Av8tor

7 hours ago, sidari said:

MSC said there was No contact with the person concerned! There has to be.

 I believe "No Contact" actually means "no UNPROTECTED contact." If a person is wearing full PPE (and I'm pretty sure those performing COVID testing were), then that is not considered contact. 

10 hours ago, thinfool said:

Because Carnival Corp is the provider and originator of the benefit I prefer to abide by their requirements.

1. Fax or regular mail.  There is no exception for email submittal.

2. Submit no less than 3 weeks before sailing.  There is no requirement to own shares within 90 days.

 

This could all change in a heartbeat, but it is easy to think that someone at Princess is putting their own spin on the submittals.  There needs to be a uniform set of rules and requirements.

Boy, I sure don't understand your reasoning/comments.  Even if "Carnival Corp is the provider and originator of the benefit," Princess and other cruise lines under the carnival corporate structure are individual lines and can develop their own policies and procedures.  If Princess says you can now use e-mail to submit documentation and requests for the shareholder credit, and others have stated that this new process works, why would you doubt this?  Why does there there need "to be a uniform set of rules and requirements" for all the different brands under the carnival umbrella?  If it works for Princess, so be it.  Other Carnival lines may still insist on mail or fax which is their choice.  Personally, I applaud Princess for this change to make it easier for the cruising public as well as their employees working from home.

OK, now I understand why some were/are upset about the 3 month requirement as it relates to shore excursions.  However, I always just use my OBC for gratuities and purchases on board and rarely purchase excursions from the cruise line so I never really thought about that aspect.

What I do find somewhat surprising is that the OBC for stockholders and military is a GIFT from the cruiseline.  It's free money and yet some get upset when the giver puts restrictions on its use... just sayin'

2 hours ago, thinfool said:

It was changed to sell more shore excursions.  If it is again 3 months, I would expect it to revert to the unlimited when COVID settles down.

Selling shore excusions is a profit center, even for shareholders.

Sorry, I don't see the connection between requiring a brokerage statement within three months of getting a shareholder credit and selling more excursions...

Please explain

5$ 15-minute COVID test MAY allow cruise lines to start operating again soon - only time will tell.

Hoping...

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/08/27/why-royal-caribbean-carnival-and-norwegian-cruise/

5$ 15-minute test may allow cruising to begin again soon - only time will tellL

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/08/27/why-royal-caribbean-carnival-and-norwegian-cruise/

The terminology they use is confusing to me. 

Have you ever heard/seen "departures through to and including..."  a certain date?

I can understand 'to and including' and 'through and including,' but 'through to and including' has me somewhat baffled as to what they are really trying to say.

In the long run it doesn't really matter to me since I've already cancelled our Oct 31 2020 Seaside/Mera cruise, but I imagine others still booked on the 10/31 departures are wondering.

That plan is a good start but the conditions aren't what I want to experience while on vacation.  I guess I just won't be a participant in the early stages of the cruise industry restart.  

Wondering what the "new" cruise experience will finally turn out to be like...

What are all the YIN comments for?  OP said they were offered a YC BALCONY instead of their Bella inside cabin.  For the extra grand it would definately be worth it!!!

have you checked for availability of specific cabins for the two 7-day cruises?  For availability to show for the 15 day cruise, the SAME cabin must be available for the two shorter cruises.  The "problem" is either that or just an IT problem on the website  A call to MSC or your TA should be able to get you an answer.

MSC website said for those booked in balconies, suites or YC cabins OBC would be $100 per stateroom (dbl occ) for cruises of 6 nights or less and $200 per stateroom for 7 nights and over.

However, our 7 night Seaside YC booking was changed to Mera and the cruise details online appear to show $200 OBC per PERSON.  We'll just have to see what we actually get, that is if we even get to sail...

Paul

Thanks for the info about CDS bankruptcy, I hadn't heard that.  Thanks also for the opinions on the shows themselves just in case they are still performing, just in case the ship sails, just in case Florida is open for business, just in case etc, etc, etc...

Thanks for the replies!  I hoped it worked that way, just wanted to check.

Anyone have comments on the two shows Sonor and Viaggio?

Preferences of one versus the other?

