For more than 70 years, Costa Cruises’ ships have explored the world, offering the best in Italian style, hospitality, and cuisine while providing holidays that focus on fun and relaxation. I recently had the opportunity to sail on their newest ship, the Costa Toscana, and it is easily my favorite cruise ship to date. From the beautiful decor to onboard amenities and sustainability efforts, the Costa Toscana is the epitome of cruising.
I was hosted by Costa Cruises to familiarize myself with their ship and features. As always, opinions and reviews are 100% mine and unbiased.
About Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises is an Italian cruise line under the Carnival Corporation umbrella. As the only cruise company flying the Italian flag, Costa acts as an ambassador for Italian values around the world.
The cruise line has 13 ships in service with routes in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Caribbean, Dubai and UAE, South America, and the Transoceanic.
Sustainability is at the forefront of Costa’s endeavors. Two of their ships are LNG-powered (liquefied natural gas), which drastically reduce sulfur, nitrogen oxide, and greenhouse emissions.
Additionally, all Costa ships operate in compliance with the highest environmental protection standards.
Costa Toscana Overview
The Costa Toscana is Costa’s newest ship, with a capacity of 6,600 passengers. Its current itinerary visits Civitavecchia-Rome (Italy), Naples (Italy), Ibiza (Spain), Valencia (Spain), Marseille (France), and Savona (Italy). The Costa Toscana leads to the discovery of “the art of living the sea”.
This ship pays homage to Tuscany, and its design is a celebration of everything that is “Made in Italy”. The names of all decks and main areas are also reflective of Italian culture. For example, the center area of the ship is called the Colosseo.
At its core, the Toscana is a traveling “smart city”. In addition to being LNG-powered, the Costa Toscana uses desalinators to convert sea water to provide all of the ship’s daily water requirements (how cool is that?), uses a smart energy efficiency system to reduce energy consumption, and 100% of all waste on board is sorted for recycling purposes.
Fun Fact: The Costa Toscana’s sister ship is the Costa Smeralda.
Note: During my cruise, we visited Barcelona instead of Ibiza.
Costa Toscana Cabins
The Costa Toscana has five cabin types: Interior, Sea View, Sea Balcony, Sea Terrace (includes a terrace and veranda), and Suite (includes private butler, whirlpool, plus separate living and sleeping areas).
During my cruise, I stayed in a Sea Balcony room. I thought the decor was really pretty, fun, and played on the ship’s “art of living the the seas” tagline.
There were two things I absolutely loved about my room on the Costa Toscana. First, the bathroom was MUCH more spacious than traditional cruise staterooms. And, it had a lot of storage.
Second, the door to the balcony slid to open and close. This not only made it much easier to open than most balcony doors where you have to fight the wind, but you also did not hear balcony doors opening and closing all day long (a million thank yous to Costa for this design!).
Tip: If you’re traveling from the states, make sure to pack a power converter.
I had the chance to view one of each of Costa’s staterooms. The Suite is absolutely perfect for families. It is spacious and allows for the bedroom to be separated from the living room.
The coolest feature that I saw was the veranda in Sea Terrace rooms. It is a great space for enjoying the outdoors when you can’t be outside on the balcony due to rain or low/high temperatures.
Life On The Costa Toscana: Amenities
Costa’s newest flagship, the Costa Toscana, has 13 pools and hot tubs. Il Forte Beach has pools on both sides of the ship and a small stage for live entertainment, while Versilia Beach is more laid back and has plush cabanas for relaxing.
Splash Aqua Park has water slides of varying heights, including one from the Toscana’s top deck.
My favorite pool area was La Spiaggia Beach Club. In addition to a pool and hot tubs (with clear siding), this covered solarium has cool terrace seating areas and various dining options (Gelateria-Cioccolateria Amarillo, Nutella at Costa, and The Salty Beach serving French fries, sandwiches, and burgers).
The ship’s Solemio Spa offers a variety of traditional spa services–massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, hair treatments, and more. Additionally, it houses a very impressive thermal suite with heated chaise lounges, a sauna, steam room, thalassotherapy pool, salt room, and snow room. Yes, a snow room!
Piazza dei Miracoli is the shopping hub, with several retail spaces. Whether you’re looking for a Costa Cruises souvenir, perfume, clothing, or new high-end purse, you can find it on the Toscana.
There is also a casino, sports complex, and huge gym with the latest Technogym equipment on board.
Large outdoor spaces can be found throughout the Costa Toscana, where you can sit and enjoy the sun and sea. My favorite set was on deck 8 at the back of the boat. It was quiet and had luxurious padded lounge chairs.
Another cool location on the Costa Toscana is the Volare Skywalk. This ramp takes you above the top deck for panoramic views of the sea. It’s a fantastic place to watch the sunset.
