Dozens of angry passengers delayed the sailing of Costa Cruises, Costa Victoria on February 5^th because a scheduled visit to Halong Bay was cancelled.

Costa Victoria was unable to reach Halong Bay due to a sunken barge blocking the entrance to the port which meant passengers missed out on a 4-hour shore excursion.

The ship was due to sail from Hong Kong at 3pm to start a new cruise but her departure was delayed until 11:30pm because of protesting passengers.

Following complaints, Miramar, a Hong Kong based Travel Company, is said to have offered $43 in compensation to the 1,000 passengers booked on the excursion, plus an onboard credit of $50 per cabin.

Alex Lee Chun-ting, general manager of Miramar Travel, said the compensation demanded by the protesting passengers was unacceptable and that “they have been on board and enjoying the facilities throughout the voyage. The only thing is that the ship could not dock in Halong Bay and they missed a four-hour tour there. Would that justify a big refund? – It is impossible for us to accept that.”

The protest lasted for more than 10 hours and over 200 passengers accepted compensation and left the ship.

A new round of negotiations between the protesting passengers who are demanding 30 percent of the cost of their package tour as compensation, will be held today

A spokeswoman for Costa Cruises said the port and channel at Halong Bay were closed by authorities and Costa Victoria was put back to sea. The decision was made solely in the interests of passenger safety.”

You don’t see that every day now do you?

Source: Hong Kong Standard