Getting excited!

[1fifthavenue]

Counting down the days now until we board Meraviglia from Naples on the 13th.

 

One slight problem - the e-ticket only has my voyagers club as black card, not Andy's. I've asked my TA and MSC to correct this, but do you think taking a screen print of Andy's status will help - paticularly with some of the benefits like complimentary meal etc?

 

Tim

[Beamafar]

Tim, I'd get Andy's tickets re-issued. Otherwise the ship won't have his status on their system. I do this every time the status is omitted as we had problems with priority boarding once before and had to wait 'til the Cruise Consultant's desk opened that evening before being able to have our Black cards issued.

 

Bytheway, I know exactly how you're feeling right now. I couldn't wait to get onboard Meraviglia and see it for myself, even though there were a number of videos even back then. She's very different to any other MSC ship. Hope you and Andy have a fantastic time!

[1fifthavenue]

Thanks Bea! I'm at home today as had a cold and want to be better (we actually go next Friday as we are staying in Naples for a few days) so have spent the afternoon watching Jane McDonald again - there are a few familiar faces in the crew we've spotted

[Jorrie]

Counting down the days now until we board Meraviglia from Naples on the 13th.

 

 

 

One slight problem - the e-ticket only has my voyagers club as black card, not Andy's. I've asked my TA and MSC to correct this, but do you think taking a screen print of Andy's status will help - paticularly with some of the benefits like complimentary meal etc?

 

 

 

Tim

 

 

 

Take the screen shot - as a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

We have just returned from a 7 day Med cruise on Splendida with the family (eleven of us) and we had the same problem before setting off. We had lots of issues with the MSC website before we departed but when we received our cards in our cabins they were all correct.

 

Enjoy your cruise. We certainly did.

[1fifthavenue]

Thanks Jorrie, I've emailed them again to ask for them to re-issue but will take the screen shots, just in case :)

[riclop]

Enjoy it.

[canny_cruiser]

Personally, I find the Black level privileges pretty dire since the changes in 2015 and the introduction of the Status Match scheme, which has diluted the worth of the entire MSC loyalty programme. The staff used to notice if you handed them a Gold or a Black cruise card.

 

Take the Black cocktail party. Previously, there would be maybe 15 to 25 guests there. As a solo passenger, I would be assigned a hostess as a companion for the duration of the party and have the opportunity to speak with a variety of officers from various departments of the ship.

 

Since the Status Match, I've found the Black parties are attended by what seems like "Adam & his brother" and any officers who do pitch up chat amongst themselves in preference to circulating amongst the guests.

 

And don't even get me started about the loss of a genuine 20% discount on all bookings! LOL.

Edited November 2, 2017 by canny_cruiser

[Beamafar]

Personally, I find the Black level privileges pretty worthless since the changes in 2015 and the introduction of the Status Match scheme, which has diluted the value of the entire MSC loyalty programme. The staff used to notice if you handed them a Gold or a Black cruise card.

 

CC ........... just to clarify: cruisecards indicated the clubcard level 'til Voyagers' Club came into existence; colour-coded cruisecards were issued from then on, so the cards weren't "Gold or Black".

 

I must say that the crew mention our Black card status a lot and tell us that they're trained to view us as "VIPs" or "special" because "it means you have spent a lot of money with MSC to have this level". It's then that I ask them if they're aware of the status match. Most of them aren't! (Maybe on Divina they are - I get the impression that Status Match applicants are more prevalent in that part of the world).

 

I totally agree with what you're saying re the watering down of benefits. I think that priority boarding and the complimentary dining have great value, though not really enough reward for attaining the highest level in the "Loyalty" scheme.

 

I also agree re the Black Card party - it's often a waste of time. However, we've been to 3 very enjoyable and worthwhile sessions. It comes down to the crew onboard and, perhaps, the Captain. On Magnifica last year, the Captain AND the Hotel Director attended and came around to each table to speak to people. I'm pretty sure it was Captain Scala (who's beloved on Divina, from all the reports on here).

[canny_cruiser]

CC ........... just to clarify: cruisecards indicated the clubcard level 'til Voyagers' Club came into existence; colour-coded cruisecards were issued from then on, so the cards weren't "Gold or Black".

 

Bea, since my first cruise with them in 2006, ALL my cruise cards have shown my level - initially a blue MSC band along the top, then silver, gold and finally black!

[Beamafar]

I've just looked back thru' my cruisecards and the pre-Voyagers Club ones all have the blue band across the top - even when I was at Black. They did show the membership level on the bottom left-hand side of the card (as they still do). "MSC" was printed across the top (MSC YACHT CLUB with the logo when in a YC cabin). Now, "MSC Voyagers Club" with the MSC logo is written on top. Interestingly, while YC is not there, both the logo and the "MSC" lettering are smaller on YC cruisecards.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

Deleted - trying to post photos from my phone!

