8420PR

Great news! It was posted on another thread that Champagne is an exception to this rule (so you have to pay full price for champagne). I wonder if this happens for those on the easy packet?

I still received emails about the cancelled cruise until the day before departure.... But, it looks like 3rd May from Rome is the first planned cruise on MSC Seaview after drydock. MSC have loaded the new partial cruises typical for the beginning of a new route - eg: - Rome to Barcelona (3 nights) - Rome to Canes (4 nights) All the above are new (this week I think) and bookable on Italian and German websites.

I was booked on MSC Seaside last October, which was cancelled due to the unforeseen dry-dock. My experience was the phone agents were quite unaware, but we got rebooked on an alternative cruise through email back and forth. European terms and conditions tend to allow you to change to another cruise more flexibly than MSC's email offer - I found it helpful to remind them of this. The terms and conditions are in the booking confirmation email (as a pdf), if you want to check what they were when you booked. We rebooked on a cruise that was considerably more expensive than the one we booked (without any extra payment), but without any OBC. Even with a happy ending it still leaves a bad taste how MSC handled it. 15. Cancellation by MSC Cruises 15.1 MSC Cruises reserves the right to cancel any Contract at any time by giving written notice to the Passenger but shall not be liable for additional compensation, if: (i) the cancellation is due to an event of Unavoidable and Extraordinary Circumstances and/or any unusual /or unforeseeable circumstances beyond MSC Cruises’ control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided by MSC Cruises even though it has exercised all due care; (ii) the number of persons enrolled for the Holiday Package is smaller than the 50% of the passenger capacity of the relevant ship. In both cases above, MSC Cruises will offer the Passenger the choice of: a) Receiving a full refund of all money paid; or b) Booking another Contract from the brochure and/or from the Official Website of equivalent or superior quality at no extra cost, if available; or c) Booking another Contract from the brochure and/or from the Official Website of lower quality, if available, with a refund of the difference in price. 15.2 The Passenger’s decision must be notified to MSC Cruises in writing or via their Sales Agent within 7 days of the notice of cancellation or otherwise instructed by MSC Cruises’ communication.

I also miss premium plus. :) But,are you just paying the €1 difference if you order a signature cocktail (like previous cruisers). If yes, that is a huge enhancement!

It's published on the website: https://www.msccruises.co.uk/health-and-safety-measures/grand-voyages-msc-world-cruise I received the information by email on 22nd March (I'm not starting in Brazil through) and wasn't sure if I believed it as the website had conflicting information. Now everything has been updated though. Enjoy your cruise!

I noticed this itinerary as celebrity are offering a quite reasonable price (in European countries). e.g. 10 days from 2nd February for €676 ($730) per person (including gratuity) for an inside cabin.for the sailing from Athens on 2nd February.

What is the "plus one additional offer"?

I would not be worried about future cruises. All that has happened is MSC have put the new bar menus out in some bars on MSC Seascape before the start of the Summer season and the adjustment of the package prices. It is just some of the bars on one ship and for a short period of time. Hopefully all other ships manage to get it right (it's not so difficult)! I feel sorry for surfjock27 and those on the current sailing - they obviously have a valid complaint.

My experience: Last minute "bella inside" bookings get the upgrades. This is because MSC has sold all inside cabins but wants to still offer a low price-point. You can try and identify when this will happen, as for last minute cruises you will see availability for bella inside, bella oceanview, bella balcony and fantastica balcony - in these cases I have booked bella inside and ended up in a balcony (though I would have been happy in an inside cabin).

The limit for the premium extra drink package increases to €14 from the summer, so champagne still included 🙂

Would you mind posting the bar menu? If it is still the winter 2022 bar menu, then MSC is correct that premium only includes up to $15. If the bar menu has changed to the summer 2023 menu, then I would have expected the new premium $16 limit to apply. Hope you are enjoying your cruise nevertheless!

The above is exactly what I can see for my bookings. For a cruise departing on 5th April: Premium Extra is described as all beverages up to $15, and the beverage packages are the old price. For a cruise departing on 19th November: Premium Extra is described as all beverages up to $16, and the beverage packages are the new price.

