Costa Pacifica Review – Should You Go?

Welcome back to our blog! We just returned from our 13-day Costa Pacifica Cruise and are extremely excited to review our experience with you. We’ll discuss everything you need to know about this cruise; we took every aspect of the trip and ranked it from one to five anchors, with five being the best. 

With that in mind, let’s get our review of the Costa Pacifica started by talking about: 

Review of our Boarding Procedure on the Costa Pacifica

We received our assigned boarding time a couple of weeks before departure. Our boarding time was 10:30 am, and we were at the gate exactly at that time. That day there were two ships in port, and we were a bit concerned that the boarding might be a bit chaotic. It was incredibly smooth, and by 10:45, we could walk on the ship. The boarding procedure could not be smoother or easier! 

We would like to take a moment to mention Bag Express, one of Costa’s great partners. This company offers a great service for bags, and they were in charge of handling our luggage. They picked up our bag at home five days before departure, and our bags were delivered to our cabin a couple of hours after boarding. The fantastic service allows us to take the train to the port without dealing with luggage. 

If you’re a Costa Club Gold member, like us, you can get this service completely free of charge for one bag per person. 

One thing that has always bothered me about Costa is that because I’m a Canadian citizen and travel on my Canadian passport, Costa always keeps my passport for some reason. This time, on the Costa Pacifica, they let me keep it. Not only that, the agents who looked at my passport and visa were fully trained, and I was good to go in a matter of seconds.

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Reviewing the Costa Pacifica Ship 

Fincantieri built the Costa Pacifica, which was launched in 2008 and given to Costa in May 2009. It is 290 m long and 35.5 m wide. The ship has a maximum capacity of 3780 passengers and 1100 crew members. Overall the ship gives off a little vintage vibe, and the decor is mildly outdated. However, like other Costa ships, we’re happy to review that the Costa Pacifica is in excellent condition. Every nook and cranny was clean and very well maintained. 

Deck 5 is the main deck, where you’ll find bars, lounges, and activities. Like other ships of this class, it is impossible to walk from the front to the back of the ship on Decks 3 and 4 because one of the main dining rooms is on those decks, right in the middle of the ship. 

One really nice feature that I noted for this Costa Pacifica review was the fact that the ship has two covered pools, both on Deck 9, one in mid-ship and the other all the way to the back. Both covered pools have a retractable roof that can be opened on sunny warm days. Whoever thought of this was thinking ahead. A retractable roof is an excellent feature that makes the pool useable in any destination and weather condition. 

The ship also has an entirely outdoor pool on Deck 11 with one of Rick’s favorite features: a water slide! Also, there is plenty of space outdoors to get a tan with many sun beds. This is also a nice feature because some cruise companies cram the sun beds and passengers to a point with little space. Not so on this ship! In fact, on this particular cruise, we were at full capacity and never had any problem finding a sun bed. 

However, we think it is important to review the sunbeds, as they are quite old on the Costa Pacifica and need to be replaced. For example, the mesh is worn out, and you might end up with an annoying bar right poking through the middle of the back. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Itinerary Review on Costa Pacifica

This cruise was a combination of two separate itineraries. The first week was repositioning from Savona to Taranto, with ports of Call in Civitavecchia, Naples, Catania, Argostoli, and Corfù. Then the second week was a roundtrip from Taranto that stopped in Catania, Malta, Mykonos, and Santorini, with two sea days in between Malta and Mykonos and between Santorini and Taranto.

In other words, this was a 13-day cruise with only two sea days, which is absolutely amazing. Actually, the first week was quite interesting because it had no sea days at all. 

We’ve visited all those ports several times, so it was nothing new for us to review, but overall we felt the itinerary was good on the Costa Pacifica.

We also deeply enjoyed the two weeks of sun, sailing, and fun. And to top it off, it was all sunny days from day one to the end. 

One thing worth mentioning is that not many passengers on Costa do back-to-back cruises, and some of the staff, especially at the front desk, are not very familiar with handling this situation. But more about that later.

