LOOK at this balcony! Welcome to a Samsara Suite onboard Costa Diadema.

I took a 14 night cruise onboard Costa Diadema, one of the cruise ships from Costa Cruises. Not only was this my first time on this cruise ship, but it was also my first time ever experiencing Costa Cruises, and so I was keen to explore the ship as much as I could!

While I was onboard, I was invited to have a look around one of the most luxurious suites on the ship, and this is what I’m going to be showing you today in this post.

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The suite I’m showing you around today is number 11002. You’ll find this suite right at the front of the ship on Deck 11 - it’s important that you remember this location - we’ll come back to this later in this post. This suite is what Costa Cruises refer to as a ‘Samsara Suite’, meaning that you’ll find it in the area of the Samara Spa, and you’ll also get some additional privileges when you book this room. It’s possible for other passengers to walk past this room, but they’ll see signage alerting them to the fact that this is the ‘Samsara area’, and you should be a guest to be here.

Are you a Samsara guest? If not, you shouldn’t be here…!

Walking into this room, I was immediately struck by how different it looks to the cruise ship cabins that I’m used to. From a styling point of view, this is quite a ‘marmite’ room (you could love it, but you could also hate it), but that’s what I found with this ship overall. The whole ship was different to anything I’ve seen ‘at sea’ before, and so you might need to keep that in mind as we progress around the cabin. Here’s the room:

Looking into Suite 11002 onboard Costa Diadema.

Look at the far wall - you’ve got a door and a window - an unusual setup!

In the room, you’ll find everything you’d expect from most cruise ship cabins: a comfortable bed with a pillow menu, a sofa, a small coffee table with a chair, a safe, and the usual bedside and overhead lighting setups. On the other side of the room, this suite begins to demonstrate why it’s a much better cabin than its’ ‘standard’ counterparts elsewhere onboard.

The amount of storage in this room was remarkable - there was so much of it! I didn’t stay in this room, but I’d only have been able to fill a small percentage of the drawers and cupboards in here - I was really impressed with this aspect.

Look at how much storage is in this suite! Could you fill it?!

The finishings all around this room were of a seemingly high quality, from the glass lampshades on either side of the bed, to the glossy granite worktop on most of the surfaces, this felt like a much more premium room than what I’d seen elsewhere on the ship. I would say that the storage did make the room feel fairly dated - the wood finish, and even the handles, were quite ‘old fashioned’, but I guess this isn’t a huge issue at all.

In terms of additional touches due to the fact this is a suite, you’ll find things like a pod coffee machine, a stocked minibar, and also more premium glassware and serving items than you’d get in a regular cabin. It’s when you get to the balcony that this room comes into its’ own, but I’ll take you out there shortly…

This room comes complete with its’ own coffee machine.

Here’s your coffee tray, complete with different types of coffee, mugs, plates and sugar shakers.

Moving in to look at the bathroom, you’ll find a really nicely designed space in here. There is a double sink setup, which is VERY well lit, so don’t worry about not being able to check yourself out in here… There’s also a jetted bathtub, which would be perfect for relaxing in while ‘at sea’.

You’ve also got a shower in here, and this is part of the bath tub. You don’t have a separate shower cubicle in this bathroom.

Here’s the double sink setup in the bathroom.

The bathroom comes complete with a jetted tub, with a shower fixed to the far wall.

Ok, I’ve mentioned it a few times, but let’s now move on to look at the absolute highlight of this suite: the balcony.

Out here, you’ve got a fully enclosed glass terrace (I know - it’s not really a ‘balcony’ in the traditional sense, but you know what I mean), and you’ll also find your very own WHIRLPOOL TUB!

Here’s your private glass-covered terrace. Out here, you can relax in the sunshine, no matter what the weather outside is like!

Fancy a dip? You’ve got your own whirlpool tub out here!

There are also a couple of chairs out here, which offer you somewhere to relax without getting yourself wet…!

One of the really unusual aspects of this suite is that this ‘outdoor’ terrace is actually fully air conditioned. This allows you to stay comfortable in the warmer weather, but it also allows you to spend some time in the bright daylight while the ship’s cruising in colder weather. This feature also makes the space usable at night, as you won’t be faced with the cool evening air - you’re protected behind the glass.

When I first saw this space, I wasn’t sure that I liked the fact it’s covered in glass, but the more cruises I’ve taken, the more I’ve realised the real benefit to this… Remember that I mentioned earlier that this suite is at the very front of the ship? Well, you’ll often find that rooms facing out to the front of the ship will experience high wind levels while the ship is sailing, but this design feature means you won’t feel it at all, and you can continue to use the terrace in high winds. In my opinion, a great idea!

If you’ve enjoyed having a look around this cabin, why not come and join me for a full tour of the ship? The below YouTube video covers all of the venues on this beautiful, but really unusual ship - see you over there!

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