MSC refund policy coronavirus

[Micheb5]

5 hours ago, Rob-Bob said:

I am booked on a cruise leaving 3/22/20 and I have not heard one thing from MSC.

We are on Meraviglia Mar 15. I have received no communication other than upgrade offers to date.

[BoundForSea]

Listen MSC, here's how this works...

 

If you are trying to pull a quick money grab, by keeping all the revenue in the bank now and on the bottom line now, despite the cancellations that are coming and have occurred, YOU WILL LOSE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF REPEAT CUSTOMERS, and ANOTHER set of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of WORD OF MOUTH CUSTOMERS FROM THOSE REPEAT CUSTOMER'S NIGHTMARE STORIES OF LOSING THOUSANDS FOR THEIR CRUISE. The downline I'm pact to your bottom line will be crippling, if not unrecoverable.

 

Listen gang, here's the deal. Their accounting department on a good day is overwhelmed and dreadfully slow.  If rebooking and refunds to credit is going to happen on a large scale, and it depends on the accounting folks manually accomplishing these, we will be waiting MONTHS for these to occur, if at all or done correctly.  They once "lost" my 3000$ final payment and it took them two weeks to "find it" in their accounting system and correctly apply it.  I speak from first hand experience.

[rwm01]

1 hour ago, aprilF said:

MSC's site is bad with the updates.  As you click around to different parts pf the site the updated link changes, often to a very outdated link.  This, along with the pulling of the offer and the silence from them since gives me very little hope about MSC.  The update is linked in the Thinking of Canceling thread if you want to read it.  I didnt see any meaningful changes beyond MSC patting themselves on the back for not allowing people from certain countries on there ship for the past month.

 

As for me I am pretty sure I am outright canceling.  I have a few days to decide still before I move from losing my deposit to losing 50%.   I doubt I would trust MSC since they have seemingly renegotiated their stance at least once from allowing rebookings to not.  The only thing MSC has to gain from me by reinstating the rebooking offer and actually sticking to it is if I would consider sailing them for a big vacation again.  I like them enough that Id take a cheap, short notice cruise in the future but right now I am not feeling booking any sort of pricier trip with them.

Still waiting to see how my TA does with fight with MSC. 

 

When they rescinded my re-booking - that they had previously approved 2 days prior and then changed their mind - their stated reasoning was "it was not a Med cruise".

 

(I am on transatlantic repositioning with port calls in Portugal, Spain, France and disembarking in Genoa, Italy) departing 3/20 out of Miami. 

 

Guess they need a refresher on what countries included in the Med? (wink) ...

 

I will let you all know if I hear anything more definitive.

[BermudaBound2014]

My group of 8 is fine with a FCC good through dec 2021. We will let msc hold our money. Win win imo

 

i know everyone wouldn’t be happy with that arrangement, just speaking for us.

 

[CruisingMom77]

59 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

My group of 8 is fine with a FCC good through dec 2021. We will let msc hold our money. Win win imo

 

i know everyone wouldn’t be happy with that arrangement, just speaking for us.

 

Are they offering this option? Canadian government just announced they are advising Canadians to stay away from cruising. 😞 Very sad times that should be filled with excitement instead. 

[BermudaBound2014]

15 minutes ago, CruisingMom77 said:

Are they offering this option? Canadian government just announced they are advising Canadians to stay away from cruising. 😞 Very sad times that should be filled with excitement instead. 

no- that’s what I keep saying :). That is why I am posting all the other policies. The only consumer friendly policy msc put out they retracted. 
 

I posted a link to an article from Reuter’s suggesting the USA will be making the same recommendation. Tomorrow mornings meeting between VP Pence and the cruise executives should tell a lot. 
 

I do suspect MSc will be offering something along the lines of a   soon. 

Edited March 7, 2020 by BermudaBound2014

[Fly2where]

MSC has updated their website to include Italy today (see below.)

I don't know how it works, my embarkation is from Genoa, Italy. Now, they won't allow Italy visit including transit in the past 14 days. Shouldn't this became invalid port? 