Rating:

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Cabin Review on the Costa Pacifica

As usual, we picked a balcony cabin; this time, it was on Deck 9 in front of the ship. It wasn’t by accident because we like to be close to the main pool. That said, if we sail again on the Costa Pacifica, we believe that deck 11 would be a better choice for us for two reasons. First, the main pool was covered, so it wasn’t ideal for relaxing in the sun.  The main uncovered pool is on deck 11, which was much better for us.  And second, because the spa is also on deck 11, and if you know us, you know we spend a lot of time at the spa.

Now let’s review the cabin itself on the Costa Pacifica. The cabin is the usual Costa Balcony cabin. Well laid out and efficient with no frills. The cabin is spacious enough, with a good amount of closet space and a nice desk area. Also, the cabin has two electrical plugs by the desk, one European and one American. One of the bedside tables has 4 USB ports to charge all the electronics. That means only one side of the bed can charge phones/electronic devices. Bring a long USB cable if you want to charge on the other side of the bed. 

Let’s talk about the balcony itself. The balcony was not the widest, but not the smallest we’ve been on. It seems useable, but we didn’t get on it too much on this trip. 

One thing that still makes me shake my head (for this review) is that the cabins on board the Costa Pacifica still have those ugly old brown couches that we’re used to seeing on other ships.

The bathroom is a decent size with a decent shower. It’s not the Costa Toscana shower, but it’s certainly bigger than we’re used to on Princess. Again, simple with no frills.  One thing that was a little irritating is that sometimes there was no cold water in the shower, so you’d be showering, and the only thing that came out was boiling hot water. I contacted reception about it 3-4 times, and they came out around day 10 to offer us to change of cabin. 

We politely declined for two reasons. First, we figured out that if we shower early, the temperature is fine, and second, we absolutely loved our cabin steward – more on that later. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Service Review Onboard the Costa Pacifica

Overall the service on board the Costa Pacifica was excellent. Our cabin steward Orlyn was incredibly friendly, helpful, and efficient. One thing worth mentioning was that we had the turndown service every night, even though the cruise line does not offer this service anymore unless you are traveling in a suite or you are a Platinum member. It was a particularly nice touch that we deeply enjoyed. So whoever was responsible for it, we really appreciate it!

Our waiters at the Blue Moon Club restaurant, Arun and Nadia, were amazing! They were always happy, professional, friendly, and super efficient, and we bonded with them. It was quite sad to leave. Also, the restaurant managers, Sulyman, Allen, and Connor, were extremely nice and always willing to help and talk to us. We also found that service was excellent in every bar – especially from Moises at Grand Bar!

Costa also has a dedicated host, on board, for each language spoken on board. We had several conversations with the English-speaking host Galina, the Spanish host Christian, and the French Lucas. They were all exceptional at their job. Really well done.

Also, we used the future cruise consultant Michael, who was really good. He was incredibly helpful, friendly, and efficient. We booked a cruise with him, and he invited us for dinner. Quite a nice touch.

The front desk is the only area where we think service could be improved. We went there to enquire about the procedure for changing our keys at the end of the first week because we were told to change the keys between 9 and 10 am, but we had an excursion where we had to be on the bus at 8:15 am. So, we’re like, “How do we do this?” We can’t be in two places at once.

Nobody at the front desk could give us the correct answer. People at the front desk were very new, and it seemed like they had little to no experience — and worst yet, no one ever said, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you.”  There’s nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know.”  Just find out and let us know when you do.

Ultimately, we went to the front desk before our tour and found a manager who showed up and solved the problem quickly. So Costa, if you are reading, a bit of better training for the front desk clerks would be good.

Over the course of 13 days, we had interactions with so many of the crew. From the waiters, waitresses, cabin steward, barmen, tour operators, etc., — these guys are all amazing. It’s enough to make us forget about that issue with the front desk and a small delay in giving us onboard credits for the second week. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Costa Pacifica: Ship Cleanliness Review

Like other Costa ships, the Costa Pacifica was insanely clean. Every tiny corner of the ship was constantly washed and scrubbed, which made us very happy! Even after very busy parties, the ship was spotless again after just a few hours.

