Our trip part 3-disaster strikes

Hi all. Well a few days have passed since my last post. I'll try and keep this brief. Shuttle picked us up as planned, took us to Venice port. Luggage collected and up to check in, where they told us that the Costa neoriviera was having engine trouble and would be delayed by 48 hours. They would put us up in a hotel with full board and gave us an excursion to Verona.

They would then fly us to Sicily on Wednsday to board the ship there. We would also receive obc of 150 euros or cash equivalant.

An early morning call 4.45 and we took suitcases to reception had breakfast and then came the news from the Costa reps that the cruise has been cancelled. There will be another meeting between 11 to 12pm to see if any suitable alternatives can be found.

A lot of Unhappy bunnies this am. These things happen though, so we'll see what Costa offer. i'll ry and post more when we are updated. :(

Hi Bazbov

That's awful! Good that Costa put you up in a hotel etc ,but being excited about the cruise and then this.

Really feeling for you. Hope Costa sorts something out.

Good luck.

Alicat

Still much better than being stranded at sea on a broken ship or worse. Good luck continuing your vacation.

Oh my goodness, what a horrible thing to happen to you. Feel so disappointed for you and Don. Really hope they come up with something which will make up for all this.

Wishing you the best

Bob

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Hi all, thanks for comments.

Cruise completely cancelled,these unexpected things happen though.

offered money back plus 50% future crise credit so we r ok with that.

Costa said they'd get us back hometo Spain, but we ended up being flown to london stansted where we were assured a costa rep would be thereto help with onward plans. nobody there. eventually between all 14 or so passengers we managed to get a contact number and spoke to costa uk. they knew nothing. Eventually called us back and we have to make own arrangements ad obtain receipts and we'll be reimbursed.

can't get a flight till Sunday,so we are stuck now at Gatwick. Making the best of it, have to say a costa rep called Amanda,has been very good here in uk and has helped to ease the stress.

more updates when we get home. Shame cruise cancelled,met some lovely people including some cc'ers. :)

H

 

Making the best of it, have to say a costa rep called Amanda, has been very good here in UK and has helped to ease the stress.

/QUOTE]

 

Sorry to hear about your cruise Bazboy, but better that than putting out to sea & being stranded out there without power.

 

I know Amanda personally and must say she is a gem, has helped us over the years with all my problems & arranging all our cruises personally.

 

Sure you will soon make use of the offers Costa have made & enjoy your next cruise.

Make the most of your enforced UK stay even if the weather is not great.

Hi Bazbov,

I was also on that cruise. Which hotel did they put you in.

I wanted to get back to UK but there was a mix up at reception as too chaotic and no one told me the flight was going on the Weds morning so I ended up arriving home from Gatwick at 9.15pm.. I live in London so am now home.

Did you book a flight from Dubai back to Spain? I have booked to go on MSC Fantastica and flying out to Dubai on Thurs 9th December and have had to book a single flight to Dubai from Heathrow, singles cost as much as a return so that is annoying and I booked them through separate agents to airlines ... the cruise is from 10th December to 17th December so is timed well if you have a flight return that you can't get a refund on and the cruise compensation should cover the new cruise cost. It was a case of lose £380 for Dubai to London flight and have no holiday or pay £300 for a London to Dubai flight and still have a holiday in sunshine. Also I have friends in Dubai that I was looking forward to meet up with.

The cruise is well worth a look and only £249 per passenger and I paid for inside and they have given me an outside with balcony.

I have already done Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman ports so I will make the most of the one I haven't done.

It would be good to continue the conversation and keep in touch.

Hi Bazbov

Sorry to hear the cruise was cancelled.Is Costa putting you up in a hotel in the UK? Bad to be stuck at Gatwick till Sunday. You only have the joys of Crawley close by. I worked there for a year in 2000. All those roundabouts are enough to give you vertigo.

Good luck getting home safe and sound. Book your next cruise when you get home. Something to look forward to.

Alicat

Sandra and I were on that cancelled cruise too. Have to say that I was surprised and impressed when Costa chartered an Airbus for the 10 of us from Venice to Stansted. My car was parked at LHR so had to make it from there to Heathrow to pick it up and then drive 200 miles up the M1 home - a 20 hour day but we were better off than some!

