psmarkle

Good news...finally!  My final payment amount is now showing as "pending" credit on my cc account!  Filed for refund back on March 14th for an April 11th cruise. Yeah!  My initial deposit (different cc) is not showing, yet.  But, this is progress.

Below is what I posted earlier on a related thread, FWIW:

Here is the response I got yesterday from MSC Sales Service dept.  I'm on Day 62 now, I plan on waiting until June 14th before calling my CC to refute the charges.  Even in this environment, I feel like 90 days from my refund request should be ample time.

"MSC is working diligently to process refund disbursements. Due to the unprecedented volume it is taking longer than anticipated. It is our intention to issue refunds as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience. Thank you."

Here is the response I got yesterday from MSC Sales Service dept.  I'm on Day 62 now, I plan on waiting until June 14th before calling my CC to refute the charges.  Even in this environment, I feel like 90 days from my refund request should be ample time.

"MSC is working diligently to process refund disbursements. Due to the unprecedented volume it is taking longer than anticipated. It is our intention to issue refunds as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience. Thank you."

2 hours ago, Nautical but Nice said:

I received the refund of port fees/taxes on May 11, for my canceled sailing from March 15.  It was a casino freebie cruise, so all I had to pay was the port/taxes.  I have yet to receive a refund on my pre-purchased internet or spa visits.  

Like you, I have received my refund of taxes/port fees on a free RCL cruise that was scheduled for 26 June, but still nothing from MSC, yet.

Today is 60 calendar days from when I canceled our April 11th cruise back on Mar 14th. I hit "reply" to my cancellation request confirmation e-mail from MSC asking for refund status.  Will let you know what I get back...if I get anything back.

In my confirmation e-mail, the wording is "Your refund will be processed within 60 days." I just checked MSC's US site and here's the identical wording, "If you choose not to take a Future Cruise Credit, a refund will be issued 60 days from the date the refund is requested."

No mention of 60 "business days" or 60 days from sail date...hhmmm.

Fingers crossed?

Our April 11th cruise was cancelled by MSC.  On March 14th, our TA submitted the refund request and I got a Cancellation # from MSC by e-mail.  It did say it would be up to 60 days before seeing the refund.  I e-mailed MSC (just hit reply to their e-mail) at the 30-day point asking for status.  They e-mailed back saying it may take up to 60 days from the sail date to process my refund, but they are working on it.  So, subtle change in wording from their first confirmation e-mail...60 days from my orig March 14th request date vs now 60 days from sail date, April 11th.  Holding my breath, fingers crossed, rabbit's foot in my pocket LOL

In my mind, I'm pondering that unlike the Big 3 cruise lines that have pretty  much no cash coming in right now, MSC is primarily a commercial shipping company (second largest in the world?) that happens to own a cruise line, i.e. they still have cash coming in from their cargo ships.  That helps me feel at least some comfort (real or imagined!) that they can follow through on the refunds...pretty please 🙂

Yes, we were e-mailed that it would be 60 days and we filed on March 14th. Holding our breath and waiting for our refund....

Below is the response I got after my TA submitted my refund request for our cancelled April 11th cruise on the Seaside:

 

Dear xxxxxxxxxx, 

Your MSC Cruise Assurance Form has been successfully submitted. 
Your Refund Reference Number for this request is - xxxxxxxxx 
Use this Reference Number for all future correspondence regarding this request. 
Your refund will be processed within 60 days. 
Thank you, 
MSC Cruises 

 

 

On 3/1/2020 at 10:35 AM, jules815 said:

Sailing on Seaside in April, again in the YC.  My husband and I were just talking about breakfasts on board, and I don't think we ever had breakfast up at the pool.  Do they make eggs cooked to order?  How about an omelet?  

 

We usually have breakfast around 8am.  Would I be able to get a bloody Mary or Mimosa up there that early?

 

Yes, I would ask for eggs benedict at the poolside grill and the cook was always happy to make them.  Freshly made, english muffins hot and crispy off the grill, then topped with the poached eggs and canadian bacon, sauce and delivered right to my table.  Found it better than the YC dining room since it was grill-to-table pronto. Omelets should not be a problem either.