We noticed a lot of maintenance around the ship as well – all the time. Especially the pools were constantly fixed, painted, and ready to be used again the following morning. Even our balcony was washed twice on our two-week cruise. 

Another thing we noticed on this sailing was the fact that Costa seems to be moving away from plastic, which is quite nice and environmentally conscious of them. Drinks don’t have straws unless you ask, and when you do, the straws they give you are biodegradable. The only thing I think they need to change is the plastic bottles for water. But we get it, Italians like their bottled water. But if they’re taking suggestions, we’d order a wack load of 2L glass bottles, put a giant Costa logo on them, and fill them up with the ship water. Ship water is perfectly safe to drink and much better for the environment. At least there’d be less plastic being used.

Last, there was one thing I noticed that didn’t happen on this ship… on other ships, I noticed people washing the carpets by hand, which I thought was both novel and very nice. I didn’t see it on this ship, but the carpets appeared to be clean anyway. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Food Review On The Costa Pacifica

Food on Costa is usually exceptional; unfortunately, we have to admit that on this particular cruise, it could have been better. Still really, really good, but not as good as we had on the previous sailing, especially compared to what we had on board the Costa Toscana.

The seasoning was always spot on. The pasta was delicious, as usual. The desserts were incredible, as well, always perfectly prepared and presented. 

The problems were with the proteins. In particular, we were served tough, chewy steaks that were not always properly cooked — and it happened several times. This even happened at the Teppanyaki restaurant, where one of our steaks was quite tough and overdone. We decided not to mention it to the chef because we were having a good time, which would have upset the timing. Another minor problem we noticed was that the selection felt mildly repetitive, with a few dishes repeated several times, even during the same week. Maybe because we were so spoiled on the Costa Toscana, finding food as good as that will be impossible. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Costa Pacifica Drink Package Review

We think the drink package on Costa is an excellent value, especially if bought as part of the All-Inclusive package at the time of booking. The basic drink package is called My Drinks; you can choose three red, white, rose, and prosecco wines. Also included are most cocktails, draught beer, and digestives like grappa, specialty coffees, cappuccino, sodas, and juices. 

Upgrading to the My Drink Plus package will get you a wider variety of wines, top-shelf liquors, and more expensive cocktails. However, the upgrade doesn’t seem to be worth it because the wines offered with My Drinks Plus aren’t that much better than the basic package. Not only that, Rick likes to drink Rose, and the Rose offered with My drink plus tastes as good as the one from the basic package.   

For our needs, the basic My Drinks package is perfect, and, as we said, you get excellent value when you buy it as part of the All Inclusive package. Not only that, but the All-Inclusive also covers the gratuities and housekeeping charges. 

Now, say you take the position that you don’t want to buy the drink package because you don’t drink a lot. No problem — you can buy everything a la carte. But remember that you will need to pay even for water because Costa does not serve tap water at restaurants. The only free option is the water fountain at the buffet! So keep this in mind.

Other types of packages can be brought on board for water or coffee, but I think they’re still a bit pricey. The All-Inclusive is the way to go, especially for those like us who drink 3-4 coffees daily. Each coffee alone costs €2.50, so that’s already €10 each for us if we go ala carte. Add a couple more drinks and another €11 euro a day for the housekeeping charge, and you’re already paying more than the All-Inclusive charge.

Not to mention the price of bottled water; we’re not really sure how much it costs, but we’ve seen so many people walking around the ship with one in their hand (which they probably paid for each of them.) Therefore, we suggest buying the All-Inclusive package when booking so you can have your cappuccinos in the morning without worrying about it. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Reviewing The Costa App

The Costa App is the main portal on board to check activities and excursions, connect to the internet, check menus, and — most importantly — check the onboard balance. The app is fine, and it does a decent job. It can sometimes be a bit slow, especially when you launch it, but overall, it works. One feature that is quite good about the app is the fact that the night before each port, it gives all the necessary instructions about the excursions, including the time and the meeting point. 

