******MSC - UK CRUISERS ***

[devonuk]

Massive overnight price increase on MSC, was about to book but not now 😞

[SirJackDaniels]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:53 AM, devonuk said:

Massive overnight price increase on MSC, was about to book but not now 😞

Really? Today I've just cancelled an October 2021 cruise with Cruise1st and rebooked direct with MSC and saved £150.00 (£250 if you include the 50euro OBC) despite losing £275 on the cancellation (£200 deposit and £75 Cruise1st cancellation fee).

 

Take a look at the 5%+5% Voyagers Section of the MSC Website 😉

Edited November 11, 2020 by SirJackDaniels

[Huntingdon1701]

Mine also saw big falls last night. Managed to upgrade to Yacht Club for £100. 

 

I think we'll probably see quite big fluctuations downward over the next few months. 

[devonuk]

On 11/11/2020 at 3:18 PM, SirJackDaniels said:

Really? Today I've just cancelled an October 2021 cruise with Cruise1st and rebooked direct with MSC and saved £150.00 (£250 if you include the 50euro OBC) despite losing £275 on the cancellation (£200 deposit and £75 Cruise1st cancellation fee).

 

Take a look at the 5%+5% Voyagers Section of the MSC Website 😉

Yes really, why would I waste my time to say otherwise? This was for a Soton to Norway cruise in August ‘21 and the price is still higher than when I first looked to book. However, the following week on the same itinerary it did not increase so I’ve booked that trip instead 🙂

Edited November 16, 2020 by devonuk
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[devonuk]

Having just read an interesting Cruise Critic update on future cruise Covid related procedures and the expected reliance on mobile phone apps for cabin entry, daily planner reading, booking speciality restaurants etc I’m guessing that Cruiselines will have to stop charging for internet/media connection onboard?

[SirJackDaniels]

20 hours ago, devonuk said:

Yes really, why would I waste my time to say otherwise? This was for a Soton to Norway cruise in August ‘21 and the price is still higher than when I first looked to book. However, the following week on the same itinerary it did not increase so I’ve booked that trip instead 🙂

Did you book it on the 5%+5% Voyagers Selection? If not, ring MSC direct and ask them to apply that promotion - you'll not only get the discount but some nice OBC.

[devonuk]

11 hours ago, SirJackDaniels said:

Did you book it on the 5%+5% Voyagers Selection? If not, ring MSC direct and ask them to apply that promotion - you'll not only get the discount but some nice OBC.

I did get the 5 + 5 and my daughter got a nice NHS discount in addition 🙂

As the schools are off on the 21/8 and 28/8 I still can’t understand such a price differential? But who cares, I’m happy and no doubt MSC are happy to have sold 2 cabins. 
Ive got another 2 in April and May but I wonder whether that might be a little early? 

[oracer]

On 11/16/2020 at 1:19 AM, devonuk said:

Having just read an interesting Cruise Critic update on future cruise Covid related procedures and the expected reliance on mobile phone apps for cabin entry, daily planner reading, booking speciality restaurants etc I’m guessing that Cruiselines will have to stop charging for internet/media connection onboard?

They use the intranet within the ships broadband instead of the internet, so no need for you to have internet connect.   You will have an app on your phone for MSC and will get all of that info.

Edited November 18, 2020 by oracer

[devonuk]

1 hour ago, oracer said:

They use the intranet within the ships broadband instead of the internet, so no need for you to have internet connect.   You will have an app on your phone for MSC and will get all of that info.

Ah, thank you 👍

[glittergal1]

We are due on 2 cruises in February out of Miami , I very much doubt we will get to cruise especially as the UK cruise ban is still in place and Corona virus is not getting any better.

When asked as far as MSC are concerned nothing has changed and the cruises are sailing.

MSC has a horrible habit of leaving cancelations to the very last minute which is infuriating . Has anyone been given any information  from MSC on cruises out of the USA for UK cruisers?  Or any TAs given their views?

[Lovely Scouse]

We had booked (almost 2 years ago) to cruise from Rio to Southampton in transatlantic crossing 27th March 2021 on MSC Preziosa... our final balance is due 2nd December 2020. 
With the current worldwide covid pandemic and Brazil being affected as one of the worst hit we have been waiting to see if MSC have cancelled cruises from Rio. Cant find anything on MSC sites.... but today when trying to find where MSC Preziosa is now I see that it is currently crossing the Altantic heading to Napoli/Naples where it is due to arrive 12th December 2020. Phoned the travel agent today and they knew nothing about this. Seems to me, highly unlikely that this ship will do transatlantic back to Rio for early 2021 to then do transatlantic back again to Europe in March 2021. They are still asking we pay balance this week, otherwise we’ll lose our deposit.
Does anyone know or has seen any updates on MSC cancelling cruises from South America for 2021. I know USA have cancelled transatlantic

cruises to/from USA for 2021

[edsareg]

