Rossco01

Honestly sometimes MSC can test your patience.. it took us probably 3 emails, 2 complaint emails and 2 calls to get ours sorted and we were happy to PAY the difference to get the YC experience. They just take so long to respond and many of the agents don’t seem to understand what you are asking for. In the end we got it sorted brand at no cost so all good in the end.

 

just crossing our fingers it happens now.. this is a rollover from back in 2020 ( although we’ve sailed MSC before ).

You have to be careful as others have said between an Upgrade you've paid for and one where you've simply been moved to a YC cabin. We had a similar situation on our booking recently where my sister in laws family were booked into a two bed suite (Aurea) and then received a new booking confirmation that their cabin had been changed to YC cabin as MSC wanted to retain the two bed suite for potential COVID situations. The booking was very clear Cabin Grade YC and Experience was still Aurea. 

 

Whilst I suspect as others have said that they would probably get YC experience for most parts, I have no doubt their experience would probably be coded as Aurea on their cruise card (which might limit some things). In the end they chose to "upgrade" their cruise experience to YC to avoid any potential issues. Interestingly this took a long long time as clearly the MSC system couldn't deal with it (as the original change had been made by MSC) and it had to be escalated internally...in the end they received the YC experience for no extra charge (that said we have an additional two cabins on this booking that were already YC so that may have played a part). They now have a booking that confirm both cabin and experience are YC.

 

They key thing is to check your booking documentation and see what it says.

We were sent our room "upgrade offer" this week (UK and 44 days out of sailing on Seaview). We're in YC already...so you think what can they offer? Well it's the Royal Suite for an eye watering £1900 (minimum) per person 🤣

Looks like you've had a great time so far and enjoying seeing your daily updates... You are certainly being pampered in YC.

Assuming it's the same as when we cruised on it in 2017 it will be the Panorama which is at the back of the ship and has lovely views to the rear of the boat. My Time dining is great as you just turn up when you want to dine...never ever had a problem getting a table.

We sailed from Marseille in 2017 and I think boarded around 12pm. That said we were on an Aurea package which gave us premium boarding so it was straight to the front and we were on within 20 minutes...mind you 2017 is a lifetime ago in terms of cruising now.

 

We're sailing again from Marseille, this time on Seaview. However we are fortunate to be YC this time so expect to board reasonably early. 

Loving your review so far! making me look forward to our Med YC cruise on Seaview end of July. 

Nice review and good to hear you had a great time. Very similar to our first experience (in Europe) on the Meraviglia in a Duplex cabin (that was back in 2017). We couldn't believe the size of the cabin and that DID have two bathrooms plus the hottub on the balcony. Looking back it was  crazy price (we must have got in early) @ just £4K but we benefited from at least one of (the two) kids being free and the other heavily discounted.

 

Loved the anytime dining as well...always felt great just turning up and them seating us without issues.

 

Our NEXT trip should be end of July (following multiple cancellations due to Covid) and this time it'll be Yacht Club around the med (again) on the Seaview.

 

One day (probably just the wife and I) we'll make it across the pond.

I normally assume at least two weeks. The are not the greatest. I also find it usually takes multiple communications to get things done....but they do eventually do it. Frustrating as hell.

Our cruise was cancelled in 2020 and then again in 2021. We finally I think have a cruise in 2022. Each time we booked our OBC got carried over although I think in 2021 we had to remind them. It was added quite quickly and new booking details sent out.

Probably a silly question but I can't see it anywhere in the MSC FAQ. We're not far off making final payment but as we're large group (and multiple bookings) there is still ongoing discussion about speciality dining and other excursions. Does anyone know if you can continue to book these online after final payment has been made? If we can't then it'll force the issue and we'll book now.. Many thanks in advance.

Many Thanks for the prompt reply.

I saw an earlier topic from March/April asking if MSC were still enforcing MSC excursions or were not allowing passengers to disembark independently. It seem that the advice was still "May be allowed to disembark from beginning of April" but that some had still received emails saying that only MSC excursions could be taken. I see looking at the UK website that the advice remains the same.

 

Can anyone who has travelled since April confirm if they were able to disembark independently? We're not travelling until end of July so a little way off (and of course things could change!) but just starting to consider booking independent things in the coming weeks.

