MSC nightmare

[GOLDENBONNY]

Well...here we go again...you are an MSC agent, no doubt. Your opinion is more valid than the letter I have from the Brazilian Consul...!!! You make a rule, and that's the way it is...!!

I quote you: "It would happened to him on any line any cruise ship and not only on cruise ships". You mean MSC cruise ships....well...I traveled in Celebrity and had NO problems with my US Passport and my Argentina ID..!!!

So..it is not with "any" cruise line: it happens with a cruise line that fancies itself as "luxury line", but has ignorant Immigration Officers...that are quick to act if you have A US PASSPORT !!

 

LOL YEs,we all here MSC agents :p:p:p

[Capricruiser]

OP could have avoided the problem if he had booked their cruise as Argentinian citizens and kept the US passports in his pocket. Seems to me to be bad preparation on his part. This is just the opinion of one of those MSC agents...

p.s. I note that the CC monitors knocked off all his posts on the other forum and roll call threads.

[All aboard??]

Clearly delusional.........or is it dementia? By the way your sob story is starting to fall apart at the seams. You mentioned that you used your savings for this vacation of a lifetime but yet you have clearly been on various other cruises to exotic destinations on Celebrity (which we all know is not the cheapest)......... at least one to be able to list Asia as your favourite cruise destination and another to brazil where you used your Argentinian ID card without a problem.

 

So once again I implore you to please stop your tirade, I picture Hitler and his conspiracy theory that the Jews led to the downfall of Germany when I read your picked on because I am American pity party.

[leoparana]

OP could have avoided the problem if he had booked their cruise as Argentinian citizens and kept the US passports in his pocket. Seems to me to be bad preparation on his part. This is just the opinion of one of those MSC agents...

p.s. I note that the CC monitors knocked off all his posts on the other forum and roll call threads.

 

Goldenbonny and Capricruisers are MSC agents: I have the letter of the Brazil Consul in Miami indicating I did NOT need a visa in my US Passport: all I needed was to present my Argentina ID. When I boarded in Barcelona, the MSC Immigration Officer had NO issue with my documents. When we were about to leave from Casablanca, we were contemptibly rejected from the ship. What the officers did not know was that I could enter Brazil with my Argentina ID. There was NO NEED to have an Argentina Passport at the Brazil ports. It is obvious that one officer was right, letting us embark in Barcelona, but was over ridden by a different one in Casablanca.

[TravelRocker]

Wow, 3 days extra in Casablanca, Morocco! And then back on the ship! I would take that as a seriously "cool" vacation adventure! :) It's all in how you look, at it I guess.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Goldenbonny and Capricruisers are MSC agents: I have the letter of the Brazil Consul in Miami indicating I did NOT need a visa in my US Passport: all I needed was to present my Argentina ID. When I boarded in Barcelona, the MSC Immigration Officer had NO issue with my documents. When we were about to leave from Casablanca, we were contemptibly rejected from the ship. What the officers did not know was that I could enter Brazil with my Argentina ID. There was NO NEED to have an Argentina Passport at the Brazil ports. It is obvious that one officer was right, letting us embark in Barcelona, but was over ridden by a different one in Casablanca.

 

LOL Can you please tell this to MSC so I will get my extra discount on my cruise?:D

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

p.s. I note that the CC monitors knocked off all his posts on the other forum and roll call threads.

 

You're welcome..anyone can ask the moderator or host to look into ridiculous posts by pressing on the (!) button next to the post number (top right corner)

 

I find these posts a nuisance, if you had a problem you deal with it, but this poster was replying with a cut and paste of her miserable situation,to every post with her rant.

 

I am not inferring she/he was right or wrong, but the means in which she bashed the line are irritating...I do my homework when I travel and assume others do too...If I make a mistake well..lesson learned for next time.

 

I also find it ridiculous that everone who questioned the posts are MSC agents:rolleyes:

 

Maybe the Poster is the Agent?...from another line of course

 

With that said ...enjoy

[Virginoftheseas]

why would anyone take 2 different passports for one trip?

 

Did one passport give problems at one port while the other passport gives problems at another port?

