BVILady

no the service charge is not included. It is included in the German site I noticed but estimating the exchange rate Euro/US it seemed to be on par, but I didn't check the exchange rates online.  Concerning the internet site still not being fully up, I had previously checked on HAL internet sites and they had been having problems there also which seems to have been fixed by now. So looks like all Carnival group sites were hacked and are getting worked on now one by one. 

3 hours ago, gerryuk said:

Not seen any from Japan, there are defiantly cruises to Singapore and there are cruises to and from Dubai, i am booked on one, i believe next March.

I think as the situation starts to ease more cruise destinations will be added. 

There are no world cruises showing on the UK site but i believe BVILady has said that she has booked a world cruise with Costa in 2023?

Give it some time drsel and keep checking. 

when you look for the world cruise when it brings up the date it brings up Jan.22 just click to the right to go to Jan. 23 then you should be able to book, I didn't find any other cruises past March 22 to book. That is on the US-site which only allows for reservations from the US and the Caribbean. I have also booked the World cruise 2022 from there. Maybe if you check with one of the wholesalers like icruise or *****...

still stunned how the fender just popped up like that. Too much pressure from the weight of the ship and I assume in future they will need to apply more fenders then this lonely one 🙂

35 minutes ago, drsel said:

the entertainment shows and activities differ on each and every Cruise ship, although there are similar activities on the same cruise line.

The food options and varieties also differ.

 

I love variety and this is the main reason why we do not repeat the same Cruise ship, unless it's going to a lot of new ports we have never seen before.

The reason I have not been loyal to any cruise company is because of dates and itinerary. Only now I have booked 2 cruises with Costa back to back, because of the itinerary again, a lot of the ports I have been to already with whatever cruise line, but I did like the ports I had not been to yet and the price for 2022 World tour. Comparing all the World tours, their itinerary are just very similar besides the 2023 Costa Africa and South America. The HAL was only Africa but for the price I decided to do Costa which is Africa and around South America. Nice to do South America again, what do you actually see on the short visits with only a small price difference from Africa only. When it comes to food-variety I am so set on my breakfasts: fresh fruit, yogurt, chocolate croissant and maybe once in a while eggs or smoked salmon. When it comes to Entertainment my daughter is successfully  providing entertainment here in the BVI, singing with a band, hosting bingo and karaoke and other shows like "Name the tune" or "Couples Therapy (which is like the Newlywed game), so for me it is a better choice to enjoy long days and go to sleep. So that is just working for me, naturally will not work for everybody.

Just out of curiosity I checked the cabin-size. On HAL my cabin would be smaller. And basically if you have been on one of these cruise ships you have been on all. Large stair case in the center. 2 restaurants on the lower decks. Theatre going over 2 decks also on the lower decks. One higher deck with SPA, Pool and buffet. To much space for photo-studio. Several bars, coffee-shop, shops, casino, library and wifi-center  and art gallery, smaller rooms for lectures etc. Front desk and Excursion desk on a lower deck.  Approximately on deck 3 life boats, what did I forget? Some might be a little more flashy decorated but that probably also depends on when they were built.

1 hour ago, drsel said:

Do you really think that Costa and Princess/Celebrity are worth the same price per person per night (for the same cabin category)?

Hi drsel, I just booked a premium cabin  with Costa,  compared to a regular cabin same category on a similar cruise of HAL which cost me working it out on a daily rate 69 % of what the HAL cruise would have cost me. It is difficult to compare with Princess since you need to go through a travel agent to get the price for single-occupancy. Maybe my outlook on a cruise is different then yours. For me the cruise is mostly a mode of transportation with meals included. I get up early, usually have dinner late sitting to make the most of my day and am not really a night-owl, so entertainment is not important to me. This 31 % saving go to what is important to me - excursions. I do watch cruise passengers here in the BVI getting off the ship and walking around Road Town where there is nothing to see but I want to explore the places I visit and that is where I spend my money on. The other expenses will probably be similar for both cruise companies: wifi, laundry, service-charge, not sure.

drsel, I think you might be mistaken about service-charge, other cruise companies do have mandatory service charge as well, but maybe that has changed recently. I have been on quite a few smaller companies as well as Princess, P & O and HAL and have not really seen a significant difference to rectify the higher fare-prices. Can not imagine what more they might offer on the High-end Ships, to make it worth it for "me". I actually do like Costa's food but maybe that is just my taste based on my European Background. I do always appreciate the hard work of cabin stewards and make sure to tip them in addition for any little extra they might do (plug in my Water-pick, get me extra hangers) or just to show them my appreciation. But I have worked in the service-industry for 35 years with mandatory service-charge and know it is hard to swallow for Europeans who are not accustomed to the customary service-charge charged in for example the US.