Just received below absolutely gobsmacked having only booked last month. This was our first attempt to rebook following cancellation last year. Really knocks your confidence in the cruise industry at the minute. I know we lose nothing in the cruise but flights is another thing. We booked BA so will get credit but this was a big family gathering, 4 cabins, so that’s a lot of credit to use. The itinerary has completely changed and getting to Genoa from the UK is not easy. MSC do have other Med cruises advertised similar to our original itinerary but can they be trusted to go ahead. I think it may be time to pause cruising for another year.

 

SUBJECT: Important Notice: Your upcoming cruise on MSC Seaside

 

SAILING DATE: 7/29/2022

ROUTE: MRS-MRS

REFERENCE: 36902669

 

Dear F*****

 

First of all, we would like to thank you for choosing MSC Cruises and the beautiful MSC Seaside for your upcoming cruise departing7/29/2022.

MSC Cruises would like to inform you that due to operational reasons, your upcoming cruise on MSC Seaside departing Marseille, France will now embark in Genoa, Italy one day later with a change in their itinerary.

 

Please note the updated itinerary in the table below:

 

Port

Arrival Time

Departure Time

Genoa, Italy

    

17:00

Civitavecchia/Rome, Italy

08:00

18:00

Palermo/Monreale, Italy

10:00

18:00

At sea

    

     

Ibiza/Balearic Is., Spain

08:00

20:00

Valencia, Spain

08:00

19:00

At sea

    

     

Genoa, Italy

08:00

    

 

The excursion programme has of course been updated to reflect the changes to this itinerary and all details can be found on the MSC Cruises website and at the shore excursion office once on board. 

 

As your sailing has been modified, we would like to offer you the following options:

 

Option 1

Should you wish to accept the above changes,please note that there will be no change in the cruise cost. Furthermore, we would like to give you an additional benefit of a non-refundable on-board credit of €200.00 per cabin (€100.00 Single Occupancy) which will be applied to your reservation.

 

Should you wish to proceed with this option, your response must be sent tooperationsuk@msccruises.co.uk no later than31st October 2021.  

 

Option 2

Should you wish to move your cruise, MSC Cruises will be pleased to offer you the possibility to book any other cruise currently available for sale as per our Flexible Cruise Programme. 

 

These requests will be subject to our current promotions, live pricing, and cabin availability. Please note any existing on-board services will not be transferable to the new reservation.

 

These requests would need to be sent tooperationsuk@msccruises.co.uk by the 31stOctober 2021.

 

Option 3

Should you require more time to consider alternative sailings, please be advised that upon request to operationsuk@msccruises.co.uk no later than the 31st October 2021, we will issue new vouchers to them at the end of November 2021 that can be used to rebook, with an additional benefit of a non-refundable on-board credit of €200.00 per cabin (€100.00 Single Occupancy) which will be applied to your new reservation once made.

 

This voucher and incentive are offered outside the scope of the ABTA scheme of protection.

 

The Future Cruise Credit Voucher can be applied to any sailing currently on sale and can be redeemed until 30th April 2022.

 

Option 4:

If you would like to request a refund, please email operationsuk@msccruises.co.uk.

 

Important Notice:

You must provide feedback to ourselves no later than the 31st October 2021. In case no feedback has been received by this date; we will assume your acceptance of the modified changes.

 

Insurance 

When the time comes for you to sail with us again, it is mandatory for all guests to be in possession of Covid-19 travel insurance prior to your holiday with us. While we hope there is no need to use it, you must ensure your policy covers your holiday from booking through to the end of your cruise. This will ensure total peace of mind for you knowing you are fully protected.

 

We thank you for your support and look forward to welcoming you back on board.

 

Best regards,

 

Charlotte Jones

Head of Contact Centre UK & Ireland

 

Errors Omissions and Changes

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the data and content of the letter relating to the offer made.  Please be advised should an error occur MSC Cruises reserve the right to change the offer accordingly.

 

We have/had a cruise booked to Norway on the Meraviglia in August. We were holding out to see if this was cancelled by MSC before making final payment, but last week - in the UK - noted that MSC now allow anyone with cruise up to September to move free of charge (in all honesty we were prepared to move for the £100 cost but preferred it free). We contacted them on the phone last week and they confirmed we can move (without paying final payment) and requested we fill out the online form which we have now done (looking at July 2021 instead).

 

This at least now gives us another 10 months before final payment is due and we can see how the cruise market looks before final committment. At the moment the most we'll have lost is the deposit.

Just gone on to the MSC website and noticed they have now changed the "Cruise Credit" to "Compensation Package" but at the moment (at least for me and wife) the page isn't loading. Also looks like they are doing something to the Flexible Cruise Programme page as that's no longer loading either. Wonder if they are updating it with something new. Getting close - in terms of final payments due - to when they'll have to decide on what they are doing about Late July/August Cruises.