And, yes, on the drinks...or so I heard from a friend LOL

We've sailed Seaside YC 2x in a row and are about 1 month out from 3x.  I can say I truly enjoyed the food on both cruises, so far.  We did not eat outside of the YC except for our complimentary Black Card dinner.  For me, if I did not see anything on the menu I desired, I just ordered the every day Filet Mignon which I found exceptional all 3 times I ordered it!

Try the YC restaurant for lunch as well, very nice selection.  For breakfast, we pretty much ate at the poolside buffet and they nailed my eggs benedict every morning!

FWIW, if folks are looking at cabin choices, we had 16015 last summer and booked it again for April.  Reason, with 4 people in our cabin, it's right across from the YC hallway bathrooms which came in verrrry handy when getting ready for dinner as they are rarely used.  With 3 females in the cabin, it was like having an extra bathroom!

From personal experience, very easy to get funds at the table, no fee.  Sat down at 3-card poker, put my cabin card on the table, and just stated the amount I wanted.  Easy, peasy!  All play is in US$$.  No problem on the drinks either.  I tip a $5 chip each time (I seemed to be the only one at the table tipping), and I actually had to tell my waiter to slow down, hadn't finished my current drink LOL

Yes, but get there early because it's the same deck above the pool with pool chairs.  As folks come out, the chairs tend to intrude into the "track" lanes.

We've enjoyed the service from Andrei for 2 years in a row.  His assistant waiters keep getting promoted to full waiters, so he's a good teacher as well!  If he's still there, he works the section to the left  by the floor-to-ceiling windows as you walk in on deck 18.  Great way to watch the sail away from Miami on Day 1 with his highly enjoyable service!

I could not stack the Diamond (formerly Black) status discount (5%) with my military discount (10%) last year, but I could stack my Diamond discount with our offered 30% Casino discount for this year's cruise.

Yes, we too have noticed YC prices have increased, but still cheaper than NCL Haven.  We are booked for our third Seaside YC cruise this spring for right at the same price we paid for last summer's YC Seaside cruise.  However, this year's cruise was booked with a 30% casino discount + Voyagers Club 5% discount to come out at the same price point.  Having said that, NCL Haven is pretty close to 2X the price for the same cruise itinerary.  We luv NCL, but we LUV MSC YC experience sooo much more!

IMO, yes!  Enjoying the quiet YC pool deck and poolside buffet are worth it.  Having cocktails delivered to your room as the fam gets ready for dinner is worth it! The priority elevators, reserved show seating, butler escort during disembarkation, the YC Topsail Lounge, etc...to us, it's soooo worth it!  We previously sailed in the Haven on NCL and the YC is literally about 1/2 of the price. As for the YC menu, I ordered the available-everyday Filet Mignon 3x this past cruise...I'm a carnivore and that steak did not disappoint each time!

We have cruised both Royal and Carnival as well as MSC Seaside 2x.  From my perspective, if you have young kids cruising, I'd personally pick Royal for the vast array of onboard activities to keep the kids entertained.  We are not fans of Carnival, just not our taste anymore, but I've not had a "I'm never sailing X again!" moment, just shifting tastes.

In fact, we are doing an all-family cruise next summer with our grown boys (men?), daughter, and 6 immediate family members going on their 1st cruise (hmm, my nephew is in the Navy on a sub...does that count as a "cruise?" LOL).  For this cruise, I'm booking Royal due to all the things to do, Coco Cay and the fun experiences.

Having said that, we are now MSC converts! we've done 35+ cruises at this point and we look for service, attention to detail, good/great food and a place to relax.  Yes, there are water slides and a water park, a ropes course and activities all day on the Seaside, but we usually skip those.  For the price point, we find MSC checks all our boxes at a great value which actually allows us to upgrade to the Yacht Club while staying in our vacay budget.  Luv me some YC!!

We take an open mind on all our cruises, and you'd be hard pressed to find little things annoying us.  We just let stuff roll off our backs (like getting caught in a torrential downpour because the port terminal was logged jammed with only 2 people checking ship IDs to get through the port area and back onto the ship.  We now refer to that cruise as the "Rain Cruise") and enjoy our vacation!

