Cruising The Past Cruise News
Carnival Corp thanks passengers of the sinking COSTA CONCORDIA by offering a 30% discount on future cruises. Are they kidding?
Carnival Corp’s CEO Micky Arison. His company is now offering a 30% discount to shipwrecked victims of the Costa Concordia on future cruises. Is this a sick joke? Who is doing Carnival’s PR? Descendants of Joseph Geobbels?
Cruise and Liner History: The offer of a 30 percent discount on future cruises, made by the owners (Micky Arison’s Carnival Corp) of the recently shipwrecked Costa Concordia (Costa Cruises), has been faced with a number of angry responses from passengers of the ill-fated luxury liner.
(Left London Tabloid on sinking ship: Carnival Corp – The owners of the Costa Concordia are offering survivors of the disaster a 30 per cent discount off future cruises as they battle to stave off law suits expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds. One British survivor of the disaster, which claimed 12 lives with 20 people still missing, branded the offer as “insulting”. It was disclosed that in an attempt to help survivors the ship’s parent company, Carnival, has been telephoning passengers daily asking if they are suffering nightmares or sleepless nights. They did live up to their advertising. Costa Concordia promised a “cruise vacation you will never forget.”)
As many as 12 people died in the crash, which occurred a week ago, near the Giglio islands off the Italian coast; a further 20 people are still missing. The ship was carrying more than 4,000 people.
The holding company has come under fire for their offer of a discount at this stage. According to a Telegraph report, one of the British survivors of the disaster was disapproving of the offer and called it “insulting”.
Left: Costa CEO, Pier Luigi Foschi, offers surviving passengers discount on future cruises.)
“It is a ridiculous and insulting offer. I’m very disappointed in them. They are not accepting their responsibilities at all. Our only back-up is separate legal action,” said Brian Page, 63, an accountant from Southampton.
The company is now facing a wave of multi-million dollars law suits. In fact, more than 100 passengers have joined a class action against the cruise owners. Their lawyers have indicated the law suits will be filed in both the U.S. and Italy.
Costa Cruises’ parent company – Carnival Cruises – have said they are doing everything they can to assist the passengers of the ill-fated ship, in claiming compensation and refunds from the company. They’ve also, apparently, sent letters to passengers, with instructions on claiming lost valuables.
Furthermore, apparently Carnival Cruises is also making contact with survivors, asking if any of them suffered from nightmares or sleeplessness as a result of the ordeal they underwent. Unfortunately for the company, lawyers as well as psychologists are less than impressed. They claim such calls can only create more uneasiness on the survivors’ part and that the calls breached guidelines on treating disaster survivors.
“The questions are likely to feed anxiety and possibly even lead to post-traumatic stress,” said Jennifer Wild, a consultant clinical psychologist at Oxford University to The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, an emergency service log report has revealed that Francesco Schettino, the captain of the ship, abandoned the vessel four hours before the last passenger left the ship. Furthermore, a voice recording could spell further trouble for the dishonored captain, as it exposes more aspects of his behavior on the day.
The authorities have said the recording will be used as evidence to prove Schettino lied to the coast guards, who were coordinating rescue operations. The captain continues to be under house arrest.
Facts about the MS Costa Concordia
MS Costa Concordia was a Concordia-class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of American Carnival Corp.
She was built at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente yards in Italy. The name Concordia was intended to express the wish for “continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations.”
She was the first vessel of the Concordia ship class, with sisters Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, Costa Fascinosa and Carnival Splendor built for Carnival Cruise Lines. Costa Concordia entered service in July 2006 and was one of
the largest ships to be built in Italy, at 114,147 GT; the later Carnival Dream class are 130,000 GT, and also built in Fincantieri.
On 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground, was holed, and capsized in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the shore of Isola del Giglio, near the western coast of Italy. Most of the approximately 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew were saved; as of 21 January 2012 the bodies of eleven passengers and one crew member had been found, and the search continued, with 20 people missing. The ship was capsized in shallow water off the coast, and at high risk of sinking into deeper waters. The ship may be a constructive total loss.
The largest Italian cruise ship ever conceived was ordered on 19 January 2004 in Fincantieri and built in the Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa, as yard number 6122. She had an inauspicious launch at Sestri Ponente on 2 September 2005, when the champagne bottle failed to break. The ship was delivered to Costa on 30 June 2006.
Costa Concordia is 290.20 metres (952 ft 1 in), with a beam of 35.50 metres (116 ft 6 in) and a draught of 8.20 metres (26 ft 11 in). She is equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system with six Wärtsilä diesel engines of 75,600 kilowatts (101,400 hp) total and two electric motors of 42,000 kW (56,000 hp) total. This system could propel her at 19.6 knots (36.3 km/h).
Costa Concordia has 1,500 cabins; 505 have private balconies and 55 have direct access to Samsara Spa; 58 suites have private balconies and 12 have direct access to the spa. Costa Concordia has one of the world’s largest exercise facility areas at sea, the Samsara Spa, a two-level, 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) fitness center, with gym, a thalassotherapy pool, sauna, Turkish bath and a solarium. The ship has four swimming pools, two with retractable covers, five jacuzzis, five spas, and a poolside screen on the pool deck.
There are five onboard restaurants, with Club Concordia and Samsara taking reservations-only dining. There are thirteen bars, including a cigar and cognac bar and a coffee and chocolate bar.
Entertainment options include a three-level theatre, casino, and a discotheque. There is a children’s area equipped with PlayStation products. The ship has a Grand Prix motor racing simulator and an Internet café.
