Difficulty phoning Costa UK & Italian ports

[Bobbingbob]

Has anyone else had trouble getting through to Costa UK? Couldn’t get anyone to answer on Tuesday and finally did speak to someone late afternoon yesterday. While it is completely understandable that they are in very difficult situation, it is quite worrying if they are not able to answer calls.
I specifically queried whether their cruises would still be calling at Italian ports which was confirmed. However, I see that the Luminosa Caribbean/ transoceanic repositioning cruise (March) will be ending in Marseille. Any more info around please?

[Plan B]

I think the Luminosa cruise that you are talking about only ends in Marseille for US passengers - that is how I read the post, but I could be wrong!

[Bobbingbob]

Thank you Plan B, you are absolutely correct now that I have gone back and read the whole link you posted more carefully! Apologies to everyone, I saw that the OBC was different for various ports of embarkation and obviously had a senior moment! Really sorry.

[gerryuk]

When you call Costa UK (0800.3890622) you are actually calling their Italy office, they don't have staff answering phones in the UK. I called them on Monday to query a upgrade and the Italian woman who eventually answered was very abrupt and bordering on being rude. It took about three calls to get a human to answer after the obligatory press 1, press 2 etc. If you do call from the UK remember their office is open Italian hours, so 10.00 - 19.00 hrs in the UK.  

[Bobbingbob]

Thanks for that info, Gerry, I did in fact know this but it may very well be of interest to others who may not.
Actually what happened was that I was trying to contact Costa for most of the day on Tues/ Wed and as you say, it took many calls to get even to press 1, press 2 etc. What was rather alarming was that after then hanging on for several minutes, the line was suddenly disconnected. 
Finally spoke to someone quite late on Wed and it was clear that they have been under enormous pressure over the past few days. Not an easy situation for anyone really.

[maryann2]

4 hours ago, gerryuk said:

When you call Costa UK (0800.3890622) you are actually calling their Italy office, they don't have staff answering phones in the UK. I called them on Monday to query a upgrade and the Italian woman who eventually answered was very abrupt and bordering on being rude. It took about three calls to get a human to answer after the obligatory press 1, press 2 etc. If you do call from the UK remember their office is open Italian hours, so 10.00 - 19.00 hrs in the UK.  

 

2 minutes ago, Bobbingbob said:

Thanks for that info, Gerry, I did in fact know this but it may very well be of interest to others who may not.
Actually what happened was that I was trying to contact Costa for most of the day on Tues/ Wed and as you say, it took many calls to get even to press 1, press 2 etc. What was rather alarming was that after then hanging on for several minutes, the line was suddenly disconnected. 
Finally spoke to someone quite late on Wed and it was clear that they have been under enormous pressure over the past few days. Not an easy situation for anyone really.

Thank you Gerry. I had not realised that it was actually an Italy office.  I was able to use the 800 number from Canada.

When I phoned I was also disconnected a couple of times and you are right they are so overwhelmed.

I did say to the person I spoke to that they must be going though such a difficult time and to stay strong. She was so surprised that I was being nice that she thanked me and blessed me.

[tenpin]

Having spoken to my friend yesterday who works for Costa in Genoa, they are indeed overwhelmed with telephone calls and cancelations

 You can understand that although you are phoning say the so called UK number that office deals with all calls, the number of Italians calling yesterday meant many calls being unanswered due solely to the shear numbers.

[drsel]

Better to email them

[Bobbingbob]

2 minutes ago, drsel said:

Better to email them

I emailed a question a couple of days ago and no reply yet. Things are extremely difficult there clearly.

[drsel]

They emailed me to email them back with my choice for 2 new Cruises with 30% discount.

no mention of any phone call anywhere

[Bobbingbob]

Thanks for that.

[gerryuk]

11 minutes ago, drsel said:

They emailed me to email them back with my choice for 2 new Cruises with 30% discount.

no mention of any phone call anywhere

When you say 30% discount, beware. You need to contact them and demand they show you all the fares published for the cruises since they first appeared on the net. Cruise fares can go up and down daily. You need to know what was the cheapest fares published then take 30% off that figure. The cruise that I should have been on has risen in price by over £500 for next years sailing, if they offer me 30% off that price, then it will be a con. Now, if I can book the same cruise next year at the same price I paid this year and then get 30% off, then that's fare.

Check the prices published before agreeing to their offer.

[drsel]

Yes I am monitoring the prices regularly.

I've also already picked my favorites and their prices have not gone up

[drsel]

Costa may have increased the prices of the Cruises which they cancelled this year and which will be held again next year