What Does "One Free Cruise Change" Mean?

[MsTabbyKats]

I know it's a stupid question....but what does it mean I can change?  Cabins on my sailing, switch to another sailing, add someone....this statement is open to interpretation!

[HipHipOnAShip]

Wow, now you've got me thinking.  I always "assumed" it meant you could move the date of your sailing one time especially in terms of a YC booking because the deposits are non refundable.  But you make an excellent point with how vague the wording is... Any TA's out there willing to comment?

[CruisingFox27]

On our booking information it specifically states it's one date or name change. 

[sm9690]

I read it as long as you do it 15 days before departure, you can change to any other cruise as long as the cost is higher than what you've paid

[cruiseguyinorl]

The free cruise change is applicable either on the cruise dates or on the destination. Such change needs to be performed at least 30 days before departure, for a new cruise to sail within 3 months from the original departure. Any cruise change must be requested through our contact centers.

Taken from the TA site. Hope this helps.

Bret

[roysmith99]

I recently needed to change our YC booking from 18th March 2023 to one week earlier. I had booked directly with MSC so rang them and they made the change with no cost. The only thing that was needed was for their back office team to validate my request against my original booking. All done in a couple of days.

Edited June 28, 2022 by roysmith99
change of grammar.

[bac513]

I assume that the one free change apparently does not include a change of promotion (If I am incorrect please let me know). Celebrity allows you to adjust the fare up until final payment. So for a December MSC cruise I can save $150 plus get a $500 OBC. Even with losing my original $398 deposit, I will come out ahead. This is one area that it is unfortunate that MSC does not apply the same criteria as Celebrity.

[MsTabbyKats]

4 hours ago, bac513 said:

I assume that the one free change apparently does not include a change of promotion (If I am incorrect please let me know). Celebrity allows you to adjust the fare up until final payment. So for a December MSC cruise I can save $150 plus get a $500 OBC. Even with losing my original $398 deposit, I will come out ahead. This is one area that it is unfortunate that MSC does not apply the same criteria as Celebrity.

Can't you cancel the Dec cruise and rebook?  That's what I'm doing for an Apr cruise. 

Dealing with MSC is an experience.  

[bac513]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Can't you cancel the Dec cruise and rebook?  That's what I'm doing for an Apr cruise. 

Dealing with MSC is an experience.  

That is what I will do and lose the $398 initial deposit but save in the long run.

[MsTabbyKats]

Just now, bac513 said:

That is what I will do and lose the $398 initial deposit but save in the long run.

Why will you lose the deposit?  Is it after final payment?

I did this once before (same cruise) and got the deposit back in about a month.  I'm doing it again (change of cabin and change of promotion).

[lovemycruisetoo]

If it’s in the YC the deposits are not refundable anymore. I repriced my cruise and the price is the same but I would get $500 obc. I was also wondering if I can use my one change to move offer to July 4th sale instead of the one I got when originally booked?  If I lose the $398 to gain $100 it really isn’t worth it to me. I’ll give msc pcc a call to see what can be done. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by lovemycruisetoo

[mawvkysc]

So I have a cruise this December. I am paid in full, interior Fantastica. It would be better for us to go in November. The cost on an interior Fantastica  for the Nov sailing is much less. Will I be able to use the difference to upgrade to a Balcony? A Fantastica Balcony right now is just  around $2 more. Or do I have to stick with the same cabin category?

[HipHipOnAShip]

12 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

So I have a cruise this December. I am paid in full, interior Fantastica. It would be better for us to go in November. The cost on an interior Fantastica  for the Nov sailing is much less. Will I be able to use the difference to upgrade to a Balcony? A Fantastica Balcony right now is just  around $2 more. Or do I have to stick with the same cabin category?

You will have to have your TA call to find out.  If you booked directly, well, we wish you godspeed and good luck with your MSC Customer Service dealings.

[Bobblehat71]

For anyone who has booked a fly cruise , the deposit is non refundable so the one free change is only of real benefit after final payment date.This is not covered in their T&C's I only found out by calling . 

[mawvkysc]

So here’s my happy ending after a minor bump in the road. 
 

I called a  cruise concierge as opposed to customer service. He was very nice and explained that I can use that Fantastica 1 cruise change and all of my money converts to the new booking. I can use that money to book a different category of cabin if I want. If the new cruise costs more I pay the difference. If it costs less I get the money back. BUT….since I booked on the website he doesn’t have access to waive the $200 change fee. I’ll have to call customer service and go that route. (If I originally booked  through him he could’ve worked on it). 
 

