON THE 1/8/06 COSTA MAGICA..CAN'T WAIT..I'M ALITTLE NERVOUS....MY KIDS CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY ON WATER SLIDE...MY BOYS ARE 8 AND 9 YEARS....HEY DOSE ANYONE KNOW IF THE TV ONBOARD HAS AMERICAN STATION FOR THE KIDS LIKE "NICK" OR "DISNEY"...JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE BECAUSE HOPEFULLY MY HUSBAND AND I CAN TOAST OUR TENTH ANNIVARSARY ON OUR BALCONY, WHILE THE KIDS ARE SAFE IN THE ROOM WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE SHOWS...IT'S GOOD FOR "DOWN TIME " BEFORE DINER ....GOTTA HAVE THOSE STATIONS..LOL

 

CK

[macd2]

Magica has the Disney channel and also pay-per-view movies for $8.

[justin_vt]

The Mediterranea also had a full time staff of childcare experts who seemed to keep the kids busy. There was a kids' club called the SQUOK club, and many activities for children (movies, etc.)

 

I don't think you'll have a problem getting the kids out of your hair.

[Cruise4Andy]

Justin:

Thanks for your review. Glad you had a great time! I hope we'll see you around at one of the next few Costa cruises. You may want to also place your review at the Member Review section... that way your review will be there for (almost) forever.

 

CrisK:

Hey... we're on the same cruise, January 8. As Justin mentioned, Costa has excellent kids programs for a variety of ages. They do all kind of activities, even have their own dinner at two nights. So you should have a great anniversary evening... Congratulatios by the way!

 

 

See you on board!

 

Andy

[Host Star]

justin,

glad you enjoyed your first cruise aboard the beautiful Costa Mediterannea !! It's a great ship to either do one of the 200 activities or just relax.. never a problem finding chaise lounges there weren't many kids on our cruise dec. 4 . but we did appreciate that the adults only pool area was enforced by security.. altho we didn't have kids with us we went exploring to find the squak club.. it is a wonderful hidden area of the ship.. getting there was beautiful, like a secret passage way elegantly furnished and of course immaculate... ..

[Pigsty333]

I also just returned from the Costa Mediterranea on the 12/18 sail and I could not be happier. We are talking again about booking, not fast enough for me.

 

I traveled with a group of nine: My husband (42 yrs. 1st cruise); his Aunt (73 yrs. traveling with us from the UK and 1st cruise); my 25 yr. old daughter, 15 yr. old daughter, 13 yr. old son; their 17 yr. old friend; and another couple (our neighbors - on their 2nd cruise in two weeks).

 

My husband was determined not to ever, ever go on a cruise because:

1 - He was afraid.

2 - He would be bored

3 - There will be nothing for him to do

4 - He will feel claustrophobic if he could not get off

5 - He might not like the food

 

Needless to say - his mind has been changed. LOL

 

We arrived at the Port Everglades with no problems. Went right to the agent and she was a little confused asking us for our passports. We explained to her as did her co-worker that as American Citizens they are not required until after 2006. We provided her with all original birth certificates for the kids, photo IDs for everyone and on our merry way.

 

We boarded the ship and headed straight to our assigned cabins, with a carry on bag. The kids immediately changed into their bathing suits and headed to the pool, and we headed on up to grab a bite. We drove 3 1/2 hrs. to get to the ship, left at 8:30 AM and had a few details, so we were hungry and tired (nothing the ship could do for us - right).

 

We went to the buffet and found plenty of food - antipasto, salads, burgers, pastas cooked to order, fish, chicken, steak, vegetables, legumes, pizza, burgers, hot dogs and fries. We ate, got our drinks and bought drink cards for our kids and my husband who does not drink and that did us for the entire cruise (still have six drink coupons left). You can use these coupons to order sodas, virgin drinks, smoothies, and milk shakes. The cost was $53 for 20 coupons.

 

After saitsfying our hunger, we proceeded to tour the ship as it was early. We walked all over it and checked out all the areas that were appropriate for our age group and our kids and then proceeded to meet up with our family and watch as we left port. What a great experience it was.

 

Our first dinner was kind of subdued. I think everyone was tired including the staff. We met our waiter (Marlon Cosca - later about him) and his assistant waiter, Erwin. Two very nice Filipino workers who were dolls.

 

At this seating our entire group sat down for dinner and we were surprised to find that our late booking neighbors were also assigned to our table, which was very nice. Dinner went smoothly and quietly and we went to the different areas of the ship after, to do some more exploring.

 

With over 600 kids on board, they were quiet and well behaved (can't say the same for the drunk lady on the upper deck screaming and cursing everyone at 2:30 AM), but to each his own.

 

We went to bed and woke up to a wonderful, cloudy, breezy day at sea. This was a bummer for the whole vacation as the weather was my only complaint. Cloudy, rain, overcast and cold. Oh well. We found plenty of things to do indoors and eat, and eat and be happy.

