tomvet

I have sailed MSC twice and both cruises were enjoyable despite them rather than because of them!

I find their customer service to be unwieldy and exhausting. While staff are pleasant they have no decision making powers at all - down to petty decisions of making a tea spoon available to feed a baby at lunch time - they only have them available at breakfast - so when you ask a waiter for a tea spoon to feed a 9 month old - he first must ask the Maitre D for permission to give it to you!

I get the impression that staff 'fear' their superior - this is a deliberate management style used by Costa and MSC. Staff are not given any autonomy!

There is a culture of keeping customers in the dark and not giving out any information or when they do it is scant - almost a need to know basis. If there is a problem e.g. delayed embarkation - it is always someone elses fault.

In one port (won't mention!) I got chatting to the Harbour Master and the pilot - the pilot needed a valium trying to deal with the Captain and the HM did confirm that they were a difficult organisation to deal with!

That said, their ships are fabulous, production shows are great, food is fine - not wonderful!

You will enjoy them if you are a 'mainstream' passenger where the rules are 'mainstream' however if you have a nonmainstream need e.g. travelling with young kids etc that requires a special favour, deviation etc - they struggle to deal with situation on their merits often citing if they concede to your favour, they fear being undated with similar requests. The world does not work in this fashion, the request arose because we had young kids and not everyone on the ship has young kids.

No one can increase my spend but me. I guess MSC did what other cruise lines do for long time :rolleyes: .

That is the cleverness of the idea! You don't realise you are paying more money!

You book from your TA so how is MSC made a mistake?:rolleyes:

Because it is MSC that issue 2 different post Renaissance deck plans! I have twice sailed with them and they are despicable and take no accountability for anything!

An MSC cruise at $0.01 is too expensive in my book!

Pay a few $ extra and travel with a company that values you as a customer.

Since when they charge for excursions right away if you book on web? Something new?

Relatively new! You can cancel up to 4 days before departure for a refund.

Issue is that if you now have OBC and you book online and pay by Cr Cd, you cannot put your OBC towards their cost!

So a clever way to increase your spend!

Totally agree with AmoMondo - on both my previous MSC cruises - English speaking tours have been cancelled due to lack of interest!

Figure out some plan Bs! Better still only book plan Bs.

I begrudge every penny anyone pays MSC!

I don't really mean to put anyone off cruising with MSC.

I certainly would - they are a despicable company! I am stumped as to why they are so successful!

They are the worst of any cruise line.

Totally agree!

They just don't get it! or is it that I don't get them.

In fairness to Costa, they will talk to you but MSC it is like talking to a brick wall! Their default position is always the negative.

I don't know what it is - is it a top down management style or what - common sense never seems to prevail, attention to detail is lacking.

I have a booking confirmation from our TA that we are in 2 balcony cabins on our next cruise when I know the particular cabin is an inside. I/m not making a fuss now as with kids an inside is safer than the balcony. But I know when I am on board and are surprised to have an inside when I have a balcony confirmed - all MSC will do is shrug and say the TA made the mistake! They never take responsibility or try to correct anything!

I for one would happily join a campaign that would expose MSC's customer service for what it is!

I was tempted by a reasonable itinerary at a great price but what a mistake that was! Never again MSC!

I haven't noticed anything especially different with MSC tour offerings but what I have noticed is that they have dramatically reduced their time in port making DIY trip on public transport much more difficult. The 1 -2 hours that they have cut off port times is the built in contingency plan time that allowed DIYers to DIY! :(:(:(

Tom

Just to let you know I got my refund for cruise and reimbursed for flights.. I'm maybe being a bit cheeky but I have now emailed looking for an upgrade if I book another cruise instead of the £50 credit off a cruise they have offered.

Hi Geraldine

my email is

tomvet at eircom dot net

thanks

T

We found Vigo particularly uninteresting. We would have loved to have visited the Isla Cies but like you our time in port would not allow a visit of any meaningful length.

We were there in Sept last year. We travelled with very small kids and felt that Santiago de Compostela might be too much for them. We decided to make it a beach day! It was wonderful aside from getting a puncture in the buggy! :mad:

You can read what we did here. You may have to scroll down a few posts to get to the section on Vigo!

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=266&t=8937

Have you considered Reykjavik on IcelandAir? It's a free stop over for up to 7 days.

 

We did 3 full days there last year and it was grand. Very hospitable city, easy walking to most sites and excellent transfers to and from airport. They are very tourist friendly. Many stop at the Blue Lagoon either on their way into town (arrivals are usually early morning) or before their afternoon departures. Their half and full day tours to the outlying areas are excellent. Enjoy, m--

A fab idea!

Dublin?

