kidless

On 1/18/2022 at 9:43 AM, cruisingator2 said:

I’m just seeing this as I don’t check MSC often but because I just read that the new Seascape will cruise from Miami at the end of the year, I came over to check out the board. 
 

We have had a total of five cruises on MSC booked since April 2020. All we’re in the YC because we wanted to experience it for ourselves. After the first cruise out of Barcelona (Grandiosa) was canceled by MSC due to Covid we decided to book future cruises since they handled the first refund promptly. Unfortunately our luck ran out. I can understand Covid, staff shortages, etc. but overall their customer service in Ft. Lauderdale just gets worse and worse. 
 

We had a cruise booked out of Italy on the Seaside for this May. I became so frustrated dealing with them that I canceled and booked the Celebrity Edge. We love Celebrity’s Retreat and their overall product even though the cost was almost double. I’ll gladly pay for ease and piece of mind.

 

What’s interesting to me is Ken Muscat who is over the MSC U.S CS department is a former long time Royal Caribbean executive and I expected better. Their training program (if they have one) needs help. Not sure we will give MSC another chance unless they place a ship out here in Los Angeles. Not worth flying across country for. At least for now. 

We moved our Mediterranean cruise for October to Royal Carribean after MSC cancelled our cruise without notifying us. We also cancelled our 12 day in Yacht club on Divina and booked Celebrity. We do love Yacht club and in General MSC but man they are frustrating. 

On 1/17/2022 at 7:52 PM, FrostyJoe said:

I thought MSC disabled ability to open ur cabin with the cruise card and only allow the tracker band to open the cabin?  Is that not true?

When I was onboard in December I left my bracelet in cabin only used my key card. Honestly did not realize it was for contact tracing just thought it ugly. Now that I know I might need a fishing magnet @mscdivina2016

On 12/7/2021 at 8:58 AM, dolls123 said:

I'm booked on F. Anyone else?

Dave & I are booked on F 

I had same problem this morning want to move a cruise from Sept to March. They said call back there is glitch in their system. You can book 2023 cruises out right but you can't move one. I'll give them a week and try again. if not fixed I'll just cancel original and book March. Little weary of dealing with MSC. 😔 

Sailing January 11 have not received this email. But my TA stinks

We have cruised 3 times since restart have 2 more in January then 5 more throughout next year. We have received 2 shots of vaccine…….no booster. We felt completely safe cruising with a ship full of pre Covid tested vaccinated people. My mother would say if you have to ask you know the answer. Don’t cruise if you are not comfortable. 

Tried to figure out the cabin spreadsheet and couldn’t figure out away to find cabin. 

14 hours ago, psmarkle said:

Glad to report that as of this morning, the website has our correct booking now, # of pax and the right price/balance due!

 

I would love the ship to only have 600 pax!  Ours is a spring break sailing, so I'm expecting a more full ship. However, we will be in the YC which never felt crowded on the Seaside even pre-covid.  Isn't it interesting how we (at least me) looks at everything pre-covid vs during covid?!

It was nice with low capacity on board but it also made some of the bars and activities a little boring because it was a ghost town. 

4 hours ago, psmarkle said:

Here's a play-by-play issue I'm working in real time, trying to make good use of my on-hold time! 🙂

1 hours 43 minutes of frustration.  To you Travel Agents out there, I don't know how you have the stamina to deal with it this on a daily basis...you're better than I am!!

Ugh I feel your pain! I do get the whole Covid thing new people excuse but I don’t. I’m not having these issues with Royal or Celebrity. Not to mention I’m sick of Covid excuse!   We love MSC their ships are beautiful and service onboard is stellar and the price point can’t be beat. But they are so frustrating to deal with and there does come a limit to one’s patience and MSC doesn’t really seem to care about the customer.  There is no other way for them to get the message then cancelling cruises. 
 

