Shippy

   The old days... got the 30% discount coupon while onboard the ship.

Booked my next cruise through my Internet agent, then called the casino department with the

booking number & they applied the discount. This worked out great because my agency always

gave OBC, free gratuities,etc.

  NOW... no certificate onboard. Just got it in the email. Free balcony cabin & $150 OBC.

You CANNOT use your own agent anymore. No status discount can be applied.

 I asked about upgrade to YC.   They said my new price for YC would be $2259........

   If I book through my agent, the price would be $3000. I could get my diamond discount & they are currently giving $800. OBC.

In my eyes, the MSC Casino just went from the best at sea to the worst.

I cannot see any benefit in booking with them......can you ?   (unless you want to use the cabin category provided )

   just for reference...I had 18,000 points

6 hours ago, Encapsulated said:

Doesn't the upgrade to Yacht Club pay for itself?

 

Premium Drink Package - 500 PP

Internet - $150 PP

Gratuity - $150 PP

Spa - $100 PP 

Upgraded Dining & Amenities

 

As long as it doesn't cost over $1000 per person per state room isn't this a steal?

 

Am I missing something? Does Yacht Club Benefit not apply when you win an upgrade (Celebrity does this).

do not understand what you listed. Just back from YC. Gratuity & spa not included

7 hours ago, jules815 said:

Are you the person who posted on a Seaside FB group?  

 

I hope you feel better soon.

 

No, I did not do that post nor did I know they had a Covid problem....looks like it is back....

5 minutes ago, GPPhilly said:

After dealing with some of the different casino hosts, I would be very leery of waiting for an email.  This change along with the other changes make me very discouraged as they used to have a great casino program.  

To make matters worse.....I just called the casino department & she had no Idea what I was talking about. She said I should make a booking & call her back. I told her....no chance...not without assurances I can upgrade. 

guess I will just wait until/if I get the email.

1 minute ago, GPPhilly said:

Did it change, because they normally give you a certificate for your offer before you leave the ship.  WE have always been able to upgrade from the free room offered but the rates for the upgrades have increase but still we find it is very reasonable. 

NO more certificate...NOTHING in writing...just 'assurances' I will get the email.

Check yourself.... I came home with Covid !

5 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Have they done away with the 30% discount on a future cruise???

Totally gone. I used that discount on the cruise I just came back from AND had the paper to get money at the ashier....that is also now gone.

The head of the casino said I would get an email in about a week from the club for what I am eligible for....we left last Sunday.

Here is the real bummer. I used to book from my regular agent & then call the casino club & give them the booking number & they would apply the 30% discount.

 NOW...he said I would probably get a free balcony cabin. I asked if I could upgrade to the YC. He said he did not know. I asked about transferring to my agent...same reply, he did not know.

  If I cannot upgrade....that will be worthless to me. In my opinion, they will have gone from the best casino club at sea to the worst

BUT>>> no judgments until I get their email

2 hours ago, Linda W. said:

Oh!  Perhaps it is because I haven’t submitted our final payment!  I had read somewhere that there was no benefit to hurry and pay it off but evidently there is!  I booked directly through MSC not a big box.

Not sure if that would speed up the offer vs just so many days before sailing.

I would be hesitant to pay final payment before it is due. If something happened & I had to cancel before the due date, I would have to try & get my money back. Sometimes maybe easy, sometimes maybe not.

Just back from the Seascape & had LOTS of play.

 I am a believer that on cruiseships, some slots will NEVER pay & the ones that do will continue to do.

  But of course, they have dry spells to.

These were my favorite machines...... A bank of 4 in the middle of the casino with a large picture of a Chinese man that was very loudly laughing all the time. You had to get 3 chests for his bonus.

On the same side but further down towards the cashier were 4 Chinese machines with drums constantly pounding. You had to get the drums for the bonus.

  The bonus were fairly frequent with nice payouts.

Aside from general play, I pulled $1,000 twice from those machines. Not all at once but consistant payouts the added up.

  Unfortunately, they did away with the 30% discount coupons they used to give out. The head casino guy told me I would get an email in about a week telling me what kind of discount I would get.

I had 15,000 points.

My husband had 3,000 points. They gave him a goody bag at the end that had men's Crew products in it.

Already booked in YC still get a chance for upgrade bid.

Usually offer comes right after final payment.

   Some agencys do not participate in the program so you would not get the offer. I have heard that the "big box" stores do not participate.

