Prebooked Drinks Package versus prepaid - 15% Gratuity?

[CruiseIreland]

Hi all. Hoping some of the seasoned MSC cruisers on here can help. I have added two drinks packages to my booking for next month on MSC Splendida. The booking shows the price at €182 pp and payment will be taken at embarkation(or added to shipboard account). Does this mean I will be charged the additional 15% gratuity for booking onboard? I am keen to avoid the extra charge! ;)

Thanks, Ken.

[Beamafar]

No, Ken - the prebooked package doesn't incur the 15% charge. I always prebook our drinks packages.

 

This is the one advantage I love about the Ireland website - because we can't book cruises online, MSC hasn't set up a facility for us to prepay anything either. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned as I don't have to give them the money upfront and I get 4-6 weeks after the cruise to settle the credit card bill so lot's more time to make up the spending money on the trip! :D

[sidari]

Bea ... With the current state that the UK website is in you would not be able to book anything anyway ... :mad:

 

And MSC say it will not be fixed anytime soon.

[Beamafar]

Bea ... With the current state that the UK website is in you would not be able to book anything anyway ... :mad:

 

And MSC say it will not be fixed anytime soon.

 

What we in Ireland never had, we can't miss - unlike you in UK :rolleyes:

 

I was on the US website yesterday, to access a particular page I sometimes refer to, especially for posting links here for the US posters ................... they've changed it so drastically that I couldn't find the page I was looking for and gave up! I could have found it with my eyes shut, previously.

[CruiseIreland]

Many thanks Bea! That's what l was hoping. Funny you mention the Ireland website because when l paid the final balance the young lady in the UK call centre said l would have to pay when I booked it. I demurred as l wanted to utilise obc from the €10 voucher. Vive la difference! :D

[Beamafar]

Many thanks Bea! That's what l was hoping. Funny you mention the Ireland website because when l paid the final balance the young lady in the UK call centre said l would have to pay when I booked it. I demurred as l wanted to utilise obc from the €10 voucher. Vive la difference! :D

 

Yeah .............. there are times on the phone with them when I have to point out that I'm calling from Ireland and that MSC treats us differently to our UK neighbours! :evilsmile:

 

Great to hear you had a €10 voucher to use. I was onboard the month before they stopped selling them and, for some reason, didn't get to buy one at the time. I had a cruise booked for a few months later and thought, to heck, I'll get one then! :eek: However, I did have one at the time I booked this latest cruise on Meraviglia so I'm getting €400 OBC for it. :cool:

[CruiseIreland]

Great to hear you had a €10 voucher to use.

 

To be fair to MSC, the voucher was well out of the 18 months deadline(they wouldn't entertain it for Divina cruise as it was a sale price) but they agreed to honour it on this coming cruise! It will pay some of the drinks package!;)

[Beamafar]

To be fair to MSC, the voucher was well out of the 18 months deadline(they wouldn't entertain it for Divina cruise as it was a sale price) but they agreed to honour it on this coming cruise! It will pay some of the drinks package!;)

 

That was decent of them! It's nice to see a bit of flexibility applied.

 

The 30% discount vouchers I got in the casino had a 9 month deadline date for sailing, but on the 2 occasions I've booked using them, they allowed me to push the date out - only by a couple of weeks, but that was the date we were interested in, anyway.

[riclop]

Hi all. Hoping some of the seasoned MSC cruisers on here can help. I have added two drinks packages to my booking for next month on MSC Splendida. The booking shows the price at €182 pp and payment will be taken at embarkation(or added to shipboard account). Does this mean I will be charged the additional 15% gratuity for booking onboard? I am keen to avoid the extra charge! ;)

Thanks, Ken.

I usually pay them when i order them pre cruise, they ask for payment.

[Skier52]

Hi all. Hoping some of the seasoned MSC cruisers on here can help. I have added two drinks packages to my booking for next month on MSC Splendida. The booking shows the price at €182 pp and payment will be taken at embarkation(or added to shipboard account). Does this mean I will be charged the additional 15% gratuity for booking onboard? I am keen to avoid the extra charge! ;)

Thanks, Ken.

On the UK site you can only prepay .

prebooking is no longer available

 

 

Pete

[Beamafar]

I usually pay them when i order them pre cruise, they ask for payment.

 

Not if arranging onboard extras on the Ireland website - there is no facility for taking payment. We can only pre-book online.