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I Survived a Week on Cruise Critic's WORST RATED Cruise Line

Emma Cruises
Emma Cruises
🥈Expert
👁️ 1.4M views📅 3 years ago⏱️ 25:58
What This Creator Said
Creator Had Mixed FeelingsFull Ship Review🥈Expert Creator
👶 Best for Family (Young Kids)Mediterranean · 7 nightsFrom BarcelonaOccasional Cruiser

Source: Our analysis of the creator's lived experience, based on what they said in this video.

Creator's Key Takeaways

the ship I was cruising on was the Costas miralda built in 2019 and she actually has one of the lowest Cruise Critic ratings I've ever seen

this ship is not for English speakers people said that there was no entertainment

the ship turned out to be so much better in some ways and so much worse than I could have imagined in other ways

the crew were always so friendly and we chatted to more crew on this Cruise than we normally would

Creator's Tips & Advice

Buy a drinks package as water is not included in main dining rooms
Arrive early for shows in the Coliseum to get a good seat
Use the Costa app for messaging and daily schedules
Consider walking outside the port for free shuttle options

🆕New to Cruising? This Creator Addresses:

Language barrierStaff are multilingual, entertainment often doesn't rely on spoken words
Food qualityMain dining room food was good, specialty dining available for extra cost

Questions This Creator Answers

QIs the worst-rated cruise line actually bad?
QCan English speakers enjoy a Costa cruise?
QWhat are the pros and cons of cruising on Costa Smeralda?

Topics Covered

Entertainment Shows3½ Happy BaconService Crew3 Happy BaconKids Family2½ Sad BaconShip Condition2 Happy BaconCrowd Capacity1 Sad BaconValue Pricing1½ Happy BaconLoyalty Program3 Happy BaconDining Main1 Happy Bacon

Port Highlights

Barcelona2½ Happy Bacon
Majorca2 Happy Bacon
Marseille1 Happy Bacon
How to read the Trip Bacon Score
Happy Bacon — creators loved this aspect
Sad Bacon — creators took issue with this
Meh — no strong opinion either way

Scale: 0–5 strips in half-step increments. 0 = “meh”, 5 = “bacon bliss”. Aggregated from creator-review sentiment, weighted by channel expertise.

About our Bacon Score methodology
YouTube Video Description

I’ve just disembarked a cruise on one of the biggest and most controversial cruise ships in the world where only 4% of guests spoke English. The ship I was cruising on was the Costa Smeralda built in 2019 and the ship actually has the lowest Cruise Critic rating I’ve ever seen in addition to being the overall worst rated cruise line. Before I booked the cruise I read reviews that said things like ‘this ship is not set up for English speakers at all’, people said that there was ‘no entertainment’, somebody said that monkeys could do a better job than the crew and one review even said the ship was ‘ANTI FOOD’. A big part of cruising is eating, so I hoped that wasn’t the case. Here's everything I ate (and all the menus from the cruise): https://emmacruises.com/costafood/ 🥳🥳 When I saw a Costa cruise for £279 for the week I knew that I had to give it a go, I wanted to find out for myself if the bad reviews were justified and from the promotional videos I’d seen, the ship definitely looked exciting. For £38 per night I didn’t have huge expectations and all I knew was that the cruise would be very different from what I’m used to cruising with American and British cruise lines. The ship turned out to be so much better in some ways, and also so much worse than I could have imagined in others. It definitely was an adventure. We embarked the ship in Barcelona and set sail for 7 nights cruising the Mediterranean. Embarkation was very easy and as soon as I stepped into the ship I started to realise what it would it meant to be cruising on an Italian cruise, from Spain. Thumbnail photo: Franz & Karl goLHen ▶ Stay up to date: http://EmmaCruises.com/News ▶ Let's get you on a cruise!: https://EmmaCruises.com/Book-a-Cruise/ *** ▶ Background World Map (Use Code EMMACRUISES For a Discount): https://enjoythewood.com/emmacruises ▶ Daylight Lamp: https://emmacruises.com/lamp ▶ Don't make the WORST CRUISE MISTAKE: https://emmacruises.com/cruise-travel-insurance-why-you-need-it-and-how-to-get-it-step-by-step-guide/ 🥳🥳 emma@emmacruises.com Join this channel to get access to exclusive perks like a weekly podcast and early ad free access to videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4C8c3h9SKdkxnOwIAiHeA/join