MSC Grandiosa October cruise vanishes

[ajd1969]

Hi.  

 

I have a cruise booked on the MSC Grandiosa departing 23 October from Barcelona and I just went onto the cruise planner to look at the internet packages, but discovered all of the details of the cruise have vanished (ship, itinerary, cabin number etc) and it now shows we have a guaranteed cabin, but no ship and no itinerary.  The balance due is still the same.

 

I have tried to do a dummy booking on the same cruise and there no longer appears to be any sailings for the MSC Grandiosa until the 7th November (most of the other MSC ships having availability from August onwards).

 

Has anybody heard about any changes that I have missed as I am unsure why this has happened and why MSC have not contacted me.  I am hoping it is a glitch as this cruise was to replace another that was cancelled and I really hoped this one would actually go ahead.

 

Thanks in advance for any information,

 

Andy

[Liviucostin]

Same for Magnifica. No cruises until November 6th. So either all cruises canceled until that date, or they are going to launch new cruises as they previously announced. These are the 2 ships that they officially announced to sail in the Med this winter.

[ajd1969]

1 hour ago, Liviucostin said:

Same for Magnifica. No cruises until November 6th. So either all cruises canceled until that date, or they are going to launch new cruises as they previously announced. These are the 2 ships that they officially announced to sail in the Med this winter.

Thanks for the info - I wasn't aware of that.  I will keep my fingers crossed that its a new itinerary rather than a cancellation.

 

I called MSC UK and they said they could see the cruise was 'locked', but didn't know why.

[monsterl]

MSC will shortly publish new trips until the end of October for MSC Magnifica in Greece and MSC Grandiosa with a new route from Genova (for Grandiosa with ports in Italy plus Marseille).
 

That is the reason why MSC Magnifica & Grandiosa can no longer be booked until the end of October.
 
 

[8420PR]

That's great news!

[DCGuy64]

Sorry, wrong thread.

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by DCGuy64
Wrong thread

[ajd1969]

The revised Grandiosa itinerary has appeared in my cruise planner, but now departing Genoa on 25th October instead of Barcelona on 23rd.  

 

I may be able to amend my flights, so I contacted MSC customer services to see what my options are.  The latest I can fly back is the 30th, so I suggested either Grandiosa from Valetta on 23rd or Seaside from Barcelona on 24th.  However, they told me I couldn't do either of these as I could only swap to a cruise on the same day or later!  I explained that these are on 'same day or later' as I booked a cruise on the 23rd, but they said "your cruise is now on the 25th, so that is the earliest that you can travel"!  Total madness!

 

I told the customer service assistant that if that were the case, then I would cancel and have my money back, to which they replied that I would not get my money refunded as they have not cancelled my cruise.  I told them that if moving it 48 hours was not enough to count as a cancellation then surely moving it to a different country is, but they said not.

 

I appreciate there is a pandemic going on and things are tough for these companies, but this doesn't justify such poor customer service.

[alyssamma]

22 minutes ago, ajd1969 said:

The revised Grandiosa itinerary has appeared in my cruise planner, but now departing Genoa on 25th October instead of Barcelona on 23rd.  

 

I may be able to amend my flights, so I contacted MSC customer services to see what my options are.  The latest I can fly back is the 30th, so I suggested either Grandiosa from Valetta on 23rd or Seaside from Barcelona on 24th.  However, they told me I couldn't do either of these as I could only swap to a cruise on the same day or later!  I explained that these are on 'same day or later' as I booked a cruise on the 23rd, but they said "your cruise is now on the 25th, so that is the earliest that you can travel"!  Total madness!

 

I told the customer service assistant that if that were the case, then I would cancel and have my money back, to which they replied that I would not get my money refunded as they have not cancelled my cruise.  I told them that if moving it 48 hours was not enough to count as a cancellation then surely moving it to a different country is, but they said not.

 

I appreciate there is a pandemic going on and things are tough for these companies, but this doesn't justify such poor customer service.

*****?

 

This is exactly the problem with MSC and why it is so difficult to sail with them.

 

Once you are onboard, it is a great product, but good luck getting to that point.

