Costa Deliziosa Dining

Costa Deliziosa's main dining room on Deck 2 is called Ristorante Albatross, and it's a beautiful, vibrantly red, two-deck-high venue tucked into the aft of the ship. The views from the wall of windows along the back are gorgeous. But what is also great about the dining room layout is the way the large room is designed into smaller, cozier areas, each with different ambiences.

Albatross is open for breakfast (7:30 to 9:30 a.m.) and lunch (noon to 2 p.m.) on an open-seating basis and for dinner in a set-seating, set-time scenario (early seating at 7:15 p.m. and late seating at 9:30 p.m.). Breakfast was excellent; there's a vast buffet area with meats and cheeses, delicious pastries, cereal and yogurt, and you can complement that by ordering off the menu. Lunch is lovely, too -- a low-key alternative to the busier buffet. The menu offers a handful of appetizers, soup, pasta, entrees and desserts. Spaghetti, chicken and cod are always available.

Dinner is the big event onboard, and preparation of dishes is definitely ambitious, a sort of contemporary melange of European cuisines with Italian definitely standing out. The menu is split into appetizers, soup, pasta, main courses, salad, cheese and dessert, with vegetarian items noted.

The ship's buffet restaurant, Ristorante Buffet Muscadins, on Deck 9 is open for breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., lunch from noon to 2:30 p.m. and tea (or a late afternoon snack) from 4 to 5 p.m. It offers a range of stations that feature European favorites and North American ones, too. There's a pizza counter where the offerings were, disappointingly, more American than Italian (think thick, heavy crust). The buffet is open on some nights for dinner, as well.

One nice spot for breakfast or lunch is the main pool, Lido Azzurra Blu. There are small buffet stations out there (grilled food and sandwiches) and lots of tables. The pool has a magrodome, a glass roof that can be closed in bad weather and opened to the elements on sunny days.

Club Deliziosa, located in a scenic spot on Deck 10, is the ship's boutique restaurant; a meal there might just rank in the top five of all time! The red, white and black decorated venue looks out over the atrium and the outer decks, and features live music and space for dancing. There's a cover charge of 25 euros to dine there.

The Samsara Restaurant on Deck 2 is the ship's spa eatery and is primarily meant to serve passengers in the spa cabins, though others may dine there for a 25 euro cover charge when space is available. (Reservations are required.) It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu focuses on lighter continental fare; the lunch menu is a set three courses (appetizer, main, dessert) while dinner offers a couple of choices of appetizers, mains and desserts (like fruit salad and panna cotta), as well as one soup and one pasta.

One don't-miss spot (and, indeed, it's always crowded) is Deck 3's decadent Caffeteria Sugar, a chocolate bar serving both sweets and sweet drinks.

Room service is available all day and night. Breakfast can be ordered for delivery from 7 to 10 a.m. and includes morning beverages, bread and pastries, cereal, fruit and hot items like omelettes and pancakes. The charge is 5 euro per person ordering, but free for suite passengers. (Continental breakfast only is available for free to passengers booked in Premium cabins).

The standard room service menu, available the remainder of the day, incurs a flat delivery charge of 2 euros (free for passengers in suites and Premium and Samsara cabins). The limited menu includes a choice of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and desserts. Suite and other select passengers can access special lunch and dinner menus from the room service operator or butler.