Just got off a cruise on the Costa Serena from Venice to Istanbul a week ago.

It was a HORRIBLE experience. The food was boring, no one spoke English, and there was nothing to do when we were not in a port. There were extra charges for everything from a cup of coffee to a Coke. The Internet cost $13.00 to use for an HOUR!!! We were given a bill for $1300 EXTRA for the coffee, Internet time, drinks. etc. as we left the ship - all charged to our visa.

The ship was alright but with 3,000 Italians aboard, screaming and pushing, I would NOT recommend this cruise for anyone who does not speak or scream in Italian.

I give this cruising experience a 1 out of 10.

HORRIBLE.

Ancient treasures 7.8.08. A superb trip on a remarkable ship. Crew were very professional and attentive at all times. Staff always polite and helpful and food superb.

We really enjoyed this cruise. Even with the bad points it was a great week, you learn to push in, or to avoid peak times in the buffet.
The room was a great size and our cabin steward kept it super neat. I believe he cleaned/checked it 3 times a day.Most of the activities are in Italian (movies, games,etc...) although they will repeat everything in English (games, bingo, etc...) if they know there are English speakers there. This can be more tedious than just skipping the event. Also, most of the children on board ARE Italian so keep that in mind if booking a cruise with your children. The staff speak Italian, the kids are Italian, so even if they explain everything in English your children will be pretty isolated. I've read a lot of negative reviews about this cruise and I really didn't see where any of them came from. The staff were helpful, and very polite, and spoke reasonable if not good English. Most spoke several languages. The food was good in the main restaurant, but a bit processed in the buffet, which is to be expected. The rooms were a good size and clean, loads of storage space (2 people to a room). This is not an American cruise, if you want an all english speaking, bacon and egg eating, steak and lobster cruise this is not for you. If you want exposure for different cultures, loads of different food styles, and are up for more of an adventure than a floating Disney world then I would give it 5 out of 5 stars.

We had a great holiday, the entertainment was good although probably not to the same standard as english or american ships, but it was certainly not bad. The food was good with quite a lot of variety, and 13 bars on board we had loads of choice. Definitely try the samsara spa, a one day pass is worth it because there is loads of space to relax and unwind.
We would recommend the Serena for a cheap cruise but the on board spend can soon add up. Make sure you ask your rep or ring Costa for the X1 drinks package, we only really drink with our meals and for the price of the package we definitely got our money's worth. Thanks Costa a good holiday overall.

Having looked forward to this holiday with my family I was not very impressed with the service and certain aspects of this cruise and it's reception staff. We had several querries with the reception staff, over state rooms that were booked, and were told there was nothing that they could do about it. Infact, the attitude that they portrayed was that "they didn't care, and to take it up with the tour company which we booked with"
Breakfast time in the dinning room was total chaos, I complained to the Maitre D about the attitude and rudeness of the staff on the first morning, and infact we didn't get our breakfast that we ordered. We were given complimentary bottles of wine at dinner, but decided not to go back to dinning room for breakfast anymore!
I enjoyed the cruise itinary, the ship was clean, but I would not suggest this cruise ship to my friends.