[argentinita]

why would anyone take 2 different passports for one trip?

 

Did one passport give problems at one port while the other passport gives problems at another port?

 

 

We (DH, DD and I) are Argentinian, DD and DH are also Spanish Citizens.

Argentinian need a visa to enter the U.S., not Spanish Citizens.

To leave Argentina, we need our Argentinian Passports and to enter the United States (San Juan), DD and DH need their Spanish passports. DH and DD travel with two passports.

 

Nothing to say about the OP, just answer this question.

[mamasue]

I don't understand why the OP would wait a year to complain.

Ohhhh... and I'm not an MSC agent!

[pmacher61]

When I boarded in Barcelona, the MSC Immigration Officer had NO issue with my documents. When we were about to leave from Casablanca, we were contemptibly rejected from the ship. What the officers did not know was that I could enter Brazil with my Argentina ID. There was NO NEED to have an Argentina Passport at the Brazil ports. It is obvious that one officer was right, letting us embark in Barcelona, but was over ridden by a different one in Casablanca.

 

I must question the mindset of all those ridiculing the OP. No one is allowed to board a cruise unless his docs are in order. When a person boarding a cruise ship to Brasil is required to have a visa and he does not show one at the time of boarding , he is not allowed to board. Does anyone dispute this ?

In this case MSC checked the OP docs at embarkation. It wouldn't matter if a passenger showed a note from his teacher giving permission to sail away. As long as the cruise line allows him to board , they are later precluded from forcibly abandoning the passenger nevermind a senior in an African port.

If this happened in Nov 2010 it has not been an inordinantly long time to make a public complaint given the time allowable to discuss resolution with a slow responding cruise line and OP may have just discovered CC ( as appears from number of posts). I urge the OP to contact a Florida based maritime attorney. They would take the case on a contingency fee basis ( no out of pocket up front fees).

[All aboard??]

I must question the mindset of all those ridiculing the OP. No one is allowed to board a cruise unless his docs are in order. When a person boarding a cruise ship to Brasil is required to have a visa and he does not show one at the time of boarding , he is not allowed to board. Does anyone dispute this ?

In this case MSC checked the OP docs at embarkation. It wouldn't matter if a passenger showed a note from his teacher giving permission to sail away. As long as the cruise line allows him to board , they are later precluded from forcibly abandoning the passenger nevermind a senior in an African port.

If this happened in Nov 2010 it has not been an inordinantly long time to make a public complaint given the time allowable to discuss resolution with a slow responding cruise line and OP may have just discovered CC ( as appears from number of posts). I urge the OP to contact a Florida based maritime attorney. They would take the case on a contingency fee basis ( no out of pocket up front fees).

The OP has already approached a maritime lawyer and none of them were wiling to take on his case.......he argues that they (the attorneys) were afraid that it would have to be taken to Italy......which means one thing to me (and having been an attorney at one stage myself I feel that I have a certain degree of expertise herein) that he actually had no case against the line.

 

Further, the terms of agreement state clearly that the required visas are the sole responsibility of the passenger and not the line.

 

With regards to the cruise line checking his visas etc, I personally cannot remember having had my visas etc ever checked accordingly at embarkation......and I am South African, I need a visa for everywhere :eek:.

 

I have disected his posting rather vigorously to say the least and it is clear that he blurs reality and fiction into one, which often happens when a stubborn individual is left embarressed as a result of their own short comings.

 

One year has passed and no attorney, journalist or comsumer wathdog has taken up his fight which supports our argument further that he has no case save for one against himself.

 

I depart with one question.........if he was treated so badly and it had nothing to do with teh fact that he was in the wrong, why did he go back as opposed to just go home?

[pmacher61]

Like I said...I question the mindset.

[leoparana]

I don't understand why the OP would wait a year to complain.

Ohhhh... and I'm not an MSC agent!

 

...Because it took that time to get a "final" answer from MSC...!!! And I have the letters to prove it...!!

They dragged their feet...that's why...and I believed the Captain of the ship and the reassurances of the two agents that called me from Italy that the issue will be "resolved"..