I call customer service and the man who answered did not seem to know what he was doing and unfortunately I couldn’t understand his accent. I tried really hard but eventually had to tell him I needed to call someone else. I felt really bad.  The next day I called and the rep. said the cruise I wanted to change to was not eligible. He said the rebooked cruise had to be within 3 months AFTER the original booked date. (I figured 2 weeks earlier was still “within 3 months”) So I said thanks and ended the call. 
 

I called the concierge back because he said to call anytime I had a question. I asked him if what the rep. said was true. He didn’t think so and put me on hold to check. He came back on and helped me rebook the cruise. I just had to wait until later that day for him to call me back as his supervisor needed to waive the change booking fee. 
 

So now I’m going on my cruise a half a month sooner.  I still have free drinks and wifi. Best of all I went from an interior to an obstructed view balcony for less than $2 more! I logged out of my MSCforme app and logged back in. The new cruise is showing! 
 

Lesson learned! Use a TA or at least a concierge. If I book again I’ll contact this concierge for sure! I owe him one! 

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by mawvkysc

[CTRobin]

I was disappointed to find that they would NOT transfer my Yacht Club deposit to a more expensive cruise on the same date, different itinerary, still in the YC. I wasn't cancelling a cruise, I was changing because it says I get ONE FREE CRUISE CHANGE.  Do they normally charge a fee if you change it? 

 

Also, the price to transfer to a different itinerary was almost $2k more than the advertised price online for new bookings. You have no idea what it really costs to change cruises until you get on the phone.

 

I don't know if I can even challenge it.

Edited November 16, 2022 by CTRobin

[mawvkysc]

1 hour ago, CTRobin said:

I was disappointed to find that they would NOT transfer my Yacht Club deposit to a more expensive cruise on the same date, different itinerary, still in the YC. I wasn't cancelling a cruise, I was changing because it says I get ONE FREE CRUISE CHANGE.  Do they normally charge a fee if you change it? 

 

Also, the price to transfer to a different itinerary was almost $2k more than the advertised price online for new bookings. You have no idea what it really costs to change cruises until you get on the phone.

 

I don't know if I can even challenge it.

Did you go ahead and switch? If so then  I think it may be too late. If not I would call back and try a different person. Or try and get a concierge to help you even though technically they can’t if you booked yourself online. One ended up helping me. Especially if you plan on cruising MSC again they may be willing to build a relationship with you. 
 

There is something different about YC deposits but I’m not sure it applies in this case or not. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by mawvkysc

[CTRobin]

2 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

Did you go ahead and switch? If so then  I think it may be too late. If not I would call back and try a different person. Or try and get a concierge to help you even though technically they can’t if you booked yourself online. One ended up helping me. Especially if you plan on cruising MSC again they may be willing to build a relationship with you. 
 

There is something different about YC deposits but I’m not sure it applies in this case or not. 

Yes, I did switch after talking to two separate MSC agents. I wanted to get a "second opinion". They both confirmed it was non-transferrable. I did send an email to them - can't hurt to try.

I have two YC Duplex suites booked on a 2024 cruise already. I will not be changing that for any reason. 😁

[zzdoug]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:03 AM, MsTabbyKats said:

I know it's a stupid question....but what does it mean I can change?  Cabins on my sailing, switch to another sailing, add someone....this statement is open to interpretation!

Not a stupid question. I was wondering the same thing. The website wasn't very descriptive. 

[perakcruiser]

On 6/27/2022 at 2:03 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

I know it's a stupid question....but what does it mean I can change?  Cabins on my sailing, switch to another sailing, add someone....this statement is open to interpretation!

What I can tell you is that you can change a passenger name without any costs. That is why we booked Fantastica on a Meraviglia cruise because it was not sure if my dad can join. I called MSC before to ask if "free change" means this and it was confirmed and later it was no problem to change to my brother.

[mawvkysc]

Sorry. Double post 

Edited November 22, 2022 by mawvkysc

[PG_traveller]

I have been wondering about this question also. My original booking is for a four nighter on the Divina out of Miami. Something has come up for that week, so I want to change to a seven nighter on the Meraviglia out of Port Canaveral two weeks later, which is more expensive. Also, the promo has changed. I booked it myself online. I will call tomorrow and see what they say. How does one get ahold of a concierge, if needed?