Aer Lingus fly Orlando to Dublin. Plenty of other options if you take indirect flights. 5 flights a day Dublin to Amsterdam.

2/3 days would be ideal to see Dublin in comfort.

I agree that Dublin would be an option.

Whatever you decide pick an airline that flies to Amsterdam through their hub e.g. SWISS via Zurich, Air France via Paris, SAS via Copenhagen. Make the hub your stopover and usually for no extra charge.

The other option is to fly KLM and make Amsterdam your stopover for the duration of your cruise and then either before or after cruise head to your desired location! This would be a good option if you wished to visit Eastern Europe e.g. Moscow.

Just remember many airlines do not allow free stopovers if it involves back tracking.

Tom thanks for reply . I didn't see their email regarding change in itinerary until last Wednesday as I was on holiday but replied straight away but have heard nothing from them yet.. Did ring MSC UK today but they said they can't even speak to the operations dept by telephone as they don't answer so they sent an email on my behalf. It will be interesting to see if they get back to me.. If they haven't by Wednesday I will contact them via Facebook.

 

I am so disappointed as really looking forward to canaries cruise after Christmas. None of their other cruises seems to suit as dates do not tie in with husband holidays over Xmas so I have requested a full refund plus reimbursement of flights which in their itinerary change email they say "should the above itineraries not be suitable for you, we will be happy to offer a full refund and a £50 future cruise credit with MSC Cruises. Any non refundable out of pocket expenses you have incurred for travel arrangements made to join your cruise can also be claimed, our team will be happy to give you full advice on how to claim back these costs" ... I'm hoping this means flights maybe I'm wrong.

 

It's getting them to email me back in the first place[emoji19] but I will let you know how I get on.

 

Geraldine

I think it does mean flights. Would you mind sending me the email you received as I received nothing in writing via $€a$cann€r dot com. I cannot seem to send a PM via this forum.

£50 future cruise credit is paltry. We have been offered the Opera sailing of Nov 20th and accepted it! It is a 12 night cruise instead of 9. We were to sail from Genoa to Marseille, Gibraltar, Cartegena, Cadiz, Funchal, La Palma and Tenerife over 9 nts. We are now doing Genoa, Gibraltar, Arrecife, Tenerife, Funchal, Malaga, Palma, Rome, Genoa over 12. We are also in 2 Fantastica Balconies rather than a Fantastic Outside and a Bella inside - so nice upgrades. ********** have give us €100 OBC.

It cost us €240 to amend our flights - so we are in effect out of pocket by €140. Very tempting to remove the grats - but that only hits the folk that didn't make the awful decision.

Would you consider pushing for the Cuba cruise on the same dates and instead of the flight reimbursement - they fly you gratis! Worth a punt!

Hi TomVet

 

We had also booked a canaries cruise on the Opera leaving Tenerife on 1st January 2016, we had been away for almost 2 weeks so just saw their email last night, i must say I was devastated. Anyway emailed back telling them I just want a refund and hopefully a refund for flights that I booked myself. I was just wondering how long it took Operations at MSC to reply to your email. By any chance to you have a contact number for operations at MSC because it appears that is who is dealing with it, as when I rang MSC this morning they could not help me, just to notify Operations in writing via email. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

Geraldine

Hi Geraldine

I booked with **********.com and therefore my booking is through the German office. I was offered an alternative cruise departing on 20th November - it is a 12 nighter and broadly similar to the repo that I was booked on. They have made no commitment to refunding me the additional flight costs which were €240. I have **********.com making my case for me - although I think they are weak and not putting enough pressure on (I think they don't want to burn their free cruise bridges!). I only heard that I was confirmed on the replacement cruise just today - over 3 weeks since the cancellation was made.

I suggest you contact them via Facebook - they are quite arrogant but keep persisting!

IE and UK passengers were being offered alternative Med cruises or transfer to the Cuban cruise but flights to Cuba are expensive and may not be within everyone's budget.

I wish there was a CruiseCritic 'roll call' where we could all club together and demand our refunds en masse!

Key is to expose MSC on public! How can Irish folk (as they do not sell cruise only on most of their cruises to Irish passengers) ever book cruise only again, if they risk losing flight costs should MSC do a runner!

Stay in touch!

Tom

Don't wait for them to offer, instead make a claim against them. When they switched our repo from Sharm El Sheila to the Canaries, people on our roll call that had already booked their flights got OBC to cover their costs of changing flights. With MSc you have to demand and be persistent.

How do I make a claim? Submit the information to the TA?

What should I claim?

Original Dublin Bergamo Flight - €159

Change Flight date - €90

Original Tenerife Shannon Flight - €316

Change Route to Bergamo to Dublin - change fee -€183 - did not do

Rebook new flights - €152. Did this instead.

