Diamond Benefits Reduced!

[MemeCruise]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:57 AM, Cruiseforever11 said:

On the Virtuosa now as of the 1st May. No chocolate ship but got a nice box of chocolates. Got our bottle of Prosecco plus macaroons. We still got priority embarkation (We are diamond members and in Aurea) 

 

 

Last week on Seaview the chocolate ship, spumante & macarons were brought to the cabin on "Elegant Night", Thursdays in the Mediterranean. Night before also strawberries dipped in chocolate (they were finished before I could take a picture 😋). Had complimentary dinner at Butcher's Cut, it was excellent! 

[Raj.K]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:13 PM, sidari said:

Morgsmom ... Here is a copy of the MSC cruise club before they changed it to VC.

MSC has revamped the loyalty programme on 05 May 2022! Voyagers selection of 5% + 5%, 5% + 10% and 5% + 15% discounts are no more and the ship board credit terms have also changed! It looks like the Loyalty programme is getting from bad to worse over the years, particularly for those who go on YC. Anyone agree?

[sidari]

33 minutes ago, Raj.K said:

MSC has revamped the loyalty programme on 05 May 2022! Voyagers selection of 5% + 5%, 5% + 10% and 5% + 15% discounts are no more and the ship board credit terms have also changed! It looks like the Loyalty programme is getting from bad to worse over the years, particularly for those who go on YC. Anyone agree?

Not just YC but any Diamond formerly Black club members, 20% discount now just 5!

[Raj.K]

5 minutes ago, sidari said:

Not just YC but any Diamond formerly Black club members, 20% discount now just 5!

Absolutely. I am all for status match incentives to attract new customers. But the way the loyalty programme has changed over the years, it seem not to be rewarding loyalty, particularly for Diamond YC customers!

 

Just wish cruise lines allowed the use of points for cabin upgrades like airlines do. This will genuinely be rewarding loyalty.

[NMsunset]

Hi- let's look at the facts, Diamond never received 20% discount on all cruises...only a select group of specific dates/ships/itineraries...and primarily during the height of Pandemic and other travel issues causing low bookings.

 

Things change...

 

MSC is on the path to becoming the largest cruise line in the World and has the newest overall fleet period.

 

Diamond status never was like a AMEX Black Card...

Like most who travel extensively, all of the hotel, airline, rental car, etc Statuses have been diluted...this is nothing new nor unexpected.

 

No loyalty for me, just go with who provides what I want, when I want it, at a price I am willing to pay...

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Cheers! 

[sidari]

2 hours ago, NMsunset said:

Hi- let's look at the facts, Diamond never received 20% discount on all cruises...only a select group of specific dates/ships/itineraries...and primarily during the height of Pandemic and other travel issues causing low bookings.

 

Things change...

 

MSC is on the path to becoming the largest cruise line in the World and has the newest overall fleet period.

 

Diamond status never was like a AMEX Black Card...

Like most who travel extensively, all of the hotel, airline, rental car, etc Statuses have been diluted...this is nothing new nor unexpected.

 

No loyalty for me, just go with who provides what I want, when I want it, at a price I am willing to pay...

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Cheers! 

Black card holders received a 20% discount on any cruise which was prior to the VC coming in to being, you are clearly mixed up with the 5+15 which only came in after the inception of the VC. 

[NMsunset]

So before Voyagers Club existed...title of this Post is about Diamond benefits...so that is only a Voyagers Club Status.

Yes, like others I was Black Card...and my hair was not as gray back then either😃

 

As another irrelevant comparison, here in California the average price of a gallon of gasoline is now $5.62; but in 2016 it was $2.47!!!

 

Karen would like to speak to the gasoline manager🤣😂

 

Things change...

Enjoy the cruise line and cruise of your choice...

Cheers!

[NMsunset]

ChC- Awesome factual info!

 

Looking at how RCCL performed against the other public trader cruise lines and the beating of their stock value in last couple of years...

 

MSC might get the edge in next 2-4 years...who knows...biggest isn't correlated to best anyway.

 

There are many great ships...want to experience them all...

Still one of my most memorable experiences was on a container/freighter cruise...plus my time on warships in both Royal and US Navy.

[jamon]

Lovemycruisetoo,,,,,,,,,,,you mentioned that you were on the Divina this past Friday and at that point you did not get the wine and macaroons....Did you finally get the wine and macaroons???????Please let us know...

[NMsunset]

Jamon- we were on Divina in February and received Spumante, macaroons, and chocolate ship...plus free drawstring backpack...Diamond in Fantastica interior.

 

Cheers!

 

PS we board Seashore Saturday in Fantastica balcony and will report out the perks and/or lack of...for us the value is Butchers Cut free meal for 2.

 

with easy plus drinks package...the other items are of no concern to us.

 

Never felt "special" with any status, but darn if we are not always Thirsty😎

 

 

[lovemycruisetoo]

2 hours ago, jamon said:

Lovemycruisetoo,,,,,,,,,,,you mentioned that you were on the Divina this past Friday and at that point you did not get the wine and macaroons....Did you finally get the wine and macaroons???????Please let us know...

