Cruising the Med with Kids: Life Onboard Costa Smeralda

There’s nothing quite like waking up to a new horizon each morning on a Mediterranean cruise holiday, from the sun-kissed shores of Spain to the colourful coastlines of Italy.

As one of Costa Cruises’ newest and most innovative ships, Costa Smeralda perfectly blends Italian elegance, sustainable travel, and world-class entertainment-  making this ship the perfect choice for a cruise around the Med.

In this article, we hear what it’s like to cruise onboard Costa Smeralda from a kids’ perspective, courtesy of Mila (age 12) and Arlo (age 9).

So, whether you’re dreaming of your first cruise or planning your next escape, discover why Costa Smeralda could be the ship for you.

Barcelona Pre-Cruise Stay

We stayed in NH Collection Barcelona Podium the night before the cruise. It was really cool! The best part was the rooftop pool; the views were beautiful all across the city.

The staff were super helpful and took all of our suitcases up to the rooms for us. The rooms were really fancy and spacious, and the sleeping area was down some steps. 

There was a free bottle of water and a coffee machine with a selection of coffee pods and tea bags in the room. There wasn’t a balcony, but we didn’t mind because we just wanted to get to the pool.

We had a mocktail each at the rooftop bar whilst chilling on the comfy sofas before getting into the pool. The pool was quite small, but it wasn’t too busy. 

We had a great day at the pool before going out for dinner, and then we went for a walk to the park and the beach before getting ice cream and heading back to our hotel for an early night- ready for our cruise adventure to begin in the morning! 

Embarkation

Embarkation was actually really easy! We thought it would take forever, like it has on other cruises, but we were given a number, dropped the bags, went through security, and checked in– all in about 40 minutes.

It was probably the fastest we have ever got onto a cruise ship, so we were very happy that we didn’t have to queue for a long time in the heat!

Costa Smeralda at First Glance

The ship looked HUGE when we first saw it! We wanted to explore as soon as we got onboard and soon discovered it was like being in a maze at first. The ship is very modern and we really liked the décor. There are lots of nice bars with different vibes and plenty of comfy seating areas inside and outside.

We thought that having a different colour scheme on each level with cabins on was great, as it made finding our floor really easy.

Onboard Costa Smeralda, there are two theatres, The Colosseo and The San Remo Theatre. The Colosseo was our favourite; there were three different levels with seating, and there was also a dynamic ceiling and backdrop. The LED screens made it easy for everybody to see what was happening on the stage.

The Valare Skywalk had a glass floor- it’s so high up! We went up there to see the views at night, and we were scared to step on it at first, but it was actually pretty cool- our parents got some photos of us walking across it.

Several areas were for adults only, which was surprising for a family-friendly cruise in the summer holidays. Our parents would have liked to have spent some time playing cards and taking in the beautiful views from the back of the ship in the 'Terrazza Superba' area on deck 7, but sadly, we weren’t allowed in there.

The Cabin

At 2 pm, an announcement was made to let everybody know that the cabins were ready. Two of our suitcases were already there, but the other didn’t come until later.

We had two double inside cabins. They were quite small but big enough for two people, and there was a lot of storage. The cabins were quite basic, but they had everything we needed- apart from a fridge and hot drink facilities.

Each cabin had three USB charging ports. This was great for us to charge our devices when our parents were using the plugs for their things but unfortunately one of the usb ports didn’t work in one of the cabins.

The beds were comfy. We only had one pillow each but it was nice and quiet at night- which was a bonus! There was also a huge TV on the wall, however, no English channels were available. Luckily, we had downloaded some movies on our iPads before the holiday.

The bathroom was nice, with a big mirror and a powerful shower.

Swimming Pools

We were super happy that the pools weren’t salt water, as it really stings our eyes when we are splashing around and jumping in.

There was a choice of three pools onboard: one indoor pool (with hot tubs) and two outdoor pools. There was another outdoor pool, but it was adults only. It got really busy around the pools in the daytime, and we weren’t always able to get sun loungers close to the pool, but there were lots of loungers available in other areas of the ship.

We mostly went to the outdoor pool because the weather was hot and we liked the location.

The queues for the waterslides were always quite big, so unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience these.

Onboard Activities

During our cruise, there was only one sea day. We may have got bored if there were lots of sea days in a row because we didn't make lots of friends, as most children spoke a different language. However, we enjoyed getting off the ship and visiting all of the different ports!

The arcade was quite small, but there were some good machines in there, such as the super bikes, and it didn’t ever seem to be busy. The games were generally priced between €1.65 and €2.20 per go.

Top Tip: There’s a brilliant view of the sports court from the skywalk! 

I (Mila) enjoyed relaxing in one of the swinging hammocks and reading my new book while my brother was playing football. I could have happily stayed there all day!

There was a variety of activities to choose from, such as dance and fitness classes that took place outside on the deck throughout the day. One afternoon, Mummy encouraged us to join in with the aerobics class. We didn’t want to at first, but it was really fun in the end!

