Pasha

10 hours ago, dethman said:

Aaand... After 4 months of me telling them to give me my refund, what do they do today? 

 

Send me a f*cking VOUCHER.  aaaagh. 

 

I hate Costa with such a passion. 

It looks like today was the day for Costa vouchers for those in the U.S.  We were surprised to receive a voucher from Costa today since we had filed a dispute with our credit card company on March 22 and Wells Fargo advised us on June 17th:  "We completed our research of your inquiry and have approved your claim(s) for the disputed transaction(s) below. As these claims were accepted by the merchant's banks, the temporary credit(s) we previously provided are now permanent and will remain on your account." 

We too had asked Costa for a cash refund, both when we cancelled in late February and again after the Diadema didn't even sail.  Because of Costa's lack of response, we filed our credit card dispute and fortunately we did because obviously Costa is trying to get everyone to accept vouchers in lieu of cash.  We have no interest in a voucher as we have no interest in sailing with Costa again 

The voucher shows an amount equal to 150% of the total we paid to Costa including taxes

Some of the terms:

The Voucher must be redeemed 12 months after the issued date and must be used on sailings with a departure before the end of November 2021.

 The voucher (credit amount) is made out to the primary contact guest of the booking for the amount collected by Costa. The voucher can only be redeemed at the Travel Agency where the original booking was made, unless the original booking was made directly with Costa. ….

 If you choose to reject the voucher and forfeit its greater value you will only receive 100% of the payment Costa has collected in the original form of payment. To submit the request please fill out the Refund Request form here. Refund will be issued no earlier than 90 days after the request and is only available to FIT bookings made through retail agencies or directly with Costa Cruises. …..

The voucher is only applicable to new individual bookings and will be valid on all rates and categories.

Finally we have our refund for the March 13th Diadema sailing from Abu Dhabi to Rome!

As posted March 17th on the March 13th roll call, we booked the Diadema from Abu Dhabi to Rome through Costa USA and cancelled it on February 26 just in time to be eligible to get 25% of the cruise fare returned along with the taxes. On March 22nd, a few days after we sent an email to Costa requesting a full refund for the March 13th sailing, we initiated a claim through our Propel American Express credit card issued by Wells Fargo. We provided Wells Fargo with our initial invoice, the revised invoice after cancellation, and a copy of our letter to Costa requesting a FULL refund.  Based on Gerry's March 16th posting on our roll call we included the following in our letter to Costa which we hoped would have a positive effect in obtaining a full refund:

"A fellow passenger from the UK who flew to Dubai just to learn the cruise was cancelled shared the following information that was included in an email he received from Costa on Sunday the 15th:

Free cancellation: as a partial waiver of what provided in article 6.1 of our General Conditions, it will be possible to withdraw without penalties for the cruise part on all bookings confirmed from March 4th to April 30th, 2020, in Deluxe, Total Comfort and Basic rates, except Around the World and Great Cruises. As a condition, the cancellation request must be submitted no later than the day before departure and anyway within and no later than April 30th, 2020.

Based on the above, we request that the afore-mentioned waiver be given and a full refund be returned to our Amex card ….."

On April 30th (5 weeks after filing our dispute) a TEMPORARY credit of the full cruise amount was posted to our credit card.  In late May Wells Fargo advised "We contacted the merchant 24 days ago about your dispute. We have no news yet, but the merchant has a total of 45 days to get back to us."

Thursday we received an email advising that the credit was now Permanent and that we would be receiving a letter in the mail. Today we received the letter which stated: "We completed our research of your inquiry and have approved your claim(s) for the disputed transaction(s) below. As these claims were accepted by the merchant's banks, the temporary credit(s) we previously provided are now permanent and will remain on your account."

We have no idea whether Costa reviewed anything or just left it up to the bank to review but we are certainly happy that we were able to pursue a full refund through our credit card as it looks like Costa still hasn't started processing cash refunds. We hope that as we continue to monitor these boards, we will finally be reading comments regarding successfully receiving refunds from Costa.

We have one AE Blue account with 2 separate card numbers and 2 separate logins and in the past we have each received the Amex offer and have had both offers applied. We have asked the TA to apply a $500 payment using one card number and then to apply the remaining balance (over $500) to the second card.

9 hours ago, crui5eg1rl said:

I still don't see that... I see that the ship docks at 7:00am but disembarkation is still 9:00am... I definitely plan to speak to them the day we embark to discuss disembarkation...

