MSC refund policy coronavirus

[nunuc2000]

So it appears that the "no refunds" option is only being applied to Canadians, but Americans can get a full refund. That's just pure BS!  Again... NOT ACCEPTABLE... and definitely NOT the way to treat an entire country of potential clients.  Just wow!!  Definitely not something I'll be settling with... and once I do get my full refund, and I WILL, I will definitely NOT be using my Canadian money to cruise with MSC.  Unbelievable!! 

[yorkshirephil]

We cancelled our March 20th Cruise when the itinerary changed several weeks ago, we opted for the refund from Ahoy cruises, both the TA and MSC have been less than helpful, which I will bear in mind when booking future cruises. I would actually be happy to take a future cruise credit as that is better than money in the bank in my mind. It is the lies and deceit that aggravates me, however getting through this virus is more important at the moment.

[sidari]

Holiday companies are still trying to get the UK Government to change the law on refunds!

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8169457/Families-wait-FOUR-MONTHS-refund-cancelled-package-tours.html

[sidari]

2 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

We cancelled our March 20th Cruise when the itinerary changed several weeks ago, we opted for the refund from Ahoy cruises, both the TA and MSC have been less than helpful, which I will bear in mind when booking future cruises. I would actually be happy to take a future cruise credit as that is better than money in the bank in my mind. It is the lies and deceit that aggravates me, however getting through this virus is more important at the moment.

A FCC is all well and good as long as a company continues trading! they go bust and so does your FCC.

[alpha whiskey]

9 hours ago, sidari said:

A FCC is all well and good as long as a company continues trading! they go bust and so does your FCC.

The UK site is also stating you must sail in the same region as original booking. i.e Mediterranean for a Mediterranean etc.

Have I got that right? In which case it would give me a choice of 1 sailing in September.

 

[sidari]

That only applies to the Flexible cruise programme, MSC have now cancelled our cruise so the FCC is 125% and according to the new info can book any region.

[alpha whiskey]

8 minutes ago, sidari said:

That only applies to the Flexible cruise programme, MSC have now cancelled our cruise so the FCC is 125% and according to the new info can book any region.

 

Thanks. Slightly better. Still wondering how anyone could contemplate booking a future cruise without the assurance that Coronavirus will be covered on travel policies.

[Pennbank]

22 hours ago, alpha whiskey said:

 

Thanks. Slightly better. Still wondering how anyone could contemplate booking a future cruise without the assurance that Coronavirus will be covered on travel policies.

 

Some policies on a renew yearly basis are covering as long as not going against Foreign Office Advice,.

[onetimearoundtheworld]

They send cancelation email on the 18th of march, so 14 days ago now. By their own T&C and customer law here in Germany they have to refund during that timeframe. Got the refusal response after first email that I want a full refund and not a credit and no response after my second email pointing out their obligation.

No money on my account yet so I will put together the CC chargeback this weekend. 

[chrisgalwv]

For all waiting for MSC refunds..... I was on the first cruise affected by COVID-19, the Meraviglia that sailed from MIami on 2/23/2020. The original 'coronacruise" that was all over the news for being turned away from all ports except Cozumel where we sat and waited 16 hours for clearance.

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REFUND. It's been a month and a week and still nothing. I have called 3 times and emailed more times than I can count, and get nothing but the runaround every time. I'm reading on here of people who have already been refunded for cruises they never even got to go on, yet here I am, one of the first and most affected and have gotten Z E R O money back or any help at all. Seriously considering getting legal representation at this point. 

Our first MSC cruise on the Divina was awful, and we swore we'd never go again. Cold food, terrible service, a rude room steward who never spoke to us, a much less took time to learn our names, a store employee who referred to us as cheap Americans. When MSC practically begged us for a second chance, we caved and booked this cruise, and this is the thanks we get. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER WILL I STEP FOOT ON AN MSC SHIP AGAIN. E V E R.

Anyone else onboard having the same issue with these refunds? I'm looking for others who may want to join the fight. This is ridiculous.

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, chrisgalwv said:

For all waiting for MSC refunds..... I was on the first cruise affected by COVID-19, the Meraviglia that sailed from MIami on 2/23/2020. The original 'coronacruise" that was all over the news for being turned away from all ports except Cozumel where we sat and waited 16 hours for clearance.

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REFUND. It's been a month and a week and still nothing. I have called 3 times and emailed more times than I can count, and get nothing but the runaround every time. I'm reading on here of people who have already been refunded for cruises they never even got to go on, yet here I am, one of the first and most affected and have gotten Z E R O money back or any help at all. Seriously considering getting legal representation at this point. 

Our first MSC cruise on the Divina was awful, and we swore we'd never go again. Cold food, terrible service, a rude room steward who never spoke to us, a much less took time to learn our names, a store employee who referred to us as cheap Americans. When MSC practically begged us for a second chance, we caved and booked this cruise, and this is the thanks we get. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER WILL I STEP FOOT ON AN MSC SHIP AGAIN. E V E R.

Anyone else onboard having the same issue with these refunds? I'm looking for others who may want to join the fight. This is ridiculous.