Another very good feature available on the app is the possibility to do the safety drill digitally, on the app, without having to congregate at the theater or somewhere else. 

One thing I wish was available would be the possibility of having the daily program only on the app for passengers that sign up for this. I really think it is a total waste of paper to receive my daily program in the cabin every night that I never use personally. 

One very important piece of information that we got regarding the Costa App is that it can not be downloaded in North America because it is not on the American app store. This could be very frustrating for passengers visiting from the US, and we hope that Costa fixes this as soon as possible. Even turning on a web portal to see things like your expenses would go a long way.

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Internet Review Onboard the Costa Pacifica

The Internet on board is not the fastest, but not the slowest we’ve had. We could do some work on the two sea days using the ship’s internet, and it was fine. However, it is quite pricey. Full unlimited access costs about €102 per week. Now there are cheaper Whatsapp packages that cost €5 per day or social media that cost €9 per day, but they don’t give you access to your emails. 

Lastly, a per-minute charge costs €0.25, which we used on this particular cruise because we were in port almost daily and could use the European roaming included in our cell phone plan. 

Overall, the internet speed could do with some improvements, but the prices are too high considering that Costa’s main competitor, in the Mediterranean, offers unlimited data as part of their All-Inclusive package.

If you are considering taking a Mediterranean cruise or visiting Europe, don’t spend a fortune on roaming with your cell phone provider. Here’s a reliable and affordable eSIM option you can use all over the EU. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Bars

There is certainly no lack of bars and lounges to review on Costa Pacifica. The ship has eleven bars which is a huge number for a ship of this size. Almost all the bars are adequate, serving everything from coffee to cocktails. There are only two exceptions: one is “Rick’s Wine bar” located on Deck 5 all the way aft that only serves drinks that are not part of the My Drinks package, and the other one is the “Sunset Lounge” located on Deck 12 at the front of the ship. 

The Sunset Lounge is the strangest bar in the lot. Anyone can use their My Drinks package there up to 5 pm. Once it’s past five, they only serve drinks that are part of the Plus package, including cocktails that we’ve never heard of before. Anyone with the My Drinks package must pay the price difference, even though the menu says additional drinks and cocktails are available upon request. So if you want your Aperol spritz included in the drink package, you must order it before 5 pm. Otherwise, you have to pay. 

A few passengers were upset about this strange policy, which was unfortunately not written anywhere that we’ve seen — the poor bartenders had to explain the rules repeatedly. As a result, the bar was mostly empty at night, with a few passengers there to chat and even fewer ordering drinks. The loophole we’ve found is ordering a drink from anywhere else on the ship, then bringing it to the Sunset Lounge to see the sunset.

The exclusive policy doesn’t sit well with us, and it’s too bad that the Sunset Lounge was the only bar with a smoking area and nice lounge chairs. It seems like a big mistake when passengers expect everything to be available with their “All-Inclusive” package. We think that if Costa wants to have an exclusive lounge for people with the Plus package it could be a good idea, but at least put a big sign at the door saying “this lounge is for Plus Package holders only”. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Spa Review on Costa Pacifica

The Spa onboard Costa Pacifica is simply amazing! We think it’s pretty huge for the size of the ship. It is located on Deck 11 and 12. The “Area Benessere” (Wellness Center) features an enormous Jacuzzi, several relaxing rooms at different temperatures, a steam room, and two winter gardens to relax and enjoy the ocean while sipping tea and herbal teas. The wellness center can be booked for the entire cruise duration, either online or at embarkation, and we think it is worth having it because the area is amazing. 

On this sailing, we used the wellness center every day, sometimes even more than once a day, to relax and to get away from the crowds.

We were lucky to sail with Michelle, the spa manager we had met several times before, and we became great friends with her. We loved to go there to say hi to her and check how she and her staff were doing.

