FYI - We cancelled our June 27th cruise on March 19th. Called yesterday to get an update on the refund and was told they were originally telling people 60 days but have pushed it back to 70 to 75 days. The rep also told me that they are only sending refunds on Monday and Tuesday of each week. He said it would depend on my bank when I get it after that, but they only process them Monday and Tuesday. It is really something different each time someone calls. 

FYI - We cancelled our June 27th cruise on March 19th. Called yesterday to get an update on the refund and was told they were originally telling people 60 days but have pushed it back to 70 to 75 days. The rep also told me that they are only sending refunds on Monday and Tuesday of each week. He said it would depend on my bank when I get it after that, but they only process them Monday and Tuesday. It is really something different each time someone calls. 

MSC's excuse that it will take 60 days to complete refunds is garbage and can be debunked with one simple example.

Currently, MSC's sole excuse is the shear volume of refunds, however, if that were the case then we would've already seen at-least some early passengers receive their refunds. I would be way more understanding if you could see they were processing refunds and were on only through some date in April. However, they haven't even processed any refunds for the famous Puerto Rico cruise that was supposed to get refunds. They are basically saying, "We need 60 days to process refunds, but within the 60 day period we haven't processed any refunds." Do they really expect me to believe they haven't processed any refunds "due to volume" and then they are going to process months worth of refunds overnight?????

I've been waiting on the hope that MSC would do the right thing. We really enjoyed our cruise on the Seaside in the Yacht Club, so are reluctant to dispute with my CC for fear they will say we cannot cruise in the future. However, the time is quickly approaching the point where I'll say screw it, dispute with my CC and cruise in the Haven again if they block me. 

40 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

I called MSC USA today to check on the status of the refund for my cancelled cruise (cancelled 03-05-2020 / cruise date 03-21-2020).

The customer service rep pulled up my booking but couldn’t help and transferred to Escalation Department.

The service rep in Escalation Department told me that the time frame for refund is 60 BUSINESS DAYS and not calendar days since the financial department doesn’t work on Saturday and Sundays. He explained that I am still within the time for refund and have to wait until 05-20-2020 .

What the heck ??  BUSINESS DAYS.. really ?

or just another excuse to delay the refund ?

I getting more and more frustrated.

Business day???? Seriously??? 

A refund for MSC is like a mirage, just keeps getting farther and farther away. I do not see how they possibly believe this will leave anything but a sour taste in a market they are trying to penetrate....

16 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

In the real world the Aponte family are not about to let their 15 billion dollar cruise line go under.  Rafael and her husband are very involved with MSC Cruises.  They have the funds and the intention to protect their investment.  I would say they are in a much better position than the big three.  MSC Global Containers is currently making billions.  They have not shut down due to the a Corona Virus.  Keeping MSC Cruises afloat would require what the Apontes consider pocket change.  If NCL can stay afloat for one year on 1 billion dollars then MSC Is secure for years to come.

Yet, I find It incredibly strange that the “big 3” have been providing refunds to customers while “safe” MSC hasn’t refunded anyone? At least not according to cruise critic. 
 

Had customers of MSC been receiving refunds, my opinion my be different. However, as of the latest filing, they had 187 million in cash and over 5 billion of total debt. They would need to borrow money just to give refunds, which nobody has receives, so I don’t view that as they are fine.

21 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

MSC going bankrupt?  Totally ridiculous...MSC is in better condition than the majors.  The big three are borrowing funds and accumulating debt.  When’s the last time you heard of MSC borrowing money?  Short answer: you haven’t and you won’t.

MSC is a private company, so you have absolute no clue as to the status of their financing. When was the last time you heard a private company borrowing money or disclosing their finances? Short answer: You haven't and you wont.

On 1/22/2020 at 9:12 AM, CelebrationFamily said:

Like Tapi, I'm glad we sailed in a Duplex Suite last year while they were "value priced" in the Aurea category. 😎 And I also agree that they should be placed in the YC.  Really special rooms, especially for families, with the extra bathroom, storage and hot tub balcony. As a side note, the prices were already increasing...we're sailing the Grandiosa this spring and looked at booking a duplex suite but they are priced $2200 more for a family of three than on last year's Meriviglia (similiar itinerary, same week, and BEFORE the move to YC!) Fingers crossed that we'll somehow survive our balcony stateroom! 😋

We just booked two duplex YC suites on the Meriviglia for the thanksgiving sailing. One for 3 people was 12.8k and the other for 4 people was 13.8k. We reserved the rooms and will apply casino discounts later, but the prices now are crazy. 

How did the tender work in Cabo? Any recommendations?

