perakcruiser

9 hours ago, Nextholiday? said:

It is still showing as available for Dec 30 but someone said cancelled. Used the above website ?

Just checked it, it is not showing available: 
"Al momento non c'è disponibilità per la data scelta. Per favore seleziona un'altra partenza". 

You also can see that the route map is removed for the Euribia. 

9 hours ago, Nextholiday? said:

Can I ask for regular MSC cruisers if they cancel do they not allow you to move to another cruise ship same date within day/same ports for same price?

Usually they do, but I guess because it is the New Years cruise the change request has to go thru Napoli. Still thinking in the end @Stockjock will be allowed to change to the World Europa for free. 

5 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

We are looking at booking one of these cabins, are any alcoholic drinks included or do we need to get the drinks package 

No drinks package included, but don´t get too excited. These (very few) cabins are usually sold out. 

10 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Kinda curious about this comment...do the Italians have a reputation for bad service like the French do for being rude?  I've known many French people and they weren't rude and had nothing but great service when we visited Italy.  

Here it is about something else. MSC follows the Italian tradition of start something not fully prepared and just hope the best. The ship is not ready, the crew is not ready? No problem, after some time things will improve. A German or UK line definitely would cancel or delay. Just a few weeks before MSC had real troubles with the Seaside but tried to continue. Finally they gave up and put the ship out of service for some time.

1 hour ago, mama4five said:

Well I just got notification from MSC that they have changed the same itinerary to the Fantasia instead of the Euribia.  So it looks like I will be making some changes to this booking.  Ugh.

 

Thanks for the help.

Ok, I should have trusted my knowledge in MSC language more 😄

13 minutes ago, Acrobatu2 said:

Can I ask you the contact of your TA and if He/She caters to the US market?

Unfortunately not handling the US market. And for legal reasons also not willing to do. But I think when the numbers for 2022 are calculated quite a number of US TA will get the highest rank from MSC in 2023. 

What @Stockjock did not mention - probably because it is not relevant for him - is the killer pro for most of the guests. "Kids cruise free" and the totally amazing free of any charges Kids Club and attitude towards young guests that is not even closely matched by any other line. 

Agreed with @CampNCruise74, yes, the multi-language stuff can be tedious, but it is also an

irreplaceable gesture of respect to all guests on board. OK, not all, but most. 

17 minutes ago, CampNCruise74 said:

Any TA's out there want to speak to all the free perks MSC gives you compared to Carnival and its affiliates?   I would be really anxious to hear about it.   Not arguing about the co-operation/call Italy thing.   

I am not a TA but I know the system of MSC. You have to have the MSC TA rank "COMMANDER" to get a good connection to MSC. My TA is a "Commander" 😄 and has a very good connection to MSC, even can change a Bella booking that technically cannot be changed. Commanders also get special bonuses, incentives and so on. Usually all TA have a special connection with one or two lines and then of cause they will try to move their clients to these lines. 

You should include the date of your cruise in the title so people know what cruise you are talking. Would be very helpful.

35 minutes ago, mama4five said:

Embarking and disembarking in Barcelona.  MSC USA site shows that the entire ship is full.

 

In MSC language " "This cruise is fully booked" usually means "This cruise is cancelled".

But don´t worry, in that cases always check first the ITALIAN website https://www.msccrociere.it/

All kinds of changes can be found here first and it is the best source for availability. And there you will find all kinds of cabins available for booking including YC. 

8 minutes ago, mt234 said:

everything i’ve ever heard about MSC is bad. our TA will not even book this line and neither will many others. 🤮

I am sure your TA has the lowest rank with MSC and is more or less ignored by MSC, so he started to ignore MSC, because he anyway has no chance to reach a higher tier 😄  

14 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

$170 for 3 days.....sign me up and I won't complain!

Actually this is a quite normal price for these first cruises. Believe it or not, even the first 4 nighter on the brand new World Europe after the World Cup costs only $139 for inside or $259 for balcony (with 100 OBC, so it´s a steal for 159).

People just need to understand that this is a TEST RUN and they are not cruising almost for free because MSC made a pricing mistake 😉

12 minutes ago, HikingPete said:

Makes me a little concerned about my upcoming trip on Virtuosa to be honest.

 

You are on the 4th November cruise? As far as I know the ship is at least empty before it starts it´s winter schedule from Southampton. 

2 minutes ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

Cruises out of the US do not already include the daily hotel service charges.

Oh yes, they do. And it is higher than other cruises for 7 nights, €84 instead of €70.

13 hours ago, smokeykat said:

What is the gratuity charge per day? Do they add this onto your account to pay at the end or can this be pre paid?

If you are not forced to or can opt to include this during the booking it will be added onto your account on a daily basis. Only in this case you can change or remove.

The charge depends on the route and age. 

