What's the Costa Cruising

It has been a seriously tough few weeks for the cruising industry and I have no doubt they will bounce back, but at the moment things are not looking good. They say that any publicity is good publicity. I suspect that Costa Cruises would be quite happy to stay out of the news for just a few days to let things settle down, but what is happening to the cruiseline industry? Is it a media witch hunt or serious failings by the cruise industry unused to this level of scrutiny   The failure of engines in the generator room of the Costa Allegra vessel means that the ship is stranded with no power apart from emergency generators, it seems the rescue mission will drag on for a few days so there is no prospect of this settling down soon. The engines apparently failed as a result of a fire in the engine room. It's not yet clear how this happened, but with approximately 1,000 people on board, I'm sure we will be able to find out quite soon. The one good thing for Costa is that the have not been any injuries or accidents on the cruise ship reported. Following the Costa Concordia tragedy the company were (quite rightly in my view) proactive and offered full refunds and to deal with compensation claims quickly. I understand they are dealing with those holiday compensation claims and there is a deal which up to 85% of those on board are likely to accept. The deal will involve a compensation payment of about £9,000 plus a refund of the cruise and other expenses. The latest problem comes amid various other bad news stories for the cruise industry. Just yesterday the Argentinian authorities refused entry to two cruise liners because they have sailed from the Falkland Islands. They were told that they were not entitled to dock for political reasons. I must admit, I find it difficult to understand how Carlos Tevez could have such an impact on things!! The most worrying thing for me is that the Costa Aleegra is stranded dangerously close to Somalian bandit territory. Up until now the pirates have targeted smaller vessels, but there is nothing to say they won't look at this as a prize asset? The rescue operation is likely to be slow because they need to tow the vessel to the nearest island which has one hotel and then evacuate them to Mahe from where they can make a proper escape. It will be interesting to see how Costa deal with this problem and whether they can afford to refund another 600 passengers and also give them holiday compensation. I hope they do because from having spoken to many consumers over the years they just want to be treated fairly and if their holiday company hasn't been able to provide the holiday it promised, they expect to get compensated, or a refund at the very least. Let's hope that we don't see any more cruise liners in the news for the next few months because that would be a sign that things are operating the way they should. After all, the majority of people do have a great time.. For more information you can visit the website!