We have an Internet agency & always get the offers.

23 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

this sucks.

Well, I guess our first MSC cruise will be our last.

And to think that I was griping that Carnival was charging for the 3+ entrees.

 

If my kid doesn't like what he's ordered (which has happened before), it's free for him to order something else on other cruise lines. Apparently, not on MSC starting now.

We too had something we didn't like once in a while. I guess we'll have to be very choosy on our upcoming cruise. Well, like I said - it will be our last until they rescind this stupid rule. 

 ???  What do you do in a regular restaurant when he 'doesn't' like the food ?

Perfect.....Thank You !

This month ? end of the year ?

If you just have the standard fare & cruise in 1 week, will it apply to you ?

thanks

A little confused, but..

   We use cash in the machine & if we feel like it, charge to the room...on the machine.

No extra fees for doing this.

4 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

It’s like how do you know how a baby has filled it’s diaper (nappy) 💩 

 

I have had the pleasure of knowing people that like to indulge and in the 🇺🇸 for some reason they like the smelly SKUNK weed 🌳

Its as obvious as a skunk misting 🦨 

   Glad to know you are open minded enough to hang with 'Carnval' people

Bid 4 different times.

$25.  over minimum. Bid accepted every time.

3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

It is not so very different in YC, I would suggest talking to the Maitra d' when you get on board and you'll find they are willing to do whatever they can to make the cruise a great experience for you, but the distance between the kitchens can make it impractical to just go grab something from the MDR, but they will prepare something different for you with a little notice.

   I asked at he beginning if it would be an inconvenience & was also told that they would have to send one of their waiters to the other kitchen. Although he did not say it but the implication is that it would hold up everyone else's meal till that waiter returned.

  We have,especially on Italian night, actually gone to the main dining room for dinner.

10 hours ago, pistnbroke said:

Is there a guarantee that you keep your existing perks ?

(OBC &Casino credits)

Several things...

   We have won bids on original casino bookings & kept all perks.

  Apparently all big box stores & some other agency do not participate & the upgrade program.

Happily for me, my favorite internet agency does.

   A long time ago, I inadvertently mentioned the name of an agency.

SOMEONE COMPLAINED to cruise critic that I broke the rules  .. get a life.... anyway, I got an email with a warning not to do that again & they assigned me a point. I have no idea how many points you have to get before they take any action against you   :O)

Twice our bids were accepted for cabin categories that had 'looked' sold out for weeks before.

There are always cabins held out that you cannot see.

AND, remember....since my bid was accepted, that frees up a cabin in my category that probably had appeared sold out !

I do NOT believe the bid price is based on what you originally paid.

     We have had very reasonable bid offers & won...when we originally booked through the casino & paid very little !

You lost me when you were talking about the port charges.

The cruise lines do not set those & cannot jack up the rate but sometimes the port charges do change...but because the PORT does so.

We wanted to do that once in San Francisco. We were told no because no customs were scheduled for that ship for that day.

On 7/7/2023 at 11:50 AM, dallascruiser said:

Thanks you all, I was afraid I was not covered in this category for RESERVE.  I’m not happy with my TA she told me she booked me in regular balcony, and now when prices dropped a bunch I contacted her and she told me I’m in MC category.  I should know my now not to trust TA’s.

   !st...after final payment, you will probably have a chance to bid up to a better class cabin.

2nd...We have used the same Internet TA for decades. I can go on their website AND PICK MY OWN CABIN !  I hold it and THEN call to confirm everything. Some people are under the impression that if you use an Internet site that you cannot speak directly to someone. That is not true.

ALSO, many years ago, someone asked for the name of my agent.

Inadvertently, I posted it.

Shortly after that, I received a slap on the hand from cruisecritic & a warning that if I did that again, I would be forever banished from this site   :O(

We had been on the Divina before & all announcements were in 5 languages.

    This is a VERY European line so there will probably be several languages on most cruises.

I got a little lost in post about the YC back up on Embarkation. I assume that it was in Miami (?)

  We have done that a half dozen times, usually arriving a bit before 11 am & although there were others there, there were enough butlers so we never had a problem .

   Sorry your embarkation was not as smooth as ours have always been.....that has always been a great way for us to begin a cruise !

The Divina has a YC2 category which I do not think the other ships have.

MUCH bigger than a YC1 yet cheaper than the RS or OS