Help with bad experience

[igorjrr]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I wouldn’t pay too much notice about the boarding time.  Ours indicates 1800 hours - that’s the time the ship is due to sail!  🤣

LOL!

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, igorjrr said:

LOL!

It’s MSC - which elicits a lot of lols  lol 😂  

[ditmar2007]

I got my e-ticket today (for a september sailing). It said several times: Don't arrive earlier than your designated time. You will be asked to wait at the pier.

 

Absolutely nothing about arriving later.

[Beamafar]

Well, our trip includes flights, so MSC will physically be transferring us to the port in the am.  Don’t know what they expect us to do til 6pm if they’re responsible for us arriving earlier.  The ship is due to leave at that time so it’ll be interesting to see what time will be indicated on our tickets. 

[Homosassa]

Is this your first cruise on any cruise line?

 

If so, some tips: Sail time is the scheduled time of departure for the ship. Cruiselines will ask that passengers be on board 1 -2 hours before scheduled departure.  Check your documents; it will tell you the cut off time for boarding the ship.

 

Given the departure time of 7 PM, boarding time probably ends at 5 PM to allow for muster drill. I am also not sure of boarding time cut offs to allow for any preboarding testing. While MSC used to have some overseas charter groups arranging close to sail time, that is not currently an issue.

 

This leaves you with only five hours from when your plane hopefully arrives and when you must be on board ship. This could be a big problem when flying in the day of the cruise.

 

You are flying into Florida at a time of year when storms (not only hurricanes but run of the mill thunderstorms from east/west coast sea breeze collisions or frontal passages occur with regular frequency).  In Florida, airports will shut down when lightning strikes are present within a short radius of the runways. Shut downs can be several hours in length and can wreak havoc on flights into and out of the states as flights are delayed or diverted.

 

Have a back up plan on how you can hopefully obtain your luggage and make your way to the ship (a half hour from Miami airport, about an hour from Ft Lauderdale airport, an hour and a half from Palm Beach airport).

 

Prebooking research on the MSC website would have told you the policy on current booking and cancellation procedures and the availability of beverage packages for purchase before booking the ship. I am not sure what you want MSC to do about procedures available on their website.

 

Make sure you pack watershoes for your time at Ocean cay.  The island is a reclaimed industrial mining site with sand dredged from the ocean. There are bits of coral in the sand and it can be painful to walk on the sand either on land or in the water.

 

 

[igorjrr]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Is this your first cruise on any cruise line?

 

If so, some tips: Sail time is the scheduled time of departure for the ship. Cruiselines will ask that passengers be on board 1 -2 hours before scheduled departure.  Check your documents; it will tell you the cut off time for boarding the ship.

 

Given the departure time of 7 PM, boarding time probably ends at 5 PM to allow for muster drill. I am also not sure of boarding time cut offs to allow for any preboarding testing. While MSC used to have some overseas charter groups arranging close to sail time, that is not currently an issue.

 

This leaves you with only five hours from when your plane hopefully arrives and when you must be on board ship. This could be a big problem when flying in the day of the cruise.

 

You are flying into Florida at a time of year when storms (not only hurricanes but run of the mill thunderstorms from east/west coast sea breeze collisions or frontal passages occur with regular frequency).  In Florida, airports will shut down when lightning strikes are present within a short radius of the runways. Shut downs can be several hours in length and can wreak havoc on flights into and out of the states as flights are delayed or diverted.

 

Have a back up plan on how you can hopefully obtain your luggage and make your way to the ship (a half hour from Miami airport, about an hour from Ft Lauderdale airport, an hour and a half from Palm Beach airport).

 

Prebooking research on the MSC website would have told you the policy on current booking and cancellation procedures and the availability of beverage packages for purchase before booking the ship. I am not sure what you want MSC to do about procedures available on their website.

 

Make sure you pack watershoes for your time at Ocean cay.  The island is a reclaimed industrial mining site with sand dredged from the ocean. There are bits of coral in the sand and it can be painful to walk on the sand either on land or in the water.

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

I've booked the earliest flight, and expected to be in Miami 8 hours before sailing time. I'm not willing to flight the night before and pay a hotel night for such a short cruise trip - either the weather is acceptable and everything goes well (with space for some small problems), or cancel. Very likely we will only have carry-ons (I rarely travel with checked bag). I will consider the watershoes, thanks for the tip!

 

I just disagree with the prebooking research you said. I did read the information that is clearly displayed to me, and as most I did not read dozen of pages in their Terms. I was never informed during booking that they expect me to be at the port 9 hours before sailing, and I find it excessive (but now I know from friends here that it is, in fact, excessive; and I should be OK arriving later). Regarding the beverages, their beverage package page (https://www.msccruisesusa.com/on-board/dining-drinks/drinks-packages) even has a Add To Cruise button, so I thought that would be very simple to do once booked. Wrong. Clicking that button takes me to a page where this specific beverage package (adult nonalchologic) is not available - and will only be available once onboard. Sorry, this is not clear and was not my fault. I believe I have the right to complain here and it seems I'm not alone.

[alyssamma]

24 minutes ago, igorjrr said:

 

Thank you!

 

I've booked the earliest flight, and expected to be in Miami 8 hours before sailing time. I'm not willing to flight the night before and pay a hotel night for such a short cruise trip - either the weather is acceptable and everything goes well (with space for some small problems), or cancel. Very likely we will only have carry-ons (I rarely travel with checked bag). I will consider the watershoes, thanks for the tip!

 

I just disagree with the prebooking research you said. I did read the information that is clearly displayed to me, and as most I did not read dozen of pages in their Terms. I was never informed during booking that they expect me to be at the port 9 hours before sailing, and I find it excessive (but now I know from friends here that it is, in fact, excessive; and I should be OK arriving later). Regarding the beverages, their beverage package page (https://www.msccruisesusa.com/on-board/dining-drinks/drinks-packages) even has a Add To Cruise button, so I thought that would be very simple to do once booked. Wrong. Clicking that button takes me to a page where this specific beverage package (adult nonalchologic) is not available - and will only be available once onboard. Sorry, this is not clear and was not my fault. I believe I have the right to complain here and it seems I'm not alone.

Yep, as others have said, you're all good...enjoy your cruise 🙂

 

[shipgeeks]

FWIW, It seems like similar questions and annoyances pop up on the boards for all or most of the other cruise lines, too.