Hi , After reading all of the above posts, And its our own faults for booking with MSC, Great Ships, Worst CS on the high Seas. Like all of you we booked a Cruise Rio TO uk, March 27 2021. We paid our deposits and every thing was confirmed by email. Flying out on the 24 March, 3 days in Rio, Then join the ship.We made our booking on March  7th, On march 12th UK GOV said Any one over 70 should not Cruise , I am 73 my wife will be 70 when we sail. I contacted our TA  IGLU CRUISES, Explained what had been said about over 70s,  Not our Problem? . Our Balance was due  Dec 1st  i got back in touch asking if the date could be put back as the cruise is almost certain to be cancelled 99.9 . They put it back 7 days till the 12 Dec. I had asked for a refund due to the over 70s advice, Not our Problem?  All they do is quote T/C to you and if i cancel i will looe my deposit.
So lets look at look at the T/C. We where due to fly on Dec24 direct to Rio with BA, getting to our hotel 11pm on the 24.  BA changed the flights to the 25 March,  Under Iglu t/c  section 8 B ANY FLIGHT CHANGES OVER 12 HRS ARE CLASSED AS SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. which entitles you to a Full Refund of all your money.
Looking deeper in to Iglu T/C  IFIND under  Iglucruise.com/coronavirus-cruise and travel. 
BEFORE YOU CRUISE. over 70S
As a result of Gov Advice We have a Temp Highly Flexable Cancellation and transfer policy which entitles customers to cancel with a full refund or FCC. I had been telling Iglu this from the 12 March, Not our Problem?  Well it is there problem.
We also lost a day in Rio due to the flight change getting there on the 25  not the 24th.
Looking on the A.B.T.A. site  T/A will tell you that flight changes 12 hrs or less are not  classed as SIGNIFICANT CHANGES and you are not entitled to a refund,  Wrong,  ABTA  ruling , If due to flight changes even if LESS THAN 12 HRS , SHOULD STILL BE REGUARDED AS SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, if it results in the Loss of days in your resort, OR length of a Cruise.  As we had lost a day in Rio, plus being over 70, I have just had a full refund, Down side i will have to wait 120 days. I hope this helps sort out any problems our members have RE Refunds.
Reg.

[Lovely Scouse]

Has it officially been announced by MSC that South America sailings cancelled up to 31 March 2021? 

Seen this.... 

https://www.time24.news/2020/12/msc-cruises-cancels-trips-for-the-summer-season-2020-2021-in-brazil-23-12-2020.html

[dritan]

Hi all

 

Just had our end of May cruise cancelled by MSC.  The email notification stated:

Please find below an important update about your upcoming cruise with MSC Cruises departing from Venice on 5/30/2021. Following the UK government’s briefing on the nations’ roadmap to recovery, we are sorry to inform you that your cruise on MSC Poesia has been cancelled.

 

This decision comes as the government has stated international travel restrictions will not ease before May 17^th, but we continue to remain confident that our guests will enjoy and resume a summer of travel. A report is expected from the Global Travel Task force on 12^th April and we hope that this report will further support our optimistic outlook for Summer 2021 but in the meantime, we must ensure we study the new framework and to ensure our guests can have a seamless return to holidaying with MSC Cruises. 

 

Please note that if this is your base cruise you will receive a voucher for 125% of value of their cruise package, which can be redeemed on any future cruise at any point up until 30^th April 2022. Once you have received the voucher, should you wish to opt for a refund rather than the additional credit, please contact operationsuk@msccruises.co.uk  with a copy of your voucher to put forward this request. 

[dritan]

Although I was looking at shifting it anyway under the flexible booking option, I'm a little surprised as this cancellation seems to be linked to the UK govt roadmap.  With foreign travel allowed after 17th May( pending review) I'm not sure why they are cancelling for 30th May. Is this just for UK travellers or everyone?

 

Will need to take a look and see if there is anything tempting before April next year.  I already have a shorter trip booked for the Oct half term so besides August the only other option I have is Feb next year - due to school holidays ( I won't be cruising at Christmas)

[Hooked&Lovingit]

I'm trying to find views of UK MSC cruisers on the nationality demographics on MSC winter Mediterranean cruises. The reason I ask, is that DH & I took a Costa cruise from Barcelona in November a couple of years back. It was very nice and although we don't go in for British abroad type holidays, it would have been nice to have more people to converse with. We only met one other couple for whom English was their 1st language. Unfortunately my French, Spanish and Italian is limited. Therefore I was wondering as to if MSC was more mixed. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks

[rusky123]

Hi Hooked, although there is a good mix of nationalities you will probably find more English speakers on board than on Costa. X

[shipgeeks]

On 3/1/2021 at 6:36 AM, Hooked&Lovingit said:

I'm trying to find views of UK MSC cruisers on the nationality demographics on MSC winter Mediterranean cruises. The reason I ask, is that DH & I took a Costa cruise from Barcelona in November a couple of years back. It was very nice and although we don't go in for British abroad type holidays, it would have been nice to have more people to converse with. We only met one other couple for whom English was their 1st language. Unfortunately my French, Spanish and Italian is limited. Therefore I was wondering as to if MSC was more mixed. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks

I can't answer your question directly, but perhaps some of my thoughts will help a bit.

We sailed on MSC in the Caribbean.  We are American.  Americans were a small minority aboard, but Canadian and UK passengers added to the English-speaking population.

