Costa Bookings Increase

Booking for the Easter period look to have Increased for Costa.

A few weeks ago, the report from Carnival Corp was that bookings were seriously down for their Costa brand, but they expected in time, the brand would bounce back. They said Italy especially (Costa's largest market) needed time to get over the constant negative publicity the line (and cruising in general) was receiving for weeks after the Costa Concordia accident.

It appears that Easter vacations are providing the stimulus to get Italians moving toward returning to old booking patterns.

That is good for that cruiseline.

I guess the question is, bookings are up compared to what? If it was compared to a few weeks ago, that wouldn't mean much given their bookings are so down overall.

Again, I can't see Costa really surviving all of these glaring faux pas regarding their dismal safety and leadership shortcomings.

Have they even settled with the passengers on the Concordia? Or, are they still dragging their feet, trying to stonewall them by trying to negotiate every nickel and dime?

I guess the question is, bookings are up compared to what? If it was compared to a few weeks ago, that wouldn't mean much given their bookings are so down overall.

 

Again, I can't see Costa really surviving all of these glaring faux pas regarding their dismal safety and leadership shortcomings.

 

Have they even settled with the passengers on the Concordia? Or, are they still dragging their feet, trying to stonewall them by trying to negotiate every nickel and dime?

I agree with all your post above.......except I do believe Costa will survive...........likely with fewer vessels to start, a leaner line and then will comeback stronger.

The results of the trials will be a key part of it. If the court says it was mostly the Captain fault....then Costa is in good shape.However if the Costa excutives are trialed....if the line rules and operational giudelines are deeded also at fault.......then Costa is going to have to prove to the general cruising world they have made the changes needed to make the line a highly safe choice for cruising.

AKK

I guess the question is, bookings are up compared to what? If it was compared to a few weeks ago, that wouldn't mean much given their bookings are so down overall.

 

Again, I can't see Costa really surviving all of these glaring faux pas regarding their dismal safety and leadership shortcomings.

 

Have they even settled with the passengers on the Concordia? Or, are they still dragging their feet, trying to stonewall them by trying to negotiate every nickel and dime?

Costa bookings for Easter 2012 cruises was significantly above

the 2011 Easter bookings. So far, Costa is holding steady as she goes. Most of its market is in Asia and Europe.

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news12/64-CostaCruises.shtml

I see they neglect to put up any numbers. My guess is this is some smoke on their part to stem the tide. I still say that at the end of the year, their losses will be monumental.

I see they neglect to put up any numbers. My guess is this is some smoke on their part to stem the tide. I still say that at the end of the year, their losses will be monumental.

Either their Easter bookings are better this year than last or they're not. It sounds as though you wouldn't trust anything Costa reported at this point. Maybe if they are still pretending to be in business at the end of the year, it means that the company will simply be acting out an elaborate charade when in fact they've already closed shop.

BTW--with few exceptions, most of the people who have predicted that Costa is about to fold on this board have been Americans and/or people who have never cruised Costa much less heard about it before the Concordia accident. Check back in December to see if the board is still here. If it is, then you will know that the Costa fans are all part of the conspiracy too.

Kate, you said it exactly.

Ignore the "experts". I was just on Atlantica with a lady who claimed to be a travel writer. She started off with a lot of unnecessary drama over the wine list. Then she kept praising Silversea, Regent and Crystal even after I told her my priorities are "cheap" and "dancing", and Silversea was the worst cruise I have ever been on. I didn't bother asking what name she writes under or who buys her work.

Again, I can't see Costa really surviving

Just like Louis Cruise Lines didn't survive running aground and sinking one of their cruise ships in 2007 (Sea Diamond) in "Costa Concordia" fasion?

Oh! Wait a minute! Louis Cruise Lines DID survive! In fact, they've grown. They survived a beating from the world media and made a comeback with a lot less financial backing than Costa.

And if you can't remember the Sea Diamond accident that happened 5 years ago, chances are that the Costa Concordia will be a fading memory 5 years from now as well...

LOOK FAMILIAR? No, that's not the Costa Concordia, and that's not the island of Giglio

I see they neglect to put up any numbers. My guess is this is some smoke on their part to stem the tide. I still say that at the end of the year, their losses will be monumental.

I have made no predictions re the survival of Costa, but I also feel that a statement such as this made WITHOUT NUMBERS is a good deal less than impressive. I am naturally suspicious of their reasons for omitting them.

You people out there who have as Kate says dumbed down Costa clearly have no idea of the strength of the Costa brand in Europe! and over 95% of you have never been near a Costa ship or any idea about Europeans as a people.

Kick one Greek and they All jump very much the same with Italians and French, these people unlike some others are not easily put off from doing anything!

There are certain people who if you told them that it was way to dangerous to ever cross over a street or roadway would never do it again!

This from an improptu CCL meeting.....reported this a.m.

"Before opening the meeting at the W South Beach, Arison addressed the Costa Concordia incident and asked for a moment of silence for those who died. Authorities have recovered 30 bodies; two more are missing.

“As you can imagine, these past three months have been the most difficult and challenging in the history of our company,” Arison said.

Howard Frank, Carnival Corp.’s vice chairman and chief operating officer, said the company is undergoing a safety review that will touch on several areas, including evacuation procedures, lessons learned from Concordia, emergency response, safety management review and staffing and training effectiveness.

