A friend of mine who is a travel agent told me....

[Katgoesonholiday]

...that I have to be careful about booking through an overseas agent (I'm in NZ and have booked through a US agency) as she has heard (through a friend of hers who works for MSC) of people being denied boarding because they have accessed specials that are only available to residents of the country they booked in (but aren't actually residents of that country).

 

Has anyone heard of this is it it one of those Snopes 'the sister of my aunts boyfriends cousins flatmate said' situations?

 

And for what it's worth, we are paying full price for our yacht club cabin and haven't received any special discount applicable only to residents of a certain country.

[Alex71]

We did not have any problems. The only comlication was that we had to do the online check-in through the American site. I'm wondering how they would be able to establish your country of residence anyway.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Alex71

[Skipper Tim]

Has anyone heard of this is it it one of those Snopes 'the sister of my aunts boyfriends cousins flatmate said' situations?

 

Yes I made several bookings with a U.S. agent which were accepted with our UK addresses. When the the invoices arrived by email they had this warning on them (I have removed the TA's name as per CC policy).

 

The following cruise lines, CELEBRITY, COSTA, CUNARD, HOLLAND AMERICA, MSC, OCEANIA, PRINCESS, ROYAL CARIBBEAN, now prohibit all travel agencies located in the United States from selling cruises to citizens of countries other than the United States and Canada, UNLESS they have a residence in the U.S. or Canada. Also, your past passenger account / number must have a US address listed in the cruise line record. PLEASE BE ADVISED, if you do not meet these requirements, the cruise line and / or <travel agent> will cancel your booking and any penalties will be solely your responsibility, and <travel agent> will not bear any costs or responsibilities. When you booked this reservation, you checked (online bookings) you were a US or Canadian resident and / or citizen; or you gave your booking agent (phone bookings) a US or Canadian address. If you now have a residence in the US or Canada but your past passenger record at the cruise line does not, it is your responsibility to change it, or the cruise line will cancel your booking when they check your past passenger information against this reservation and have the right to assess a penalty.

 

As Alex71, none of us had any problems. I think this is currently a question of the TAs appearing to be diligent in the eyes of the lines without actually being so.

 

Tim.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Skipper Tim

[anniegb]

We did not have any problems. The only comlication was that we had to do the online check-in through the American site. I'm wondering how they would be able to establish your country of residence anyway.

 

Your on line check in has a section on nationality??

 

I too have booked through a US TA and checked first that this would not be an issue.

 

MSC USA happily took the booking and my MSC card stored my passport info.

 

Annie

[Alex71]

Your on line check in has a section on nationality??

 

 

Yes, but my understanding is that the question is residency rather than nationality. Different pricing for different nationalities living in the same country would be even worse discrimination.

[Katgoesonholiday]

Yes I made several bookings with a U.S. agent which were accepted with our UK addresses. When the the invoices arrived by email they had this warning on them (I have removed the TA's name as per CC policy).

 

The following cruise lines, CELEBRITY, COSTA, CUNARD, HOLLAND AMERICA, MSC, OCEANIA, PRINCESS, ROYAL CARIBBEAN, now prohibit all travel agencies located in the United States from selling cruises to citizens of countries other than the United States and Canada, UNLESS they have a residence in the U.S. or Canada. Also, your past passenger account / number must have a US address listed in the cruise line record. PLEASE BE ADVISED, if you do not meet these requirements, the cruise line and / or <travel agent> will cancel your booking and any penalties will be solely your responsibility, and <travel agent> will not bear any costs or responsibilities. When you booked this reservation, you checked (online bookings) you were a US or Canadian resident and / or citizen; or you gave your booking agent (phone bookings) a US or Canadian address. If you now have a residence in the US or Canada but your past passenger record at the cruise line does not, it is your responsibility to change it, or the cruise line will cancel your booking when they check your past passenger information against this reservation and have the right to assess a penalty.

 

YIKES!!! I'm a little freaked out by this!

 

I have a US address that I use for internet shopping. Should I use that when I do my online checkin? I did give the travel agent my NZ address details and that is what currently appears on my booking.

[Alex71]

During OLCI the country in the address field will automatically say USA and it won't be possible to change this. We otherwise put our normal German address in and did not have any problems.

[Katgoesonholiday]

That's good to hear, Alex. Thank you

[lei114lo]

I have booked a family reunion and I have booked cabins for people who live in the UK. I am wondering if this will be a problem. It's a group trip

[Skipper Tim]

YIKES!!! I'm a little freaked out by this!

 

Yes, it did me a little. I had to keep it to myself within our party and hope for the best. It is important to be aware of these policies before booking however - one day under certain circumstances, e.g. the line over-booking, they may be enforced.

[Alex71]

I still don't think they would be able to verify people's address at check in.

 

In any case, I carefully worked through the Termy & Conditions and did not see a clause that states that passengers have to book through a travel agent in their country of residence. They nowhere talk about reserving the right to deny boarding in case the trip is booked through a TA in another contry. I would argue that even if such a clause existed, it would probably be illegal.

