Booked Cabin changed to Guarantee--Help!

[rmvann]

Hi all,

 

We are booked on the Meraviglia for February and just got an email that our previously booked stateroom has now been changed to a guarantee.  We were booked in an Aurea suite--I'm not picky about the location of the room itself, but I want to make sure that we still have a balcony with a whirlpool as that was our main incentive for booking. 

It looks like all of those cabins are sold out now, and the next "step up" would be a YC Deluxe Suite.  Is that right? That may be an upgrade in terms of MSC categories but it really wouldn't seem like an upgrade for us 😔  Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? 

[MonsterJoe]

My pre-school teacher used to tell me and MSC's land-side mantra seems to be, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!"

Many many people have been reassigned to G0000.  Some people have had luck getting their original booked room back, many have not.

When I called to "fix" mine - I was basically told to pound sand "Maybe they'll give you a refund if you don't like it" is what the CS drone told me.

[styles27]

7 minutes ago, rmvann said:

Hi all,

 

We are booked on the Meraviglia for February and just got an email that our previously booked stateroom has now been changed to a guarantee.  We were booked in an Aurea suite--I'm not picky about the location of the room itself, but I want to make sure that we still have a balcony with a whirlpool as that was our main incentive for booking. 

It looks like all of those cabins are sold out now, and the next "step up" would be a YC Deluxe Suite.  Is that right? That may be an upgrade in terms of MSC categories but it really wouldn't seem like an upgrade for us 😔  Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? 

Have you made final payment yet?

Has the ship been chartered? There “used to be” a thread on here about chartered cruises that a great cruise critic member kept up to date. I haven’t seen that in a while though but maybe a search of your date and ship with the words “chartered sailing/cruise” will bump it up. 
 

It seems strange that so many booked rooms are being changed to guarantee especially a high end room like you booked with the whirlpool. 
 

[rmvann]

We have not made final payment yet.   I'm open to booking a different cruise if that's what it comes down to, but would prefer to keep our original plans as we have friends planning to go on this sailing as well. 

 

I've read (unconfirmed) that the 9th floor is being cleared on all sailings so that this floor can be used for quarantine if needed. 

[styles27]

8 minutes ago, rmvann said:

We have not made final payment yet.   I'm open to booking a different cruise if that's what it comes down to, but would prefer to keep our original plans as we have friends planning to go on this sailing as well. 

 

I've read (unconfirmed) that the 9th floor is being cleared on all sailings so that this floor can be used for quarantine if needed. 

I too have seen that about deck 9 but I didn’t think the whirlpool balcony rooms would be one used for quarantine. Wouldn’t mind being quarantined in one of those!

Did your friends get changed to guarantee also?

If you can do it and you can’t get your room back the YC is amazing, it’s like being on a private yacht and the service is second to none. We loved our YC cruise. I think that’s what I would do if I were in your position. 

Edited October 20, 2021 by styles27

[PRH]

You’re lucky you got an email!  Now you have proof of what happened.  We were not so lucky.  Only found out our booked cabin (balcony fantastica) had been changed to guarantee when I went in to check why I could not get this cruise to link in my MSC account.  We are now a little more than two weeks away from boarding and still no assigned cabin—which prevents us from accessing any boarding documents.  This cruise is a b2b with our Nov 11th cruise where we have had no problems whatsoever.  Good luck!  February is a ways off.  Hopefully once the infamous Oct 24th Salsa cruise debacle is over, things will get a little better.  Not holding my breath though.

[Morgsmom]

36 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

My pre-school teacher used to tell me and MSC's land-side mantra seems to be, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!"
 

OMG, this made my whole day! Such a fitting quote for the MSC shoreside shenanigans...  (PS, we've sailed in an Aurea whirlpool suite - I'd take YC over it anyday.)

[Two Wheels Only]

Are any of the YC Duplex Suites available for your cruise? That would get you a whirlpool on the balcony and the YC experience. If any are available, there's no harm in asking for one.

 

On my upcoming Meraviglia cruise, there are plenty of those available. I figure that the Aurea whirlpool people would be the right choice to upgrade to the Duplex suites.

[Gatordad1967]

Get your travel agent to call and clarify.

 

[ESCARGO]

I have a B2B2B booked for New Years Eve and the 2 weeks after that in the same cabin on deck 9. My first 2 legs of the trip were changed to guarantees. When I called to inquire, they told me per CDC guidelines, they are doing cabin inventory to comply with the 70% capacity. I'm not sure what that entails, but I would rather have my original cabin back so I don't have to pack up and move every week! 

[Bluewake]

Had the same experience. For a December cruise on Meraviglia, we had selected a cabin on deck #9.  Last week, we received an "updated" invoice via a generic email stating that it was being sent for one of a list of reasons but didn't specify which.  It took a minute or so before I noticed the difference was that our cabin assignment was now a guarantee. I called MSC right away and was told the change was done because our cabin might be needed for quarantine.  Perhaps that is the reason. Or, perhaps, capacity is low and MSC is consolidating cabins on certain floors so they don't need as many staff.  Regardless, the rep was gracious and immediately reassigned us to what I think is actually a better cabin on another deck.  I understand that circumstances evolve but why not specify outright in the email what was being done instead of making passengers search?  