Co-incidentally we have booked exactly the same deal as Costa Lotless except we are flying to Dubai next Friday. Iglu have changed the return flight for us and we got a fantastic price for the 8 day cruise out of Dubai on MSC Fantasia. Hope to see some of the great people we met whilst we were stranded in Venice at the Hotel Delfino for 4 days. Wonder what happened to George and Gail, Barry and Youshiko?

cheers

John and Sandra

Ah that's great you got on the same cruise as me.

I was in the Delfino too, but there was so much confusion in the phone call I got to my room and downstairs in reception no one told me there was a flight going to London Stansted on the Wednesday as that is where I wanted to go.

The rep I spoke to was obviously not aware that a flight had been organised there so I didn't get a flight until 8.15 on Thursday evening and that was to Gatwick when Stansted is much closer to me living in East London, Essex borders.

I can't think if I met you in the hotel.... I was alone, I went on the Verona trip.

Would be nice to meet up and say hi on Fantasia. I am now apprehensive about my flight getting there, and worried something with go wrong, am flying out on Thursday 8th and arriving 4am Friday and staying in a hotel.

Unfortunately, I didn't book my Costa cruise through a travel agent so had my return flight booked and unable to change to a return price so ended paying an extra £300 for a one way to Dubai.

Anyway I am pleased that MSC have put me in a balcony cabin when I booked an inside.

Just hope the weather stays decent in UK so we can get our flights.

I met a couple from Wales, parents of a dancer on the ship from Liverpool, and some lovely South Africans, including the Danish man Jurgen who lived in South Africa, he reminded me of Sir Alec Guiness. I was really starting to get to know some of the would be passengers of the ill fated cruise.

I will definitely look into booking with IGLU next time, they agreed to pay for a couples flight from Rio de Janeiro to London who ended up on the Costa cruise from Savona to South America, lucky beggars.

Lisa

Hi Bazbov,

 

I was also on that cruise. Which hotel did they put you in.

 

I wanted to get back to UK but there was a mix up at reception as too chaotic and no one told me the flight was going on the Weds morning so I ended up arriving home from Gatwick at 9.15pm.. I live in London so am now home.

 

Did you book a flight from Dubai back to Spain? I have booked to go on MSC Fantastica and flying out to Dubai on Thurs 9th December and have had to book a single flight to Dubai from Heathrow, singles cost as much as a return so that is annoying and I booked them through separate agents to airlines ... the cruise is from 10th December to 17th December so is timed well if you have a flight return that you can't get a refund on and the cruise compensation should cover the new cruise cost. It was a case of lose £380 for Dubai to London flight and have no holiday or pay £300 for a London to Dubai flight and still have a holiday in sunshine. Also I have friends in Dubai that I was looking forward to meet up with.

 

The cruise is well worth a look and only £249 per passenger and I paid for inside and they have given me an outside with balcony.

 

I have already done Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman ports so I will make the most of the one I haven't done.

 

It would be good to continue the conversation and keep in touch.

Hello Costalotless. Glad you got back safely. They put us up in the Hotel Delfino in Mestre. The hotel was ok for 2 nights, there were some issues there but not enough to make a song and dance about,until the day of departure.

We Booked our own flight back from Dubai to UK as we are spending Christmas and New year in a hotel there. We do have travel insurance so are hoping that will cover it.

We had already booked to spend a week on the neoriviera in March 2017 and then stay onboard for her return to Genoa. Now we are looking forward to that one. We'd also booked the Pacifica sailing back from the Carribbean in March 2018.

Hopefully Costa will refund our money as quickly as possible.

Hope you have a wonderful trouble free new cruise and we wish you a merry Christmas and Healthy happy New Year. Please let us know how this new cruise goes. Happy Cruising. :)

P.S I am copying and pasting the e mail i have sent to costa on the main Costa Board.

I was in Hotel Delfino too... until last Friday.

I will update on my return. I have found another couple on the MSC Fantasia role call who were also in the Delfino courtesy of Costa, so that will be interesting.

:)