Italian travel agents

CiaoWe had to cancel our March/April cruise with Costa and got all our money back: tell a lie, we did not get  the money back, the other half added some more money to the original deposit and re-booked the same holiday for 2010 but this time extended it by another 10 days (I am not complaining: I love the life on the Costa ships).  The problem is not our own agent, we know her and trust her.  There are other agents in the area and one of them is offering a package, which I like (my choice this time and it is a river cruise on the Volga).  The problem is I do not know the agent.  In the UK once the travel agent is registered with the Assosiation of British Travel Agents (ABTA) the agent is bonded and the client's money is safe.  If we are going on holidays that involves air travel the Civil Aviation Authority requires ATOL bonding.  If we have paid for the holidays by credit card and the agent or travel company fails the credit card company may refund the money.  If we have paid by debit card (Bancomat in Italy)  then there is no refund (unless English law has changed recently).  I understand that this guarantee by the banks do not cover payments abroad!  The travel insurance company may refund some money if the policy covers loss through bankruptcy!  I read somewhere that in Italy travel agents have be to licensed.  I do not know by whom: is it the commune, the region, the government that does the licensing and what does licensing involves?  Are Italian travel agents bonded and if so by whom: is it an insurance company, the bank and how do I find out?  Is there a scheme similar to ATOL in Italy?  Does Italian travel insurance, which is compulsory when I buy a package holiday in Italy, provides for loss due to bankruptcy? My Italian is not good enough at present to understand all those small prints and I run out of patience before I get to the end of the small prints in the brochure. Lots of question but at the end of the day none of it matters.  It all boils down to one thing, how do I make sure I can trust the owner of the agency, when I am doing business with him or her for the first time?  I hope you can help me on this one and many thanks! 

Hi Helen Costa is our preferred cruise line, but we prefer the smaller ships like the Marina and the Allegra.  We travelled with them on the Costa Magica from Savonna to Brazil with another 3500 passengers: I think that was the number, although we loved it the long queues were a bit irritating but after a while you learn how to beat the crowd.  Our English hostess, who was there only for 10 brits, a few Americans and Canadians managed to get us on the main deck ( I think that is what it is called ) and we met the officers: all Italians, great guys and very friendly!  Travelling to Brazil from Italy was cheapish: about 900 to 1000 Euro for 21 days, my daughter travelled free.  We made our own way back.  I would certainly do this trip again: this time stopping for 2 weeks in RIO before coming back to Italy.  In April next year we are sailing the Allegra from Singapore to Cittavecchia.  It is a great way to meet Italians when cruisng Costa: we have made so many friends across Italy!