I know they're different from the shows in the ship's Broadway theater, but are one or both worth the extra cost?

First time sailing on MSC...

Does MSC treat OBC as a comingled pool of money for everyone in the cabin to share or is it only allowed to be "spent" by the passenger it was originally assigned to?

For instance, If I have $100 OBC and my wife also has $100, will we owe money if my charges are $80 and hers are $120?

On our other cruise lines, we wouldn't owe anything else since the OBCs can be applied to any/all charges made by cabin occupants.  Wondering if it's the same on MSC.

Thanks

We're booked on the Mera a week before you and NOTHING is available for booking "excursions" on OC for this cruise.  I seriously doubt that it's all sold out, so I assume it's a website problem or they just haven't been able to load anything yet due to theww recent itinerary schuffle.  Keep checking and as a last resort, try again once onboard.

My TA has been having BIG problems getting the 5+5 and the OBC added to my booking for Halloween (originally on Seaside, now on Mera).  Got the VC 5%, but not the VS 5% or the OBC.  This has been going on for weeks and MSC tells her they'll take care of it, but it never gets done.  I hate to tell her how to do her job, but maybe I should insist she stay on the phone with them until she gets the proper confirmation invoice...

Anyone else see that in one place the OBC for 5+5 is now only $50 and in another banner it's still $100?

Paul

I know it's not fair, but this is how the cruise lines view it:

Their business plan is based on two cruisers (or sometimes more) in each cabin.  Two cruisers means two paid fares.  If they sell a cabin to a solo traveller, that means one less cabin to sell to 2 cruisers.  So to make up the "lost" paid fare, they charge the solo person more.  Sometimes its just a percentage of the normal fare and other times its an amount equal to a "normal" full fare.  They don't view it as the solo not getting twice as many drinks, massages or sunbeds, but rather making up for the lost opportunity to get two fares.

That business plan is based on the old paradigm of ships sailing full almost all the time.  We'll have to see how things work out post COVID.  If people don't flock back to cruising and the ships have lots of open cabins, MAYBE they'll get smart and start to lower or drop the single supplements and just charge a regular fare to solos to get at least that one fare instead of having an empty cabin and no fare at all!

MSC sure needs to have better or more IT folks working for it.  Their website is FULL of bad links and conflicting information.

The 5%+5% Voyages Selection link that doesn't work has been just one example...

Another is the Cruise Assurance page where the top banner says it valid for cruises through September 30, 2020, but further down the page it says that it's valid for all cruises sailing on or before Oct. 31, 2020.

They change stuff so often and fail to update previously posted info that I'm taking photo shots of various web pages, including the date & time on my screen, to have some proof of what they were advertising and when just in case I get in a dispute with them later.

Anybody know where Seaside will be sailing from after she leaves PC in March 2021?

I just checked and got no results except for a message that an error occured.

I also can't get any info on my upcoming booked cruise, just a different error message...

I'd say the MSC website is having multiple problems!

On 6/11/2020 at 12:06 PM, Roberto256 said:

 

Thank you for posting.    I wonder if the 14-day quarantine will be ongoing for new crew joining, once the ships resume sailing...

I'm sure crew will hate it, and I don't think princess has enough room to house idle crew.

 

Once sailings resume, I don't THINK the CDC would require quarantine for just boarding crew and not boarding passengers also.  That wouldn't make sense, but then again many things the government does doesn't make sense!

I wouldn't sail as a passenger if I had to quarantine for the entire cruise 🥺

Tried with my e-mail & password, but nothing but basic info.  My TA has been trying to get MSC to post my fare at the 5%+%5 rate with the $100pp OBC for about 2 weeks and for some reason MSC has yet to do it.  So far all they've done is the 5%VC discount.  From what I've read here about MSC, efficient & gracious customer service can be hit or miss...

I've booked my first MSC cruise through a TA.  The booking is showing on my account at the MSC website with just the very basic info such as dates, cabin category and options to purchase upgrades & excursions.  However, I can't find any way to see what the fare is or any OBC.  

For all you MSC "experienced experts" out there, is there a way for me to view more detailed info on-line or since it was booked through a TA, is that restricted for some reason?

Thanks

What?  No Frutti de Mar Pizza???

Thanks so much for posting the menu