It is back up. was able to book the 2023 World Cruise  - so excited, now just hoping that the 2022 World Cruise and the 2023 will be actually going!!!

drsel - I will let you know as soon as I was able to book, has limited availability last I saw. Looking at the add above, I had been looking into Malta for 2022 but the only one I found had been the one with P & O. So maybe when Costa opens again I can find a Malta-cruise on there, didn't find in on any wholesaler site.

I am so sorry for your problems. It took about 4 month but we had gotten our deposit back for all 3 cabins we had booked. I hope your problem will be solved soon. I am having the same problem with Alitalia, they send me an e-mail more then a month ago that they process the refund for 1 of the 3 tickets, but it still hasn't reached my credit card. And I am on every travel website I can think off complaining about them. First they had told me, it wasn't refundable because I booked locally (I had booked on their website).

I usually book whatever cruise goes to the destinations I am looking for at the dates I am considering, so I am not loyal to any cruise-line. Just wanted to book a P&O cruise for summer 2022 and didn't book because the prices were ridiculous. So I think all cruise lines prices will go up to make up for the expenses of all the lost dates. And as my cruise-agent tells me cruises will be fully booked with all the cruisers waiting to be able to go again. The Costa-cruise I am desperately waiting to book is still not available at Agents sites. Had found something similar at another cruise line website but like the Costa itinerary better. Just hope I will not lose out with waiting.

I am interested in a cruise which is offered with airfare included but trying to get a quote without airfare, since that will be a waste of money for us. Have been dealing with an agency but am unsure whether the price they quoted without air is correct, so would like to make sure it is. It is rather high for not including the air (is quoted in USS, so hard to compare).

I think they are also reworking their itinerary and want to avoid taking bookings and then have to deal with cancellations and people being unhappy with itinerary-changes. I have been looking into the world cruise for 2023 January and corresponding with Costa they tell me they let me know when the itinerary and possibility to book is up. Had the itinerary on icruise and liked it and saw it now on a different site without all the Africa ports. 

click on the top bar where it says "responsible restart" and it will lead you to

We are hoping to resume with the following start dates:

On 1/18/2021 at 7:35 AM, KirkNC said:

Initially they just sell the whole cruise but later on segments will become available.

My cruise specialist told me that it is questionable for segments to become available since there is so much demand for world cruises right now with 2020 and 2021 having been cancelled. I have spoken to HAL because I wanted to book a segment for my son and they told me we can put down a refundable deposit to wait list in case they ever will open a segment.

Just attempted to book a cruise for end of July 2021 and our cruise specialist is not convinced that these cruises will be happening, according to the cancellations she is receiving from cruise-companies she assumes hardly anything will be going before Fall 2021. Cruise companies might have 2 or 3 ships out in the Med, so the specific itinerary I had been looking at will most probably not be one of them. Very disappointed. 

I have been wondering about existing itineraries. What are they able to actually sell at the moment without knowing what destination will be open to ships. It doesn't make any sense to sell cruises now and then have to cancel and refund the deposits. Just frustrating when you want to stay positive and plan to get on with your life.

I got this from Costa:

Dear ..........

We are currently experiencing IT technical issues that are affecting the functionality of our systems. Consequently, we are momentarily not available by phone, and email traffic may be  disrupted as our IT teams are working to assess the nature of the problem.

We regret the inconvenience. We will communicate further once the issue has been solved.