Now there are 2 ways to look at it!

So far I have paid €720 on flights. Being the reasonable person I was happy to spend €480 on the original flights. So should I claim just for the additional €240 that I am out of pocket i.e. the amendment fee and the rebooking fee.

One could also look at in from the point of view that if I had booked the replacement cruise originally, my flights would only be €320 so should I claim the €400 i.e. I was forced unnecessarily to pay a higher fare at the outset.

Who do I address the claim to?

MSC have offered me the 12 night West Med and Canaries cruise which is the cruise before the repositioning one to Cuba.

I have had to cancel /amend my flights for an additional €240. MSC have not as of yet offered to cover out of pocket flight costs.

While they can hide behind T&Cs - they cannot hide behind immoral, unethical corporate behaviour.

Clearly they have moved for competitive advantage and finance - however it is very poor form when your gain is someone else's loss!

That's quite a bit cheaper. I may have to find a British TA for my next booking...

Funny that! I used a German agent to book the Canary Isl cruise that MSC have just bumped me off!

Off the top of my head, TV, I think Air France does and one other which I can't remember offhand. There's a travel agent in Dublin does holidays to Cuba and I checked it out the other day for prices, etc. It's not on my radar at the moment. I've just booked 3 cruises in the last couple of weeks so I'm a little fuzzy on details about anything at the moment TBH!

 

Air Canada is the other - I've just googled it. They may be charters, though, tied in with package trips!

They are not direct flights Air France is via Charles de Gaulle and Air Canada is via Toronto Pearson. The return Air Canada flight leaves Havana at 0730 so the last day of the cruise will be a non-entity. The layover in Toronto is over 12 hours followed by an overnight flight back to Dublin.

It'll be interesting to see the prices. I wonder will MSC do fly/cruise specials seeing as there are direct flights from UK & Ireland?

Who flies direct from Ireland to Havana. Aeroflot used to do it but that service has ceased a long time ago!

Do MSC not give you a bunch of cloakroom tickets - one per bottle of water! :confused:

I an enjoying this. On 5th April we were not far from you on the Molli train before we boarded Costa Favolosa in Warnemunde. It was such a gloriously sunny day. Looks like you were following us around Norway.

Last year we boarded Costa Pacifica in Kiel. Having been to Hamburg and Lubeck before we took a very handy bus from Hamburg Airport to Kiel. It is more expensive than the train but takes a shorter time and there are no changes. Prior to embarking the ship we visited Laboe and the U995 Uboat. Well worth a visit and just a short inexpensive bus ride from Kiel!

Looking forward to the next instalment! Keep it coming. Great pictures!

Even if we are not discommoded financially I hope MSC offer a cruise that we are interested in doing and one is 'suitable' weather wise for the time of year. A Canary cruise in December is a far superior cruise weather wise than a West Med in December - from that perspective alone it will be almost impossible to offer a like for like cruise. Fair enough to cancel some one from a MSC Poesia East Med cruise and transfer them to a Muscia East Med cruise. But changing cruising regions is a different situation. I have a feeling MSC will transfer us to the 11 night cruise on the Fantasia departing 4 days later. We have cruised on her before and we don't like the ship that much preferring the Lirica class ships!

Interesting to read MSC T&Cs

It is not clear if this is a booking change or a cancellation. I think it is academic!

10. BOOKING CHANGES EFFECTED BY THE COMPANY

 

 

10.1 Arrangements for the cruise are made many months in advance by the company. Very occasionally it may be necessary to alter them and the company expressly reserves the right to change the arrangements for the cruise or Package, should such changes become necessary or advisable for operational, commercial or safety reasons.

10.2 In the event of a significant alteration to an essential term of the contract, the company will inform the Passenger or his/her travel agent of such change in writing as soon as reasonably possible.

The Passenger will be offered the choice of:

a) accepting the alteration; or b) booking another cruise from the brochure of equivalent or superior quality, if available; or c) booking another cruise from the brochure of lower quality, if available, with a refund of the difference in price; or d) cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.

10.3 The Passenger must notify the company of his/her decision in writing or via his/her travel agent within 7 days of receiving the notification of alteration.

 

 

 

11. CANCELLATION BY THE COMPANY

 

 

11.1 The company reserves the right to cancel any cruise at any time by giving a written notice to the Passenger.

11.2 If the cancellation is by virtue of a Force majeure and or due to any unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond the company’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided by the company even though it has exercised all due care, the company will offer the Passenger the choice of:

a) receiving a full refund of all money paid; or b) booking another cruise from the brochure of equivalent or superior quality at no extra cost, if available; or c) booking another cruise from this brochure of lower quality, if available, with a refund of the difference in price.