[leoparana]

The OP has already approached a maritime lawyer and none of them were wiling to take on his case.......he argues that they (the attorneys) were afraid that it would have to be taken to Italy......which means one thing to me (and having been an attorney at one stage myself I feel that I have a certain degree of expertise herein) that he actually had no case against the line.

 

Further, the terms of agreement state clearly that the required visas are the sole responsibility of the passenger and not the line.

 

With regards to the cruise line checking his visas etc, I personally cannot remember having had my visas etc ever checked accordingly at embarkation......and I am South African, I need a visa for everywhere :eek:.

 

I have disected his posting rather vigorously to say the least and it is clear that he blurs reality and fiction into one, which often happens when a stubborn individual is left embarressed as a result of their own short comings.

 

One year has passed and no attorney, journalist or comsumer wathdog has taken up his fight which supports our argument further that he has no case save for one against himself.

 

I depart with one question.........if he was treated so badly and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was in the wrong, why did he go back as opposed to just go home?

 

I went back because I had a flight booked to return to the US from Argentina !! The last think I needed was to have to buy a one way ticket to Saint Louis from Morocco !!

The "blogger agents" of MSC are trying to obscure the issue.

The facts are: 1 -My wife and I boarded the Lyrica in Barcelona, and their Immigration Officer on Board looked at our US Passport and Argentina IDs and stated "double nationality", and everything was fine.

2 - The Consul of Brazil in Miami (and I have a letter stating so), wished us a good visit to Brazil and stated we could enter Brazil with our Argentina IDs and there was NO NEED to get a Brazilian Visa in our US Passports

3 - In Casablanca, they FORCED us out of the ship. Various officers came to our cabin and escorted us out of the ship

4 - We re boarded in Tenerife, after obtaining a needless Visa at the Brazilian Embassy in Rabat.

5 - I met with the Captain of the Ship, Antonio Siviero, after we re boarded in Tenerife, who after inviting me with a cup of coffee told me he did not know of what had happened and that MSC was going to "take care of it".

6 - The Police Officer that boarded in Recife indicated he did not understand why we were forced from the ship (he knew about the Policies of entry to Brazil with the Argentina ID and NO need of a Passport or a visa for someone who traveled with a US Passport - Same as the Consulate of Brazil in Miami !!).

7 - Two agents from MSC called me from Italy and told me "the way we take care of this situations" is with me writing a letter AFTER the cruise was over.

8 - I did so. It was an obvious trick to delay and delay !

9 - A response took 6 months to arrive !

10 - I contacted a local lawyer, who wrote to MSC and got the same answer. And my alternative appears to be...to sue in Italy !!

 

In conclusion, and despite the "dementia" and "delusion"comments of the agents (I can give them a class in Psychiatric Disorders, including Antisocial Characters in all of its variations), this ends as as a scam, perpetrated by MSC to cover up the IGNORANCE of their officers.

[leoparana]

Like I said...I question the mindset.

 

Read my comments below. My "mindset" was that MSC was an honest Company. If any thing, my mindset was to believe in MSC. Now I can see how they hire bloggers, such as Capricruiser and others, to try to tarnish those who expose their blunders.

[ledj]

This is too funny.

[PBC29]

If Op just used the US passport and got a visa and kept the other paperwork at home the entire issue wouldn't have happened. IMHO

 

Which costs more the visa or the extra expenses to get back to the ship and fighting with the company when a problem occurs.

 

If it were me I'd have gotten all the paperwork I'd need for both just to be safe, but guess thats just me.

[Capricruiser]

The OP booked a cruise from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, a cruise that had one or more port calls in Brazil. The OP has duel citizenship, Argentina and the USA. Since he was a citizen of Argentina he didn't need a visa for the Brazilian port calls, but he KNEW US citizens needed one. My thought is, why did he book the cruise with his US passport instead of his Argentinian one? He continues to offend me because I questioned HIS blunder. If MSC blundered, I think it was letting him board in the first place.

Now I wish he'd just turn the whole mess over to the lawyers and stop posting his message on all the threads and roll calls.

