In a maritime emergency where the ship must be abandoned, the rules of Naval and Maritime tradition are as follows: passengers first, then the crew, and then the captain.

Why is the captain the last to leave the ship?

The reasoning behind the order of ship abandonment is that the captain is responsible for the passengers and cargo on the ship. In addition, legal title to a shipwreck hinges upon whether the owner has abandoned the vessel or not. Abandoned ships are fair game to treasure hunters and the first diver to take possession of the wreck typically gets to keep the bounty.

What constitutes abandonment depends on the particulars of the case, but typically a shipwreck has to be completely submerged for years with no attempt from the owners to salvage it before any court will declare it abandoned, but it’s unlikely that the Costa Concordia will ever be declared abandoned. First, much of the ship remains above water and second, the owners are making an active effort at recovery.

What will happen to the passenger’s sunken belongings?

More than 4,000 people fled the sinking ship and every one of them left behind what they brought on the boat: electronics, jewelry, clothing, and more.  Salvage crews began to work on the capsized ship already and if marine engineers are able to right the ship and tow it to safety, the owners may be able to collect property from the cabins and return it to the passengers and crew.

That’s what happened when the Empress of the North, operating by Majestic America Line of Seattle, ran aground southwest of Juneau Alaska in 2007 (although the reports of passenger care and was far different than those coming from the passengers of the Costa Concordia). In that situation, passengers also left the ship with little other than their personal identification and medication, but they were reunited with their belongings later.

What can passengers expect from the Costa Concordia operators?

Unfortunately, in the situation of the Costa Concordia sinking, there’s likely to be a lot of lost and damaged property and passengers can file claims with the cruise line for their missing possessions, but most cruise tickets limit their liability for lost or damaged goods. The standard cap is $150 and these contracts specifically exclude any liability for cash and expensive items like jewelry and electronics.

Passengers without travel insurance are likely to be very disappointed in what they eventually receive for their belongings. The baggage coverage with a travel insurance plan will have limits on individual items and expensive items as well, but the policy limits are typically much higher than that offered by the cruise line.

In addition, if a traveler scheduled their electronics and other expensive items on their homeowner’s policy, they may have some option for reimbursement there.

 

 

 

While it’s important for cruise passengers to recognize that the bizarre and heartbreaking tragedy of the Costa Concordia is a truly rare event, that may not ease the fears of people who have a future booking on a cruise, whether it’s operated by Costa Cruises or not.

I have a future booking on Costa Concordia. What are my options?

Under more normal circumstances, if a cruise company has to cancel a departure, they will offer a full refund or an alternative voyage -– typically with some kind of incentive compensation or treats attached to make you feel better. Then, it’s your choice.

This, as you may imagine, is not a normal situation. If you have a future reservation on Costa Concordia, you’ll have to work with the Costa Cruises company. Depending on how far out your voyage is scheduled will likely determine how soon you are contacted by the company.

I have a future booking on any cruise line, Costa Cruises included, and I want to cancel. What are my options?

Some travelers may feel that until they know what went wrong, they don’t want to sail. What are their options for getting their money back?

The typical procedure for cruise trip cancellations are, very broadly: cancel with a certain number of months in advance, pay a cancellation fee, and you’re out. Cancel within a certain number of days or less of departure, or choose not to show, and all your money is lost.

It’s important to remember that most cruises involve costs that are outside the actual cruise ship charges – they also involve airline tickets, hotel reservations, and more.

By default, travel insurance doesn’t provide reimbursement when a traveler changes their mind and as sensational as the news reports are, that’s still what it is – changing your mind about the trip. Travelers with ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage with their policies, however, do have the option to cancel for 50-100% of their trip costs for any reason at all, including changing your mind.

Follow-up Warning: In most cases, travelers must purchase their travel insurance within a certain number of days of making their initial booking to have the ‘cancel for any reason’ option available. See the important notes about ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage.

For reasons not yet fully understood, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck the rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio and capsized with over 4,000 passengers and crew aboard. At least five people are now known to have died in this tragedy and dozens remain missing.

Travel insurance would give you a ‘lifeline’ to call

While the immediate task of the cruise management company should be to help the survivors, as well as the relatives of the victims, helping that number of people is difficult for even the most well organized team. Travelers with travel insurance have a third-party to call for assistance – and these folks are trained to handle travel emergencies.

Arranging medical care or evacuation

Survivors who regularly take necessary prescriptions could be struggling to find replacements. Those who were injured or suffered hypothermia from the freezing water may be struggling to find medical help and may be facing foreign medical bills. Travel insurance assistance services can locate local medical care providers and even arrange for an evacuation.

Replacing lost passports and credit cards

Survivors of this bizarre tragedy were forced to abandon the ship, in most cases, with little more than the clothing on their backs. If they were lucky, they had a cell phone in their pocket. In the dead of night, these former passengers were virtually stranded in foreign country without their wallets, identification, passports, credit cards, cash, and more. Travel insurance services can help travelers replace their passports, obtain new credit cards, and even advance cash from their own accounts or from family.

Making new travel arrangements

As the survivors have begun returning to their homes, many tell tales of finding their own transportation to other towns, and having to rely on the kindness of strangers for temporary lodging. With travel insurance in their corner, stranded travelers have help finding and paying for alternative flights back home, lodging, and replacement clothing and personal items.

Obtaining emergency medications can be difficult for many reasons and one of those is as simple as different medicines used for the same treatment in different countries, or medications having different names in other countries.

So, beyond the measures you do to protect yourself from a travel disaster, what happens if your prescription medicines (or your vitamins) are stolen or fall overboard, for example?

Travel insurance plans always have a travel assistance services and those folks can help you:

1. Contact your doctor back home and have a new prescription sent to you.
2. Work with a pharmacist or local doctor to convert that prescription into something the traveler can purchase to replace their other medicines.
3. Contact a local doctor to have you examined and get a new prescription.

Does travel insurance pay for my emergency prescriptions?

It depends on the individual plan, of course, but in general:

• If you have adequate travel medical coverage with your travel insurance plan, then the cost of those prescription medicines may be covered by your travel insurance plan.
• If you did pack your prescriptions in your checked luggage and that luggage is stolen, the cost of replacing your prescriptions would be included in your baggage coverage.

How can travelers avoid a prescription medicine emergency?

For those who need to use prescription drugs on a regular basis, it’s important to make sure you have enough for the trip you are taking. This is especially important if your trip gets extended. Remember the travel disruptions caused by the Icelandic volcano?

We’ve always recommended that travelers carry their prescription medicines (in their original containers) in their carry-on (rather than in their checked luggage) because you’ll have it when you need it – even if your bag gets misrouted and ends up in another country or stolen.

Another important step is to make a copy of your prescriptions and carry those copies with you. Just like making a copy of your passport identification page, this can help you get replacements because your doctor’s phone number, the correct dosage, etc. is right there on the prescription.