We leave on the same Seaside cruise this Saturday, I didn't get the invite to bid. We are in a YC cabin as well with 2 adults and 2 kids.....I would've make it rain on them if they offered it to me. 

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

We were in 18011. Therrie (Terry)  was our butler the first week and we had Glen the second week. All of the butlers we came into contact with were wonderful. The most memorable was Maria, she always stopped to talk to us and see if there was anyway she could help us make our cruise better.

That's good to hear, we are in stateroom 16047. This will be our first cruise with MSC, so we are excited. 

20 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

We were also on the Seaside for two weeks in October and had the exact opposite experience.The butler handles this and they couldn't have been more accommodating (we had a different butler the second week as the original one went on vacation). The mini fridge was stocked with only what we wanted and we never ran out. Not only did they both offered to bring specialty drinks to the cabin, from any bar on the ship, but also offered to get us drinks when he escorted us to the theater for the shows.

What stateroom were you in on the seaside? Hope we get your butler next week.

Is it required you check in online beforehand? 

FYI for all.... Got this from MSC website, maybe nothing but it says one of the first. May be talking about ships, but also possible about people on the ship. who knows....

FYI for all.... Got this from MSC website, maybe nothing but it says one of the first. May be talking about ships, but also possible about people on the ship. who knows....

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

 

We frequently use Carmel, their prices are nearly, if not always, consistently lower than Dial 7 - just use their online sites and/or free mobile App to price it directly - your trips to/from Times Square will be subject to a $2.75 congestion surcharge on top of everything/anything else, like toll.  

 

Like mjkcmom like, you might want to split your party into 2 vehicles - 2 adults + 2 child in car #A and 2 adults + 1 child in car #B with room for more luggage, doable if you pack & travel light.  I just looked up Carmel last week for another CC'er - a minivan is priced $20 higher than a standard 4 door sedan and that will definitely fit plenty of luggage as vehicle #A instead of car#A.  It will be less than doing a minivan rental & oversized parking fees, ANYWHERE in the Times Square for an overnight stay.  

 

The price quoted to you is probably for a full-size Ford van or equivalent with seating capacity for 10 to 12 plus luggage, there are far fewer of them in the fleet - some folks "like" to ride & sit together in a party mode for the ride ... you will be spending time together for the duration of the cruise.  Just stay in touch via smart/iPhone while on the way.  

 

Leave the driving to the pro's - if I can help it, avoid driving in Manhattan myself - mass transit or car service is the way to go.  Our nephew is going on the Escape next week (a short 5 nighter ... being young & all, they are packing light & taking the subway into town, then - either walk the distance to the pier or hail a short ride via taxi from W. 50th Street & 8th. Avenue station).  

Yeah, I agree. I spoke with my parents and we are just going to get 2 vehicles from Carmel, that way I don’t have to worry about anything. 

Seaside is at OC on Nov 29th for the 23rd thanksgiving week sailing. 

Thanks guys for the help, I looked at camel and they want $180 for a van that holds 7, will look at dial7 or maybe take two Ubers. 

My family and parents, 7 total (4 adults 3 kids ages 10/8/6) will be flying into LGA and staying at the four points marriott times square. If we get a SUV, its $150 for the day and like $70 to park at the hotel for the night. When we go to the port I was thinking of dropping them off at the port and then running the car to EWR and ubering back to the port. If we had a couple people, we could just take uber, but with so many we have to break everything up etc. Is there a better way? I looked at the subway plans and it doesn't appear they go near the cape liberty port. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

We are supposed to leave Friday 8/30 out of Miami on Navigator of the Seas with stops at coco cay and Nassau, and return Monday. Anyway idea what they would do with a three night cruise? A trip to nowhere would be disappointing and I wonder if they would allow us to cancel.

Did the OP book guaranteed or did they select a cabin during booking?

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

This has been reported and discussed ad nauseam here on this Forum.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.

Yet you still felt inclined to not only click and read but post in the thread?

clearly it’s not new for OP, so why don’t you move along. 

Carnival is good is you are cruising on a budget, otherwise go to a larger line. The suite benefits are a joke, they cater to the budget minded cruiser.

OP says they won’t sail with MSC again, but already booked??? GTFO, why post this stupid thread?

In order to get the Mlife onboard credit, you have to book the mile casino rate. I’m platinum with Mlife, but have never got the credit because royal comps my room. They won’t allow you to get a comp room through royal and onboard credit, I wish though.

If you want to show more love then tip more, don’t steal from Peter to pay Paul. When someone goes to your work and maybe you are away, so they deduct from your pay and give extra to others because they dealt with the client?