Costa Pacifica

The shore excursions from the cruise ship were all quite nice, and the service was good too, but the food was a bit monotonous.

The cabin was clean and tidy, and the staff were quite friendly.

A not-so-good experience. First, the room: small, run-down, and filthy. The sheets and blankets were dirty; I had a lot of small red spots on my clothes, and it seemed like the sheets hadn't been changed in two weeks. And it wasn't just us tourists who said the ship was dirty. Once, when we were docked, the Princess Cruises ship was right next to us, and the crew, seeing how clean the ship was, said our ship was incredibly dirty. The restaurant seats, in particular, were practically in the condition of a street food stall. The TV remote was broken; either the buttons wouldn't work, or it would automatically keep changing channels without stopping. The food wasn't good either. Small portions, so-so quality, but at least the Italian chef's food was better than the Indian food at Royal Caribbean. The entertainment facilities were limited; the slide was practically never used. The Latin American shows were good, with a nice atmosphere. The shore excursions were the worst!!! Expensive to begin with, and the experience was infuriating. The Russian tour guide, a middle-aged woman with a crooked mouth, was practically just reciting a script. She recited the book once and then took us away. We were supposed to meet at a certain time, but she left before then, so we practically missed the Winter Palace. Shore excursions were mandatory in Russia. The shore excursions at the other stops were also poor. The only decent shore excursion was in Lithuania. Apparently, the cruise company takes a huge commission; even though we paid exorbitant prices for shore excursions, the local tour operator probably only received a tiny fraction, leaving us tourists at a disadvantage. Most importantly, although it's a ship primarily for international tourists, the main language isn't English, but Italian. Even though the ship departs from Germany and the majority of passengers are German, German isn't the main language on board. Many announcements are only in Italian. They only use various languages ​​when advertising to get you to buy things. There's not much to buy on this ship. Finally, I must say that cruises on European and American routes generally have serious racial discrimination issues. Paying money to suffer is not worth it.

The authentic five-course dinners featuring different Italian regional specialties, along with the extensive buffet breakfast and lunch, offer excellent value. The commendable room service makes it an ideal choice for exploring the Norwegian fjords. If the international practice of offering discounts for early bookings were adopted, it would be a truly international cruise experience.

Primarily targeted at Europeans

Overall, I was satisfied with the 11-day Mediterranean cruise + Barcelona tour organized by Ctrip. The itinerary was well-planned, but the cruise ship facilities were quite basic. Aside from the plentiful and high-quality meals, other facilities such as the swimming pool and sauna, as well as the onboard activities, were significantly inferior to those on other cruise ships. Perhaps because it's an overseas cruise ship with few Chinese passengers, there was no Chinese service or written information available on board. We didn't participate in Ctrip's shore excursions this time. The cruise ship offers a wide variety of activities at reasonable prices, which I recommend for travelers with some English proficiency. Our tour leader, Zhang Jian, was excellent. Being in an unfamiliar environment, having a tour leader to take care of you and make arrangements made me feel much more at ease. Zhang Jian's attentive, professional, and responsive service was a plus for Ctrip.

Saving time and effort, I was extremely satisfied with all the food, accommodations, and transportation throughout the trip. I highly recommend Palma; it's a truly beautiful island. However, the ship's staff didn't speak fluent English (they mostly spoke Italian and Spanish), so communication was slightly challenging!

I purchased my cruise tickets through Ctrip and my Emirates Airlines flight to Barcelona via Dubai. The onboard activities were quite good. However, at each port, you need to sign up separately for disembarkation excursions for an additional fee. Local guides are divided into groups speaking different languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, but no Chinese. Therefore, without some English proficiency, it can be quite difficult both on and off the ship. My only concern is that Ctrip should revise its pre-trip information. It previously stated that electric kettles were provided in the cabins, but they weren't. This is inconvenient for domestic travelers; you should remind them to bring their own thermos, as hot water is available at the buffet restaurant on deck 9. Free bottled water is not provided in the cabins.

The only regret of this trip was the confirmation of the cruise room. I had assumed it would be a balcony ocean view room on the 11th floor, but it was changed to a room on the 6th floor. Although the room facilities probably weren't that different, the preconceived notion inevitably added a slight flaw to the trip. The Mediterranean scenery was beautiful, and the cruise ship was also very nice. I look forward to an even more perfect trip next time!

The entire trip was very satisfying. However, the food on the cruise ship was a bit disappointing, perhaps because my expectations were too high and there were few Chinese passengers. The dinner buffet only offered pizza, and there wasn't much to eat if you missed the main meal times. The variety of food couldn't compare to cruises on Chinese routes.