Rick had four massages (100 minutes each), which were all fantastic, according to him, and is good enough to earn it ten anchors out of five. The massage therapist, Bibi, remembered him from a previous sailing, so they became fast friends. Overall, the wellness center was a great place to relax and get away from the busy areas of the ship. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Entertainment Team

The entertainment team on board the Costa Pacifica was incredible! They organized some of the best parties we’ve seen on a cruise ever — even better than the party on the Costa Toscana! It’s possible that it’s due to having no COVID restrictions, unlike with Toscana, but we’re not sure.

The white party and the Italian night were wild! We’ve never seen so many people on a ship dance floor before. The kitchen also prepared an incredible midnight buffet for the Italian night party that people loved. We recognized some team members from previous sailings, Corrado in particular, who we met on Costa Toscana last fall. There was a party practically every night on board, and we’d like to commend the Entertainment Team. Keep up the good work, guys!

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Shows on The Costa Pacifica

The shows on board the Costa Pacifica were the usual singing and dancing that can please a crowd of every language. Also, we have seen most of those shows before (ie. on the Costa Diadema, Costa Luminosa, and Costa Fascinosa), and they were pretty average.

On the first week of sailing, they had a magician performing at the theater. That was ok, but his magic was not suited for a big theater. Moreover, they also had a team of dancers performing an LED light show that was cool and fun to watch; it was about 45 mins long, and the crowd was quite happy with this show. Lastly, in the second week, they had the Voice at Sea on board, and the crowd was really enthusiastic. Who knows, maybe we’ll try to join one of these days. 

Overall, our fellow passengers enjoyed the experience, and the theatre was always packed, but for us, the shows were quite repetitive except for the LED show, which was quite fun to watch. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Excursions Review on Costa Pacifica

On this cruise, the excursion office seemed to be a bit better organized than we had on the previous sailing with Costa. One thing we always liked about Costa excursions is that they can be booked online without having to pay them until boarding time.

However, we were advised that we cannot cancel the excursions on this particular sailing once we’re on board. This was odd, considering we could do so on previous sailings without issues.  

We booked most of our excursions online before departure, but unfortunately, a few of them were canceled once we got on board. There was one in particular from Catania to Taormina that we booked online, and it was €60 that was canceled for no stated reason. We booked it again on board, but this time the price was €89, which was quite disappointing, but we did it anyway. 

Another excursion was canceled due to a lack of participants, and another, a boat tour, was canceled due to bad weather. So, if you’re doing excursions with Costa, we advise that you come prepared with a plan B in case it gets canceled.

Overall the staff at the excursion desk were very kind and friendly, Mattia and Leonardo in particular. One thing that Costa does well is the fact that one staff member from the ship is with the group at all times in case something happens on each excursion. 

Another good thing about these excursions was that they didn’t force us to wear those silly little stickers like other cruise lines make us do (which Rick sticks to his phone in protest anyway) because they looked terrible in photos. 

It was overall a great experience despite the cancellations. 

Time to vote for excursions, and I give them a 4 out of 5, I think that overall they did a good job even with the cancellations. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Main Dining Rooms

Costa Pacifica has two main dining rooms located on two levels on Decks 3 and 4. The New York New York is located all the way aft, and the My Way is located mid-ship.

Costa still has two dinner seatings; the first on this particular sailing was at 7:30 pm, and the second at 9:30 (Italians love to eat late for dinner). The dining rooms were spacious and well laid out, but because we were assigned to the Club restaurants, we did not use them, so we can not review them. 

The buffet on Costa Pacifica is open for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, and dinner. The buffet is located on Deck 9 towards the back of the ship. The place is quite big yet very easy to navigate. The food selection looked quite nice, with a lot of variety. We used the My Way once for breakfast and the buffet only once at the end of lunch.  Both were fine, but since we didn’t have much experience with it, we won’t vote on it. However, we noticed that the buffet was always busy with long lines.  

Speciality Restaurants

The Costa Pacifica has several specialty restaurants. The most famous and expensive is the Archipelago, where you can try a tasting menu designed by one of three Michelin-star chefs. One thing to note is that the Archipelago may not be the best choice for people who don’t eat seafood, or have food allergies, as they do not offer substitutions. We talk extensively about this restaurant in one of our previous videos. 

