Time 4.00 pm (CET)

Costa Cruises has announced a proposal for compensation for passengers who have returned home after the tragic accident of the Costa Concordia on 13 January.

Costa Crociere wishes to express its deepest condolences to the families of the victims, their continued sense of support to the families of the disappeared, and its deep regret at the damage and suffering that the accident has caused Costa Concordia passengers.

The families of those killed and injured requiring medical treatment 'in situ' will be included in an additional proposal that takes into account the individual circumstances of each.
The proposed compensation for passengers who have returned home includes all the following points:

• A total of 11,000 euros per person in compensation, covering all non-pecuniary damage and property, including loss of baggage and personal effects, psychological distress and loss of enjoyment of a cruise vacation
• Reimbursement for the value of the cruise, including port charges;
• Reimbursement of transportation by land and air included in the cruise package;
• Reimbursement of all travel expenses to reach the port of embarkation and back home;
• Reimbursement of medical expenses required;
• Reimbursement of expenses incurred on board during the cruise.

This compensation package exceeds the limits of compensation under international conventions and laws. The total payment of 11,000 euros will be offered to all passengers, including children who did not pay the cruise, regardless of age.

Costa Crociere is committed not to reduce / subtracted from these amounts any amounts paid to passengers according to their insurance policies. In addition, the company will return all belongings stored in the vaults of the cabin as long as the recovery of these possible.

Costa Crociere is committed to providing psychological assistance program for any passenger who requests it. The company is also committed to offering customers the ability to cancel any cruise booked before 13 January in any of their routes, without penalty until February 7, 2012.

The operational teams comply with requests for information to give them the appropriate

What's weird is that I had to use Google translate to translate this from Spanish to English because the announcement on the US Costa site is in Spanish for some reason. See screen capture

But I wasn't on the ship when it was keeling over 20-30 degrees, I wasn't one of the hundreds upon hundred of passengers standing packed shoulder to shoulder at lifeboat stations waiting to actually abandon a sinking ship, I wasn't one of the passengers scampering down the capsized hull on rope ladders in the dark to a lifeboat, and I wasn't one of the thousands of passengers standing around waiting for hours at the docks of Giglio harbor watching as the ship capsized wondering what the hell was going on, what to do next, who was going to help me, and what the hell just happened?

I read on another forum one comment that 'pain and suffering' should not be taken into account in the compensation package 'because the accident wasn't caused on purpose', that their only course of action should be to sue in court in order to receive any monetary damages. I don't agree.

I think surviving this type of incident, even though the ship didn't sink to the bottom of the ocean, personally would be traumatic, even if only for a short period of time. I think that's worth some type of immediate compensation and I don't think someone should have to go to court to get it.

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
On the surface the compensation package seems fair for those who were not physically harmed or injured.

But I wasn't on the ship when it was keeling over 20-30 degrees, I wasn't one of the hundreds upon hundred of passengers standing packed shoulder to shoulder at lifeboat stations waiting to actually abandon a sinking ship, I wasn't one of the passengers scampering down the capsized hull on rope ladders in the dark to a lifeboat, and I wasn't one of the thousands of passengers standing around waiting for hours at the docks of Giglio harbor watching as the ship capsized wondering what the hell was going on, what to do next, who was going to help me, and what the hell just happened?

I read on another forum one comment that 'pain and suffering' should not be taken into account in the compensation package 'because the accident wasn't caused on purpose', that their only course of action should be to sue in court in order to receive any monetary damages. I don't agree.

I think surviving this type of incident, even though the ship didn't sink to the bottom of the ocean, personally would be traumatic, even if only for a short period of time. I think that's worth some type of immediate compensation and I don't think someone should have to go to court to get it.

I think one thing missing from the compensation package, although they are being refunded for the cost of their lost vacation (and I'm not sure I would announce it publicly), would be an additional offer of a free seven-night cruise on any Carnival Corporation product to be taken in the next two years. That might at least entice some folks to want to get back out there and get back in the saddle again, so to speak.

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I thought about the free cruise idea too, but maybe Costa thought offering a cruise after this event would seem insensitive as some people are probably to scared at the moment.

quote:

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
I read on another forum one comment that 'pain and suffering' should not be taken into account in the compensation package 'because the accident wasn't caused on purpose', that their only course of action should be to sue in court in order to receive any monetary damages. I don't agree.

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quote:

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
I think surviving this type of incident, even though the ship didn't sink to the bottom of the ocean, personally would be traumatic, even if only for a short period of time. I think that's worth some type of immediate compensation and I don't think someone should have to go to court to get it.

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I don't know what rules apply if Italian law is applied to assess compensation, which may be the frame of reference by which this offer has been formulated. Alternatively, Costa may have looked at all the likely places for claims by most passengers and formulated the offer to take into account the different compensation assessment regimes that might be in play.

In addition, as the Costa announcement says, there are limits laid down by international law on the maximum liability of the carrier, above which a court could not go.