There was also a museum on the ship, which was pretty cool! Here, there were a variety of things to celebrate Italian heritage, including cars, bikes and fashion. We enjoyed looking at the different car models and seeing how they’ve changed over the years. 

Bars & Restaurants

The automatic handwashing stations at the entrance of the restaurants were the best! We looked forward to using them every time we went in and out of the restaurants. Mum said she’s never seen us so enthusiastic about washing our hands!

We liked the sports bar because we enjoyed looking at the framed signed football shirts on the wall in a little cosy corner.

Mummy was really happy to find the Aperol Spritz bar- I think she’s going to miss it now we are home. We didn’t mind, though, as we got to have Mocktails! We tried lots of different ones, but our favourite was fruit punch- delicious!

Dinner restaurant - Il Meneghino

We had a reserved table for 7 pm every evening. There wasn’t a kids' menu, but we normally eat the same food as our parents, so that was ok for us. There weren’t any paper menus at the table. Instead, we had to scan a QR code to view the menu.

We had minestrone soup and tomato pasta lots of times because we didn’t always like all of the options - these were always yummy though.

Other Restaurants & Speciality Dining

Our parents wanted to pre-book the dining package to visit three speciality restaurants before the cruise because it was cheaper. However, children weren't allowed to visit all of the restaurants included, so we had to just book individually onboard instead.

The Salty Beach

This was the only place to get fries on this ship! It was €5 for a meal deal with a burger, fries and a pudding. This was great value, and the portions were much bigger than we expected! 

Teppanyaki

The whole experience at Teppanyaki was fantastic!

The food was amazing, and the chef was hilarious- we didn’t stop laughing the whole time. We all sat around the cooking station on stools; it was like a breakfast bar. The chef was doing lots of tricks with his knives and singing lots of funny songs while he was cooking the food.

We loved it when the chef tried to throw food into people's mouths- dad was the only person who managed to catch it! We really enjoyed watching our food being cooked in front of us. Between us all, we tasted duck, lobster, lamb- all of which were delicious.

Pummid'Oro Pizzeria

We didn’t have to prebook this restaurant, which was lucky as we had missed our dinner reservation one evening and couldn’t face the busy buffet.

We had a whale-shaped pizza each with chicken salami and fries. It was really tasty- plus, there was a juggling show during our dinner!

Shows & Entertainment

Our favourite shows were the acrobatic shows; they were INCREDIBLE and we didn’t have to pay extra to watch them. They were always performed in The Colosseo and lasted around 30 minutes

The theatre gets full quickly, so you have to get there very early if you want a good seat!

Port Calls

Cagliari

We decided to have a beach day in Cagliari, and it was stunning. The sea was crystal clear and calm, with amazing views of the cliffs. We had the best day going in and out of the sea and sunbathing with our parents.

Naples

We got up early on the morning that we were due to arrive in Naples because the cruise line put on a ‘swing symphony’ as we sailed past Capri Bay. There were musicians and a singer on the deck, staff were serving coffee in cute little espresso cups and were giving out chocolate brownies.

We were surprised by how busy it was at that time in the morning, but we got some beautiful pictures of the sunrise.

In Naples, we took a walk out of the port to Castle Nuovo, and we booked a bus tour to take us to the Pompeii ruins. We couldn’t believe the size of Pompeii, we could have easily spent a couple of days exploring the site, as we got lost several times- even with a map!

Civitavecchia

In Civitavecchia, we got off the ship and took a small tuk-tuk to the train station, which was fun. We then got the train to Rome, which took about an hour. Once we arrived, we jumped on a sightseeing bus to discover Rome’s iconic sights.

The best thing was The Colosseum, we couldn’t believe how big it was!

We also visited the Vatican City, but time ran away with us, so we didn’t get a chance to see Michelangelo's work.

Genoa

In Genoa, we walked from the port down to a beautiful church. We took some pictures of hand-painted artwork on the ceilings and couldn’t believe someone had painted all of it by hand- we have never seen anything like it!

We then walked to a big square with some beautiful water fountains. Lots of other kids were playing in them, so we couldn’t resist running through them too. We then went to an amazing sweet shop to get some sweet treats, followed by an ice cream. It was then time to walk back through the harbour to the ship.

Marseille

When we arrived at Marseille, we were very tired from the previous ports, as we had done a lot of walking! Therefore, we opted for another beach day.

After getting off the ship, we took a taxi to a small beach called Plage des Catalans, where we stayed all day sunbathing and swimming- the sea was quite choppy compared to Cagliari. The water was crystal clear, though, and we could see lots of fish in the water.

Our Top 5 Picks For Kids Onboard Costa Smeralda

• Chlorine swimming pools (rather than salt water)

• Fantastic acrobatic shows

• Sports court

• Teppanyaki restaurant

• Delicious mocktails

Overall, although there were small things that we would change, we had an amazing time and loved all of the different places that we got to visit during the cruise!