Hopefully the time on our reissued ticket is correct. Per the roll call, you are traveling with another family.  Did you check with them to see if they got reissued tickets emailed to them or found new information from web check-in? I'm sure several of us will be talking to guest services on embarkation day.  Have a safe journey.

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 10:20 AM, crui5eg1rl said:

How is disembarkation from the Bellissima in Barcelona?

I thought we would disembark early enough for a 10:45am flight but in my paperwork I see that disembarkation starts at 9:00am.

Can anyone tell me if disembarkation started earlier than that?  Not sure what to do!

Thank you!

We are also on the May 31st sailing and we were also concerned when we saw that the cruise documents indicated that disembarkation would start at 9:00 because we have a flight at 11:15 am. Based on other MSC postings about disembarkation experiences we planned to request priority disembarkation once on board and to carry off our own luggage and just hope for the best.

Today our travel agent emailed us REISSUED e-tickets with a new ticket number. On Page 4 it now shows  that disembarkation starts at 7:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM. Hopefully that news  will make you feel better.  If you weren't sent revised e-tickets you can view/print your latest e-tickets on the MSC website using the "Web Check-In" link ---  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Manage-Your-Booking/Web-Check-In.aspx

Carol

4 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

We were given 08.30 disembarkation time labels went and changed them to 08.00 

At 08.00 we walked off the ship collected our luggage into a taxi there were hundreds of them all lined up all within 15 minutes absolutely no wait and were at Barcelona El Prat airport at 0840 for a 10.50 flight back to the UK.

Thank you.  It's good to know that you got off the ship and to the airport in such a timely manner. That's been my experience with other cruise lines but after completing web check in when we viewed our e-tickets it worried me to see 9:00 AM listed as the disembarkation START time. Based on your experience, I'm not going to worry about it.  Even if we disembark 9:00-9:30 we should be fine if we can get a taxi right away.

I was also happy to read your post about embarkation. Our documents indicated embarking at 3:15 and after an overnight flight from JFK I really didn't want to wait that long to go to the cruise terminal so I was happy that you indicated you were checked in before 11 and ready to board. Hopefully our Black Card status will help us with quick check in and boarding will be fast.

Carol

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 5:02 PM, Norwich Cruiser said:

We sailed on Bellissima a few weeks ago embarking and disembarking in Barcelona.

The first people were off about 07.30am and then at 10 minute intervals until the latest disembarkation time which was 10.00am.

I trust this helps and hope you have a lovely cruise.

Norwich Cruiser - When you disembarked from the Bellissima, what time did your cruise ticket say would be the disembarkation time?  For the May 31st sailing the itinerary section of the cruise ticket shows 7:00 AM arrival but the cruise ticket shows disembarkation starting at 9:00 AM.

Embarkation Date 05/31/2019 Your check-in opens* 15:15 Barcelona, Spain

Your check-in closes 16:00

Disembarkation Date 06/07/2019 Disembarkation starts at** 09:00

**When planning your returns individually, please consider that disembarkation might take up to 2-3h due to operational needs.

The Barcelona port website also has MSC arrival at 7:00 AM so the 9:00 AM disembarkation time seems strange. We booked a flight at 11:15 AM and now we are concerned about being off the ship early enough to get to the airport by 9:30 AM. We had anticipated being off the ship no later than 8:30. 

We've disembarked in Barcelona several times (RCCL and Celebrity) and we had no issue catching an 11 AM flight when cruising on Celebrity most recently so we didn't hesitate to book the 11:15 AM flight. We travel light and always do self-disembarkation and we already had planned to ask MSC to give us priority disembarkation because of early flight. I will feel better if it turns out that MSC normally indicates 9:00 AM on  their documents just to make passengers cautious.

Thanks

Carol

We are sailing on the Diamond B2B from October 1-October 17th and are considering the ship's 8.5 hour tour of Tokyo on October 9th. Has anyone taken this tour? Was your experience favorable? Has anyone done an independently arranged tour of Tokyo on turnaround day? Has anyone just taken the train to Tokyo for the day and done their own sightseeing? We really aren't excited about taking the ship's tour but that may be the best option. At least we would feel better if we had some favorable feedback from someone who took the full day Princess excursion.