 

 

We are denying boarding to anyone from high-risk areas:
 

• Anyone who has traveled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea and Italy (or transited via airports) in the past 14 days, or visited, will be denied access to the ship. The same rules apply to such passengers’ travel companions (parent, spouse, child, siblings, or a companion who shares a stateroom) PLEASE NOTE: Travelers choosing to travel with their Italian passport but residing elsewhere must show official proof of residency. Residency must not be in one of the above countries. Travel history must also show that travelers did not come through one of those territories during the past 14 days;

• For guests embarking on MSC Bellissima and MSC Lirica from Dubai only. On top of the restrictions above we are denying boarding also to anyone who lives in, or has travelled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy. This restriction does not apply if guests have only transited in sterile areas of relevant mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy airports as coming from other non affected areas;

• Anyone who, within 14 days before embarkation, has had close contact with, or helped care for, anyone suspected or diagnosed as having coronavirus, or who is currently subject to health monitoring for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, will be denied boarding. 

 

 

[Fly2where]

3 hours ago, rwm01 said:

Still waiting to see how my TA does with fight with MSC. 

 

When they rescinded my re-booking - that they had previously approved 2 days prior and then changed their mind - their stated reasoning was "it was not a Med cruise".

 

(I am on transatlantic repositioning with port calls in Portugal, Spain, France and disembarking in Genoa, Italy) departing 3/20 out of Miami. 

 

Guess they need a refresher on what countries included in the Med? (wink) ...

 

I will let you all know if I hear anything more definitive.

 

Hi, 

 

Just fyi. I pull this from TA site. The rebook is only offered to Mediterranean cruises, so officially, it doesn't include grand voyage or other region. I spoke with MSC agent a week ago, the agent firmly told me USA sailings are excluded from this "rebook offer", but of course, your situation is little crazy since the grand voyage involves Mediterranean port, and I agree they should honor it.  

 

Given the extraordinary circumstances, all guests who are booked on Mediterranean cruises in March and April 2020 will have the possibility to postpone their cruise or change their cruise to one in a different region sailing within the next 12 months.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Fly2where

[2013cruiser2013]

26 minutes ago, Fly2where said:

MSC has updated their website to include Italy today (see below.)

I don't know how it works, my embarkation is from Genoa, Italy. Now, they won't allow Italy visit including transit in the past 14 days. Shouldn't this became invalid port? 

 

 

We are denying boarding to anyone from high-risk areas:
 

• Anyone who has traveled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea and Italy (or transited via airports) in the past 14 days, or visited, will be denied access to the ship. The same rules apply to such passengers’ travel companions (parent, spouse, child, siblings, or a companion who shares a stateroom) PLEASE NOTE: Travelers choosing to travel with their Italian passport but residing elsewhere must show official proof of residency. Residency must not be in one of the above countries. Travel history must also show that travelers did not come through one of those territories during the past 14 days;

• For guests embarking on MSC Bellissima and MSC Lirica from Dubai only. On top of the restrictions above we are denying boarding also to anyone who lives in, or has travelled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy. This restriction does not apply if guests have only transited in sterile areas of relevant mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy airports as coming from other non affected areas;

• Anyone who, within 14 days before embarkation, has had close contact with, or helped care for, anyone suspected or diagnosed as having coronavirus, or who is currently subject to health monitoring for possible exposure to novel coronavirus, will be denied boarding. 

 

 

Interesting that the same wording has not made its way to the Canadian MSC site. This seems to be problematic for Med. sailings. 

[GrannyGear]

Just returned home from a cruise on the Seaside. I certainly hope MSC starts allowing rebooking of future cruises like all the big boys. If you want to run with the big dogs MSC.....

[antiq]

Hi, 

We are scheduled to cruise on the Grandiosa on 5/2 from Marseille,  stopping at 3 Italian port.  The TA who contacted MSC on my behalf replied that it is scheduled to sail as planned.  Standard cancellation policy will apply, if I cancel now we will lose 50% and 75% penalty from March 18th onwards.

If they are not allowing Italians to board, it does not make sense that MSC are still stopping at Italian ports.  We are coming from Australia and currently Italy is on Level 2 alert - Exercise High degree of caution and I might have to comply with 14 self quarantine upon returning to Australia due to my line of work .  I have send an another email requesting a possibility of rescheduling without cost or free cancellation.  Hopefully there is some good news.

[teddyd33]

3 hours ago, antiq said:

Hi, 

We are scheduled to cruise on the Grandiosa on 5/2 from Marseille,  stopping at 3 Italian port.  The TA who contacted MSC on my behalf replied that it is scheduled to sail as planned.  Standard cancellation policy will apply, if I cancel now we will lose 50% and 75% penalty from March 18th onwards.