I wrote an extensive cruise review on the Seaside, Rattanchair has several MSC reviews, and APDMOM has 2 very excellent recent reviews.  Definite must-reads to learn more about MSC's offerings.

Hope these opinions help out!

Us, too.  Sailing her a third time in April, and I'm hoping the shows are refreshed as I really enjoy that after dinner/before the casino time to catch a show.

Enjoyed scrolling through the photo album, looking fwd to reading your review!!

On 12/22/2019 at 1:03 AM, APDMOM said:

Hi, @nancyb39! Thank you for your kind words!  Ocean Cay was not open yet in June, so I don’t have any advice yet.  However, if the weather improves, we will be there next Saturday on Meraviglia.  I will be reporting on our experience 🙂
 

Glad you got such amazing deals! We are bound by school schedules, so we can only cruise during high demand breaks.  Would love to take advantage of those “off season” specials some day!

I, too, am an educator and bound by the school calendar.  I truly look forward to the retiree discount days.  I very, very, very much enjoyed your review and am eagerly anticipating your new review from this cruise!!  Thank you for giving of yourself to us here on CC!

9 hours ago, rattanchair said:

In our walkabout the ship this morning, a beautiful morning, the deck hands are setting up the loungers and as fast as they are set up, passengers are placing their "one' beige allotted deck towel and disappearing leaving only the towel to 'mark' their possession of said lounger. While in the YC about a dozen passengers have done the same thing. So lack of consideration of fellow passengers is not just limited to the hoi polloi. The only differences are YC guests get unlimited 'royal' blue towels, the lounges are a black rattan style with 2 1/2 " thick cushions, and the cabanas lounges are precovered with 3 blue towels wrapped under the cushions. The only deck area with plenty of available deck loungers not occupied with 'abandoned' towels is the' pay to lounge' experience just outside the YC. (I never bothered to find out the name of this experience since I was not interested, but it appears appealing.)

Rattan:  Is that the Aurea Top 19 lounge area you're speaking of?  It's a really nice setup, to include shaded sitting area.  YC can use that area, but not vice versa.  There's no pool, but a couple of hot tubs and some outdoor showers for cooling off.  I've not seen it over crowded on our 2 Seaside trips so far. 

Merry Christmas to all here! And here's to new adventures on the high seas for 2020 (in the lap of luxury, of course...we don't want to rough it!) 🤣

18 hours ago, rattanchair said:

Dear GC,   So true.  It was only a few years ago, 2017, our first suite, #1664 Equinox, corner aft,  sky suite (you always remember your first and last of everything) I remember it fondly. It has been up, up and away since then. Crafty devils, these cruise lines.

Ahhhh, yes.  For me, it was NCL Star, in 2011, Family Suite which was the former Spinnaker Lounge converted into suites with floor-to-ceiling views, perfect for viewing Glacier Bay, Alaska while sipping a Grey Goose martini delivered by our butler!  Haven't looked back since, although I have looked at my wallet and wondered why it's so empty LOL! 🤣

12 hours ago, AeroXWD said:

Thanks, @CGTNORMANDIE & @Norwegian Cruiser 73! We did indeed, and what excellent value! We joked that they must be losing money on us (but that was before we saw our bill from the casino). So much so that I'm not sure we could do it any other way.

 

We were talking about the cruise this night, and I got the distinct impression that a regular Bella or Fantastica was out of the question after having experienced YC 🤷‍♂️. It's not that a regular cabin is bad, but just that the Yacht Club is so good. I'm sure I would like it though. My fear before embarking the cruise was that she wouldn't like it, and therefore I decided we should book YC, knowing her dislike of long queues, but thankfully she was overwhelmed.

Ahhh, yes.  The "Addicted to the YC Syndrome" LOL  I am afflicted with it!  Wife mentioned booking an Aurea room for next cruise because it would be cheaper, and the rest of us just tilted our heads and gave her that "are you crazy!" look.

Truly enjoyed your review with all the great pics, especially of Ocean Cay...thank you so much!