2 hours ago, SirWolf said:

MSC Euribia is in Barcelona on 11-04-2023

OK. Just checked, as expected all kinds of cabins including YC are available. 

7 hours ago, Stockjock said:

The shoreside customer service folks are pleasant enough, but in many instances, they are not empowered to fix problems as they arise.  So they contact Italy who might do something, in time, or might simply ignore the request.

This is a cultural business gap. The anglo-american world is giving local staff the rights to decide things, in southern Europe and all of Asia everything has to go thru HQ. EVERYTHING in Malaysia, the local branch of a business cannot make the smallest decision without approval from HQ.

9 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

was it first cruise after Europe? no surprise here. always a mess by US customs

It is the same thing in the other direction. Had this a couple of years before, we were told better just drop the luggage and go sightseeing in Venice and come back late afternoon when the chaos has ended. Which we did, had a great day in Venice and in the evening we could more or less walk directly on the ship. Sure MSC is to blame here, but definitely also the port authorities. I know that some ports are far away from everything and leaving is not really an option. But Venice or Genoa or Napoli are perfect.

6 hours ago, mama4five said:

Can that be true?  The entire ship?

You are not writing where you embark. Different ports have different allocations, but basically it is totally impossible that a cruise in November 2023 is fully booked. 

2 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

Does anybody receive any updates from MSC? Will MSC World Europa's itinerary also be affected?

No, the WE will go back to work on Dec 20. Doha and Dammam are on the itinerary. 

8 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

Or, perhaps, after I become adjusted in my head to this system on MSC, I’ll change my mind.

Totally strange as ALL cruise lines I know charge you for picking the cabin by yourself. Maybe some where the base fare is already 10 times higher than MSC not. And the surcharge for Fantastica is so tiny, all others I know charge much more.

And definitely MSC is the not the best line, but the line with the most "equitable environment".But I guess you are right not to go with MSC, it is probably just not the suitable product for you. 

7 hours ago, greg_atlanta said:

does anyone know if days passes are sold on board for the thermal area?  asking specifically for Meraviglia.  looks like i can book a pass for my upcoming 7 day cruise for $130 (which seems reasonable), but prefer to try before i buy!

Sometimes day passes are available, sometimes not. During COVID hard times no day or week passes at all on board, only pre booked. If that has changed now, I don´t know.

I don´t remember the price of the day or week passes on board, just remember that they are much more expensive than in advance. 

4 hours ago, 1kaper said:

Asking for a friend.  Like the title says, when is the latest you can add someone to your stateroom? They would be going from 3 people - 4 but the room type is good for 4.  
Will be sailing out of the US if that makes a difference. 

If you booked via MSC you need to call them, if you booked TA you need to ask them. 

52 minutes ago, asalligo said:

I booked Bella and was able to select early dining and on my reservation it says Dinner time preference: early dining. So is this just a preference and I may be assigned late dining when I arrive on the ship? Then have to go to the maitre de to get changed?

Just don´t touch the booking and nothing will be changed. But yes, if you read "2nd seating" on your cruise card, you have to go to the maitre d to change. 

46 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

What I don’t understand is the Bella/Fantastica/Aurea differentiation.  Am I understanding correctly that if you go with the lowest tier, you can’t choose your cabin or your dining time and you are restricted from a bunch of things on the ship?  Does this create a caste-system mentality where Bella “guests” feel like they are in steerage on the Titanic?

Your problem as MSC beginner is that your research is more or less useless because all the Bella/Fantastica/Aurea stuff changes constantly. And many ships are older than these "tiers", that is relevant when we talk about cabins. So older reviews are outdated. 

Let me give you an example. To make Fantastica more attractive MSC decided that some activities in the Kids Club were only free with Fantastica tier. I am not sure if the kids club staff really enforced this. It was a stupid idea and removed fast. 

Some years before you also could select your cabin will Bella, get the free breakfast delivery to the room and so on. Basically there was almost no difference. So during covid MSC finally found the key to promote Fantastica, the choice of cabin. This is something many people seem to like. During the cruise there is no difference if you booked Bella or Fantastica. Aurea is a different thing, as they have their private sun deck and restaurant and the best cabins can only be booked with Aurea. But while the price gap between Bella and Fantastica is very small, the gap to Aurea is very big.

6 minutes ago, KKB said:

I see Matua SV on the Plus list...

This one I like also, but I don´t think it will be on MSCs lists in Europe, only Caribbean.

1 hour ago, KKB said:

Sounds like it might be worth it to buy bottles as I go; but can I upgrade to Plus onboard if I determine I like the choices? 

Yes, you can, but only at the beginning of the cruise. One of the first days.

MSC has some Sauvignon Blancs, which exactly depends on the route. I like the one from Friuli called Tenuta Villanova. Not too spectacular, but really good and priced fair also.