If they are not allowing Italians to board, it does not make sense that MSC are still stopping at Italian ports.  We are coming from Australia and currently Italy is on Level 2 alert - Exercise High degree of caution and I might have to comply with 14 self quarantine upon returning to Australia due to my line of work .  I have send an another email requesting a possibility of rescheduling without cost or free cancellation.  Hopefully there is some good news.

 

This happened to me - but I was sailing from Genoa in Northern Italy on the 29th Feb when the outbreak occurred, and when I asked them, they insisted that the ship is going no where near the infected regions - which we know is a lie given how close Genoa is, and how we would be transiting through Milan to get to Genoa!

 

MSC said I would lose all my money if I were to cancel it, as it was only 4 days before sailing...sadly we lost out on the full cruise fare. This was supposed to be our first MSC cruise, and I won't even sail with them again now due to how they treated us!

[zitangie]

5 hours ago, GrannyGear said:

Just returned home from a cruise on the Seaside. I certainly hope MSC starts allowing rebooking of future cruises like all the big boys. If you want to run with the big dogs MSC.....

Was everything fine? Any problems onboard or in the ports?

I have a cruise booked for 27th march on Seaside on Caribbean islands, and I'm still thinking wheter I should cancell.
Thanks

[BoundForSea]

40 minutes ago, teddyd33 said:

 

This happened to me - but I was sailing from Genoa in Northern Italy on the 29th Feb when the outbreak occurred, and when I asked them, they insisted that the ship is going no where near the infected regions - which we know is a lie given how close Genoa is, and how we would be transiting through Milan to get to Genoa!

 

MSC said I would lose all my money if I were to cancel it, as it was only 4 days before sailing...sadly we lost out on the full cruise fare. This was supposed to be our first MSC cruise, and I won't even sail with them again now due to how they treated us!

 

Read my previous Post. 

 

And it begins MSC. You are going to destroy your business if you allow this to continue and go down this road. 

[sidari]

9 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

My group of 8 is fine with a FCC good through dec 2021. We will let msc hold our money. Win win imo

 

i know everyone wouldn’t be happy with that arrangement, just speaking for us.

 

BB ... The FCC usually includes a rider that the cruise booked must be of the same price or higher! 

[GrannyGear]

2 hours ago, zitangie said:

Was everything fine? Any problems onboard or in the ports?

I have a cruise booked for 27th march on Seaside on Caribbean islands, and I'm still thinking wheter I should cancell.
Thanks

We really enjoyed the cruise. No problems with the ports on our cruise. We almost didn't get into Ocean Cay due to high winds, but we did get in 3 hrs late. Ocean Cay was our favorite port by far. 

 

Travelling back to Canada, the airports feel like Armageddon. Flight staff in respirators/masks, stress, stress, stress. There was a medical emergency on one of our flights ( not virus related ).

 

All that being said, we have another MSC cruise booked soon and I really think they should allow cancellation with refunds.  Previous to our Seaside cruise they did not allow cancellation with refund because the virus was not in the US. Well, it is now.

 

In your case on the 27th, I think you would have to take your age / general health / sunk cost and travel logistics into consideration. There really isn't one right answer for everybody.

 

Oh, if you do cancel on your own , does MSC refund prepaid port fees? 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by GrannyGear

[travelberlin]

11 minutes ago, GrannyGear said:

We really enjoyed the cruise. No problems with the ports on our cruise. We almost didn't get into Ocean Cay due to high winds, but we did get in 3 hrs late. Ocean Cay was our favorite port by far. 

 

Travelling back to Canada, the airports feel like Armageddon. Flight staff in respirators/masks, stress, stress, stress. There was a medical emergency on one of our flights ( not virus related ).

 

All that being said, we have another MSC cruise booked soon and I really think they should allow cancellation with refunds.  Previous to our Seaside cruise they did not allow cancellation with refund because the virus was not in the US. Well, it is now.

 

In your case on the 27th, I think you would have to take your age / general health / sunk cost and travel logistics into consideration. There really isn't one right answer for everybody.

 

Oh, if you do cancel on your own , does MSC refund prepaid port fees? 

 

 

Actually they do have to give back ports fees. There is no reason why MSC should keep them since the passenger is not going to those ports anymore.

[aprilF]

11 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

no- that’s what I keep saying :). That is why I am posting all the other policies. The only consumer friendly policy msc put out they retracted. 
 

