Overview
Wintering in the Caribbean and spending the summer in Europe isn't a bad concept and it's what Costa cruises has been doing successfully with CostaRomantica since she debuted in 1993. The ship is currently sailing each Sunday from Copenhagen to the Fjord and Baltic and Russia on seven-day itineraries, then will do four eight-night voyages from Genoa (Costa's home port) to Spain and Portugal, returning to Guadeloupe in November for Southern Caribbean itineraries. Advance booking discounts are offered.

Costa is an unusually "international" vessel with Italian officers and an international crew. Announcements are made in four or five languages and even the decks are named after some of Europe's most popular cities: Monte Carlo, Madrid, Vienna, Verona, Paris, London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. It's tres European. On a recent repositioning cruise, for example, while more than 500 passengers were residents of Germany, and half that number Italian, only 128 were Americans, 124 resided in the United Kingdom, and nine were Canadian. Walter German, a veteran Costa hotel director said Germans enjoy cruising on Costa because they enjoy "the food, classical music, and like to read, relax, and sunbathe." He says "you have to know the habits of the various nationalities. Spaniards like second sitting and enjoy salsa music; French prefer the first sitting and quiet places, the English like quiet.

Plublic rooms
Public areas are well designed, and beautifully decorated with lots of blues and turquoises and tons of marble, but with a definite European accent. The public rooms were redone in 2001, cabins more recently. Piazza Italia is an elegant meeting place, the core of the ship, and Excelsior casino is mucho European.

L'Opera Theater on Deck 9, the Vienna Deck, is one of the best at sea. Pools areas are always crowded - lots of sun-worshippers here - and they "save"" lounges. There probably are enough to go around, but you'll find a book on one, a bottle of lotion on a second and a towel on a third only to discover they "belong" to one person.

Dining
CostaRomantica offers two-sitting traditional dining in the Botticelli Dining Room or casual meals at the lido in the Terrazzo. Food is very Italian and while cooking classes are offered each cruise, the dining room captain -- who makes a different pasta each night -- will gladly provide you the recipe. Food is never a problem cruising Italian style and the Pizzeria is always one of the most popular spots on the ship.

Entertainment
Because of the language barrier, don't expect major cultural sessions or hot financial seminars on the CostaRomantica. Do expect the usual cruise ship lectures on tours and shopping opportunities (conducted in a variety of languages). Expect beauty and culinary demonstrations, Ping-Pong, lots of quizzes geared to each national group and dance lessons. Various musicians play a variety of music all around the ship. A gym, two pools and four whirlpools, plus a library and several card rooms round out the activities. Bingo is a biggie on these ships. L'Opera Theater on Deck 9, the Vienna Deck, is one of the best at sea, but programs aren't. A disco, on Deck 14, Lisboa, is loud and the music louder. If you like disco, you'll love it.

Cabins
Cabins are well designed and while on the larger size for standard cabins, (around 200 square feet) tend to be fairly compact but with all the usual amenities: hair dryer, television, telephone, in-room safe, etc. Suites on the Deck 11, Monte Carlo, are among the best appointed and make a cruise a regal event. Ten mini-suites on Deck 10, Madrid, offer verandahs.

Family
Programs for children are scheduled by numbers of youngsters booked on each sailing.

Fitness & Recreation
The Spa is small and rather cramped with a fitness center. The running track, on Deck 12, Biarritz, gets a lot of attention.

Dress Code
Casual for daytime with at least one formal night when dress up really gets serious; long gowns or cocktail-length dresses, men in tuxedos or dark suits. Casual resort attire is acceptable on other nights.

Follow Passengers
While many passengers are European, don't think those demographics skew "old." On one cruise 16 couples from Spain were also honeymooners who'd met the day they boarded and, seated together at three adjacent tables by the cruise line, the group took tours together, socialized for the two weeks they were on board and vow to get together once a year to commemorate their anniversaries. Close to 100 young Italian newlyweds also sailed at the same time.

Gratuities
Consider these suggestions for service rendered aboard a Costa ship: $3.00 per person, per day to your stateroom steward/stewardess. $3.00 per person, per day to your waiter. $1.50 per person, per day to your waiter's assistant. And $1.00 per person, per day to your head waiter. Bartenders, servers, deck stewards, and other staff may be tipped as service is received. For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is added to beverage purchases automatically.

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