It started with an article in Queens Jewish Link with the incendiary title Cruise Company To Kosher Travelers: Stay Off (queensjewishlink.com) and quickly spread across the tight-knit religious Jewish community.
Here are the facts as we know them.
The article asserted that a group of 140 Jewish cruisers on the Costa Toscana had been canceled just days before departure because “the ship’s crew refused to cooperate with the provision of kosher food” and refused to allow the use of kosher china, pots, frying pans, etc.”
No recourse was possible, the article quoted Costa as saying. “We simply will not do this,” tour operator Yossi Zablocki was told, even though he already had purchased $22,000 worth of kosher food, bought tickets to Europe for his staff, and had a history of running more than 40 high-end kosher cruises in the past, many of them with Costa Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Line.
“I thought the days of ‘No Jews and dogs allowed’ were over,” the article quoted Zablocki as saying. “I don’t think they realize what they have walked into. I will keep fighting until the world understands what they have done. The Jewish People have faced enough discrimination.”
Costa responded that it is “very familiar with Kosher meal requirements, and we have successfully supported Kosher meal requests onboard Costa ships multiple times per year for decades and will continue to do so in the future. Unfortunately, last July, Destination 631 Tours failed to reach the minimum cabin booking thresholds (50 cabins) necessary for us to provide Kosher meal service. Costa was fully transparent with the tour operator, communicating with them well in advance of departure that if the tour did not meet the required minimum cabin reservations, it would be impossible for us to provide Kosher meals.”
But Zablocki insisted the group had 140 attendees and anti-Semitism was the real issue.
Costa Replies to TRO
Approached by a travel advisor after the original story broke, TRO reached out to Costa Cruises for a comment. They replied,
“We regret that the facts of this situation have been misrepresented by Mr. Yosef Zablocki, who we have ceased doing business with as a result of his breach of our business terms and unprofessional business behavior. Each year Costa welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests from all different religions, backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures, and with proper notice and coordination, we happily accommodate a variety of special requests, including dietary requirements. We are very familiar with Kosher meal requirements and successfully support Kosher service requests onboard Costa ships multiple times per year.
“Unfortunately, for two July sailings, Destination 613 Tours and Mr. Zablocki failed to reach the minimum cabin booking thresholds required for us to provide Kosher meal service at the strict levels specified for this tour. These requirements ensure we have the adequate operational set-up to fulfill the special meal requests, as we will do this summer for two other Kosher groups organized by other long-standing reputable tour operators, who met the necessary terms without issue.
”Costa was fully transparent with the tour operator, communicating with them well in advance of departure that if the tours did not meet the required minimum cabin reservations, the full Kosher service could not be provided.
“The business decision to terminate our business relationship with Mr. Zablocki and Destination 613 says nothing of the company’s dedication to and proud service of our many Jewish guests across all our cruise lines, and to our many Jewish travel partners and employees.”
Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly stated that it was retracted by the author, Jeffrey Helmreich. This was incorrect; we inadvertently mistook him for someone else in the story. We sincerely apologize for any embarrassment this has caused Mr. Helmreich and/or The Jewish Link.