I posted a link to an article from Reuter’s suggesting the USA will be making the same recommendation. Tomorrow mornings meeting between VP Pence and the cruise executives should tell a lot. 
 

I do suspect MSc will be offering something along the lines of a   soon. 

The insane thing is that MSC did offer to do rebookings well before most (all?) other lines.  They could have been seen as an industry leader.  Now, even if they do reinstate rebookings they will have lost so much credit with so many people.  We will remember that the retracted, not that they finally did the right thing (assuming they do).  Those that are considering rebooking should probably think hard about if MSC will even be in a position to offer cruises a year from now.

[dexddd]

21 hours ago, Rob-Bob said:

I am booked on a cruise leaving 3/22/20 and I have not heard one thing from MSC.

Us too.

[mamaneedsavacay]

Just seen elsewhere: 

• I apologize if this is off the general topic, but I just spoke with MSC and was told they will be announcing a new cancellation policy on Monday, March 9th, so stay tuned. I am booked on the Meraviglia, April 12th, so this new info should be of interest to any near future Meraviglia cruiser.

Not my post, so I have no further info. 

[BermudaBound2014]

 

3 hours ago, aprilF said:

The insane thing is that MSC did offer to do rebookings well before most (all?) other lines.  

 

@aprilF I don't believe MSC has ever offered rebookings on their Caribbean sailings. Unless I am mistaken, they only offered it briefly for Med sailings and then retracted the offer.

 

@sidari we are aware that FCC typically comes with strings and are fine with that. 

 

As of this morning, all the major cruise lines are offering cancellation with no penalty (RCL, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival, Princess, and a slew of luxury lines). Most are offering FCC. Some lines are more generous than others in the terms. RCL will let you cancel today for all sailings through July. NCL is extremely generous allowing rebooking through Dec 31, 2022. Most are also offering additional OBC for people who choose to keep their reservations.

 

From MSC: Crickets, but like I keep saying, give them time. They may not be a publicly traded company answering to shareholders, but they aren't total idiots either.

 

PS: No official word from the meeting between VP Pence, Senator Scott and Rubio and Gov DeSantis and various cruise line executives, but I suspect results of that meeting may drive decision making.

 

Also note, two cases of NCoV have been found in Boward county. 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article240958896.html

Edited March 7, 2020 by BermudaBound2014

[sidari]

A link to the info on the post above by Mama.

 

https://cruisewaves.co.uk/2020/03/07/msc-cruise-guests-left-in-limbo-as-other-operators-announce-coronavirus-cancellation-policies/

Edited March 7, 2020 by sidari

[rwm01]

21 minutes ago, sidari said:

A link to the info on the post above by Mama.

 

https://cruisewaves.co.uk/2020/03/07/msc-cruise-guests-left-in-limbo-as-other-operators-announce-coronavirus-cancellation-policies/

Sid - thanks!  Fingers crossed that MSC does right thing for all.

[GrannyGear]

I am thinking they have something in mind but are waiting for the white house / cruise line meeting results.

[zitangie]

5 hours ago, GrannyGear said:

We really enjoyed the cruise. No problems with the ports on our cruise. We almost didn't get into Ocean Cay due to high winds, but we did get in 3 hrs late. Ocean Cay was our favorite port by far. 

 

Travelling back to Canada, the airports feel like Armageddon. Flight staff in respirators/masks, stress, stress, stress. There was a medical emergency on one of our flights ( not virus related ).

 

All that being said, we have another MSC cruise booked soon and I really think they should allow cancellation with refunds.  Previous to our Seaside cruise they did not allow cancellation with refund because the virus was not in the US. Well, it is now.

 

In your case on the 27th, I think you would have to take your age / general health / sunk cost and travel logistics into consideration. There really isn't one right answer for everybody.

 

Oh, if you do cancel on your own , does MSC refund prepaid port fees? 

 

 

We are healthy, 30 years old but our son is 3. Can't imagine being quarantined in a cruise cabin with a child 😞
It would be our first cruise, we were flying from Europe, planning to stay 4 more days on Miami after the cruise and then return home. It was our original plan. Let's see how the situation evolves.
Holidays should be to relax and forget everyday problems, not to be stressed and with fear of being locked in an hotel/cruise/airport 😞 
If I cancel today I get back 75% of the cruise value (I would loose the money paid for the flights and hotel in miami), after today I would only get back 50% until 1 week before - 25%.

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by zitangie