I resisted the whole 100,000-ton behemoth experience and chose instead to sail on Costa's 84,000-ton Atlantica, still big but not quite so daunting. And it turned out to be quite an education.

Costa has just, for the first time, carried one million passengers in a three month period, and with keen discounting on an already affordable product, it is easy to see why.

Although there were one or two features that were calling out for improvement, I doubt many of the 2,700 guests on Costa Atlantica - most of them Italian - headed for home at the end of their Olympic Treasures cruise with anything but fond memories of their seven days at sea.

I will number myself and wife Lis among them.

The revelation for me was the cabin, or stateroom as they are now more familiarly known. It was spacious, with a large double bed, better equipped than many hotel rooms I can recall, and the icing on the flaming baked alaska was the balcony. Every evening we were able to sip fine white wine in our private little haven and watch the beautiful Adriatic, Aegean and Croatian coastlines drift by.

But the haven ended there. Life on the other side of the stateroom door was a different matter. A hum drum of big ship life with hundreds of people going to hundreds of different places, chattering enthusiastically as they went.

And all set amidst a blaze of rioutous colour. Nobody can accuse Costa of being dull and boring. The designers were given a free rein with the flagship of the fleet and went for it, with a seven deck atrium that has ornate glass elevators bunjee-ing up and down, topped by a see-through spiral staircase that is not for the faint-hearted.

The staircase, by the way, takes you from the Atlantica Bar where Franco deserved more than the handful of people who applauded his late night easy-listening piano playing. Hopefully it got a little busier in the wee late hours. That could certainly be said of the disco, which we gladly left to the younger element to support.

In truth by midnight we were beginning to flag at the end of seemingly long evenings. The two sittings in the Tiziano restaurant come at 7.30 and 9.30, and as we were second sitting we found we were almost beyond worrying about food by the time it was arriving. Instead of being the highlight of the cruise, as I had always previously experienced, it felt rushed and routine-like.

But if you take into account that these huge ships are catering in such large numbers, then it is a miracle they maintain the standards they do. The logistics are mind-boggling.

It is also applaudable that they provide sufficient sun loungers so that everyone can park themselves in the sun without having to spend too long looking for a parking space.

But why oh why when they say a pool is for adults only isn't there someone there to tell children exactly that instead of allowing them to invade yet another corner of the ship. I am not against kids ... I have four of my own. But on the Atlantica there are two pools they can use and they should stick to them, giving adults a chance to escape. Or amu I just an old meanie!

So, apart from these minor grumbles, at the end of a wall-to-wall sunshine week Costa Atlantica, crewed by a very friendly staff but somewhat anonymous officers - I am assuming there were some - gave us a great time, some memorable moments in Athens and Dubrovnik, and lots of those little things to remember, despite being a big ship.