 

I imagine that I will lose the original promo, which was a free upgrade to Balcony and $100 OBC. The current promotion is free drinks and wifi and $50 OBC. Since I don't drink it is not that valuable to me. Anyway, I will report back with what I find out.

[PG_traveller]

23 hours ago, PG_traveller said:

I have been wondering about this question also. My original booking is for a four nighter on the Divina out of Miami. Something has come up for that week, so I want to change to a seven nighter on the Meraviglia out of Port Canaveral two weeks later, which is more expensive. Also, the promo has changed. I booked it myself online. I will call tomorrow and see what they say. How does one get ahold of a concierge, if needed?

 

I imagine that I will lose the original promo, which was a free upgrade to Balcony and $100 OBC. The current promotion is free drinks and wifi and $50 OBC. Since I don't drink it is not that valuable to me. Anyway, I will report back with what I find out.

 

Reporting back, as promised to let you all know about my cruise change, in case it helps someone in the future. I was able to easily change to a different cruise (different ship, different port) and keep my original promotion. Actually, I had a choice as to which promo I wanted to choose. 

 

Just for the record, I originally booked Fantastica, regular balcony, not Yacht Club. I am in Canada, so I called the MSC Canada number, and everything went smoothly. So all experiences with MSC Customer Service are not a nightmare.

[1kaper]

On 12/5/2022 at 7:08 PM, PG_traveller said:

 

Reporting back, as promised to let you all know about my cruise change, in case it helps someone in the future. I was able to easily change to a different cruise (different ship, different port) and keep my original promotion. Actually, I had a choice as to which promo I wanted to choose. 

 

Just for the record, I originally booked Fantastica, regular balcony, not Yacht Club. I am in Canada, so I called the MSC Canada number, and everything went smoothly. So all experiences with MSC Customer Service are not a nightmare.

I'm just adding to this thread because it came up when I searched.  I'll add my experience. 

 

Like this poster, dealing with MSC Canada, booked Fantastica, regular balcony, free drinks and wifi deal. 

 

Within the 50% cancellation penalty phase (46 days out), I was diagnosed with a medical condition that prevented me from sailing.  Despite always buying cancellation insurance, I did not.  I thought it was on my credit card, I used the wrong one. 

 

I called to change the cruise as far out as I could, hoping to be done treatment in time to go.  That would be June.  

The first person I spoke to, I asked if I could change from a Miami departure to a New York departure and was told I could.  (he initially said  I couldn't change at all despite the one free cruise change).  The NY cruise was cheaper if you booked a NY special, but no drinks and wifi. But it was cheap enough it made it worth it to add it on after.  First I was told that despite booking a cheaper fare, I would not get any money back, but I would not get the drinks and wifi.  If I wanted the drinks and wifi, it was considerably more expensive.  Then he told me that it was not a free cruise change, it was going to cost $400 plus.  So I called back. 

 

Before I called back I googled and saw that it was one free cruise change of "itinerary or date". So I figured that was the issue.  I found my same itinerary in June and called back.  I explained the whole situation. Basically I want to get on a boat as far in the future as I can without spending a ton more money.  I'd be happy with an inside room.  He confirmed that I could not switch to the NY sailing. 

I was told I could change to the June one for free.   But.  My room category was more expensive for that cruise and I would have to pay the difference.  Another $1000 plus.  I asked for a cheaper room but they were all sold out. 

The agent was sympathetic to my situation and did take it to his supervisor hoping to get some sort of exemption but unfortunately he did not. 

Since I am not 100% sure I'll even be able to sail in June, we opted to cancel. 

 

Customer service was a bit frustrating.  I waited an hour both times to get through.  The first guy clearly had no idea what he was doing from the get go.  (I also called another time with a question of how the cancellation penalty would work if I moved the date out and then cancelled but never got the answer).  The second guy was at least competent and tried to help. 

Edited January 27, 2023 by 1kaper

[talljules1]

On 6/27/2022 at 1:03 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

I know it's a stupid question....but what does it mean I can change?  Cabins on my sailing, switch to another sailing, add someone....this statement is open to interpretation!

That's a good question! We've already changed our cabin via our TA from a YC Balcony suite to a Duplex via our TA (who has been on the lookout since we made the booking, because this is the room we really wanted). Does this count as the 1 free change?