costa cruises itinerary change?$#@
 

Has anyone else had problems with Costa changing their itinerary/ports of call. I am booked for a trip from HK in Feb. and just by chance I logged into their site and found that we are no longer stopping at Sanya and Halong Bay - but two ports I have never heard of in Taiwan...... On emailing them, they said they decided to change because its the new hot spot..... what about the likes/dislikes of the PAYING passengers!!
I know its in their general conditions that they can change the itinerary but it says due to weather or navigational matters or safety of passengers etc. - not because they bloodywell want to. It seems like a con, get people to book on for the nice ports of call and when the cruise is full, take them somewhere that's cheaper for them or whatever!!

Like most people, I booked because the ports of call appealed to me. They also said that all south pacific region travel agents had been advised and this is not true because I checked with my t/agent.

I has taken the shine off our trip and if we can, we will cancel, and spend the time elsewhere however I doubt they will refund us - Anyway I intend to have my say and tell them what I think about it. Its not what we paid for..

Would value any comments?

What makes you doubt they will refund you if your cruise is in February? You can just cancel.

You should be able to cancel without penalty on a cruise this far out - read your contract it is all there in black and white. There are plenty of other cruises out there, check to see which ones have the original ports you wanted on a similar itinerary, There may be logical reasons from Costa's point of view for the change in itinerary (besides your assumptions) that you have no clue about. These things do happen, annoying as they may be. Take a deep breath, relax, and look at your options.

I found some info on the change of itinerary on a website 'Travel Blackboard'. Apparently the decision was made in July and its government/trade/economic related and designed to attract passengers from the china mainland. Apparently up until 12 months ago they could not go to Taiwan but now they have made these decisions they hope to attract 50,000 chinese tourists.

We will try to cancel but our air fares are tied in with the cruise deal so don't know how we will go - we paid up front because it was a special deal. Maybe we can cancel the cruise deal and just spend the time in HK without cancelling the air fare component. Anyway will be seeing the travel agent next week. If we could get the lot cancelled without penalty maybe we could book with another asian cruise line like star.

I am just disappointed - they must have known when we booked in June that this was going to happen, that's what annoys me but then I guess international passengers are a small component on this cruise so we don't matter. Its just that its the first time in many years that I have been able to afford something like this - but as you say I will take a deep breath, relax and look at options.

Thanks for your reply.

I hope your TA will be able to help you find a good solution, Amyjen. Perhaps you could find a land tour of Southeast Asia out of Hong Kong if you cannot find a compatible cruise? I have my fingers crossed for you. Are none of the other ports worth the cruise if all else fails? Personally, I would like to see Taiwan and we hope to do an Oceania cruise next year that will stop there. Sanya doesn't do much for me, but Halong Bay is beautiful. Good luck.

I hope you will be able to get the cruise money back as the itinerary was changed after you paid.

As for air, depending on the airline, you may pay a little to change the tickets, and have a nice vacation elsewhere, I would call the airline before talking to the travel agent without going into exact details.

As far as I am concerned Costa are useless. Back in April we paid upfront for a Canada/New England Cruise on Costa Atlantica, March 2011. A couple of months ago I read on another cruise site that Costa was pulling out of Canada/New England cruises in 2011 and Costa Atlantica was being redeployed to the Med. So I contacted Costa Asia Pacific Office, they confirmed the cruise has been cancelled due to ship redeployment and they offered a full refund. After 5 emails and phone calls, 2 months later I am still awaiting our $3,500 refund. Costa is part of the Carnival group, I have travelled a lot with Princess, part of that group. Carnival office in Sydney wants nothing to do with my quest for a refund and keeps referring me to Shanghai their Asia Pacific Office, it is me that is getting shanghied.

No way would I deal with them again, just on this basis. I might have to hit the media on this if no refund soon, after all I did not cancel the cruise, they did. I also had airfares/hotels booked and they would not offer compensation re this nor would my insurance company as they do not pay out on 'ship redeployment or resecheudling.

Had my rant. Cheers.

Did you pay w/ a CC? If so just protest it. I've seen enough bad reports about Costa to avoid them.

Have not ben on a Costa ship based on my TA's advise. Looking at all the post above, wouldn't be trying them any time soon ...

I've had rants about Costa since they totally ignored us via their customer service dept. They really are the pits and I wouldn't ever use them again. Once was enough!

I am worried! We have booked our first Costa cruise on Classica next Jan (2011) - We have just paid in full!

Well just make the best of it. Its better you know now that expectations may be less than anticipated vs. getting bitterly disappointed once on board. It should be OK but to avoid some issues don't book excursions with them.