We have been on 3 cruises since October We watched every sail away….we could see the amount of people on deck of ships sailing past and MSC ships were empty compared to others. Their reputation and customer service is a big part of their empty ships. We had 600 on Meraviglia in November on a ship that holds 6000. 😞 

Was your issue resolved? Watch that booking!!! 

1 hour ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Well if you know me I am not a "Cheerleader" for any line. I was just stating the facts.  I especially am not a cheerleader of MSC right now because of booking a certain cabin and being thrown into a Guarantee so for you to call me a Cheerleader is wrong. Hope you find a cruise line you like.

Except your facts are actually your opinions. We checked with both cards on both occasions because we have never had that happen before with any company it is on MSC side.
Obviously you didn’t read the entire original post….it is long! 
 

ps- We love MSC but it gets to a point of absurd dealing with them. We cruise Royal & Celebrity and never have these issues….even during Covid. 

Lol Welcome to MSC we had booked a 12 day out of Barcelona going to Rome, Casablanca, Portifino and more on board the Splendida. Discovered they moved us to a 7 day on Seaside out of Barcelona going to different ports leaving on a different day…….Absolutely no notice to us! When we called they acted like we had booked the Seaside all along they made no attempt to satisfy the situation.

3 minutes ago, styles27 said:

 

It appears that the majority of similar stories to your’s that I read on this site are from people who have multiple cruises booked.  They have hundreds if not thousands of dollars tied up for a couple years out. Yikes! 

 

I’ve never seen the benefit of doing that and we’ve been cruising for almost 40yrs.

 

 

 

 

We do have few booked. Deals are great right now and we had some FCC’s to use. Although cruise I cancelled today did have FCC which I will get a refund for. All are just deposits except January on Meraviglia which I won’t cancel. I do love MSC on board but like you don’t think I want all my eggs in one basket. 

28 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I know you are upset and I understand but some of the things that you are upset about are not MSC's fault. Such as the hold on your credit card is not MSC, that is your credit card company.  It is up to them to release the funds. 

 

Also, only the Voyagers Club member who makes the final payment for the onboard expenses will receive the points so I am guessing your credit card was in your hubbies name and that is why he received the points. 

 

I agree if you are not happy the best way to go is with your wallet and feet.  That is what we have always done. 

 

At least you have CC to get it off of your chest. Happy cruising.

Nope everything was paid for with my credit card he is not on card! I purposefully signed for everything with my on board card which used my credit card. And my credit card told me it is the businesses  duty to release the pending charge since MSC puts the pending on to make sure the money is there before the final bill hits at end of the week. And it happened on two different cards so siding with credit cards on this one especially since it’s never ever happened with any other travel or business I’ve ever dealt with.
 

I honestly don’t see anything I stated that is not MSC’s fault. Except for maybe the having to wait outside at port or perhaps they could have been better prepared but I’ll give them that one as I stated that dang Covid. 

I understand the cheerleading I also love MSC and cheerlead them and make excuses for them. And I’m not upset I’d call it more annoyed it just seems to be so much work dealing with MSC….nothing is easy and they don’t seem to appreciate our business. We still have 3 cruises booked so we will see….

We love MSC and even though customer service can be a bear at times we muddle through because we love the onboard experience and the price point! However when is enough, enough? 
 

We have dealt with a lot of the same issues as many of you…..long hold times….incompetent customer service representatives on the phone…..lousy internet site. We even had a lovely 12 day cruise booked on a Mediterranean cruise on  Splendida for October 2022 that MSC removed us from and moved us to a 7 day on Seaside…..going to different ports leaving on a different date at a much lower price that they had not adjusted. No one called us, emailed us or sent us a carrier pigeon. We only found out though another poster here on Cruise Critic who was also removed from the sailing. So we waited to see if they would notify us…..they never did. So we called, at first the representative was like no you booked Seaside……sorry no we booked Splendida…..so we were told “Oh well,  Splendida cancelled you can keep or cancel and rebook” Gee thanks for making us feel valued and appreciated so ok let’s cancel and We will rebook with Royal Caribbean. Ok! 😳 