Welshdoc that was the logic we were using. We increase our potential loss by another £100 but delay the need for final payment so can wait and see. Ironically we are currently on Meraviglia which we've sailed on before (not necessarily our first choice, shes a great ship but we wanted to try a different line....unfortunately RCL decided to move the Indie after we'd booked) but moving to next year would put us on Virtuosa (assuming it's not delayed indefinitely or they don't change the schedule).

 

I'll check out the planet cruise website Johan

On 5/3/2020 at 12:21 PM, Johan Bear said:

In the uk msc are saying any sailing up to end of sept can be moved to next year. We are in a similar position where we have to pay our balance in July for a cruise in November which leaves from Venice and as the Italians do not know the meaning of the word queue therefore no social distancing we will cancel and lose our deposit!

it is going to be impossible to social distance on a ship, four people to a lift !!!!!!
Just as an aside people say it is like flu-forget that both myself and my wife have had it, myself a very light dose of it, my wife is now in her sixth week from when she developed it, an has very little strength but is getting there. My advise would be  to lose your deposit but keep your health!!!

 

Hi Johan, where did you get the Sept date from for UK? when I look on the uk website it currently says only cruises due to depart up until 30th June can reschedule (as part of their flexible cruise programme). We are scheduled for Norwegian cruise beginning of August so will have final payment to make in the next couple of weeks. MSC seem to be making the call on whether a cruise will go ahead about a week before final payment due looking at previous notices. I think we will probably look to move to next year if possible ( I think you can do that regardless of FCC for £100).

So just to close this topic and leave an answer for others. After almost 4 weeks with the enquiry being passed to inventory we finally got confirmation that we were right and that second cabin simply had a sofa bed. We had to persistently chase on this but I think this is just the Italian way.

 

Once confirmed they were happy to move us to two “normal” balcony cabins (which was what we’d booked). A warning to others to check exactly which cabin you’ve been allocated and that it matches what you booked! And don’t believe what the person might say initially onthe phone ( it took four calls/emails and proof from this site before inventory were asked to check).

 

We can now relax and look forward to August

Hi Skier, I think you may have answered this previously but we've just been allocated 13245 and 13247 on Meraviglia having asked for two balcony cabins. Now we think based on your previous similar reply that 13245 is a small sofa bed only cabin that connects with 13247. Do you know if that's right? We are asking (challenging) MSC on this. So far the very nice lady has insisted it's two cabins both with twin beds....however having passed across as much proof as she can she has now passed it to "Inventory" although it's taking a long time to come back! Many thanks in advance for help.

Marseille and Paris are not close! that's a 7 hour drive assuming good road conditions. Even by fast train it will be many hours. Cost will be in the $100's per person either by plane or train.

Ouch! they are lovely but we paid just over £4K all in for a family of four in 2017. We did look again when booking this year but were well out of our reach. At the time we thought it was just timing but perhaps above is a better indicator. Glad we got the opportunity when we did!  

Many thanks. Yes I think those were threads we’d seen. At the moment the lady from MSC seems to be in denial so I’ve sent her a link to deck plans and a link to the video for Bellisima cabin.

Hi All,

 

Hopefully someone has been in these cabins and confirm what we suspect.

 

At booking we asked for two twin bed cabins but have been allocated 13245 and 13247. Looking at the deck plan seems to suggest that 13245 is a small cabin 9msq and we believe is actually a studio cabin with just a single sofa bed. Indeed on the deck plan for Meraviglia it does say it has a reduced size bed. Interesting on the Bellisima is specifically describes it as a single studio cabin.

 

Has anyone been in these cabin that could confirm our suspicions? 

 

We have now been in contact with MSC over a number of days and don't seem to be getting anywhere. Their agent on the phone initially said we were wrong, looked at the deck plan and then said we'd need to send an email. We're now on our third email with each one insisting we'll get what we asked for. We know we need to sort this before we go otherwise we've got no chance. We think in some instances they squeeze a double sofa bed in these cabins.

 

Any help for all you great cruisers would be appreciated.

 

Quick question as we've just booked our second trip on Meraviglia for the Norwegian Fjords (thank you RC for cancelling our Independence of Seas cruise 😢 ). Just wondered what are the main shows at the moment, we cruised on her in 2017 so hoping things have changed a little. I know there have been changes in some of the restaurants. We had a great time last time so looking forward to it.