After several weeks of slower booking volumes and lower prices, future bookings have started to pick up across the company. Excluding Costa Cruises, which is based in Italy, booking volumes for the past five weeks have been up 3 percent, while pricing has been down 5 percent.

“We’ve had to stimulate the market with pricing initiatives,” Frank said.

Costa, which started marketing again within the past few weeks, has seen improved prices compared to the period right after the wreck, but they are still down significantly."

In fairness, it was also stated that at some point they HOPE that bookings recover for Costa.

This from an improptu CCL meeting.....reported this a.m.

 

"Before opening the meeting at the W South Beach, Arison addressed the Costa Concordia incident and asked for a moment of silence for those who died. Authorities have recovered 30 bodies; two more are missing.

 

“As you can imagine, these past three months have been the most difficult and challenging in the history of our company,” Arison said.

 

Howard Frank, Carnival Corp.’s vice chairman and chief operating officer, said the company is undergoing a safety review that will touch on several areas, including evacuation procedures, lessons learned from Concordia, emergency response, safety management review and staffing and training effectiveness.

 

After several weeks of slower booking volumes and lower prices, future bookings have started to pick up across the company. Excluding Costa Cruises, which is based in Italy, booking volumes for the past five weeks have been up 3 percent, while pricing has been down 5 percent.

 

“We’ve had to stimulate the market with pricing initiatives,” Frank said.

 

Costa, which started marketing again within the past few weeks, has seen improved prices compared to the period right after the wreck, but they are still down significantly."

 

In fairness, it was also stated that at some point they HOPE that bookings recover for Costa.

I've yet to see anyone post that the cost of Costa cruises has dropped, certainly here in Europe they haven't, neither did my March cruise (I kept an eye on it). Americans have never sailed Costa in any numbers so perhaps price differentials between the US and Europe may account for it.

Costa's a great cruise line and I don't think one nutty captain will see them decrease in popularity.

I've yet to see anyone post that the cost of Costa cruises has dropped, certainly here in Europe they haven't, neither did my March cruise (I kept an eye on it). Americans have never sailed Costa in any numbers so perhaps price differentials between the US and Europe may account for it.

Costa's a great cruise line and I don't think one nutty captain will see them decrease in popularity.

Ummmm....Howard Frank, CCL's Vice Chairman, just reported that both bookings are down for Costa. He also reported that due to heavy discounting required to sell Costa cabins, revenue was down.

This was from the press conference yesterday.

However, he also said that CCL's other brands were recovering.

I've yet to see anyone post that the cost of Costa cruises has dropped, certainly here in Europe they haven't, neither did my March cruise (I kept an eye on it). Americans have never sailed Costa in any numbers so perhaps price differentials between the US and Europe may account for it.

Costa's a great cruise line and I don't think one nutty captain will see them decrease in popularity.

Hmm...maybe you should read the post you just captioned........the Carnivail meeting? not to mention what do *Americans have to do with it*??....everyone is entitled to a opinion...

Lastly,,,,,,its more then just one Captian.......Costa excutives and the Lines operating plans and standards are coming under fire.

IMO.I don't beleive this is going to sink Costa...but it is going to hurt them for a while.

AKK

I've yet to see anyone post that the cost of Costa cruises has dropped, certainly here in Europe they haven't, neither did my March cruise (I kept an eye on it). Americans have never sailed Costa in any numbers so perhaps price differentials between the US and Europe may account for it.

Costa's a great cruise line and I don't think one nutty captain will see them decrease in popularity.

If the prices are down 5%, that is pretty minimal. On a $2,000 booking, $100 off isn't much. In the month before the Concordia, I did a transatlantic in a gorgeous balcony stateroom for 18 days with three continents topped off with a week in the Caribbean, all for $2200. Fabulous cruise. Bob is right about the dancing. Costa is lively late into the night with a nice combination of the young and those who still act young and enjoy not only the free style of modern dancing under the glitter ball but also the old classics too. Many Europeans have kept up some lovely traditions like, say, a great waltz. The ship was quite fun, unlike some of the assisted living centers one might think they are in with some of the other lines. Lights out after your pie everyone!

The price vulture in me would expect a sunk ship with casualties to kick off some Allegra fire sales for the first year but apparently there are a bunch of hearty cruisers who remain undeterred. Drats. To rebound, Costa has been using some pricing initiatives but not enough to show up in the cruises I've been checking either. Costa had to largely stop marketing while it dealt with the public relations fall-out of the Concordia. Would have been pretty tacky to be running commercials while reports were dominating the news of the disaster.

Here is a link to the article in which Carnival cites the fact Costa is a powerful brand in Europe in terms of its future.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/11/2742198/concordia-disaster-likely-to-dominate.html

The price vulture in me would expect a sunk ship with casualties to kick off some Allegra fire sales for the first year but apparently there are a bunch of hearty cruisers who remain undeterred. Drats. To rebound, Costa has been using some pricing initiatives but not enough to show up in the cruises I've been checking either. Costa had to largely stop marketing while it dealt with the public relations fall-out of the Concordia. Would have been pretty tacky to be running commercials while reports were dominating the news of the disaster.

Here is a link to the article in which Carnival cites the fact Costa is a powerful brand in Europe in terms of its future.