Sincerely,

Costa Cruises

On 1/3/2021 at 6:50 AM, drsel said:

I don't think Costa is in any major financial crisis, because they returned my deposit very quickly after they cancelled the Costa smeralda sailing in 2022

You have me worried now. I am booked on the World Tour for January 2022 and am looking forward to it. I am a little worried but figured that is 12 month so I might be safe. What was the reason for them to cancel your sailing?

Hi Essiesmom, I am on Deliziosa but boarding in Venice (or Trieste, not sure). So we will be 3 days before boarding in Italy arriving on the 5th of January. Bad experience in the past with lost luggage has taught me that. I doubt that the climate in Tenerife will be warm enough for me so I will be in my climate range on the 26th of January when we reach St. Lucia. Not sure how cold the Atlantic Crossing will be, have not done that before. And I live in the Tropics. Right now here is winter when our Tourists are frolicking in the the ocean and pools. For us locals it is much too cold and you will only find young local people in the water. I have been told your blood gets thinner living in a hot climate. I have had incidents when people just moving to the island were secretly laughing behind my back because I wouldn't go in the water and had to admit a year later that now they understood. So right now I am sleeping with a comforter (night temperature here 78 F).  So I need quite some warm clothes the last thing I need is getting sick on my trip. Many years ago I have been working in the Fashion business and still want to be comfortable with my looks especially being on a ship with Italians :).  Like your sense of humor listing the Staten Island Ferry, Weehawken Ferry (where is that?) and Hong Kong Star Ferry under cruising experience.

Thank you all very much for your thoughts. Donating is kind of out of the question since I do live in the British Virgin Islands and have to mail-order warm clothing. Sometimes until the item reaches here freight and duty are again more then the cost of the item. And then there is already a loss with items which are not fitting right or don't look the way they are pictured and therefore get donated right here for people who might leave the island.  Have been before only for a few days in cold climate so the few pieces of nice enough layers I do have will not be sufficient. We are going to be disembarking in Venice (or Trieste) not sure where Costa will be since Venice wants to stop Cruise ships. So all the warm clothing will need to reach back home for me to have when needed again, not to have to start shopping by mail again. And I sure hope to be around for lots of more years to travel. And I keep my fingers crossed that this cruise will happen, since our last 2 cruises this summer were cancelled. Wanted to re book for 2021 and am sure I have lost the deposit on the river-cruise in Portugal for August again and didn't even book the other 2021 cruise yet. Stupid Corona GO AWAY.

Thank you every one, that has been a big help, luggage forward seems to be the thing to use and from my finale destination just in case I need to use anything again. For whoever is interested I found another option sendmybag.com. Cruise Critic is just amazing, I had found Dayuse through them when we needed a place to stash our luggage in Hong Kong waiting for a late flight and were so happy to be able to shower and change before our trip, I have used dayuse quite a lot since then and am still grateful for the members recommending it.

Will be going on a world cruise in January 2022. The first 3 weeks we will need serious winter-clothing but when we reach back to Europe it will be early summer. I assume that there will be quite some clothing I will not like to carry around with me getting off the ship and spending a few extra days in Europe. We will have 1/2 a day in Sidney and was wondering whether there is a possibility close to the cruise dock to mail clothing home. I have gotten off a cruise in Sidney but don't remember the cruise terminal, just got in a taxi to my hotel and didn't pay any attention. We will also stop in Singapore and Hong Kong, which might be a possibility but didn't want to take time away from the possibility of excursions even we have stayed in both places before. Another option for me, living in the Caribbean might be St. Lucia but again not familiar with the Port.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

On 12/6/2020 at 3:11 PM, Philob said:

How long the vaccine will last? 

 

Nobody knows since trials only started before this summer.  Say you got the second shot July 2021, and you have your vax cert. Will you need a booster 6 months, 12 months, never ever?  

 

Of course the more people that get vax'd the more data becomes available that they'll be able to give a  guestimate in a couple of years.

 

In the meantime I'm pretty sure if countries or the travel industry requires proof of vaccination they may require that you must have your last vaccine shot X months prior to travel.

 

 

that is a question I am worried about, being 71 I might get my shot maybe May/June where I reside. Having booked a World cruise January 2022 will I be able to go or will they reject the vaccination as outdated and will there be a booster shot available if needed. There is going to be a large amount of money at stake for me.