I'm sorry you haven't seen your refund yet. I can't tell from your post, but what specifically did MSC say in regards to how long your refund would take? I felt so bad for you guys on the Meraviglia when I saw this on the news about being denied port entry (unfairly, based on what I read-seems it was more fear-based than fact). My wife and I sailed that ship last December and loved it. I hope you get your money soon!

[sfaaa]

Current refund time for mass market cruise lines are 60-90 days. Not trying to make excuses for MSC but that's the situation everyone is facing right now.

[psmarkle]

Yes, we were e-mailed that it would be 60 days and we filed on March 14th. Holding our breath and waiting for our refund....

[mattcruise615]

On 4/1/2020 at 11:23 PM, onetimearoundtheworld said:

They send cancelation email on the 18th of march, so 14 days ago now. By their own T&C and customer law here in Germany they have to refund during that timeframe. Got the refusal response after first email that I want a full refund and not a credit and no response after my second email pointing out their obligation.

No money on my account yet so I will put together the CC chargeback this weekend. 

Hi Onetimearoundtheworld, 

 

Thanks very much for your post. We also booked through the German MSC office and are in a similar situation.

 

Our cruise was the 16-night Grand Voyage from Santos, Brazil to Barcelona, Spain, scheduled to depart on March 19, 2020. We flew to Brazil on March 14 and waited in Santos to board the cruise, which was currently at sea on a short 3-day Brazilian cruise.

The German MSC office emailed us late in the afternoon on March 16 that the Grand Voyage was cancelled. We took the 2-hour bus ride back from Santos to Sao Paulo, and then got stuck in Brazil for about about a week before we were able to purchase a flight back to Germany. MSC did not offer to help us in any way with travel plans or figuring out a way to return to Germany.

 

The cancellation email that we received on March 16 said that we would get a Future Cruise Credit valid until end of 2021 plus an on-board credit of 200 Euro. There was no mention of anything related to a refund in the cancellation email. Nor does it say anything about refunds on the German MSC website (msccruises.de).

We responded by email to MSC to request a refund as soon as we received the cancellation email. We still haven't received any response. I've also sent several follow-up emails requesting a refund over the past 3 weeks, but we've received no responses to any of these emails either.

I've also called the German MSC office multiple times, but every time I call, they tell me that they can't do anything and that if I'm dissatisfied, I should write their "Kundenbetreuung" email address to complain or request a refund. 

 

We would greatly appreciate it if you might be willing to share with us the text of the email that you sent to MSC after 14 days about the T&C and customer law in Germany, and the fact that they are required to refund during that timeframe. We would like to email them a similar message because they cancelled on March 16 and it's now been more than 3 weeks since they notified us of the cancellation. Feel free to send me a private message if you feel comfortable with that! Again, many thanks for your post.

 

Best regards and stay healthy,

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by mattcruise615

[mattcruise615]

15 hours ago, chrisgalwv said:

For all waiting for MSC refunds..... I was on the first cruise affected by COVID-19, the Meraviglia that sailed from MIami on 2/23/2020. The original 'coronacruise" that was all over the news for being turned away from all ports except Cozumel where we sat and waited 16 hours for clearance.

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REFUND. It's been a month and a week and still nothing. I have called 3 times and emailed more times than I can count, and get nothing but the runaround every time. I'm reading on here of people who have already been refunded for cruises they never even got to go on, yet here I am, one of the first and most affected and have gotten Z E R O money back or any help at all. Seriously considering getting legal representation at this point. 

Our first MSC cruise on the Divina was awful, and we swore we'd never go again. Cold food, terrible service, a rude room steward who never spoke to us, a much less took time to learn our names, a store employee who referred to us as cheap Americans. When MSC practically begged us for a second chance, we caved and booked this cruise, and this is the thanks we get. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER WILL I STEP FOOT ON AN MSC SHIP AGAIN. E V E R.

Anyone else onboard having the same issue with these refunds? I'm looking for others who may want to join the fight. This is ridiculous.

Hi Chrisgalwv, 

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience over the last several weeks with MSC. We've also gotten no money back or help at all from MSC following our experience (see more details about our cruise in the post above). 

If you have not been refunded yet that does not bode well for the rest of us... please keep us updated on any news you receive from MSC. 

 

Best,

Matt

Edited April 4, 2020 by mattcruise615

[mattcruise615]

On 3/31/2020 at 1:25 AM, nunuc2000 said:

So it appears that the "no refunds" option is only being applied to Canadians, but Americans can get a full refund. That's just pure BS!  Again... NOT ACCEPTABLE... and definitely NOT the way to treat an entire country of potential clients.  Just wow!!  Definitely not something I'll be settling with... and once I do get my full refund, and I WILL, I will definitely NOT be using my Canadian money to cruise with MSC.  Unbelievable!! 

Hi nunuc2000, 

 

Thanks a lot for your post. It sounds like the American MSC office is the only MSC office worldwide that is offering any possibility of refunds at this point.

 

We booked through the German MSC office and have been offered a Future Cruise Credit plus 200 Euro on-board credit. No option for a refund was offered. MSC has not responded to any of my emails requesting refunds, and when I call them, they tell me to write an email to their "Kundenbetreuung" ("customer support") email address. 