The next specialty restaurant was the Teppanyaki restaurant which is located on Deck 5 next to the casino. We did try this restaurant, and we enjoyed it a lot. The chefs are well-trained, and they do quite a show. The food was good, and we enjoyed it. The price varies depending on the menu you choose, the most expensive one was about €42 and included grilled lobster which seemed like the popular choice.

Costa Pacifica also has a sushi bar on board called Sushino. It is located on Deck 5 towards midship. Aside from their a la carte menu, they offer an all-you-can-eat option that costs €16 for lunch or €21 for dinner.  On this sailing, we noticed that the sushi restaurant was really busy — especially toward the end of the cruise. Michelle, the spa manager,  and her friend took us out for lunch at Sushino, and if we didn’t have a reservation, we would have had to wait quite a bit. The food quality was quite good, and we enjoyed the experience. We’d certainly recommend it, and we’ll try it again on a future cruise. 

The next specialty restaurant onboard Costa Pacifica is the Pizzeria Pummid’oro. The pizzeria is located on Deck 10 all the way aft and is open only for dinner. We did not go to the pizzeria, but we ordered pizza at our restaurant, and we have to say that the pizza was fantastic, really tasty, and made with fresh ingredients. The price for a simple pizza is about €5 and goes up to €15 for more gourmet ones.

Costa Pacifica also has the Salty Beach Street Food restaurant that is located on Deck 9 by the Calypso pool. Actually, maybe not a restaurant, but more like a fast food place.  It is open for lunch and dinner. At lunch, they serve regular burgers and hot dogs free of charge, while at dinner, they serve gourmet burgers and sandwiches for a fee. We did not try it because we could order burgers at the Blue Moon Club restaurant free of charge.

On Costa Pacifica, there was a new specialty restaurant we had never seen on any other Costa ship. It was called Dinner Under the Stars. It was a section of the aft pool that was set up as an intimate restaurant at night.

We were curious to try it but noticed two things we were not too crazy about. First, the menu was very similar to our main restaurant, so it didn’t seem worth spending €39 euros to eat the same food we could get for free. Second, we noticed that the smoke from the ship was blowing toward the restaurant during sailing, which didn’t seem like it would be a great experience. We didn’t try the restaurant for these two reasons. 

Lastly, we have to talk about the Blue Moon Club restaurant. This restaurant is reserved to suite passengers, some Platinum and Gold Costa Club Members, and if available, it can be reserved by other passengers for a fee. The food is almost the same as it is served in the main dining room, with a couple of extra gourmet options. But the setting is very quiet and intimate, with more attentive service. We must admit that the experience at this restaurant is stellar, and we love it so much that we are hesitant to book a Costa Cruise if we cannot get the Club restaurant. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Casino Review on the Costa Pacifica

The Casino on board the Costa Pacifica is located on Deck 5 towards the back of the ship. It is a very big space for such a small ship. It’s got a nice variety of table games and lots of new slot machines. It wasn’t smokey, and getting a drink was easy since it was close to the Grand Bar. Overall it is a nice area with much room to move around. Normally, we don’t care much about the casino, but his particular cruise made us think this was probably the best casino at sea.

So, on the second to last night, we noticed we had some extra onboard credits and decided to spend them at the casino. We saw an American passenger we met on excursions playing probably the oldest machine on board – one of the original video poker machines. So Rick decided to sit next to him and play while chatting. At his second hit, he was a sign on the machine that said “Call Attendant” before realizing that he had hit the jackpot with a royal flush. Long story short, that €10 became €2000! Because of this, the casino on Costa Pacifica immediately has “The Best Casino at Sea.” Andrea also won €40. 

Overall, the casino was spacious, the ambiance was nice, and there was a good mix of tables and machines. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Costa Club

The Costa Club is the Costa Loyalty program, and you’ll be familiar with it if you’ve seen our videos and read our articles about Costa, but if you haven’t, here’s an article to get you up to speed. On this particular sailing, we noticed only a few Gold and Platinum members were on board, and less than thirty people were at the VIP party. In our opinion, it made for an intimate experience, which was quite nice.

