Cruising ‘Italian style’ on Costa Europa

My husband, Larry, and I booked a Costa Europa cruise in the Indian Ocean that was scheduled to go to Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, Reunion, Seychelles and Kenya (for Mombasa), Jan. 17-31, 2009. We embarked and disembarked in Mauritius, and the price was $8,878 for the two of us in the Grand Suite.

After seeing the itinerary on the line’s website, we had our travel agent confirm the cruise and book it for us. Our agent spoke on the phone to Costa’s customer service and was told that all the ports of call listed would be visited. We had an e-mail dated Dec. 20 confirming a shore excursion at Mayotte, one of the islands of Comoros.

Upon arriving in our suite, we found a note stating that the ship would not be going to Comoros. On the second night aboard, at a private party of a dozen or so guests given by Captain Salvatore Donato, he approached us and welcomed us aboard. I asked him why we were not visiting Comoros, and he stated that the people on the island said they couldn’t handle the number of people on the ship at one time and canceled the visit.

He further stated that when this happened, in November, the cruise brochures had already been published and sent out.

I asked if any of Costa Cruises’ sailings scheduled to visit Comoros in the future would be going there and he said ‘No,’ but when we checked the Costa website it continued to advertise cruises going to Comoros.

As seasoned cruisers, we know that in the “little print” it says they can change any ports, but to flagrantly mislead customers before they even purchase a specific cruise is hardly conducive to repeat bookings.

Imagination must have left the corporate offices because to replace the missing port, we got to go to Mauritius three times.

Starting off with that news upon arrival set the tone for the rest of the cruise. Our biggest mistake was in assuming that because this was a European cruise ship, things would be oriented to better cuisine and comfort.

Smoking proved to be a huge factor in our dissatisfaction. Smokers and smoke were everywhere. You couldn’t go through a bar, dance area, pool or deck area without being bombarded with cigar and cigarette smoke. Even if one side of a room was designated nonsmoking, the permeation from the other side was nauseating.

Our greatest disappointment was the food. Everything was overcooked, in our opinion, from the fish and meat to the rolls and vegetables. Desserts that had set my mouth watering all over France, Germany and Italy were nowhere to be found on board.

The first evening, the British passengers at the large table to our right ordered coffee and tea after the meal and were asked to show their cabin charge cards. When asked why this was necessary, they were informed that they would be charged $3 each for every cup. They were livid.

We asked for iced tea one evening and were charged, while the other couple brought their own brew to the table and embarrassed the staff into finally providing a pitcher of iced tea for each meal after that.

Announcements stating not to enter or eat in the casual dining areas without a shirt or shoes were totally ignored. Trust me, food crumbs on a hairy chest are not appetizing.

I realize that swimming pools are not common in Europe and so the two pools on the ship were packed body to body with people wishing to tan and enjoy the day, but listen up, people. You may have looked great in your Speedos and bikinis when you were in your 20s and 30s, but now that you are in your 60s, 70s or 80s and beyond, you seriously need to think about covering up what you are now letting hang out!

Again, when announcements were made that children under 12 were not allowed in the three Jacuzzis, this was ignored in favor of the parents’ designating them as kiddie pools.

To top off our disappointments, besides the four excellent tour lectures that lasted a half hour each, there were no talks of any kind, so bingo and a belly-flop contest were the daytime highlights for most.

Mother always said to say something nice about people, and the personnel on board couldn’t have been nicer. If we didn’t like the food, we were asked to try again and we did but with little or no success.

When we asked to have more AC in our cabin, they were there in short order. However, telling us that we were in the tropics and it was hot outside and to keep all our windows and balcony doors covered after paying quite a bit extra for the suite was not the answer we were expecting.

There were more than 1,400 guests on board, and 22 of them were Americans. Those Americans I had contact with had long lists of negative things they were going to write down on their evaluations.

This letter is not so much about our dissatisfaction with Costa Cruises but to make American cruise lovers aware that this is one line where passengers need to seriously take into account the attitudes regarding everything from smoking to the nonexistent concept of waiting your turn in a line on board.

I believe communication is the key to success, and while this cruise line made numerous announcements about jewelry sales, they did not ever take the time to announce in any port of call that the ship had cleared Immigration and we were free to go ashore.

The final straw that made us swear never to cruise on Costa again was the wonderful surprise all the passengers received on the night before our final disembarkation. We were “requested” to vacate our cabins with any carryon luggage at 4 a.m. the next morning! Yes, I said 4 a.m.

The ship was going to be in port for over 24 hours, but for their convenience, not ours, they wanted a jump on getting the cabins cleaned. Some jump!

We’ve cruised over 600 days and on many ships, from a 100-year-old riverboat on the Amazon to the Queen Mary crossing the Atlantic, with the itinerary being our main objective, but not even amazing ports of call could make up for this kind of service.

