The incredible shrinking cruise

Let's remind ourselves of what we were offered and what Costa actually delivered.

Day Advertised location
Sat 14/02/2009 Port Louis, Mauritius
Sun 15/02/2009 Port Louis. Depart 13.00
Mon 16/02/2009 At sea
Tue 17/02/2009 Mahé, Seychelles. Arrive 15.00
Wed 18/02/2009 Mahé, Seychelles. Depart 20.00
Thu 19/02/2009 At sea
Fri 20/02/2009 At sea
Sat 21/02/2009 Mombasa, Kenya. Arrive 06.00, depart 18.00
Sun 22/02/2009 At sea
Mon 23/02/2009 Nosy Be, Madagascar. Arrive 10.00, depart 19.00
Tue 24/02/2009 Diego Suarez, Madagascar. Arrive 8.00, depart 17.00
Wed 25/02/2009 Tamatave, Madagascar. Arrive 14.00, depart 19.00
Thu 26/02/2009 At sea
Fri 27/02/2009 St. Denis, Réunion. Arrive 08.00, depart 17.30
Sat 28/02/2009 Port Louis, Mauritius
That meant about four and a half days at sea.

What did we get in the end?
Day Actual location
Sat 14/02/2009 Port Louis, Mauritius
Sun 15/02/2009 Port Louis, departed on time
Mon 16/02/2009 At sea
Tue 17/02/2009 At sea. Arrived Mahé, Seychelles, on time
Wed 18/02/2009 Mahé, Seychelles
Thu 19/02/2009 Mahé, Seychelles, departed about dusk
Fri 20/02/2009 At sea. Starboard engine failed
Sat 21/02/2009 At sea. Heavily reduced speed
Sun 22/02/2009 At sea. Arrived Mombasa, Kenya, at dusk
Mon 23/02/2009 Mombasa, Kenya
Tue 24/02/2009 Departed about midday. At sea
Wed 25/02/2009 At sea
Thu 26/02/2009 At sea
Fri 27/02/2009 At sea. Arrived Réunion about 3.30pm. Departed about 7pm
Sat 28/02/2009 Port Louis, Mauritius. Arrived about 3am
That meant that instead of four and a half days at sea we had four and a half days ashore.

We lost five advertised ports of call, i.e. Mayotte, all of Madagascar and also Réunion (reduced from ten hours to just one). A €300 credit doesn't even begin to make up for that.

In Costa's cruise documention they say that they 'are sure that your holiday will be unique and unforgettable'. It was hardly unique as the passengers on the previous cruise also missed ports of call, but it certainly was unforgettable, for all the wrong reasons.