We received a foldable backpack as an end-of-cruise gift, which came really handy at disembarkation, and Rick won a €100 coupon for our next cruise for being the only Canadian passenger on board. And they gave us pins and a nice model ship. Overall, the perks are not bad at all!

On the flip side, the only thing we don’t like about the Costa Club is the expiration of your accumulated points. Based on our calculation, you need to take a cruise trip twice or thrice a year to reach and maintain a Gold membership, and if you stop, you lose all your benefits, and your points expire no matter your level. Other companies allow you to keep your status and/or points if you take a trip once or twice over a given period of time. We think that Costa can benefit from emulating their competitors in this respect. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Photography Review On Costa Pacifica

The photography store is located on Deck 4, just above the atrium. There are a lot of machines that use face recognition and can find all the photos taken on board. 

As usual, Costa has two types of photos: the regular ones are called My Moments which are cheaper and can be bought as part of a package for €149 unlimited. They also have the My Shades, which are the more professional-looking photos, including photos with props, backdrops, etc., that are more expensive and not part of the package. This is incredibly confusing, especially for first-time cruisers who buy the photo package thinking they can take as many photos as they want, just to discover that the nicer ones (those included in My Shades) are not part of the package.  Some of the professional photos looked similar to each other, and there were a few that looked weird with unnatural poses. 

Overall, the photographers on board were very nice, polite, and not too pushy. We also became friends with a couple of them that we had met on previous sailings (Ciao Simona!) 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

The Stores   

The stores on board Costa Pacifica are located on Deck 5 above the main atrium. They are the same stores you can find on the other Costa ships. They sell clothes, watches, glasses, jewelry, cosmetics, and a very small section for toiletry and necessity.

On this particular sailing, they were not selling duty-free items such as liquor and cigarettes because the itinerary was all within the EU, so they were not allowed to sell those items. Overall we thought the stores looked a bit sad on board the Costa Pacifica, and they were ready for a bit of a makeover. Also, we noticed that the Costa Merchandise store was closed on the first day of the second leg of our cruise. We asked around why was it closed, but nobody could give us an answer. They opened again after a few days but with a completely different merchandise set. It became a souvenir store with very little Costa Brand merchandise. Costa appears to be moving away from branded merchandise for some strange reason. Andrea did get a deal for some moisturising cream for his Aunt, so that’s a plus. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Overall Feeling

We immediately noticed that the feeling on board was very upbeat. The staff members seemed really happy and in a very good spirit. Everyone was cheerful and always very friendly; they seemed interested to know where we were from and how we were enjoying the cruise.

The passengers were also really happy, and it seemed like they were really enjoying themself. We noticed that the other passengers loved the onboard activities in particular, especially when they involved food or dancing (Who wouldn’t, right?) Parties were always packed, and people danced till late at night. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Disembarkation

Overall, the disembarkation process was really smooth and efficient. The port of Taranto seemed very well-organized, with shuttle buses and taxis for passengers disembarking. There was a baggage deposit area onboard for passengers that wished to have a late disembarkation. 

Rating

Andrea	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎
Rick	⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎⚓︎

Final Thoughts

We’ve finally reached the end of this very long and in-depth review of the Costa Pacifica, and it’s time to draw some conclusions.

We think that this was our first full cruise since the pre-pandemic days. Masks were nowhere to be found on board, and while there were still gel dispensers everywhere, nobody seemed to care for them, which was usual during the pre-pandemic days. Everybody on board seemed to be having a good time and were in high spirits. We noticed some areas that, in our opinion, needed improvement, but overall it was a fantastic cruise experience. We had lots of fun, reconnected with old friends to form deeper bonds, and made new ones that we hope to see again. 

Thank you, Costa Pacifica, for a wonderful two weeks of fun, and we look forward to being back on board soon!