We forgave MSC you know all that Covid craziness, lost employees, cancelled cruises the world went a little mad so ok new people, ships being moved around, we got it.  On October 17th we boarded the Divina and our first Yacht Club experience and it was absolutely wonderful. Even though our Butler was no where to be seen the first half of the week said he hurt himself…..but he made up for it….and we didn’t care! We were on a cruise and it was fabulous! Not to mention a special Anniversary cruise that had been put on hold for 18 months…..did I mention Covid? We may have gone a little over board in jewelry shop watch for hubby Diamonds for me! How come casino players get free cruises for dropping big bucks what about us jewelry store suckers? Added perk was all the money we spent would help push us up to Diamond! That’s a nice little perk! Dave wants a chocolate ship! 
 

When we got off Divina Dave said upgrade all our future cruises to Yacht club! Wahoo don’t have to tell me twice! Now we had a few cruises booked and you know having MSC change anything on an already booked cruise is always tedious, time consuming and dangerous. But got  our November, 7 day upgraded……January, 4 day upgraded…..March, 12 day upgraded……August, 7 day upgraded! Wahoo……

Quick check of my credit card from October was stunning everything we purchased on board hit our card as pending then the total was charge also so looked like double hit and it was a LOT. The pending ties up our card and took 3 weeks to drop off…..frustrating but I’m still an MSC cheerleader! 
 

Then our 7 day Meraviglia cruise arrived….so excited. Now we had a few hiccups in Yacht club like being told to arrive at port at 10am to stand outside on a chilly morning with 40 of our new friends for 45 minutes but it was Meraviglia’s first day at Port Canaveral so we understood.  After quite a wait to board in the waiting area we are in the yacht club! Yahoo let’s get the party started Mimosa for me please. We were the first ones in the yacht club followed by 50 of our new friends for the week! We were told to have a seat and our butlers would be coming to escort us to our suites!  Excitement is growing! We didn’t see our Butler for first half of cruise on Divina……going to be cool…

feel so special! One after another a butler came in and whisked some lucky couple away……after 3 mimosa’s and a bottle of water 2 hours has past and except for a couple just walking in we are the lone people left in the topsail and have been for awhile. Who needs a stinking butler anyway 2 hours is enough time to wait off to the cabin we go.  I’d say that was the worse off it and maybe it was. It’s a cruise for Pete sake we have a great time together. So a string of little petty things doesn’t lessen our good time so no need to mention…….matter of fact it was so nice at the end of 7 days Dave got off and I stayed on board…..for next 4 day cruise!
 

I saw Susanna down at the future cruise desk on Saturday she gave me a pretty good price on an inside yacht club we’d had a balcony but since just me inside is fine. Susanna could not get it to go through so you see we are not the only ones who suffer with their crappy internet site! Fine give me balcony yacht club what’s a few more hundred 🥺  gee that one went thought! Oopsie she may have hit the button twice! That’s right she charged me twice. Not a problem she assure my husband and me it would be removed Monday morning first thing!!! Awesome ok bye Dave love ya babe but looking forward to four more days……Mimosa please! Now on Monday it still wasn’t removed and Monday night the awesome concierge (these guys were great) calls me over and says Susanna needs my address because she is going to give me a check to cover the double charge. Why does she need my address to cut a check plus don’t they have my adress 🤪but ok…..when am I getting check…. Tomorrow she said tomorrow.   Wednesday night rolled around still no check. Now I’m told they will mail me the check. Absolutely unacceptable we all know how fast MSC mails out their checks. Did I mention  I had talk to my husband that day and not only did they charge my credit card $1296 TWICE for the cruise but $1296 hit twice as pending that’s a total of $5,184 on our card. We had also spent $750 on the 7 day which hit as a charge and also hit as pending so now our card is up to $6684. Now I know the pending will eventually in a few weeks fall of but it’s not the point.  I tell the concierge  this isn’t acceptable and I’d like to talk to a manager. I was told it would be removed…then told I’d get a check….now you are mailing it? Well moral of story still haven’t gotten a check never got to talk to a manager but had a great time on a super duper expensive cruise….. (we have put in dispute with cc company)