[Beamafar]

Here's a shot of a pre-Voyagers Club cruisecard with a blue band on the top, showing Gold level:

 

 

Now, Here's one, post-VC:

 

 

........ and here's a YC one with the smaller logo and MSC lettering:

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Forums mobile app

[Beamafar]

Contrast the following post-VC introduction Gold cruisecard with the pre-Voyagers Club cruisecard in the above post:

 

 

The Gold band is across the top (the back is a totally gold colour), unlike the pre-VC Gold member's card.

 

(This should have been the second photo in the previous post!)

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Forums mobile app

[1fifthavenue]

Just as an aside note, MSC have re-issued everything with the correct details on :)

Much more helpful than my agent - the lady I booked with is on maternity so been handed to someone else

[Beamafar]

Delighted to hear it, Tim.

 

Sorry your thread got a bit de-railed, there.

 

Hope you're over the worst of your cold and you can focus on packing planning, etc.

[1fifthavenue]

Delighted to hear it, Tim.

 

Sorry your thread got a bit de-railed, there.

 

Hope you're over the worst of your cold and you can focus on packing planning, etc.

 

Hehe no worries Bea, I've noticed I can be quite bad at going off topic myself haha!!

My cold's gone but Andy has got it now althouh he's getting over it; I'm dreading starting the packing as everything has just been dumped on the spare bed for weeks!

[Beamafar]

I'm dreading starting the packing as everything has just been dumped on the spare bed for weeks!

 

Oh, boy, am I familiar with that scene! I have sooo much stuff for our cruises, it's not funny. Added to that, I end up buying more for an upcoming cruise 'cos "that top would go well with the (insert colour here) pants". This leads to me having umpteen tops to go with each pair of pants. The dilemma arises then: which tops to bring/leave behind. So, the new stuff, as well as the hardly-used stuff, gets put on the bed in advance of packing.

Then I need new shoes 'cos none of the (heaven knows how many) ones I have are the right colour/type to wear with the new top. So the floor gets littered with all sorts of shoes, sandals, runners - wedges, high heels, low heels in various colours (you get the picture).

I'm afraid to count the number of dresses I have. (Shoes become an issue here, too). Let's just say, if I were to do the Magnifica World Cruise and luggage weren't an issue, I reckon I'd have a dress for most nights! :eek:

Don't start me on jewellery and what goes with which outfit, LOL.

 

I love packing DH's case 'cos I just put X number of t-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts, pants & jeans, jacket & dinner suit into the bag - simples!

 

I think a lot of females on the forum will relate ;p

[1fifthavenue]

hahaha oh dear - It's pretty much the same for us, we're between sizes at the moment so had to buy a lot of new stuff, it looks like a war zone with shopping bags everywhere! I'm "working" from home so I might start sorting through it

[Jorrie]

hahaha oh dear - It's pretty much the same for us, we're between sizes at the moment so had to buy a lot of new stuff, it looks like a war zone with shopping bags everywhere! I'm "working" from home so I might start sorting through it

 

 

 

Glad to read you got your issues sorted. Enjoy.

[CruisingFox27]

The trick ladies is to pick a colour scheme of 3/4 colours and match shoes, bags and jewellery to those 3/4 colours. Ditto day wear. I learnt this after one quite hefty excess baggage charge when I'd just packed everything!

[Skier52]

Contrast the following post-VC introduction Gold cruisecard with the pre-Voyagers Club cruisecard in the above post:

 

 

The Gold band is across the top (the back is a totally gold colour), unlike the pre-VC Gold member's card.

 

(This should have been the second photo in the previous post!)

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Forums mobile app

Here is the complete range of current cards

the Classic Card is very similar in colour to the Black card

 

 

 

 

 

The original Black Card ( sent to your home in a presentation box) looked like this

 

 

 

 

Pete

[Beamafar]

Hi Tim. Hope Andy has recovered from his cold and that you're both in flying form for your trip on Friday. Enjoy your time in Naples - hope the weather is kind. Have a whale of a time onboard Meraviglia next week! :*

[1fifthavenue]

Thanks Bea! Colds are much better, Andy's leg is well and truly on the mend too so really looking forward to it. Just about packed too - few bits left to sort but not a great deal. I think I'm going to take a leaf out of your book re Magnifica 'blog' and just write a few bullet points about each day, take snaps of menus etc - as it's fairly port intensive I don't envisage spending too much time on the laptop writing a live review :)