[Native Floridian 26]

26 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

Had the same experience. For a December cruise on Meraviglia, we had selected a cabin on deck #9.  Last week, we received an "updated" invoice via a generic email stating that it was being sent for one of a list of reasons but didn't specify which.  It took a minute or so before I noticed the difference was that our cabin assignment was now a guarantee. I called MSC right away and was told the change was done because our cabin might be needed for quarantine.  Perhaps that is the reason. Or, perhaps, capacity is low and MSC is consolidating cabins on certain floors so they don't need as many staff.  Regardless, the rep was gracious and immediately reassigned us to what I think is actually a better cabin on another deck.  I understand that circumstances evolve but why not specify outright in the email what was being done instead of making passengers search?  

Same happened to me but they didn't offer to reassign.  When doing new bookings the Inside Bellas have been Guarantee for a quite a while on my sailing.   I'm hesitant to have them change it, because they may take it away again.  Perhaps when the Guarantee is assigned it'll be a better cabin or upgrade.

[rmvann]

I called MSC yesterday morning and they basically told me we just have to wait and be flexible, due to Covid. They can't reassign us yet.  

Can anyone confirm if my thought is correct though--would a YC balcony be considered an upgrade from an Aurea whirlpool suite (I'm thinking yes, because it costs more)? That's really my only concern.  I'm fine with not having an assignment until the last minute, as long as I know for sure we will have a whirlpool balcony. I did a mock booking yesterday and the only whirlpool suites that are available are YC duplexes so that would be a few levels upgraded, right?

[PRH]

MSC is pretty clear that what they consider an upgrade, is.  Whether you end up with a whirlpool is totally up in the air.  Once you become guaranteed, you are at their mercy and they get to decide.  What options do you have if you don’t get one?  Figure out a back-up plan and have your TA (if you have one) use that as part of negotiation.

[styles27]

4 hours ago, rmvann said:

I called MSC yesterday morning and they basically told me we just have to wait and be flexible, due to Covid. They can't reassign us yet.  

Can anyone confirm if my thought is correct though--would a YC balcony be considered an upgrade from an Aurea whirlpool suite (I'm thinking yes, because it costs more)? That's really my only concern.  I'm fine with not having an assignment until the last minute, as long as I know for sure we will have a whirlpool balcony. I did a mock booking yesterday and the only whirlpool suites that are available are YC duplexes so that would be a few levels upgraded, right?

If your heart is set on having a whirlpool on your balcony then I would definitely reschedule to a date where you can have that. 
Are all of those rooms located on Deck 9?

I don’t like guarantees and the thing that bothers me about them switching you from a booked room to a guarantee is that you have zero control of where you’ll end up (which is why a guarantee booking is usually less expensive) 

Are they lowering your price now that they’ve taken your chosen room away? 

If not,  I would cancel and rebook especially since you haven’t made final payment. 
 

Does MSC even offer a guarantee option when booking? I’ve never noticed one but have on other lines. 

[PRH]

Our booked balcony fantastica cabin was changed to guarantee with no notice and no price adjustment.  MSC says they will choose a new cabin for us and let us know no later than 4 days prior to boarding.  We cannot change the assigned cab8n.  Our cruise is now a little more than two weeks away.  Frustrating.  Beyond frustrating.  Apparently this is also why we cannot access boarding documents or link this booking to our subsequent b2b (for which we have been able to print boarding documents).

[styles27]

27 minutes ago, PRH said:

Our booked balcony fantastica cabin was changed to guarantee with no notice and no price adjustment.  MSC says they will choose a new cabin for us and let us know no later than 4 days prior to boarding.  We cannot change the assigned cab8n.  Our cruise is now a little more than two weeks away.  Frustrating.  Beyond frustrating.  Apparently this is also why we cannot access boarding documents or link this booking to our subsequent b2b (for which we have been able to print boarding documents).

Ugh I didn’t realize you were doing a b2b 

So your room on the second part of the b2b hasn’t been changed to guarantee? 

 

 

[PRH]

4 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Ugh I didn’t realize you were doing a b2b 

So your room on the second part of the b2b hasn’t been changed to guarantee? 

 

 

Correct

[styles27]

9 minutes ago, PRH said:

Correct

That’s just nuts. So you will most likely have to change rooms 

Way to inconvenience their guests smh

[racephoto]

2 hours ago, styles27 said:

 

Does MSC even offer a guarantee option when booking? I’ve never noticed one but have on other lines. 

When I was looking at the Divina 11/21 sailing last night, all the Bella cabin options were coming up as guarantee only. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen it.

Edited October 21, 2021 by racephoto

[styles27]

2 hours ago, racephoto said:

When I was looking at the Divina 11/21 sailing last night, all the Bella cabin options were coming up as guarantee only. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen it.

That’s interesting, 

I’ve never seen anything like that either. 

 

Last night I logged into the site on my iPhone and the expiration date and date of issue was wrong on my passport and my DH’s even though I had gone in and corrected them earlier in the day and printed my new e-tickets.
So I logged in on my IPad and the dates were correct at the same time they were wrong on my phone 🤔

Went on my husbands phone and the dates were wrong lol Cleared cache on phones and still showing as wrong. 

So I called MSC and the rep said the dates were showing as correct. 

You never know what you’ll see on that website. 
Today dates are correct on phone and IPad so I’m not touching anything again lol

Edited October 21, 2021 by styles27

[pr8hd]

From what I see on their site and read here and elsewhere, MSC is in dire need of some new code monkeys.