Now The straw that broke this camels back is…….let’s talk Voyager Club. Before October we were close to Diamond after all we spent on Divina we should have hit Diamond except we didn’t…..David did. Even though I booked cruise…….I booked all the pre-stuff, I bought all the jewelry and shore tours and it all went on my credit card they gave David every single point. I know, I know it’s a little thing in the big picture….but dang I wanted to be Diamond I do all the work…..I sit on hold for hours…..I explain things a million times……I pay for it out of my account, I wanted to taunt him with my chocolate ship. So we did ask MSC to fix it, a very nice man name Mr Lee even called and said they’d make the adjustment that was naturally almost two months ago and still not fixed. Well we will beat MSC at their own game so in November we had my name put as lead…..and I did a second YC 4 day cruise solo! This would catch me up ….. right? Wrong! They gave Dave (who thinks it’s the funniest thing on earth as he sits in his recliner slowly consuming his chocolate ship) ALL the points……even for booking the second cruise……..I swear they even gave him extra points to really get under my skin! So I’m done……They win ….. January cruise is paid in full but getting ready to make March’s 12 day Yacht club cruise final payment and I just couldn’t do it…..you mess with my chocolate ship MSC so I cancelled and actually found a great 11 day on Celebrity Cruise and saved $1700 …..so take that MSC and if you don’t get your stuff straight I’m cancelling more!!!!

On 11/28/2021 at 6:37 PM, phissy said:

It seems many missed that announcement.  Many shorts at dinner last week. Very surprised nothing was said.

 

Please Say “hi” to Eric and Vishnu (concierges) for me, please.  . ( “mrs Patricia”) .

I blew out my knee last night and they made sure I got a wheelchair for disembarking today. They are so kind.

Have a great evening and enjoy your cruise.
Bryan up on pool deck is also fabulous, very willing to get what you need. His co worker Vicente is also great. 
 

Sadly didn't see this message till I returned. Vishnu & Eric were fabulous! I actually interacted with them far more then my butler! I ended up staying on for the four day cruise following our 7 day. DH left so I was solo and they were good at helping me especially with all my technical issues! They are all wonderful in Yacht Club I love Gracie & Justin in Topsail! 
 

I did not see any shorts in dining room on either cruise. MSC is going to go to just smart casual (no shorts) and doing away with formal nights. 
 

Hope your knee is better! I go on Meraviglia again in January. 

On 12/7/2021 at 8:55 AM, dolls123 said:

I'm on the 11/3 14 day cruise. Really looking forward to exploring the ship and seeing how the service will be. I'm in a penthouse so no butler. 

We are doing the 14 day

2 hours ago, phissy said:

We just got cleared by Port Authority so disembarkation is 2 hours behind.

Embarkation will also be delayed, I am assuming.

Yep we were. Stood outside shivering. Been very chaotic and basic cluster #F  *Wish you were still on  board! 

It's been total cluster No one seemed to know what they were doing very chaotic. I did get a kick the concierge came around said no shorts in the yacht club dining room for dinner!

Boarding time we were given was 10am.    

Everyone in yacht club must have been given the same time! Have us all waiting outside and it's a tad chilly! What's the old up?

On 11/25/2021 at 12:41 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

12 hours ago, cherylnj said:

I'll be on the second half of the 14 day 😊

We are now booked for 14 days! So excited 

3 hours ago, quattrohead said:

I am also very interested to see how Meraviglia is compared to Divina. All MSC ships are lovely in their own ways, even Armonia. 

Do agree Divina is starting to look ready for a spit and polish, I have never seen so much rust on an MSC ship. Before you had to go hunting to find any AT ALL.