[aprilF]

That is madness.  If its any consolation, I doubt those ships will be sailing.  Then you get a 4 month or longer fight to refund.  Good luck, you need it.

[Huntingdon1701]

On 8/3/2020 at 3:15 PM, ajd1969 said:

The revised Grandiosa itinerary has appeared in my cruise planner, but now departing Genoa on 25th October instead of Barcelona on 23rd.  

 

I may be able to amend my flights, so I contacted MSC customer services to see what my options are.  The latest I can fly back is the 30th, so I suggested either Grandiosa from Valetta on 23rd or Seaside from Barcelona on 24th.  However, they told me I couldn't do either of these as I could only swap to a cruise on the same day or later!  I explained that these are on 'same day or later' as I booked a cruise on the 23rd, but they said "your cruise is now on the 25th, so that is the earliest that you can travel"!  Total madness!

 

I told the customer service assistant that if that were the case, then I would cancel and have my money back, to which they replied that I would not get my money refunded as they have not cancelled my cruise.  I told them that if moving it 48 hours was not enough to count as a cancellation then surely moving it to a different country is, but they said not.

 

I appreciate there is a pandemic going on and things are tough for these companies, but this doesn't justify such poor customer service.

 

That counts as a meaningful change and you'd be entitled to a refund under the terms and conditions. I'd suggest quoting the relevant passage at whatever representative you get through to. Most of them are clueless about the law. If they don't comply you can go to trading standards. 

 

14.2 Most changes are minor but occasionally MSC Cruises or the Company must make a significant change. The following are examples of significant changes when made before you go on the Cruise: A change in the time Passengers are due to leave the UK to go on the Cruise or the time Passengers are due to come back to the UK after the Cruise of more than 12 hours. A change of UK airport from the Passengers were due to fly to or from, except where the change is between London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City or Luton) or where the new airport is within 50 miles of the original airport. A change of cabin accommodation to a significantly lesser grade. A significant change to the itinerary. i.e. when the itinerary has to be changed by more than 50% and may have to exclude an iconic highlight. All changes which are not significant are treated as minor changes and therefore there is no right to cancel or to claim compensation. Please note: MSC Cruises and the Company do not classify a change of air or sea port as a significant change where coach transfers between a UK town and the relevant air/sea port are included in the holiday. A change of flight from direct to indirect is not classified as a significant change. In the event of a significant alteration to an essential term of the Contract, MSC Cruises or the Company will inform the Passenger or his/her Agent of such change in writing as soon as reasonably possible. If there is time to do so before departure, we will offer you the choice of one of the following 
 
a) Accepting the alteration; or b) Booking another Holiday Package from the Company’s brochure and/or from the Official Website of equivalent or superior quality, if available; or c) Booking another Holiday Package from the Company’s brochure and/or from the Official Website of lower quality, if available, with a refund of the difference in price; or d) Cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. 

[Huntingdon1701]

One possible reason the cruise may have disappeared is that the initial Grandiosa cruises are only for passengers from Schengen countries, which unfortunately excludes the UK. However, I have a Splendida cruise on 25th Oct from Genoa which is unaffected, so not sure that's the reason (or they just may be planning to flat out cancel the Splendida cruise). 

[cruiser man 60]

Well the initial cruises are all confirmed as going per MSC website.

i assume they will see how these go until end September and then start some of other ships, hopefully including UK cruisers 

[cruiser man 60]

Here’s the latest update from MSC 

http://m.msccruises.com/en-gl/Mobile/About-MSC/News/MSC-Cruises-Return-To-Service-Mediterranean.aspx

[sidari]

9 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

One possible reason the cruise may have disappeared is that the initial Grandiosa cruises are only for passengers from Schengen countries, which unfortunately excludes the UK. However, I have a Splendida cruise on 25th Oct from Genoa which is unaffected, so not sure that's the reason (or they just may be planning to flat out cancel the Splendida cruise). 

All other cruises are cancelled to the end of October baring the Grandiosa and Magnifica.

[little britain]

I would say it’s because cruises from Barcelona (and Marseille) will not be happening...it will not be in the itinerary. You’ll visit Italian ports and Valletta only.