What to do re. cruising and the Covid-19 crisis?

[Plan B]

Surely all the ports will be closed?  BBC state that schools and universities will close until 3 April - I don't know if this applies to everything?  

[dritan]

These few lines were from their online report last night which is still up there and not been corrected (yet;-) )

 

The government said only those with a valid work or family reason that cannot be postponed will be allowed to travel.

Passengers departing on flights will have to justify themselves, as will all those who arrive by plane.

There are controls at train stations to check the temperatures of passengers. Cruise ships are also forbidden to dock at various ports.

[drsel]

9 hours ago, Tripi23 said:

My cruise doesn’t leave until 6th April but I can’t see anything in Italy changing before then and current lockdown doesn’t have an end date.  I bet Costa will still try and say the cruise is going ahead.  We have until Monday to cancel but don’t want to pay them as I think they should be cancelling it and we should be getting full refund!! I hope they make a clear policy as forcing my hand to pay a huge amount would put me off every travelling with them again!

I don't think Costa will cancel your Cruise more than 30 days in advance

[drsel]

Costa will expect your payment to be made by the due date of 6th March, or else you may forfeit your deposit

[drsel]

It's really a very bad situation but look at the bright side

Cruise prices are at their lowest in decades.

Cruises are available for 32 and 33 dollars per day including all port fees and taxes

Edited March 10, 2020 by drsel

[Tripi23]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

It's really a very bad situation but look at the bright side

Cruise prices are at their lowest in decades.

Cruises are available for 32 and 33 dollars per day including all port fees and taxes

Yes shame I booked last year and have paid £2500!! And am going to lose 25% of that because Costa have not put in place appropriate policies for their customers.  Most other cruise lines are allowing customers to change the date of their booking or cancel  

[Tripi23]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

I don't think Costa will cancel your Cruise more than 30 days in advance

Yes we are less than 30 days travel but appears they have only seemed to have cancelled cruises up to 3rd April.  Because obviously by 3rd April this corona virus will have magically disappeared 😂. Honestly, this company is a joke.  I will never ever book anything with them again

[Tripi23]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

Costa will expect your payment to be made by the due date of 6th March, or else you may forfeit your deposit

Luckily we have only paid a deposit!! They are not getting any more of my money in this current situation.  Ludicrous that they still expect us to go to a country that is rampant with corona virus and on lockdown!

[drsel]

Don't give them interest free money in advance. 

Booking last minute is the way to go especially with their unfriendly customer policies and high penalties for cancellation

[drsel]

If you see traditionally and historically, Costa last minute prices are always much lower than advance booking prices

[Tripi23]

1 minute ago, drsel said:

If you see traditionally and historically, Costa last minute prices are always much lower than advance booking prices

At the moment ours would be about £500 more expensive to book now than what we originally paid.  They should be giving them away at this rate 😂

[drsel]

Costa even has last minute specials as a permanent feature on their different country websites

Edited March 10, 2020 by drsel

[drsel]

25 minutes ago, drsel said:

If you see traditionally and historically, Costa last minute prices are always much lower than advance booking prices

However this is not true for all Cruises, but only for certain cruises, when they have last minute cancellations or when they want to fill up the last few remaining cabins in order to get maximum service charges for the crew

[drsel]

for last minute bargains you cannot be fussy, because you will invariably get a cabin guarantee, so you cannot choose the cabin  or location of your choice

[drsel]

I think all Cruise lines are bleeding right now with so many cancellations and income drying up

[Plan B]

17 minutes ago, Tripi23 said:

Yes shame I booked last year and have paid £2500!! And am going to lose 25% of that because Costa have not put in place appropriate policies for their customers.  Most other cruise lines are allowing customers to change the date of their booking or cancel  

We are booked with Logitravel on Smeralda out of Barcelona on 6 April but haven't heard anything from either Logitravel or Costa so I rung Logitravel who said the Costa will allow us to change the date/ship/region - I just have to pick which date etc etc and let Logitravel know who will then check with Costa.  Hope this helps

[dritan]

Just a little update from me - if you recall I sent an email a few days ago asking for detail of refunding ( we are/were just over 30 days out from the cruise).