[pmacher61]

I contacted a local lawyer, who wrote to MSC and got the same answer. And my alternative appears to be...to sue in Italy !!

Maritime law is a speciality and not all lawyers practice it. There are a few lawfirms in Florida that specialize in suing cruise cos for wrongs done to their passengers. If the OP has not consulted a specialist, I urge him to do so.

It is always difficult and dangerous to contradict another lawyer's legal opinion especially without knowing all the relevant facts, however, I would be surprised if Italy were to be the only location an action could be commenced against MSC for this incident. The claim need not be based upon breach of contract but may also be based upon "tort" which has a different venue determination that a breach of action based claim (even assuming the cruise contract contains a sound Italy-only venue provision which I doubt).

I would be more concerned about a statute of limitations.

[leoparana]

The OP booked a cruise from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, a cruise that had one or more port calls in Brazil. The OP has duel citizenship, Argentina and the USA. Since he was a citizen of Argentina he didn't need a visa for the Brazilian port calls, but he KNEW US citizens needed one. My thought is, why did he book the cruise with his US passport instead of his Argentinian one? He continues to offend me because I questioned HIS blunder. If MSC blundered, I think it was letting him board in the first place.

Now I wish he'd just turn the whole mess over to the lawyers and stop posting his message on all the threads and roll calls.

 

As an agent of MSC now you tell me that MSC blundered letting us board the ship. If so, they blundered then. BUT MSC BLUNDERED.!!!

Actually, that was NOT the blunder. It was not to know the rules that apply for entry into Brazil by a US passport passenger WITH AN ARGENTINA ID !

But in any case...there you are: admitting to a blunder by your company...and just laughing at me because of YOUR blunder.

[Capricruiser]

I'd suggest you stop referring to me as an agent of MSC. And you better take a look at the Cruise Critic community guidelines.

[leoparana]

Maritime law is a speciality and not all lawyers practice it. There are a few lawfirms in Florida that specialize in suing cruise cos for wrongs done to their passengers. If the OP has not consulted a specialist, I urge him to do so.

It is always difficult and dangerous to contradict another lawyer's legal opinion especially without knowing all the relevant facts, however, I would be surprised if Italy were to be the only location an action could be commenced against MSC for this incident. The claim need not be based upon breach of contract but may also be based upon "tort" which has a different venue determination that a breach of action based claim (even assuming the cruise contract contains a sound Italy-only venue provision which I doubt).

I would be more concerned about a statute of limitations.

 

Thanks for your comment. The issue is that the amount of my claim (a letter of apology and reimbursement of my expenses Casablanca-Rabat-Tenerufe), is a small amount for a lawyer to take the case.

I was just naive believing the "word" of Captain Antonio Siviero: when after considerable demands at the front desk I was allowed a meeting with him, he reassured me that the error would be corrected. Retrospectively, I remember meeting him in his large office, another official present, a cup of coffee offered to me, a man with a soft voice reassuring me...and I can not but associate it with scenes from "The Godfather"....

It took all these months for MSC to answer my demands. I guess they speculated with statue of limitations as well !! Tricky people know about technicalities !

Thanks for your advice, anyway. Best regards.

[leoparana]

I'd suggest you stop referring to me as an agent of MSC.

 

Well, if not an agent/employee...you are possibly an owner, cheerleader or someone of that kind. You reply all of my posts, used psychiatric terms addressing me ... (and by the way...I can give you a class on psychiatric diagnosis !!).:o

[leoparana]

If Op just used the US passport and got a visa and kept the other paperwork at home the entire issue wouldn't have happened. IMHO

 

Which costs more the visa or the extra expenses to get back to the ship and fighting with the company when a problem occurs.

 

If it were me I'd have gotten all the paperwork I'd need for both just to be safe, but guess thats just me.

 

Thanks for your comment. But then, to be safe, I should have obtained a visa to enter Morocco and Argentina as well...to be safe..?

I obtain required visas. The Brazilian Consulate in Miami told me I did NOT NEED A VISA !! Should I have obtained a visa anyway...?