 

During this afternoon buffet there was a greek buffet offered also. Missed that one so I cannot give you details of the food.

 

Our kids discovered the crew members and went on their own (not like the Jan. Carnival where they were bored out of their minds). We were lucky we got to see them the whole cruise. There were plenty of activities for them to do and they had a blast.

 

We did dinner, which was formal and we had a great time. Our waiter, Marlon and Erwin (Table 219) treated us well and made us laugh and enjoy dinner the whole time (from doing magic tricks, napkin treats, singing, etc). We discovered that Marlon is a magician, DJs for crew parties. He knew all the oldies songs, including the Frank Sinatra songs. He told us to make sure not to miss the "Kitchen Buffet" that night and that became a joke amongst us - the "Kitchen Buffet." That night, my husband and I and our 25 yr. old decided to check out the buffet and proceeded to the main dining room, where we were quickly intercepted by the staff (we were the only three passengers - no one else was around, so we thought we either missed it, got the wrong date, or had no clue what was going on). We were then directed to proceed to the left of the doors leading to the dining room marked crew members only. We thought it was a joke and proceeded to use the escalators to take us to a room, where we met more staff and upon the doors opening it was the "KITCHEN" with a full buffet displayed out on all the serving stations. For those who missed this, this was the highlight of our cruise. The kitchen was spotless, we were able to see the staff still working and cooking and as my daughter said, "Now I feel more comfortable eating seeing how clean everything was - it was spotless, didn't smell and you could tell that it is always kept this way. So, if you are told there is a buffet in the kitchen - go for it.

By the way, they have surprise inspections four times a year, in different ports and they had just gotten theirs in San Juan and scored a PERFECT 100 so they were happy. Plenty of bonuses doled out to senior staff members.

 

I cannot complaint about anything, we had a great time, the food was excellent. We have varied tastes in food and we all agreed - this was good. I loved the different pasta dishes every night with the different sauces. The lobsters were great. Yeah, yeah, no drawn butter - but that is the american way and I love to experience different things.

 

One of our kids got sick on the second night out and our waiters made sure they were well taken care. They offered them apples and told them no liquid - and it worked. However, every night as a joke, Marlon would bring her an apple carved into something different and she was nicknamed the Apple Girl.

 

We had a ball and have many pictures of these memories. Marlon took care of our 73 yr. old, calling her Mama and doting on her morning, noon, and night. He would meet her in the dining room and sit her down and serve her all her meals. He would sing to her. On one occasion when we left the dining room to go see a show, he escorted her to the theater, singing Frank Sinatra songs and dancing with her.

 

Would we do it again - DEFINITELY. Would we recommend COSTA MEDITERRANEA - DEFINITELY>

 

Nassau is Nassau, we've been there and it was okay. However, Merida/Progreso was something new and this was the first time that Costa had been there too. So they were new to it. This was an alternative to Cozumel as the hurricane did a number on it. We had researched this area before our cruise and I contacted a different company than the one the cruise ship used. Best deal ever. We were met by our own private driver and tour guide with a private van and taken on the adventure of a lifetime. We visited the ruins at Dzibiltchun, swam in the cenote, went for lunch at Hacienda Teya (where US Presidents, Senators and world leaders have been to and slept.) We had a sumptuous lunch of mexican home made meals (out of this world), which included appetizers, drinks, entrees, a complete meal (soups, salads, meats, etc.) which totaled $211 US dollars for 11 of us. This meal was separate from the tour (which was $79 per person). We then left and got a tour of the Merida town, the church, the governor's palace, the mansions and went to the Mercado (where the locals shop) and did some shopping with our guide (he actually advised my kids to bargain and not to pay for an item for what they were asking, so they had a blast bargaining). They then drove us back to the pier and it was a very quiet and beautiful trip in Mexico.

 

The crew was fabulous and I really have nothing bad to say - even though we were worried after reading all the negative reviews.

 

By the way - I think the kids had more fun dressing in their togas and it was a blast. Will make our own for the next cruise.

[chrisk33]

[/url] HEY SOMEONE TOLD ME THERE ARE NO LAUNDRY SERVICES ON BOARD? I KNOW I SHOULD NOT WORRY CLEANING ABOUT CLEANING CLOTHES (GOD KNOWS I'M BRINGING ENOUGH) BUT YOU NEVER NOW .......

 

 

 

 

 

[Mjasp]

I loved reading your trip report. Thanks to both of you. Enjoyable reading especially since we will be sailing on the Med in February.

[ajcruise]

Pigsty, thanks for adding your review also. I'm very happy to read the recent positive comments about the Mediterranea since I will be sailing with a group on her 1/8.

 

No one can debate the cleanliness of the ship. That seems to be the one consistent comment whether the reviews have been positive or negative. The glowing inspection definitely confirms this, which I feel is very important.

 

Marlon and Erwin sound terrific! Hope our waitstaff is as entertaining. To me, dining in the dining room at night is part of the entertainment on a cruise.