Armonia was our first on MSC she was definitely in need of TLC but I loved that little ship.  She had an old world charm to her and the Captain & crew were the best we ever cruised with! Cabins super small though! 

2 hours ago, phissy said:

We will pass each other on Sunday.  
The issues we have had may or may not effect you , on your cruise.

-Starting with embarkation, which was Miami. YC tent up but no MSC personnel.

There was a group of about 30 sitting on our suitcases. No place to sit provided. It was hot and sunny and small tent was not sufficient.

A terminal porter came with luggage cart. Most did not want to end up their “chairs”.

Our embarkation time was 10:30. A little after 11 some butlers came and were confused what to do.

Took 2 1/2 hours to get to ship lounge to wait again. We just went up for lunch since we knew where to go.

-Re embarkation, a week later, took 3 hours with making us walk up and down 3 flights of stairs ( twice) . Again,  no one knew what tot do.

-ship board account messed up on multiple occasions. Spent a lot of time with Concierge getting charges fixed. One was charging each of us for our “included” internet. Took 5 days to get it credited. 
We had a group of about 35 on our RollCall. Since I was on week before, I spoke with Event Manager at Diamond cocktail party. I asked if our group of CC could have “unofficial” M&G in Sky Lounge. I have him day and time we had decided. He said he would get approval and let me know.

Received confirmation for this , once a day, from concierge. Kept asking if was still on. YES, thanks so much.

Well, when I showed up that afternoon, cleaning crew in lounge. I asked if they heard of small event. No idea…no one else there.

We all stood around , thinking we had wrong day or wrong location. Felt very awkward.

Finally, someone had great idea to move group to aft bar and pool area. (Horizon Bar and pool) 

Drink waiters and bar tender stepped up. Quickly pulled tables and chairs together and brought drinks for all. They were the hero’s . Many thanks to Jo Jo and Jay. We had great sunset and great M & G.

When I followed up with event director, he acted like it should have been fine. Denied that cleaning crew was there etc.  Once again, typical MSC.

 

We are in YC, and we had decided to get the RS since we wanted to celebrate our anniversary.

We have been in RS , on this ship before. This time, included items before are now for a charge.
I had to convince concierge on using cabana on board. Before, there was sign inside cabana “Reserved for 15008”

This time sign said, “ This cabana may be reserved see Concierge “.

We had many sea days and had expected it. He said they  are available for fee per day. We could perhaps have a day or two. NO..

we are on 2 weeks and want it each day. He finally put our names on the reservation list for cabana, each day. 
Ship at low capacity, reported about 900 this week. 
Thanksgiving this week, so YC had lots of families 🙄. Capacity reported at 122.

Main ship and pool area are great since everyone can get loungers and drinks. We actually went down there as we enjoyed it more.

We went down to Marketplace buffet a couple times to dinner. YC Butler came down ( you have a tracking bracelet) and asked why we were there.

My husband wanted to say, None of your business.

We enjoyed the Marketplace food and buffet had the best music at dinner. (R &B).

It was very empty , easy to just have quiet time ( sing along with music)

Bottom line, you will enjoy the ship and your cruise. Weather this next week looks great.

 

Thanks so much for all of that! I hope they have figured out what to do. We are in yacht club with 10am boarding. In October they seem to have it together at Port Canaveral let’s hope they do again. No meet & greet as we have had very little interaction on cc or fb for this week hoping that means not many on board. Last I looked and still a ton of cabins in YC available don’t know if people can get complimentary upgrades at port if not be a small group.  What do they charge for cabana’s on board? Our October cruise on Divina was absolutely wonderful Meraviglia has a lot to live up to! 

2 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Phissy is on Meraviglia right now.

She had been for the last 12 days.

Oh poo that’s right! Well hope it hasn’t been to bad

We have a scheduled cruise for June taking our grandchildren 6 & 8 we will cancel if they require children be vaccinated. 😞 

I was told that if a new crew member joins the ship they automatically have to quarantine that puts ship in Yellow status for that time. Just means CDC is monitoring.