jkgourmet

Sorry this happened  - not a great way to start a vacation.

Booking nearly anything through a consolidator - a middleman - is something to avoid (yes, even Viator, Expedia, Travelocity, etc). .  Jayride isn't doing anything except collecting your money, taking off their percentage as commission,  then sending the balance of money and information about your purchase to another company (the subcontractor).  Which leaves the sub with less money than a direct booking.  

You paid by credit card, right?  Dispute the charge through them.  Print out all of those texts AND keep them on your phone - you may need them to document the no-show.

Uber/Lyft have quickly become the cheapest, most efficient and, most reliable transport providers in many parts of the world.  Certainly,  that's the case in the USA (with the exception of two US airports that they won't service).  

Still nervous about using Uber/Lyft?  Grab a taxi at the curb (and pay significantly more).  We can't recommend Super Shuttle anymore because they went out of business on dec 31 2019.  I'm sure there are reliable private transfer and/or limousine services - I've never looked.  But book directly with them.

I haven't been able to log into my account for a week.  It keeps telling me that I registered on a non-usa site.  I called MSC yesterday - and the hold time was blessedly short, less than ten minutes.  I was told that "somehow" I must have used the Canadian site to register.   When I explained that I had been logging in easily until just a few days ago, the agent admitted that she hears that this happens a lot, "so maybe it's MSC's site that is doing it."   Okay then.

Unfortunately, it was Saturday.  Nobody can do anything about it until Monday, when I will have to call back and stay on hold.  Again. 

6 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

 

Word of advice - make sure that you never travel to non- English speaking countries. You will have the same problem.

I think that's a pretty snotty and unnecessary remark.  

Incidentally, I'm confident that the residents in non-English speaking countries would tell you that they CAN and DO learn a second language.  And WOW - it's often English!

Remember that NCL will charge you $15/bottle to bring it on the ship, regardless of where you plan to consume it.  

https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#can-i-bring-alcohol-board

How do y'all track down these other forums that are SPECIFIC to your sailing?

I'd be surprised if MSC doesn't offer a shuttle, but it will be a helluva lot more expensive and a PITA compared to Uber/Lyft.

If you arder a drink that is priced above your package limit, Does RCCL only charge the difference (plus gratuity) in price or do they charge the full price?

Like this:  I buy a package that allows unlimited drinks up to $6.  I order a drink that is $10

On Celebrity, I pay the difference - $4 plus gratuity on the $4. 😀

On MSC, I pay the full price - $10 plus gratuity. 😡

Does RCCL or any other cruise line have Celebrity's policy?

5 hours ago, George C said:

We loved premium plus drink package which is includes everything no limits , rccl and celebrity do not offer anything like this.

True.  But compare MSC's Easy Package to Celebrity's Classic package.  MSC is measly,  pretty poor wine selections.  X has a very large list including some good wines.  It's good throughout the entire ship, includes frozen drinks without having to mix it yourself and is included as a perk VERY frequently. 

If you're used to alcohol packages on other cruise lines, be aware that MSC's basic, entry level package (called the Easy Package) is VERY limited and drastically inferior.  (Upgrading for an additional cost is available.)

Note also that the Easy Package is not accepted in any specialty restaurant.  If you want wine, you need to buy it from the available wine list (at 4x to 5x retail) or get up from your table, leave the restaurant, go to a bar, get your drink and carry it back to your table.

The name and description of that bartender please?

😞😞😞

16 minutes ago, Até said:

  If you order water at a bar you are likely to get bottled.  I met a lady who had a glass of water thrown in her face after becoming nasty with a bartender demanding tap water because she had no drinks package.  

Are you I saying a bartender threw a glass of water in a passenger's face ??!?? 

Wow.

12 hours ago, Até said:

Everyone in the MDR can have bottled water.  It is just included in the cruise price for some markets and others are allowed to purchase it if they want.  I don't think anyone is asked where they are from, the waiters can easily see what conditions you booked under by looking at your cruise card.

If one is sailing on the Mera from Miami and has the Easy Package, is bottled water included in the MDR, buffet and ALL bars? 

(Y'all realize that this crap shouldn't be this complicated,  right? )

On 1/18/2020 at 9:35 AM, Roz said:

Just curious, why does the hotel have to be new?

I'm wondering the same thing.

8 hours ago, publicpersona said:

It's a long shot, but try incognito mode in Chrome, or whatever your browser's equivalent of private browsing mode is. If that works around the problem, you might need to flush your cookie cache to use the regular browser.

Actually, that's a very good idea!  But I'll just try another browser first - clearing cookies is such a pain.  

Thank you for pointing out the obvious.   😊

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/why-this-cruise-line-youve-barely-heard-of-is-ordering-6-giant-new-ships/ar-BBZ9zwY?li=BBnbklE

17 hours ago, Jembeccatoo said:

Did you originally go through Canada or UK site? Try those and maybe one will work.

IF I did, I've no idea how that happened.   If this is still happening today, its another thing to discuss when I call customer service to find out why the loyalty match isn't being applied.  (See my other thread for details about THAT.)

1 hour ago, CruisinCrow said:

Do they have any formal nights on the 3-day Divina cruises?

Formal nights on a cruise ship?  Disappeared a decade ago (except for cunard).

What's up with this????

32 minutes ago, EMc&DrS said:

Also--with MSC, if you don't like the answer you get or don't think it's correct, hang up, call back, and talk to someone different.  I've done this a few times until I've gotten what I wanted.

LOL.  Actually, I think that's pretty accurate for ANY customer service issue regardless of the company!  One of the reasons that I rarely handle stuff over the phone.  Written Documentation Rocks. 

50 minutes ago, dexddd said:

What is the need?  

I have supplied the information for my match four different times.  The FIRST time the documentation was inadequate, and they emailed me a canned email in less than a week to tell me that I needed more.  I supplied EXACTLY what they wanted two days after that.  I received another canned email that was a duplicate of the first one.  Resent the information the same day I received the third email, and resubmitted from the regular website.  Same results.  I've now submitted the required information three times.

So - what time/day is best to call?  (Yeah, I know.  The real answer is "never.")

Weekdays?  Weekends?  Morning,  afternoon, evening (only available M - F)?

Telephone number  

1-844-899-7442

Opening hours 
Monday – Friday 8:00am - 9:00pm  
Saturday - Sunday 9:00am - 6:00pm

Customer service is located in FLL, correct?  So I'm in the same timezone.

On 1/18/2020 at 11:15 AM, camofwilliamsburg said:

Yes in the Champagne Bar.

Thank you.  Seems like an odd place to serve speciality coffee, but it probably makes getting a shot of alcohol for the coffee more convenient.   

On easy package, can one get the included non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri and a shot of rum?

On the mera are Easy package specialty coffees available ANYWHERE?

I believe that POM adds one day when you park there.  So a 7 day cruise becomes $176.

This thread has a lot of information (and fans) of Brightline.