Please see my post above for further details about what happened with our cruise. 

The cancellation email that we received said nothing about refunds, and the German MSC website does not say anything about refunds either.

 

I've read similar posts from cruisers who booked through the United Kingdom MSC office and they are experiencing the same problem. So it sounds like the Canada MSC office is doing the same thing. 

I agree that MSC's behavior is very disappointing. 

 

If we are forced to accept a Future Cruise Credit, we think that it should have no expiration date, or at least be valid until the end of 2022, because we think it will be difficult to people travel for well into the future. We also think that the FCC should definitely not have any geographic restrictions (why do they do that?). 

And of course a credit is only worth something if the company stays afloat, which is looking more and more difficult for the smaller, weaker cruise lines (I don't know if MSC is among those...). 

 

We are happy to join you in your quest if there's any way we can help!

 

Best regards,

Matt

[GatorMomInNC]

So sorry to hear of all these troubles!!! 

 

So my story - I am an American, booked through an American travel agency.   Almost a year ago, I paid in full for a June 2020 cruise out of Venice.  I cancelled on Monday March 2 (coming up on 5 weeks ago).  This was well within my time frame to cancel for a full refund.  I have not yet received a refund.   They told me it would be 1-2 months when I cancelled, but hearing all of these stories has made me nervous it will come at all.  My travel agent has checked for me and says that online it shows that my refund is processing.    Strangely, a few days earlier I cancelled all of my online shore excursions and was refunded IMMEDIATELY to my CC (I saw it post online).

 

This was the first time I have ever booked with MSC.

 

[mickey89]

4 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

This was the first time I have ever booked with MSC.

 

 
I trust it will be the last time as well.  MSC are not worthy of loyalty, and I highly recommend everyone AVOIDS them in the future

Edited April 4, 2020 by mickey89

[WonderMan3]

I put in for my refund a week or so back, whenever they extended the next round of cruise suspensions. It said up to 60 days to receive the refund. I will wait 60 days and if nothing has been refunded then I will dispute the charge with my credit card.

[dexddd]

We took FCC 15 days ago.  I clearly had thought prepaid items would have been back in a week or so, those are pretty clear cut.

 

[DerTobi75]

Same here, just called the German Hotline, which could see my E-Mail which we sent right after our Cruise was canceled and asked for a refund instead of a FCC.

 

They could not say anything and asked us to wait a little bit longer until they know how to handle people who refused their FCC offer. If any of you German like to contact me, feel free by sending a PM here. 

 

 

Did anyone get their prebooked activities refunded, like they said in their E-Mail?

[dexddd]

22 hours ago, DerTobi75 said:

Same here, just called the German Hotline, which could see my E-Mail which we sent right after our Cruise was canceled and asked for a refund instead of a FCC.

 

They could not say anything and asked us to wait a little bit longer until they know how to handle people who refused their FCC offer. If any of you German like to contact me, feel free by sending a PM here. 

 

 

Did anyone get their prebooked activities refunded, like they said in their E-Mail?

No.  I know NCL has been very slow on any refunds but here on MSC I don't think I've read of one refund of anything in all the posts.  Maybe I missed one though.

[Fly2where]

On 4/5/2020 at 11:20 AM, dexddd said:

We took FCC 15 days ago.  I clearly had thought prepaid items would have been back in a week or so, those are pretty clear cut.

 

Hi, I spoke with MSC agent, she advised me cancelled the prepaid item first before requesting for refund or FCC, which we did ourselves online, and we received the prepaid item refund within 24 hours (2 separate bookings). 

I guess they would only process your prepaid item along with your booking, which takes significantly longer. We requested FCC couple weeks back, only received system generated email confirm as such, nothing else. At that time, was told will get the credit 14 days prior to our sailing. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Fly2where

[phissy]

3 hours ago, Fly2where said:

Hi, I spoke with MSC agent, she advised me cancelled the prepaid item first before requesting for refund or FCC, which we did ourselves online, and we received the prepaid item refund within 24 hours (2 separate bookings). 

I guess they would only process your prepaid item along with your booking, which takes significantly longer. We requested FCC couple weeks back, only received system generated email confirm as such, nothing else. At that time, was told will get the credit 14 days prior to our sailing. 

Could you please tell me how you cancelled your prepaid item online??  I have gone into our booking and cannot see how to cancel our prepaid laundry package.  Thanks

[mattcruise615]

On 4/6/2020 at 2:35 PM, DerTobi75 said:

Same here, just called the German Hotline, which could see my E-Mail which we sent right after our Cruise was canceled and asked for a refund instead of a FCC.

 

They could not say anything and asked us to wait a little bit longer until they know how to handle people who refused their FCC offer. If any of you German like to contact me, feel free by sending a PM here. 

 

 

Did anyone get their prebooked activities refunded, like they said in their E-Mail?

Hi DerTobi75, 

 

I also booked through the German MSC office and my cruise was cancelled (Grand Voyage departing March 29) -- my story is in a post a bit further up in the thread. 

I'm trying to send you a message but the website says "This feature is disabled". 

Please message me if you can! 

 

Best wishes,

Matt