SANDRA FASSETT

Chesterfield, VA

ITN sent a copy of the above letter to Costa Cruises (200 S. Park Rd., Ste. 200, Hollywood, FL 33021) and received the following reply.

First and foremost, we thank ITN for sharing Mr. and Mrs. Fassett’s cruise experience aboard the Costa Europa with us. Please know we sincerely apologize that there were areas of their vacation experience that did not meet their expectations.

As you may know, Costa is an Italian cruise line that welcomes an international clientele from around the world. Given this fact, our onboard experience is created with the intention to satisfy customers from many countries. This includes everything from entertainment to cuisine and much more. However, throughout all, we strive to offer excellent service, filled with the signature feeling of “la dolce vita” for which we’ve become known.

We understand our guests’ frustrations regarding missing a port of call on their original itinerary. As noted in our brochure and ticket contract, Costa reserves the right to cancel or substitute any scheduled port of call at any time and for any reason whatsoever without prior notice and shall not be liable for any loss to guests. This is referenced under General Conditions of Passage Ticket Contract.

We are unable to speculate as to why the Captain would have advised the guest that we knew, as far back as November, there was going to be an itinerary change. As soon as our Marine Operations Department makes these changes, we are all notified in order to ensure that we are all dispensing the same information. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment and misunderstanding.

Regarding smoking aboard our ships, Costa is not considered a “nonsmoking” cruise line. We have smoking guidelines that we trust our guests will abide by. Our dining rooms, indoor buffet area, supper clubs and main show lounges are all nonsmoking. Our indoor cocktail lounges have designated smoking areas.

Although we do not encourage smoking in our cabins, some of our guests choose to indulge themselves. As you can imagine with a ship that carries over one thousand guests, it is extremely difficult to police the smoking offenders, and we do apologize for any inconvenience this caused Mr. and Mrs. Fassett.

We were concerned about the dissatisfaction Mr. and Mrs. Fassett experienced with their dining aboard. Sometimes it is very difficult to please everyone’s palate, as food is subjective to the different tastes. We do our best to satisfy all of our guests; however, since customer service is our main priority, we are disappointed to hear that we might have fallen short of our goal.

We checked with the Restaurant Manager aboard this sailing and are unable to find any formal complaint filed by Mr. and Mrs. Fassett. We wished they would have spoken to the Restaurant Manager regarding any dissatisfaction, as he would have ensured their dining pleasure throughout the voyage.

Regarding desserts, we have a very large pastry department with an extensive selection of sweet treats for our guests to enjoy. We were sorry to hear that Mr. and Mrs. Fassett were not made aware of this.

Costa does have a policy in place for proper attire in our dining rooms. Anyone without a shirt or shoes will not be permitted to enter any of our indoor dining facilities. Regarding our outdoor poolside dining, our guests are permitted to dine in their swimwear.

Costa Cruise Lines has been in business for the past 50 years and is the number-one cruise line in Europe. In fact, we are also the very first cruise line to sail into the Caribbean from the United States.

As our corporate office is based in Genoa, Italy, we do find that most of our guests are of Italian heritage. Our main goal is to have all of our guests experience cruising “Italian style.” This is our brand and what makes us stand out among most of the other cruise lines. As stated above, we do cater to an international clientele from all over the world.

Keeping that in mind, we trust all our guests will realize that different countries have different customs. Regardless of age, Europeans choose to wear swimwear that in North America we may feel is geared towards the younger generation. You will also find this on most beaches in Europe.

We do apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Fassett if this made them feel uncomfortable; however, we trust they understand that it would not be proper for us to segregate or discriminate among our guests based on their choice of swimwear.

European traditions also dictate how our guests choose to spend time with their families. Although we provide a wonderful children’s program aboard, we find that most European parents prefer to have their children with them at all times. This is sometimes difficult when it comes to enjoying a relaxing swim in our pools or hot tubs. We do our best to discourage children from entering theses areas by posting signage and in speaking with our guests; however, we are then reminded that they paid just as much as everyone else and they want to enjoy being with their children.

We became concerned when we read that most of our American guests had a long list of negative issues with this particular cruise and were in the process of contacting Costa to complain. We are pleased to report that, as of today, we have not received any further negative reports regarding this cruise, and in polling our comment cards we received very high scores from our American guests.

As you know, a vacation experience is meant to be most memorable and the main goal of any cruise line and/or hotel is to ensure that all guests become repeaters. A satisfied guest is the best form of public relations for any travel-related company. In order to achieve this goal, we must provide the best customer service available. We feel we did and hope that Mr. and Mrs. Fassett appreciate the wonderful opportunity they had with this trip of a lifetime.

Hoping we are considered again in the future, we look forward to the opportunity of welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Fassett aboard another Costa cruise.

CHANDRA MAY-CARLUX, Senior Advisor, Office of the President, Costa Cruise Lines N.V., Hollywood, FL