- A quarter of the French who traveled on the Costa Deliziosa chose to disembark in Barcelona, from where they were then repatriated to Montpellier.
- The others disembark on Tuesday in Genoa, since the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône refused to allow the liner to dock in Marseille, where another cruise ship docked on Monday.
- One of the passengers, Bertrand, believes that Costa Cruises has mismanaged the situation and communicated poorly with its passengers on board.
To celebrate their retirement and their 35 years of marriage, Alexandra and Bertrand had seen it big. They had taken a trip around the world aboard the Costa Deliziosa, a luxury cruise ship. "We still saw beautiful things," they smile, this Tuesday, when they have just found their second home, located in Hyères (Var).
The day before, these sexagenarians from the suburbs of Lyon learned that they could, if they wished, disembark the same day in Barcelona and then be repatriated to France via Montpellier. Like 110 other French passengers, it was the choice they made, exhausted by an anxiety-provoking end to the cruise. The 309 French still on board will be repatriated from Genoa, where the Costa Deliziosa docks this Tuesday evening.
How was the atmosphere on board the boat?
Alexandra and Bertrand : We had a little stress when we arrived in the south of Sicily. The boat diverted to Marsala to disembark an elderly passenger who presented with disturbing symptoms: he had suffered respiratory distress. Three Covid-19 tests were done, they all came back negative. But we were confined a day and a half in our cabins, without having the right to circulate on the boat.
Before that, many stopovers had been canceled…
Since March 14, we have not made any stopovers. It was decided in Australia that we would cross the Indian Ocean on the way to Mauritius, but all the ports were gradually closed: the boat only made technical stops to refuel in fuel and food .
Do you think the situation has been well managed by Costa Cruises?
They communicated very badly. Their silence was worrying: we didn't know what was going on, it was worrying. Each nationality has formed a committee to liaise with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. And according to this committee, Costa had a tendency to put a spanner in the works during negotiations with the authorities…
How did you find out that you would be repatriated from Barcelona?
Yesterday (Monday), a meeting was held at noon. At 2 p.m., the suitcases had to be ready, to disembark at 5.30 p.m. and leave Barcelona for Montpellier.
Did this repatriation go well?
French civil protection has been remarkably effective! We arrived at 11 p.m. and were received at the convention center. We filled out a medical questionnaire and were greeted by the prefect and the general of the firefighters. He explained to us that it had been two days since he knew that we had to disembark in Barcelona… While Costa told us absolutely nothing! You really seem to have walked us.
What do you mean ?
We believed for a long time that we were going to land in Marseille, when it was impossible since the MSC Magnifica was arriving ... In his letters, the commander always said that it was the French government that was blocking ... When in reality, once got off the boat, everything went very well. We can only address praise to the French organization. But we will no longer cruise with Costa!
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"We only communicate verified information", replies Costa
"We sincerely regret this lack of communication," replies Costa, who assures that the decision to disembark the French in Barcelona "was not taken until the evening before. A spokesperson for the company, contacted by 20 Minutes , explains that Costa "only communicates verified, official and reliable information. "
Passengers can benefit from a partial refund of their cruise (35% of the price) or obtain a credit for a future cruise worth 50% of the price paid for this aborted trip around the world.
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