 

I got an email today saying 

 

" PLease note that we are waiting for news from the government and the top management due to the Italian lockdown.  Please wait a few days and then call us at 08003890622 in order to see what the update is and what we can do.  Thank you.

 

 

There was a second email, prob because I'm an impatient sort and had sent a chaser email yesterday.  It said

Thank you for the email.  We kindly ask you to wait one or two days because our top management is in a meeting now, it's crucial.  PLease contact us in two days time."

 

So I shall wait until Thursday and contact them

 

 

[gerryuk]

Well I set off in 6 hours time from Gran Canaria to fly to Abu Dhabi to pick up the Costa cruise from there to Savona on Friday.

I will be outraged to fly all that way to get a email from Costa telling me the cruise has been cancelled or I can cancel and get a future cruise voucher or my money back. The silence from Costa on all this is just appalling.

[dritan]

I'm really sorry to hear about this silence with such a close timeframe!  I really hope that it works out for you and that it all goes smoothly.  Fingers crossed.

[greg2014]

Until 3 April, Costa cancelled all embarkation from Italian ports: https://crew-center.com/costa-cruises-cancels-embarkations-italian-ports

 

[dritan]

And knowing Costa - they will probably only make a decision on cruises just after 3rd April, on 2nd April!

[alicat58]

COSTA CROCIERE REVIEWS ITS ITINERARIES IN ITALY TO RESPECT GOVERNMENT CONTAINMENT MEASURES. Genoa, March 10, 2020 - Following the new measures introduced last evening by the Italian Government in an effort to contain the health emergency on the national territory, Costa Crociere has reviewed the itineraries of its ships calling at Italian ports up to April 3. "As an Italian company and the only cruise operator flying the Italian flag, we are committed to guarantee compliance with the regulations and support to the Italian authorities and the community in this extraordinary effort to face the current situation of emergency" said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Crociere. Cruises currently underway will call at Italian ports only to allow guests to disembark and return to their home, with no excursions or new embarkations. The company is promptly informing all guests involved by these changes, offering them a future cruise credit so that they will be able to enjoy the cruise experience at a later date. In the past days, Costa Crociere had already cancelled all outgoing Italian guests departing from cruises outside the Mediterranean in an effort to contain risks, preserve the environment and enforce the specific measures issued by the Italian Government. The protection of health and safety of guests and crew members is the utmost priority for Costa Crociere. On board Costa ships, the level of sanitization has been increased to ensure maximum hygiene and safety for guests and crew members. The Company has adopted rigid health screenings upon embarkation since the beginning of the Covid-19 emergency.

 

From Costa Press centre.

 

I think it will be near impossible to get through to them on the phone. They must be inundated with calls.

[Tripi23]

Got through to Costa - wasn’t even on hold that long!  Have changed cruise free of charge to Costa Smeralda departing 2nd April 2021 from Rome!  So relieved to have it sorted.  Now to sort my fathers (who I booked through a travel agent who are impossible to get hold of 🤦‍♀️)

[Bobbingbob]

Tripi23, so glad you were able to change your cruise and good luck sorting out your father’s booking.

 

Riana, glad to know you are back safely and hope disembarkation at Savona was OK, your timing was remarkable given the decree brought in by the Italian government overnight Saturday/Sunday and the follow up Monday -  you picked a good week to try out Smeralda! Hope you enjoyed it overall.

 

Just wondering if you have any more cruises in the pipeline or are you taking a breather? We are not sure if we’ll just stop cruising altogether until things become more settled but it is going to be tough. Will you be able to go back to work without any problems? 

 

 

[Plan B]

1 hour ago, Tripi23 said:

Got through to Costa - wasn’t even on hold that long!  Have changed cruise free of charge to Costa Smeralda departing 2nd April 2021 from Rome!  So relieved to have it sorted.  Now to sort my fathers (who I booked through a travel agent who are impossible to get hold of 🤦‍♀️)

Great news!  I hope you don't mind me asking and I know you say FOC but was there a difference in the cost of the old cruise and new cruise?   And do Costa get to hold on to all your money for another 12 months?  Thanks