 

My husband was determined not to ever, ever go on a cruise because:

1 - He was afraid.

2 - He would be bored

3 - There will be nothing for him to do

4 - He will feel claustrophobic if he could not get off

5 - He might not like the food

 

I'm a TA and you don't know how many times I've heard the above fears from potential first time cruisers. If they book, they always come back from the cruise saying that they're hooked and will cruise again!:)

[ajcruise]

Pigsty, thanks for adding your review also. I'm very happy to read the recent positive comments about the Mediterranea since I will be sailing with a group on her 1/8.

 

No one can debate the cleanliness of the ship. That seems to be the one consistent comment whether the reviews have been positive or negative. The glowing inspection definitely confirms this, which I feel is very important.

 

Marlon and Erwin sound terrific! Hope our waitstaff is as entertaining. To me, dining in the dining room at night is part of the entertainment on a cruise.

 

My husband was determined not to ever, ever go on a cruise because:

1 - He was afraid.

2 - He would be bored

3 - There will be nothing for him to do

4 - He will feel claustrophobic if he could not get off

5 - He might not like the food

 

I'm a TA and you don't know how many times I've heard the above fears from potential first time cruisers. If they book, they always come back from the cruise saying that they're hooked and will cruise again!:)

[Pigsty333]

I am also a TA and I have never, ever been able to convince him to cruise. However, after going solo with the kids in January 2005 (Carnival), we told him this time that he either went or stayed home. He dreaded it until he was on that ship.

 

He has become a walking advertising agent for Costa and cruising. He tells everyone, has forwarded all the pictures to all his friends and co-workers and he had a blast. He wants to go on another one.

 

I think I've created a cruising monster.

 

The ship was clean - we saw them cleaning at all times of the day and night. We loved it and loved the food. Like I have said on previous posts, you put 2,700 people in one place, and you will get 2,700 different opinions on what they liked and what they hated.

 

We had someone complain and scream at our dear waiter (Marlon) over the fact that he was unable to get a corn muffin. They either have none that morning or were totally gone (it was late breakfast in main dining room). Marlon, with a smile then told him to wait and came back with a tray loaded with all kinds of pastries, muffins, croissants, etc., and offered it to this irate American gentleman, who then quite meekly said, "Oh, I thought you did not understand me." My husband wanted to give him one in the kisser.

 

Speaking to the crew members and with the Crew Service Director we learned that for the American Cruising market they alter their food choices, meats, etc., to satisfy the american palate. He was still over whelmed over the fact that the most popular buffet line is the hot dogs and hamburgers. Must be an American thing. Amazingly, he also told us that on the average they replace 80 chairs a year on an european cruising, but when they sail on this side of the Atlantic, they average 80 a month due to the way Americans sit, push, throw them around and the weight they support. Kind of funny, isnt' it.

 

We had one lady complain that she never saw the captain. We even took pictures with him. Either she slept the entire cruise and missed all the greet and meet with the captain at poolside, casino, and both at the Captain's Cocktail and Gala night.

 

All in all, a great cruise and would recommend it to any client. But, as I say, you won't please everyone all the time because a complainer will always complain no matter what.

[Pigsty333]

There is no laundry machines on board, but they do offer laundry services for a fee. Not bad, comparable to your local dry cleaners.

[KAYEF]

Wow!

I appreciated these posts. I'm looking at a repo cruise from FL to Europe in May and this causes me to think Costa Magica is the way to go, even though we just returned from a fantastic cruise on a smaller (1250 passenger) ship which we LOVED.

Thanks to all for the positive encouragement!;)

[Fred&Lily]

Wow!, Justin and Pigsty, your comments and reviews have been great. I've just booked back to back weeks on Mediterranea going Eastern and Western Carib. in about six weeks. Cabin 8259 on Pegasso Deck. Any comments on dancing - ballroom dancing and latin - would be appreciated. I saw a travel advertisement for a group special for ballroom dancers out of Toronto on the Mediterranea on the 19th of February and figure we can sneek in with them to whichever lounge they plan to use for dancing.

Also, how fast is the laundry service? There is no way I'll be able to pack two weeks of clean pressed shirts!

[Pigsty333]

All the lounges had dancing. There were plenty of couples dancing away, so I am pretty sure you will find some.

 

Laundry was pretty fast and you can even do express, which we did for my husband's suit and it was back within two hours (suit jacket, pants, and shirt for $15).

[Mjasp]

Wow!, Justin and Pigsty, your comments and reviews have been great. I've just booked back to back weeks on Mediterranea going Eastern and Western Carib. in about six weeks. Cabin 8259 on Pegasso Deck. Any comments on dancing - ballroom dancing and latin - would be appreciated. I saw a travel advertisement for a group special for ballroom dancers out of Toronto on the Mediterranea on the 19th of February and figure we can sneek in with them to whichever lounge they plan to use for dancing.

 

Wow they are doing a "group" cruise during Presidents week. We are also on that cruise. But we booked it because the kids are off from school.