Healthcare Heros Mumbo Jumbo

[dexddd]

So this program is slated to end soon.  I called today, got fairly lucky with only a 25 minute wait.  I asked if they could let me know what the various discounts are during a couple months.  We have a 10%, 20%, 30% discount based on only a certain amount can be booked under any one discount.  Ok, can you tell me discount for a certain date?  No, you have to book first, then send proof over to find discount.

 

Hmmm?  I have to book and wait for the mysterious discount?  Yes.

 

I do appreciate MSC offering the discount, don't get me wrong.  But why does it have to be such a mystery?  Maybe related to their IT systems or IT systems not being able to handle it and it takes manual intervention.  Who knows.

 

Anyone have any different experiences?  Did I just get someone who doesn't know?

[Morgsmom]

Ah, yes.  The discount levels are capacity controlled so that is true, however they (the reps) should be able to tell you the highest discount still available.  Then depending on when the sailing is AND if you book directly through MSC if you are within final payment window then you WOULD have to pay in full and get the difference as a refundable OBC.

 

A travel agent should be able to help sort out the shenanigans.  They can do it in one shot

[SirWolf]

We have been approved for Health Care Hero discount for sailings in October and December 2021. Both times I made the reservation by phone and was told to submit the supporting documents to a dedicated email address for approval. The department responded within 24-48 hours with the decision/approval.

[hamrag]

We have booked 4 cruises using this scheme. On each occasion I asked for the % discount on the particular cruise, and my TA gave an answer same day prior to booking.

[sidari]

The discount ends Friday evening in the UK.

[hamrag]

7 minutes ago, sidari said:

The discount ends Friday evening in the UK.

It'll be interesting to see if it is extended again!

[sidari]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

It'll be interesting to see if it is extended again!

G ... I doubt it but you never know.

[Grenadinka]

Ahhhh, I was so frustrated. First, I emailed them all the documents and got preapproved for the discount. I thought, that it could help during the process and make it quicker. I was wrong. Then I called and made a reservation, but I haven’t paid for the booking, because it was so strange for me: you need to pay in full just to find out, what’s the amount of the discount. I sent an email again, with a booking number. And got a reply 4 days later, that my booking is not existing. Of course, it wasn’t existing  at that point 🤷‍♀️
Finally, I realized that the only way to get the discount is to pay in full. But when I called them, I found out that all the cabins for 3 persons were already  sold out 😡

We decided to change our plans and we booked a cruise for another date, this time I paid in full and emailed them. 3 days after I am still waiting for the reply about the discount. 

[dexddd]

Thanks all for replies.  Can anyone share what discounts you are getting?

 

They also need to update website as it says up to 50% unless agent incorrect.

[cafevita]

Am I seeing it correctly? Has the promotion been extended again , now to December 31, 2021 , for booking ? Looks like it Remains the same for travel by April 30, 2022

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

Thanks all for replies.  Can anyone share what discounts you are getting?

 

They also need to update website as it says up to 50% unless agent incorrect.

Yep....hot off the presses....we are on transatlantic Seaview repositioning from Barcelona to St Maarten next week. We also elected to stay on once it arrives in the Caribbean and booked the first 7 night cruise, originally from Martinique on 4th December. Because both Martinique and Guadeloupe will not accept cruiseships until Spring 2022, MSC struck a deal with St Maarten as a boarding/debark point. We get an extra day gratis on the repo cruise to align with the new boarding point, first cruise now 5th December.

 

For the original 7 nighter, I had snagged a 30% discount for a YIN cabin. Because the boarding date, boarding point and itinerary changed we have the option to cancel with a full refund. Yesterday I noticed a YC1 Deluxe Suite at the same gross price as our YIN was and made an enquiry about NHS discount. To my delight it is 50% on the new cruise, so I booked it this afternoon. The net cost was £500 each, and the original YIN was £725.....go figure, I am not making this up, so we will now cancel the original booking for the YIN and receive a full refund! 🥂

 

So, to answer your question, our discount is 50%. That also means they do not need to update the website. 😉

[pghflyer]

Nice gesture but not user friendly. I had a booking and submitted my IDs to the email address, and they responded back that I needed to CALL in, and make a booking on the phone (bookings made on their website are invalid), cancel my existing booking from their website, and then re-submit my documentation to find out how much my discount may be.  Since all this is likely to only net me about $100 savings (if granted at 30%), I decided way too much trouble for the savings.

[hamrag]

9 minutes ago, pghflyer said:

....Since all this is likely to only net me about $100 savings (if granted at 30%), I decided way too much trouble for the savings.

 

I don't blame you, that is a tortuous process. The UK system for same is smooth and seamless, in my experience at least!

[dexddd]

On 11/13/2021 at 10:23 AM, cafevita said:

Am I seeing it correctly? Has the promotion been extended again , now to December 31, 2021 , for booking ? Looks like it Remains the same for travel by April 30, 2022

Not sure, the US site is down and does nothing when clicking on the link.

[hamrag]

UK Website extract:

Our special ‘thank you’ discounted cruise fares for healthcare professionals and their families will be available for all MSC Cruises’ sailings of any duration for all new bookings made till the 31st December 2021 on all cruises departing up to 30th April 2022 (WORLD CRUISES excluded).

[dexddd]

US site extended to 12/31/2021.

[CruiserG79]

The way the discount is being handled, seems to be a bit strange...

 

We booked the Magnifica, starting on January 23. from Hamburg, and got 30 % discount. We, my girlfriend is working in a hospital, didn't even have to send proof.

 

And the lady on the telephone could directly tell me, what kind of discount is available.

 

We booked from germany, but i don't think the rules are that much different there.

[mcoler181]

So we called up (UK) and they could tell us what the discount would be for each sailing we enquired about.

 

Strangely though a 10 night one of Divana no discount, 3 and 7 night b2b (same dates as the 10 night one) 50% off each cruise??

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, mcoler181 said:

So we called up (UK) and they could tell us what the discount would be for each sailing we enquired about.

 

Strangely though a 10 night one of Divana no discount, 3 and 7 night b2b (same dates as the 10 night one) 50% off each cruise??

The strangest I heard of was the Virtuosa UK staycations. We boarded in Greenock on 1st September, and I got a 30% discount having enquired about boarding the previous day in Liverpool which would have suited better workwise....no discount at all on 31st August!

 

We assumed it was because August was nil discount all through, but then we found out that the Southampton boarding 3 or 4 days earlier i.e. 27ish August was 30%. I would not have been happy, if a Liverpudlian!

[dexddd]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:36 AM, mcoler181 said:

So we called up (UK) and they could tell us what the discount would be for each sailing we enquired about.

 

Strangely though a 10 night one of Divana no discount, 3 and 7 night b2b (same dates as the 10 night one) 50% off each cruise??

Their combined trips seem to have issues and often have pricing higher than doing separately.