You can do a status match at any time, but only once per customer. In my opinion, the biggest $$$ benefit is the 5% discount, so maybe matching NCL silver today is better than waiting to get gold. One other method would be to get the Hilton AmEx Aspire credit card for $450 annual fee, which automatically gives Hilton diamond status and use that for the MSC status match (hopefully to Diamon level as reported here). The benefits of Diamond on MSC certainly are not worth the $450 fee though.......

I want to add (but couldn't edit my post): I'm sure the issues with service identified in this thread are real, and I don't want to imply anything about the OP. Just that I've sometimes encountered other passengers on MSC that enjoy finding problems and complaining.

There is something about MSC that attracts people who enjoy having a good moan, either as a way to start conversations and make friends or as a way to feel a bit superior. I think for many it wouldn't be a good holiday without something to complain about. My husband sometimes falls into this category.

We have done multiple cruises in the YC and not in the YC, and had a great time on all of them. Bella certainly is a different experience (compared to the YC), but not necessarily a worse one. The fixed dining times drives a different rhythm (e.g. dining, show, disco) and we tend to take part in more activities and meet more people when staying outside the YC. I hope (and am pretty sure) you will have a great time!

This is the best value cruise I could find today on MSC: 5 nights (repositioning) on MSC Virtuosa for €251 per person including easy drink packet and gratuities. This is a last minute offer, only recently made available likely for a poorly booked cruise. During the pandemic I booked many similar cruises for this price months in advance, but now (like before the pandemic) the choice is a lot smaller and only for last minute cruises.

What I have noticed: MSC has in the last year or so attempted to increase their base price (i.e. the lowest cost per person per night, typically seen on off-season or repositioning cruises) from GBP30 to GBP50 (inc DSC, but without a drinks package). However in the last month they have gone back to GBP35 a night for some cruises in April (that I assume are poorly booked), indicating the challenge in filling ships at a higher price. In the last 3 years we were treated to some very good prices (on all cruise lines), and now we are back to a smaller selection of bargains, typically offered last minute. Personally I don't feel prices are much higher than they were before the pandemic, for the cruises I am looking at.

2024 cruises from Fort de France are still available to book on UK and German MSC websites. e.g. https://www.msccruises.co.uk/Booking?CruiseID=SE20240210FDFFD1&Type=CROL&DealID={EE600ECC-0562-4336-B68B-161759230198}&PriceCode=SEC01299GB4013EA&NewCruise=true#/pricing

I watched Brazil cruise prices for a couple of years: - I didn't see any prices going down - they only went up as ships filled up. - Ships did get booked up - there is quite a lot of demand from the local market there. - I didn't see any promotions on South America cruises - not even a drinks package included. So my advice would be to book now. I posted my experience of a cruise in Brazil here: For other destinations - e.g. Caribbean and European cruises - MSC do sometimes reduce the prices of shoulder and low season cruises closer to departure, depending on the booking situation; as well as sometimes increasing prices. Personally I can think of more cruises I saw and wished I had booked (as the price later increased) than cruises I've booked and saw price decreases on.

Yes, only if booked 9 months in advance. I'm not exactly sure how they measure the 9 months - at least for me it also worked to book 8 months 29days in advance.

The $50 OBC is only for members that have silver or higher status. If only one passenger in the cabin is silver (or higher) you only receive $50 in total, if 2 passengers are silver (or higher) you will receive $100 in total.

Video monitored home tests have always been accepted by MSC. Take some self-tests (a couple more than you need just in case) and use a service like https://testifly.de/ to get the certificates.

What adult only spaces are there? I don't think the disco is adults only?

When you book a cruise onboard it is assigned to the MSC office or travel agent where you booked the original cruise. E.g. If you booked the Caribbean cruise with MSC in Italy then the Med cruise booked onboard will be with MSC in Italy. I would assume the MSC office you called to make final payment is the country with the booking. At least in Europe I don't think port fees are a 'thing' - I have never seen them separately shown on bookings and itinerary changes haven't results in more or less fees.