ctober 30, 2010

Mr. Micky M. Aronson, Chairman
Carnival Corporation
3655 NW 87 Avenue
Miami, FL 33178-2428

Re: Costa Cruise, Atlantica

Dear Mr. Aronson:

We had no alternative but to leave your cruise ship at the halfway point of the cruise in Boston as we were concerned with our health and welfare. Aside from the bad food and service, which we anticipated before booking the cruise, our cabin was unacceptable and your on-board staff would not -- or did not know how -- to correct the problems. Repeated requests to speak with a supervisor, the hotel manager and/or the service manager were ignored as they “were not in”.

Firstly there was noise from the showroom below the cabin, next the heat was stuck on in the cabin, d then the air conditioning was stuck on and lastly your crew shut off all A/C- Heat. We now had no heat or cooling. Every time we complained at your service desk or our room steward we were told the problem was fixed, even though it was not.

It is cold in Bar Harbor, Maine in late October and so was our cabin. Twice on October 29 we stopped by the service desk and were told all was OK. We were treated as though we were cranks, although a maintenance man finally stopped by the cabin and told us the thermostat had been replaced. The problem was not the thermostat, the system was and is malfunctioning and your crew did not know how to repair same. These kind of problems are not uncommon on cruise ships, as you know. We require minimum heat or air as the climate dictates, we had neither.

We Emailed Costa in Hollywood, was told by return Email to call telephonically, did so and spoke to a Nadine who informed me that anything happening on the ship was the ships problem, not hers and she couldn’t help me at all.

None of your “service” staff even bothered to follow up with our complaints until the evening of October 29 when we informed the front desk we were leaving. They said they needed paperwork which included a form releasing Costa from all future claims, which I would not sign.

The last morning on board I received several calls and finally met a Damiano who was only interested in stopping us from departing. We got off your ship, got a cab to Logan Airport and flew home. Cost us over $700.00.
We have taken over 100 cruises, many on your cruise lines, including Costa (2004), Cunard, Carnival, Holland America and Princess and never have had situation where we freezing in the cabin, nor have we ever encountered such incompetence, we had no choice but to leave.

Perhaps Costa ships should not be in North American waters at all, the ship caters to Europeans who must be accustomed to a level of hospitality much lower than Americans, the “service desk” personnel were evasive and claimed they did not understand English when it was convenient for them, the food was terrible, the crew and staff were surly, the dining room waiter was untrained as was the room steward, even the Maitre D’ was uninterested in what was happening and the ships currency was the Euro. What a mess.

We need a credit to our Citi Bank Master Card for $1474.74

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Please advise,


Cabin 5117, Costa Atlantica, Quebec 10/24/2010