Anyone Hear Anything on the Costa Club?

[KLS0606]

When we took our cruise last spring on the mediterreanea we signed up for the costa club. The club was suppose to be active by December 2006. We are returning this spring to the mediterreanea and haven't heard anything about the Costa Club program. Any informaiton is appreciated.

 

Phyl

[michigan tim]

I called today (after booking 4/1 Magica)... and got directed to a recording that stated something about signing up for it on the ship.

[luv2cruise13]

We just got off the Costa Magica on the 14th. You will see a little note in the daily paper to go to the information desk on board and you can sign up there. If you are already in the club you charge/room key will be a different color. Ours was blue (we had only sailed before on the Mediterranea too). We got a bowl of fruit, additional cocktail party, some discounts. They were out of the brochures in English when we went. Joan

[NancyJewel92]

Adding on to Luv2Cruise's post - when I called Costa last week about this, the rep told me the same thing -- sign up on the ship AND to mention all the cruises taken on Carnival and all of their lines, as these would count toward the Costa club levels.

[Cruise4Andy]

The Costa Club IS currently activated after some troublesome start for U.S. customers. The Costa CLub has been established for a while for the European market.

 

If you have applied for the Costa Club and you are a return customer, mention that to your travel agent or contact Costa Cruise lines for your membership number. There are three Club levels: Aquamarine, Coral and Pearl.

 

You will get discounts on merchandise, receive a special invitation to Club Member Captain's Party and also enjoy discounts while booking your next cruise (up to 18% with Pearl Club).

 

I am sure Costa can send you a brochure which explains all the details of the Club benefits, but they are also available in all kind of languages on board. If you can't find them in the information rack (usually by the Customer Service desk area or 2nd deck (by the Picture Gallery), ask a clerk at the Customer Service Desk for one.

 

With each Costa cruise you will accumulate points. As higher the points, as better the benefits...

 

Hope that helps...

 

Andy

[jak378]

We have sailed on Costa 3 times previously, and are currently booked on the Mediterranea 2/25. I thought we had cards for membership in the past passengers club, but they are not to be found. All or our previous sailings were prior to the takeover by Carnival Corp. Can anyone tell me if the number 577357CC620 sounds like a past passenger number?

Thanks

[furkidsmom]

We applied on the ship last week. I thought it said that our cards would be in our room on our next cruise.

[Cruise4Andy]

Correct, furkidsmom, that's how we got our Costa Club Card as well.

 

Once you have registered, you may check if you already have received a Costa Club Member Number by calling the 800 number for Costa, but they will NOT actually send you your Club Card.

 

The next time you board the ship, you will find your personalied Costa Club Card (which will also be your room key card and charge card) in your room. Your card will look different than other room keys and will have your Club Status (Aquamarine, Coral or Pearl) on the front of the card.

 

Your Costa Club Member Number will be imprinted along with your name on the back of the card (ours is a 7-digit number)... so I would assume that all the membership numbers are 7-digits.

 

Andy

[Crociere Diva]

Hi,

 

Here is the latest I got for Costa Club American information. The Club is still not offcially activated in America, although they still take care of you onboard. Once you completed 1 sailing with Costa you can call 800 GO COSTA and ask for the Costa Club extension. The rep will issue a number to you over the phone. The next time you sail put that number on your reservation and when you get onboard your cruise card will be color coded according to your membership level and it will have you membership number on the reverse side. Then when you leave the ship this card becomes your membership card. If you have sailed with Carnival or any other cruise line that Carnival ownes those cruises will not count in the Costa Club. The only perk is that if you sailed with another Carnival line and you have never sailed with Costa, Costa will offer you a past guest discount if it is available on the sailing that you want to book, but that is it. Somebody said that you can get up to an 18% discount if you are a Costa Club Pearl Member but I called Costa and they told me that this is also not true and that if the sailing you want to go on has a Costa Club discounts available when you book, then they will office it to you but the discount amount varies. However, the European Costa Club gives all of their members a 5% discount on every sailing but it only applies to Europeans. Hope this helps as this is the info I got when I phoned the Costa Club.

[alohavictoria]

It's true, if you read the details about the Costa Club on the Costa UK website, it offers a 5% discount on all sailings. They aren't offering that to us over here in the US. Hopefully once the US club gets up and running they will. I found a wonderful agent at Costa who has gotten my Costa Club # for me as well as searched out those hard to find cruises that they aren't advertsing to the US yet. Unfirtunatley my Costa Club # didn't get me an extra 5% discount on the Asia cruise I booked.

 

Hopefully the Club will up and running soon.

[Thrifty]

The Costa Club booklet I picked up on my recent cruise says that one of the advantages of membership is a "Frequent Cruiser" discount of 5%. It doesn't exclude Asian cruises or say that it will not start until some time in the future. Since we didn't pay for Costa Club membership, that promise is presumably not legally enforceable, but if I were you, I'd point it out to them and be quite cool to any excuses.

[spaceguy]

.....Since we didn't pay for Costa Club membership, that promise is presumably not legally enforceable.....

 

Ah..but you did pay......You had to pay to sail Costa at least one time before you became a member....

[Thrifty]

Perhaps some passengers book a cruise partly because they want Costa Club membership or benefits. We didn't even know there was a Costa Club when we booked ours (it was our first Costa cruise), so it was a windfall. No consideration; no enforcable contract. If they won't give me the 5% when I book my asian cruise, I may not go, but I can't claim they legally have to give me the discount. Of course, a lot will depend on how good a deal it otherwise is. We thought we got about 50% more than we paid for on our first cruise. If the same thing is true on our next one, I'm not going to "cut off my nose to spite my face," I'll just grouch at the reservations agent a little to express my disapproval.

[jak378]

Does anyone know if Costa Club information, etc. is available to US residents on their website as yet? It has been for UK residents for some time now.

[legallady]

For all the "Princess" bashing that seems to abound on these boards, I'm surprised that Costa doesn't get its fair share of complaints. I started calling Costa customer service a year ago (04/06) to verify previous sailings so that I could obtain any possible discounts per their membership in World's Leading Cruiselines. On my very first sailing (okay -- it was _____ years ago), we got stuck on a sandbar for 3 days as we were about to disembark in Port Everglades. I have photos of it -- and it made the papers as far north as Chicago. You'd think Costa corporate would have some record of that event, but they don't. I also supplied copies of tickets and ship's newspapers from my second sailing with them. My TA has been on hold with them for innumerable hours, and I've made phone calls myself and sent e-mails. I have yet to get any kind of response other than "their records don't go back that far." I don't understand how I can go online and gets records of people arriving at Ellis Island more than 100 years ago -- but I can't get verification that I sailed with Costa 25 years ago!!! (oops!) On the other hand, the few times I've needed assistance from Princess customer service I had the best possible service -- hence my continued cruising with them!

I've tried to join Costa Club because I have cruised with them previously -- they say they have no records of my past cruises, and won't accept my proofs. If I decide at some future time to sail with Costa again, I may re-visit the issue of Costa Club membership. I think the phrase is "When pigs fly!"