alyssamma

I think you've summed it up perfectly. Yes, the T&C say your room can be changed, but the understanding is that it is rare and with reason. Otherwise, as @CruiseTee said, why book anything other than a gty to begin with. MSC, however, will just randomly remove huge swaths of assigned cabins and reassign them for no apparent reason. And to make things worse, they won't communicate they did this. What is even more frustrating is that often a call will get you your original room back...so why did they switch it in the first place? I 100% understand the OPs frustration, esp given the amount of money spent. I also understand being upset that the older couple was moved. You booked as a group and wanted to be together. Yes, the YC is relatively small, but that isn't the point. Neither is being closer to the pool deck. Whatever reason @CruiseTee has for them being together is their reason and to have it randomly ignored is not right. But...as any seasoned MSC sailor knows, this is how they do business. @LaurieNJ, one small correction to what you said. You're in the YC...no need for luggage tags 😀

Not surprised. I have been trying to book for one of my cruises but it wasn't offered. The last time (recently) they did that was with laundry. They removed it for more than a month and when it came back the prices were almost double.

I'm the OP of that thread and can indeed confirm there is no longer a limit. Also, it can be used for any cruise you haven't made final payment on. That being said, there seems to be one huge drawback...if you cancel the cruise you don't get back whatever you paid in GCs. Yes, seems insane...this is discussed in depth on that thread...

Yes...you can also use PayPal...

I stayed in one and loved it and have another booked in Sept. However, I have a fear of heights so the cove balcony - so close to the water - it perfect for me. Like @csm5986142 said, being that close to the water is pretty cool.

As the OP, yes, this is the case. However, please note some of the issues raised here. @Ken the cruiser brought up that you may not get money back if you have to cancel. In other words, X treats gift cards as non-refundable. Also, @NorthStarStateCruiser brought up a point that trip insurance *may* not cover the portion paid for with gift cards. Also,

I didn't say it couldn't be done, I said it complicates things. I've sometimes had the result you did, other times gotten OBC, and other times been told no. So now I simply wait to pay...better I hold my money instead of the cruise company anyway.

Spa services are pretty expensive...specialty dinners...renting a cabana on the YC side of the island...

mscvoyagersclub@msccruisesusa.com And they eventually responded. I think it's random who reads the emails. 99% of them ignore it, but 1% knows how to do their job. You have to keep emailing until you get that 1% rep.

Ah...ok, when you say "internet" you mean through a TA, right? In that case you still book on board and then transfer to the TA of your choice...and get both the TA OBC and MSC OBC for early booking.

Don't you get the same deal on board + extra OBC? I get that by the time you're on board a certain sale may not be happening, but at any given time you should get the same deal on and off board, but on board should give extra OBC.

Yeah, it just took a min of my time each day and it was more the principle than anything else 🙂

I emailed them daily (just copy/paste) for a month (maybe 5 weeks) and it finally got changed.

Call and ask for OBC to offset the discount

Gotcha...so are you saying you're within penalty phase? So past the final payment date?

Call back again and try to get a different rep...that sometimes works. You might also try to cancel and rebook if you aren't in penalty phase. That being said, in general, always wait until the last moment to make final payment.

Welcome to MSC...have definitely seen this before. Whatever rate or code you booked with initially wasn't copied over correctly (MSCs fault, not yours). Good news, this can be fixed. Bad news it will take a lot of effort unless you happen to luck up and get a good rep quickly. If your TA is good then they'll do this for you. If not, you'll need to pressure them and MSC

Emphasis added by me... 50% DISCOUNT ON THE F1 SIMULATOR: Buy 2 tickets for movies in the 4D cinema, valid for Classic, Silver, Gold and Diamond card holders only on the current cruise. It can be combined with any other offer. The 4D Cinema receipt must be presented to take advantage of the discount. Valid for one transaction only. Not available to members under 18 years of age

I don't believe any can hold this amount, but the size varies by ship.

I think the issue is... 1) Other cruise lines don't work this way and... 2) This isn't stated anywhere... @Ken the cruiser only knows because he called in and asked a rep.

Wasn't trying to be snarky...was an honest question. A simply google search yields results...in this case, a 50% discount. I found this, and more, on the MSC site. Here's a link. When it opens if you search for F1 you'll see the discount... https://www.msccruisesusa.com/-/media/US/Documents/voyagers_club_terms_and_conditions_eng_060123

I need to step back and rethink my entire GC strategy. It kind of sucks because for expensive cruises you can save a lot. Your $15K would be $1500 in savings, for example. But now I'm confused about X specifically and trip insurance in general and wondering what I want to do going forward. Even though the "math" is in my favor, the irrational part of my mind would go crazy if I lost my cruise fare.

So this is the rub. What is the truth? It also seems confusing about getting a refund (from trip insurance) if you have to cancel the cruise.

I suspect the rep was misinformed. The way other lines do it is they issue a new GC for the amount that you paid with a GC. I think the rep confused not refunding to the *original* GC with not refunding to a *new* GC

To close the loop on what @NorthStarStateCruiser said. First, thanks for bringing this up. Good to know this is potentially an issue people may run into. Although I was pretty sure my contract didn't say anything about gift cards (it *does* exclude *certificates* which, like coupons or FF miles don't have a cash value (or a very small one)), I decided to make some calls. Of course, the rep telling you one thing before you buy the policy doesn't mean they will tell you the same thing afterwards 🙂 TravelGuard said as long as there is a monetary value, you will be reimbursed. So, in the case of AARP, you'll pay $450, get a $500 credit, but only $450 would be reimbursed. NW wasn't sure. They did ask some more questions and wanted to make sure we could prove we bought them. They also wanted to make sure the GC were for the specific cruiseline.Ultimately they said if we can't prove we used it to pay for the cruise, they wouldn't cover it, but if we could then they would. Not sure what would constitute "proof" Hopefully I'll never need to find out 🙂 Edit: Based on @Ken the cruiser's last post, maybe TG wouldn't reimburse either as they seem to not have a cash value...