No we didn’t and I don’t remember anyone else mentioning that they did either.  
We also didn’t get our MSC logo gift - only the chocolate ships and strawberries. We got white MSC logo baseball type caps in October 2021 on the Meraviglia but not this time. We were in the YC so very surprised about that. We did enjoy Butchers Cut very much. 

Edited May 11, 2022 by lovemycruisetoo

[hamrag]

7 hours ago, NMsunset said:

....we board Seashore Saturday in Fantastica balcony and will report out the perks and/or lack of...for us the value is Butchers Cut free meal for 2....

 

Us too, everything else is of no consequence really as far as we are concerned!

[HipHipOnAShip]

Happy to report that on the Divina this week we got the Prosecco, multiple trays of macaroons and cookies, and 2 Chocolate Ships.... as well at the Butcher's Cut dinner

[jamon]

HipHIpOnAShip.......thanks for the info...what days were formal nights??????? Also we our on next week and our paper works says our boarding time is 9:30 to 10:30..does that sound right/////

[8420PR]

On 5/8/2022 at 1:13 PM, sidari said:

Morgsmom ... Here is a copy of the MSC cruise club before they changed it to VC.

With the free upgrade to highest available category (excl. YC) for black card holders were you able to just book a cheap inside and get at least a balcony (or maybe a suite)?  How did it work in reality?  

 

 

[Morgsmom]

3 hours ago, jamon said:

HipHIpOnAShip.......thanks for the info...what days were formal nights??????? Also we our on next week and our paper works says our boarding time is 9:30 to 10:30..does that sound right/////

On the 4 nighter (and 3 night) sailings there is no formal night...

9:30 sounds very early; even the YC tent doesn't offically "open" until 10am

[Morgsmom]

3 hours ago, 8420PR said:

With the free upgrade to highest available category (excl. YC) for black card holders were you able to just book a cheap inside and get at least a balcony (or maybe a suite)?  How did it work in reality?  

 

 

What you talkin' bout Willis?  There are NO free upgrades for Black Card Holders (which are now Diamond Card).  That is a thing of the long, long past

[jamon]

MorgsMom......just checked my paperwork again and that is what it says. We are Diamond so who knows why......

[perakcruiser]

16 hours ago, 8420PR said:

With the free upgrade to highest available category (excl. YC) for black card holders were you able to just book a cheap inside and get at least a balcony (or maybe a suite)?  How did it work in reality?  

No. At this time the pricing model was very different, there was no Bella, Fantastica,...

 

But the inside cabins (as the others) had many different categories, usually based on the deck. So your upgrade was only from inside/outside/balcony deck 5 to the highest inside/outside/balcony deck.

[Aeroplex]

Anyone Diamond Member travelled on MSC Fantasia recently? What did you get?

Edited October 6, 2022 by Aeroplex

[korpo024]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:36 AM, lovemycruisetoo said:

No we didn’t and I don’t remember anyone else mentioning that they did either.  
We also didn’t get our MSC logo gift - only the chocolate ships and strawberries. We got white MSC logo baseball type caps in October 2021 on the Meraviglia but not this time. We were in the YC so very surprised about that. We did enjoy Butchers Cut very much. 

Last two cruises, they forgot the Voyager Club gifts, so I went to the VC agent (only there for one hour a day) and they were very sorry and I got all extra's. At MSC you need to ask! This is an Italian cruise line. Italians never give you any service. This is normal in Italy. For people from the other side of the ocean this is all new ofcourse. But in Europe service is something you should never expect. Especially from Italians...lol

[Aeroplex]

8 hours ago, korpo024 said:

Last two cruises, they forgot the Voyager Club gifts, so I went to the VC agent (only there for one hour a day) and they were very sorry and I got all extra's. At MSC you need to ask! This is an Italian cruise line. Italians never give you any service. This is normal in Italy. For people from the other side of the ocean this is all new ofcourse. But in Europe service is something you should never expect. Especially from Italians...lol

Last time on MSC Grandiosa had to ask for 😂 everything beside Butchers Cut and Aurea Spa. Even have to ask for the bathrobe.

 

Recently on MSC Fantasia everything was perfect. Ask at the reception if they can bring everything until the second day. Voila received everything.

 

Don’t forget to get the complimentary photo taken during Gala dinner or Mediterranean night.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Aeroplex

[travelberlin]

8 minutes ago, Aeroplex said:

 

 

Don’t forget to get the complimentary photo taken during Gala dinner or Mediterranean night.

On our last sailing we left the photos they took from us. No way we look that bad 😁😂

Ivi

[Aeroplex]

1 minute ago, travelberlin said:

On our last sailing we left the photos they took from us. No way we look that bad 😁😂

Ivi

😂 you left perks unused … oh no

[gmbhardy]

On the Meraviglia this week, we received a bottle of sparkling wine, macaroons, and two chocolate bars. No gift and no chocolate ship. The next night we received six, chocolate dipped strawberries. For YC, no sparkling wine and had to fight to get our bottle of liquor in lieu of mini bar miniatures.