11.3 If the cancellation is due to reasons other than those indicated in 11.2, the company will offer the Passenger the same choices as detailed in 11.2 plus compensation, if appropriate, of €10 per Passenger per night of the duration of the cruise.

 

11.4 The Passenger’s decision must be notified to the company in writing or via their travel agent within 7 days of the notice of cancellation

What constitutes booking another cruise from the brochure of equivalent or superior quality at no extra cost?

What is superior? Longer cruise, better class ship, better cabin? Does this mean that one could feasibly transfer their cancelled cruise to a Worldie?

I think the sentence in red about flights is interesting.

15. FLIGHTS

 

 

15.1 The company is unable to state the identity of the carrying airline or the aircraft type. all flights will be operated on scheduled or chartered services of recognised airlines. In those circumstances the air ticket payment needs to be made by the company in advance and is non-refundable under any circumstances. cancellation by the Passenger at any time will result in the air fare cost being payable by that Passenger regardless of the cancellation provisions with regard to the cruise.

15.2 The Passenger will receive confirmation of flight timings and routes with their travel documents,which will be sent out approximately 7 days before departure.

15.3 For travel on dates other than those published in the brochure or on a particular carrier or routing a higher fare may apply in which case the Passenger will be notified before booking.

15.4 The company is not the air carrier or an operating air carrier as defined by The civil aviation (denied boarding, compensation and assistance) regulations 2005 (the “2005 regulations”). The obligations under these regulations for compensation are exclusively those of the air carrier and/or operating air carrier and all claims relating to cancellation, delay or denied boarding in respect of air transportation must therefore be made to the relevant air carrier.

15.5The company shall have no liability under the 2005 regulations such liabilities being entirely those of the air carrier to whom the Passenger must address all claims. In exercising their rights under the 2005 regulations the Passenger must seek to take as much of the contract as possible and must not prejudice the company’s rights under these booking conditions or in law.

15.6where air carriage is included in the contract, the company will advise Passengers of flight timings from data supplied by the air carrier as part of the holiday documentation. The flight schedule is for information only. The Passenger’s contract of carriage and the rights and obligations arising under it remain with the air carrier. It is the Passenger’s responsibility to ensure arrival at the airport in sufficient time to check in and board the aircraft.

15.7

If the contract does not include flights, it is the Passenger’s responsibility to obtain a valid ticket direct from an air carrier suitable for and in time for travel to the vessel (and including local transfers which the Passenger must arrange). The company shall not be responsible for any liabilities arising in respect of flights or transfers arranged by the Passenger.

Ok so MSC put the onus on me to arrange my own flights and I assume the underline portion refers to a flight failing to connect with the ship and not that MSC take no responsibility for flights that are lost because of their itinerary changes. Or am I being naïve?

Hi TV

 

MSC have done this before and they do not have the best track record in these situations.

 

Annie

Thanks Annie. Not something I wished to here.

What I find most annoying is that I booked this cruise on May 30th- that is just 5 weeks ago. I cannot accept for one moment that the powers that be in MSC commenced all the contracts with port authorities, regulatory agencies, service providers etc since that date. I would assume that at the time I booked the move to Cuba was at the advanced stage of negotiations if not finalised. To me that is unethical trading. I accept MSC's reason - they are heading to Cuba to get leader advantage but at the same time they cannot have their cake and eat it.

I know I will most likely be offered another cruise but because this is a repo the flights are useless or at least one of them is. Secondly MSC must understand also that cruises are booked by folk when they are free to go. I may not get leave for the cruise they may offer me. They also may offer a refund!

As regards independently booked flights. Surely MSC must realise if they sell cruise only and they were not offering fly/cruise on this sailing they must realise that passengers will now have flights that are completely useless. At least if you were doing a r/trip itinerary you could use the flights and turn a cruise into a land based holiday.

My TA agent says that it is the norm for cruise lines when this happens that they do (a) refund flight costs or (b) pay amendment fees to flights that meet a new cruise. I have looked at that for an alternative cruise ex Venice but Ryanair do not have flights to meet that cruise. So I would have to book flights on the new!!!

Another problem is that what ever I am offered I cannot take anything in 2015 which means I could only travel in 2016 which means that the current flight booked has infants on it but these will be kids in 2016.

All I want and I think I am reasonable in this is (a) a move to an alternative cruise that suits me in terms of ship, itinerary and dates (I will even forfeit one or two days duration!) and (b) any flight amendment cost to be borne by MSC. I don't want OBC, future cruise discounts etc.

In summary I just want my next MSC cruise to cost be no more than what this one would have cost.