[Skipper Tim]

I would argue that even if such a clause existed, it would probably be illegal.

 

Within the EU, I would agree. Outside, I am not so sure.

[Katgoesonholiday]

Within the EU, I would agree. Outside, I am not so sure.

 

So as NZ citizens we would be (theoretically) at greater risk than citizens of an EU country? Both my husband and I are also British citizens so I can easily pack our UK passports as well.

[MotownVoice]

Just FYI your IP address is noted when you visit a website. If the cruiselines wanted, their IT people could easily determine in what city your computer reside in about 30 seconds.

 

Oh and we all know that MSC monitors this website daily. So if they didn't know what you were doing they do now.

 

:) Cheers

[Skipper Tim]

Just FYI your IP address is noted when you visit a website. If the cruiselines wanted, their IT people could easily determine in what city your computer reside in about 30 seconds.

 

Oh and we all know that MSC monitors this website daily. So if they didn't know what you were doing they do now.

 

:) Cheers

 

Booking direct with MSC in another territory is a non-starter. MSC already blocks access to the first stage of the secure booking process. It kicks you back to the home page without further discussion. The discussion above is about using travel agents in other territories. TAs are much more amenable to new business.

[lei114lo]

So I am not a travel agent I booked directly with MSC for a large group from many different countries thru MSCusa. So I hope I don't have any problems. It's sort of difficult working with MSC it took at least 5 weeks to get cabin information. If I send a email I usually have to send 2 to get a response and my group is worried about working with MSC. Any advice we have been told by MSC that they are at the mercy of the hub of MSC which is in Italy but don't they work with them everyday.

[Katgoesonholiday]

Just FYI your IP address is noted when you visit a website. If the cruiselines wanted, their IT people could easily determine in what city your computer reside in about 30 seconds.

 

Oh and we all know that MSC monitors this website daily. So if they didn't know what you were doing they do now.

 

:) Cheers

 

Have I done anything wrong or illegal in booking through an overseas travel agent? I haven't accessed any US citizen only discounts. I have been upfront about my address/location. Even if I booked using a travel agent here in NZ, they would have to book it through an overseas MSC website as we don't have a NZ one. There is an Australian website but we aren't Australian either.

 

I frequently buy things internationally if I can get a better price for them than I can in NZ. It's just smart shopping!

 

I don't understand why prices have to be so dramatically different anyway. :confused:

[Waihekean]

Hi Kat,

 

When I first enquired with my American TA about MSC she said that she was not allowed to book Australian residents. When informed I was a New Zealand resident, she checked with MSC and came back to say that they are allowed to book non Australian residents.

 

She did say that we probably can not do an online check-in and would have to do it at the pier. Have tried to register online, but no go so far. It will not recognise my booking number. Will have another go at it over the American site.

 

My Mum actually resides in Holland and we both have Dutch nationality. I am not too worried as the deposit went to MSC directly.

 

Re: the red line information from Skipper Tim in regards with Celebrity. Have cruised twice with them through an American TA booking and had no troubles at all. That time deposit went also directly to the cruise line.

[Pluto_fan]

Interesting thread. I am an American currently living in Germany. My previous MSC cruises have been booked through a US travel agent. However, I am now looking at a cruise on MSC's German website which does not appear on the US site (and is not available through my US travel agent). Since I live in Germany, does anyone foresee any problems with me booking through msc.de? I suppose I could bring a copy of my German housing lease along with my US passport to the port :rolleyes:

[Alex71]

Interesting thread. I am an American currently living in Germany. My previous MSC cruises have been booked through a US travel agent. However, I am now looking at a cruise on MSC's German website which does not appear on the US site (and is not available through my US travel agent). Since I live in Germany, does anyone foresee any problems with me booking through msc.de? I suppose I could bring a copy of my German housing lease along with my US passport to the port :rolleyes:

 

No, you won't have any problems. My wife is American and our kids have both American and German citizenship. We live in Germany,booked one cruise through an American TA, three cruises through German TAs and did not have the slightest problems either way.

 

I'm assuming you have a German Aufenthaltstitel in your passport anyway?

[Katgoesonholiday]

Hi Kat,

 

When I first enquired with my American TA about MSC she said that she was not allowed to book Australian residents. When informed I was a New Zealand resident, she checked with MSC and came back to say that they are allowed to book non Australian residents.

 

She did say that we probably can not do an online check-in and would have to do it at the pier. Have tried to register online, but no go so far. It will not recognise my booking number. Will have another go at it over the American site.

 

My Mum actually resides in Holland and we both have Dutch nationality. I am not too worried as the deposit went to MSC directly.

 

Re: the red line information from Skipper Tim in regards with Celebrity. Have cruised twice with them through an American TA booking and had no troubles at all. That time deposit went also directly to the cruise line.

 

That's really reassuring! Thank you!

[southwestie]

I sail Cunard often and almost every time I use an agent from the USA, I use the agents adress there and Cunard have both that and my UK adress, I get the loyalty status and deals and have yet had a problem

[American Bear]

In the future use a travel agent with MSC.

Their web site, is too difficult right now.