Ship Stronger on Pizazz Than Pizza : The 800-passenger CostaAllegra has exuberant architecture and offhand elegance, but weak entertainment.

Some of the Italian accents aboard Costa Cruise Line’s newest ship, the 800-passenger CostaAllegra strike us as more reminiscent of Miami than Milano. For example, there’s the gelati cart that scoops up pedestrian American chocolate and strawberry ice cream from half-gallon cartons rather than that delectable Italian ice, and the pizza served as a between-meals snack that arrives in sometimes soggy squares rather than crisp-crusted wedges.

But this is nit-picking. Overall, there’s enough offhand elegance on the Mediterranean-sailing CostaAllegra to please the Armani-suit-with-T-shirt types without scaring off the red-checked-tablecloth crowd.

First off, there’s the cool, uncluttered design by Italian architect Guido Canali, who also created the Allegra’s sister ship CostaMarina. (Unlike 1992’s all-new CostaClassica and the upcoming Costa Romantica, due in November, the Marina and Allegra are conversions of existing hulls.)

While purists on the dock may gape at the Allegra’s starkly angular, glass-walled stern, hardly the traditional image of a sleek cruise ship, passengers inside the dining room are enjoying the floor-to-ceiling views it offers.

Second, there’s an attentive and caring Italian dining room staff that brings a special flourish to even the simplest pasta or table-side salad preparation. And except for that unfortunate pizza, boring ice cream and some lackluster buffet breakfasts, the food aboard is generally quite good. We can single out a respectable osso buco with mushroom risotto, a light and delectable manicotti alla Sorrentino, and a Boston lettuce-and-watercress salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

More sparkling glass-roofed areas aboard the ship include the Crystal Disco with its painted glass floor under a clear glass dome, and the posh Caracalla Spa fitness area where exercise machines are interspersed with wicker sofas and lush green plants.

Less appealing is the Folies Bergeres showroom, with its rows of high-backed seats with some sight lines disturbed by the large number of ceiling support posts around the room. Fortunately, the entertainment roster on our sailing offered nothing that one minded missing.

A large casino with roulette, poker computer machines, blackjack tables, slot machines and C CostaAllegra cabins, while not plush, are efficient and comfortable. Each deck is named for a European Impressionist--Gauguin, Degas, Rousseau, Van Gogh, Lautrec, Manet and Modigliani--and each is decorated with stylized renditions of its namesake artist’s most famous work in companionway wallpapers and cabin fabric wall-hangings.

Standard outside cabins measure 156 square feet, with two lower beds that can be combined, in most cabins, into one queen-sized bed. Some also offer pull-down upper berths for third and fourth passengers in the same cabins. Instead of windows, all cabins offer oversized portholes. Each also contains a combination safe and a hair dryer, along with a desk and dresser, chair, TV set with remote control, a bathroom with space-age shower, two full-length hanging closets, plenty of large deep drawers and a pull-up table for room-service breakfast.

The slightly smaller inside cabins measure 146 square feet, with much the same furniture but no portholes. Eight of these are earmarked for disabled passengers.

Ten suites capable of sleeping up to four plus three grand suites that can sleep five to six passengers are also available. On our Caribbean cruise in March, a couple with four small children were booked into one of the grand suites with a separate bedroom for the parents, a second smaller bedroom with pull-down bed and a living room sofa that makes into still another bed.

The CostaAllegra is based in Venice through the end of October, with 10- and 11-day itineraries in the Black Sea, Holy Lands, Turkey, Greece and Egypt.

Fares range from $2,995 to $12,995 per person, double occupancy (plus $400 air add-on for West Coast residents).

For free brochures, contact a travel agent or call Costa at (800) 462-6782.