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Costa Concordia Discount

January 24, 2012 by · Comments Off on Costa Concordia Discount 

Costa Concordia Discount, 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 dollars.

The offer for future discounts is being made by Costa Cruises, which operated the Concordia and whose parent company is Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator.

This weekend, passengers were also being sent letters by Costa detailing how to claim for lost valuables and offering a full refund on the voyage.

Lawyers plan to sue both in the US and in Italy, with more than 100 passengers already reported to have joined a class action that is to be lodged in Miami this week, asking for $160,000 per passenger.

A spokesman for Costa Cruises said: “The company is not only going to refund everybody but they will offer a 30 per cent discount on future cruises if they want to stay loyal to the company.”

Costa’s chief executive, Pier Luigi Foschi, had expressed confidence that the group would be able to “find a solution that, in the material sense, would satisfy” the passengers.

However, Brian Page, 63, a retired accountant from Southampton, who survived by sliding from one side of the deck to another to find a lifeboat, said: “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.”

Costa Cruises has laid the blame on Captain Schettino, who steered the liner on to rocks and then abandoned ship before all the passengers got off. But lawyers for the passengers will claim that Costa Cruise ships had “regularly” deviated from the correct route.

The ongoing civil legal battle is complicated by the criminal case against Captain Schettino and the specific contracts signed by passengers.

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