You can watch our walking tour of the Costa Toscana’s upper decks on Instagram here and here.
Life On The Costa Toscana: Dining
There are 11 restaurants and 19 bars and lounges on the Costa Toscana. Some restaurants are included in the price of your cruise, while others require an additional fee.
A few are themed in collaboration with major partners–Aperol Spritz Bar (there are two), Heineken Star Club & Bistro, Ferrari Spazio Bollicine, and Caffé Vergnano 1882. The Costa Toscana’s signature restaurant is Archipelago, serving dishes crafted by Chefs Bruno Barbieri, Hélène Darroze, and Ángel León.
In your main dining room (ours was L’Oliveto Restaurant), dinner menus are based on the port the ship will visit the following day.
My favorite restaurant ended up being the Heineken Star Club & Bistro. It’s a very cool concept and I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I also visited Pizzeria Pummid’Oro, Gelateria Amarillo, and KikiPoke (build your own Poke bowl) several times during my cruise.
Learn more about Costa’s restaurants.
Life On The Costa Toscana: Entertainment
The heart of the Costa Toscana is the Colosseo. This atrium spans three decks and is home to live music, theater shows, and dance parties. TVs are scattered throughout the Colosseo so you can enjoy its entertainment while also spending time with friends and family.
Outside, Piazza del Campo encompasses three decks overlooking the ship’s wake. Here, games, parties, and more fun ventures happen.
Activities take place across the ship all day (like Bingo, karaoke, and trivia), but the Costa Toscana really comes alive after dinner. And, the excitement lasts until the wee hours of the morning.
Possibly the highlight of the cruise is White Night, where all cruisers dress in white and participate in a dance party in the La Spiggia Beach Club—think techno music, lights, and lots of fun!
Family-Friendly Activities
Since this was my first cruise with Costa, I didn’t know what to expect. I was really surprised (and thrilled!) to see how family-friendly this cruise line is.
Children can be part of the Squok Club. Divided into two groups, Mini (3-6) and Maxi (7-11), each group will be entertained with age appropriate activities all day long (9 AM to 12 AM). The Toscana also has a Baby Squok Club.
If you’re traveling with children ages 12 to 17, the Costa Toscana also has a program for them, called Teen Club. It, too, is divided into two age groups: Teen Club Junior (12-14) and Teen Club (15-17).
The coolest offering for families is Squok Restaurant. This restaurant is exclusively for families traveling with children.
Fun Fact: The Mini Squok Club has special Peppa Pig-themed activities.
My Costa Toscana Review
I sailed on the Costa Toscana in June 2022. It was my first time sailing with Costa Cruise Line. Overall, I loved it, and I cannot wait to go on another Costa cruise.
The Costa Toscana itself is beautiful! It has a very chill vibe and really fun decor. There are seating arrangements in every nook and cranny of the ship (both inside and outside), which I took advantage of. I spent time reading outside while taking in some sun, and inside by the Colosseo peoplewatching.
As an almost 30-year-old millennial, I think the Costa Toscana is perfect for people my age traveling abroad–whether going solo, with friends, or even your kids. It’s much more relaxing than the fast-paced vacations I’m used to.
I also want to note that I only felt movement twice the entire cruise. I’m not sure if the water was unusually calm or this boat just has cruising figured out, but I was shocked. No sea legs here!
More Of My Thoughts
The crew on board the Costa Toscana was wonderful. Everyone that I interacted with was incredibly kind and made sure I was well taken care of. That being said, Italian is the primary language spoken on the ship. Most everyone was able to communicate in English, and if not, they were able to grab someone nearby who could.
As an American, I was in the minority of passengers on this cruise ship. In fact, most of the other Americans on my cruise were travel media visiting for the same reason I was. Almost all other passengers were European, with the majority being Italian. It was definitely a multicultural crowd.
Some excursions were available in English. Some activities were hosted in English. But many were not. And that was okay with me. I was happy to sit back and watch. I don’t feel that the language barrier prevented me from enjoying my trip in the least.
Between the food, ship’s atmosphere, language spoken, and culture from the European passengers on board, my time on the Costa Toscana was an immersive experience. I feel like I lived in Italy for seven days, seeing the Mediterranean like a local.
While this was my first Costa cruise, it certainly won’t be my last. I look forward to enjoying more of what Costa has to offer in the future.
Additional Information
Embarkation for the Costa Toscana is available at almost every port on the itinerary. Everyone is going on the same cruise, they’re all just starting at different points. This cuts down on congestion when getting on, and off, the ship. And, creates a different mix of passengers nearly every day.
United States folks–Costa Cruise Line is coming here in the Spring of 2023! Costa and Carnival Cruise Line are creating a new concept for Carnival’s North American guests, called Costa by Carnival. At that time, the Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze will join the Carnival fleet. I cannot wait!