Note that we have a 5:00 pm flight back on October 17th which is too early for taking the Princess tour with airport drop-off. Has anyone had any experience with an independent tour with airport transfer at the end of the cruise? We would also consider doing that and just sightseeing in Yokohama on turnaround day.

Thanks.

Carol and Hasan

I can tell you from personal experience visiting Vladivostok numerous time over the past 8 years that, unlike St. Petersburg, for example, you do not have to go on a ship tour or arrange your own visa privately to go ashore. You can walk right off the ship to explore on your own. Furthermore, it is easy to do on your own as the cruise terminal is quite centrally located. Many sights are within a 15-minute walk. Parts can be quite hilly, though.

Heather-

In October Princess is stopping at Korsakov, Sakhalin, Russia rather than either of the 2 ports mentioned in this thread. Do you know whether you can walk off the ship in Korsakov without a visa?

Carol

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

The port of Rostock and Rostock town is located very long from each other, its probably around 10 kilometers or so.

 

But if you search on google maps for directions between Rostock Seehafen and Rostock Hbf you can see the distance.

 

There once was a S-bahn out to Seehafen from Rostock but as far as I know it has been discontinued, there is public Busses in the area but its probably better to let travelanni explaining about that when she's getting home.

Thanks for posting. Ultimately, because we were at a cargo port, Princess provided free shuttle bus to both Rostock town center and the train station and as you indicated, it was quite a distance.

Because the rail strike started the day we disembarked, we couldn't use the train but it turned out okay as we ended up buying bus tickets for 11 Euro each from Rostock ZOB to Berlin Alexanderplatz and then took the TXL airport bus from there. We booked the bus to Berlin online the night before at http://meinfernbus.de/en but could have booked at the bus station.

Using the Princess shuttle to the train station which was right next to the bus station made it easy for us. Other cruise passengers who took a taxi instead of the free shuttle reported spending around 30 euros to get to the bus station. I certainly can recommend the bus as an alternative to the $100 Princess transfer to Berlin airport. Hopefully this post can help others who choose independent travel.

Our ship was supposed to dock in Warnemunde on May 5 and we planned to walk to the train station to go to Berlin but it is docking in Rostock instead. Can we walk from the ship to the train station in Rostock? We don't mind walking 2 or 2.5 km on pavement and our luggage is manageable. If we have to take a taxi how much should we expect to spend? Do taxi's take credit cards? Thanks for any suggestions.

Carol

Hi,

The stairs are down into and up out from the subway under the train lines. Two flights of about six shallow steps at each end.

 

All taxis in the Rostock area are metered and all taxis charge the same fares.

http://www.hansetaxi-rostock.de/en/fares.html

 

The Quer-durchs-Land ticket @ 52 euros is one ticket for two persons travelling together. It can be bought on-line in advance or either from a ticket office or a machine on the day. There are manned ticket offices on both stations.

 

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

Anni-

Thanks for your prompt response. It sounds like the steps will be manageable. Glad you noted that it's a single ticket good for 2 persons. I'm pretty sure we'll take the train but we will wait and buy the ticket at the station just to keep our options open.

It's very much appreciated that you offer your assistance!

Carol and Hasan

Anni-

We will be disembarking the Regal Princess in Warnemude on May 5th (7 am arrival) and have plenty of time to catch our flight from Berlin Tegal at 7:00 pm. Rather than purchasing $99 transfers from Princess, we are investigating the train to Berlin followed by the bus X9 or TXL. I have questions regarding the ease of handling luggage and also about purchasing train tickets.

Initially I thought it was easy to get from the ship to the Warnemunde train station but I remember reading one of your earlier postings regarding there being stairs to negotiate. We travel pretty light and can easily walk with our luggage but stairs aren't so easy. Please advise what the current situation is with stairs and possible alternatives. I assume it's necessary to go both up the stairs and down the stairs. Are there a lot? If we take a taxi to Rostock to avoid the stairs, are the taxis metered or is there a flat rate?

From looking at the DB Bahn website, it looks like we can buy two Quer-durchs-Land-Tickets for all day train travel for 52 euro. Do we need to do this online in advance or can we wait until we get to the rail station in Warnemunde (or Rostock depending on what we decide)? Are the ticket offices staffed or are there only automatic machines? If we don't have to buy tickets in advance, we have more freedom to change our plans should we decide it's easier to take the ship transfer.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Carol and Hasan