We have always preferred a set dining time, at a larger table.  We chose Bella for that reason.  The advantage was that we were seated with the same group of English-speaking passengers each night. If we had wanted to pursue meeting up with any of them elsewhere, we could have.  In other words, it was a starting point for making acquaintances.

In places like the buffet and elsewhere, we tried to be the first to say "good morning/thank you/etc.", to cue the other person in.  If no response, so be it.

We met MSC liaison people for English, Portugese, and French-speaking passengers.  Each of them had a little desk in the lobby where they were available every day to help with any issues.  Maybe if you see people at the English desk you could strike up a conversation there!

[myplumbersmate]

MSC UK announced yesterday (18th March) that short UK cruises on the Magnifica would start in May with full details available on 7th April.

If this is the case then it looks like the weekly Norwegian cruises from Southampton will now be cancelled.

Pity the MSC UK Management could not elaborate on this!!!

[medic143]

On 3/19/2021 at 10:10 AM, myplumbersmate said:

MSC UK announced yesterday (18th March) that short UK cruises on the Magnifica would start in May with full details available on 7th April.

Ive been trying to find where the Magnifica was specified as the ship that will be used and can't.

 

Their own site mentions that they will be doing short sailings but not which ship.

 

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/news/msc-cruises-uk-summer-sailings

 

Have you got a link to where the specified the magnifica as I have 2 cruises booked on her in June/July

[Bertie Doe]

4 hours ago, medic143 said:

Have you got a link to where the specified the magnifica as I have 2 cruises booked on her in June/July

This is the only Magnifica ref I could find :-

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5964/

 

[medic143]

14 hours ago, Bertie Doe said:

This is the only Magnifica ref I could find :-

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5964/

 

Thanks for that. The best I could find was

 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/msc-cruises-weighs-uk-ship-deployment-for-summer

 

and even then I couldn't tell if the CEO was saying the "big ship" was going to do the UK only stuff instead of Magnifica or as well as the Magnifica. Even then with his reference to 21 June it would still be technically possible for the Magnifica to sail her original itinerary, but Norway has a say in that and Ive seen a reference to that fact it doesn't decide that until May.

[harz99]

On 3/22/2021 at 10:58 AM, medic143 said:

Thanks for that. The best I could find was

 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/msc-cruises-weighs-uk-ship-deployment-for-summer

 

and even then I couldn't tell if the CEO was saying the "big ship" was going to do the UK only stuff instead of Magnifica or as well as the Magnifica. Even then with his reference to 21 June it would still be technically possible for the Magnifica to sail her original itinerary, but Norway has a say in that and Ive seen a reference to that fact it doesn't decide that until May.

It's Virtuosa now, all Magnifica 2021 cruises including my May one won't happen as the ship is not coming to the UK this year. Prices are considerably higher on Virtuosa and the MSC web site has the details of compensation for newly cancelled cruises...

[BritsAbroad]

Summer cruising looks a little cr£zy doesn't it!? We've held off the date this year (especially seeing some of the prices for just short cruises this summer here!). Weighing it all up....we saw that you can have a 2 week Caribbean Christmas & New Year cruise onboard Seaview starting at £1799 pp.....(even cheaper if youre taking a third discounted person like we are) So thats what we've done! Hoping the extra time means everywhere gets a bit better and these new variants dont cause me to cancel another holiday!? 🤪. As long as we manage to get on the ship without any hitches....we've plumped for the balcony cabin with the whirlpool (bathtub really) on it. So if the poop hits the fan...or we get stranded in there.....I can sit in it to ferment with a view. We actually thought it was pricey initially. But weighing it up against some of the summer prices.....considering its 2 weeks in the Caribbean over Christmas/NY, that we upsold ourselves to the Aurea 'posh bath on a Balcony' pckg with drinks & grats included......and there's extra demand. All that for 3 pers (inc Manch flights) for 3k each is I guess liveable in these weird times! Doesn't seem much availability on the cruise though. Not sure if its demand, or they've not released 'all' the cabins for booking quite yet due to how squiffy things may be. But yeah....either way, come join us for some Chrimble Caribbean sun instead! 🙂

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by BritsAbroad

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, BritsAbroad said:

Summer cruising looks a little cr£zy doesn't it!? We've held off the date this year (especially seeing some of the prices for just short cruises this summer here!). Weighing it all up....we saw that you can have a 2 week Caribbean Christmas & New Year cruise onboard Seaview starting at £1799 pp.....(even cheaper if your'e taking a third discounted person like we are) So that's what we've done!

 

We were seriously looking at the Virtuosa all-inclusive 7 nighter on the 26th June, with balcony. Interested mainly to try MSC for the first time but weren't too excited by the Itinerary.

 

Decided not to go and (like you) we opted for a Xmas cruise. Ours is with Marella from the 5th to 26th December '21. Slightly more expensive per person per night than MSC  but FCCs come in handy.

 

We booked our old friendly B&B, (owner lives on site), it's £50 for the room plus breakfast. Dead handy, it's only 5 mins from M23 turnoff and 5 mins from Gatwick Purple Parking. The diet starts ..... tomorrow 🙄

Edited April 5, 2021 by Bertie Doe