10/13 MSC Meraviglia total disaster

[perakcruiser]

8 minutes ago, mt234 said:

everything i’ve ever heard about MSC is bad. our TA will not even book this line and neither will many others. 🤮

I am sure your TA has the lowest rank with MSC and is more or less ignored by MSC, so he started to ignore MSC, because he anyway has no chance to reach a higher tier 😄  

[JAGR]

I'm curious about how boarding went on the 16th, since I'm on the week after.

[rdslone]

I can not begin to describe how badly this cruise line is run. There is no excuse for treating people this way! I called four times while in line begging to reschedule and go home before getting on the ship after 5 hours. Two hours to disembark on the express departure! We had the drink package and over half the time the first and second beer I would request was not available. This happened at all the bars and it was just easier to ask what they had. The breakfast buffet was ridiculously crowded, over an hour long for a muffin. I expect crowds and lines at Disney, Universal, etc we go all the time but I have never experienced wait times like this on a cruise. The highlight was finally getting off the boat and to a place to eat. I talked with many people that bought the dining plan but could not get a reservation to use it. They are not prepared for 4000 people. I think 2000 people and the cruise would have been better but they are clearly understaffed, not trained, and have poor leadership. It took 30 minutes at the counter to get our key to the room. You can’t treat people like this, coast guard I am sure caused an issue but that was just a portion of the problem. We all deserve a full refund in my opinion it was not safe, people were getting angry. Heaven forbid they ever have an issue at sea. Avoid this cruise line if you can, you get what you pay for! We did like our cabin it was very nice. Crew seemed to do there best but it was just to much to ask for them to overcome.

[gramy]

15 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

did you read email? what did it say?

 

The Email never happened; it was supposed to say boarding was changed to noon we were told originally to be there at 10:00.  That also didn't happen started late afternoon and took many hours. Heard some got on at 7:30.

[thepaulse]

I was also on this cruise but I think I didn't have as bad of a time as others as I was prepared for a few things:

 

I saw this was their arrival date and the letter that came with the check-in PDF specifically stated not to arrive to the port earlier than 2:30 p.m. due to needing to be cleared by Coast guard. That alerted me that embarkation was going to be a s*** show because they were going to try and sail the same day they got Coast guard clearance. It took me about two and a half hours from the time I got there to get on board, and I know my wait time was slightly shorter than others because I had diamond status matched from my Platinum with DCL, so once I got inside I was able to skip quite a bit of the line. 

 

I had also read that food was hit or miss and to focus on things that were Italian being an Italian cruise line... This was great advice because the fresh made mozzarella on board was heavenly and the pizza was pretty darn good most of the time. The lasagna with béchamel was also delicious. The charcuterie was a great highlight as well. 

 

There are definitely some efficiency issues stemming from a combination of insufficient staffing, new staff, American expectations, lots of new cruisers, one of the biggest ships at sea, and a few areas of just poor planning. 

 

I will likely cruise with MSC one more time to see if things improve in a few months, as their private island is gorgeous, the ship is gorgeous and well designed, and the price is fantastic. Heck, the price alone dictates that I'm going to have some sort of trade-offs somewhere... 

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, mt234 said:

everything i’ve ever heard about MSC is bad. our TA will not even book this line and neither will many others. 🤮

TAs don't book MSC because if there's an issue....it's hard to get MSC to co-operate.  Things that are simple on other lines (i.e. price change) are "cancel and rebook" on MSC.  They spend a lot of time and make little money.

[luvavacation]

1 minute ago, MsTabbyKats said:

TAs don't book MSC because if there's an issue....it's hard to get MSC to co-operate.  Things that are simple on other lines (i.e. price change) are "cancel and rebook" on MSC.  They spend a lot of time and make little money.

What she said!!!

 

Thankfully my clients' cruises haven't had their OBC go missing, but mine did!  

 

Months before my cruise, I had called MSC's TA line regarding something innocuous. The agent erroneously removed my Voyager's Club OBC, and she couldn't get it back.  I couldn't cancel and rebook due to it being past final payment.

 

After phone calls, emails to MSC existing reservations, and Voyager's Club, and even the TA business development managers, I had not one reply.  Not one!

 

It wasn't until I was on the ship, and thankfully in Yacht Club with a concierge who emailed Naples, Italy, that I received my OBC. And no, this wasn't a special TA fare - I paid for Yacht Club because it was a great price when booked last year. 

 

I am glad it was my own booking that had the issue, but it is unbelievably frustrating to be a TA, trying to do right for your clients (or your own family, in my case!), and realizing that unless you have the email for MSC in Naples, Italy, you are going to have a hard time fixing any issues.  I don't blame other TA's for not wanting to deal with the mess of MSC customer service.

 

If MSC truly wants to court the North American clientele, they need to improve the customer service.  I am from Europe, but I grew up in America - I am familiar with the different, less "customer focused" mindset for companies overseas, but if you market for the States, someone in corporate has to realize the customer service game needs to step up a notch.

[CampNCruise74]

32 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

TAs don't book MSC because if there's an issue....it's hard to get MSC to co-operate.  Things that are simple on other lines (i.e. price change) are "cancel and rebook" on MSC.  They spend a lot of time and make little money.

Any TA's out there want to speak to all the free perks MSC gives you compared to Carnival and its affiliates?   I would be really anxious to hear about it.   Not arguing about the co-operation/call Italy thing.   

[CampNCruise74]

28 minutes ago, luvavacation said:

What she said!!!

 

Thankfully my clients' cruises haven't had their OBC go missing, but mine did!  

 

Months before my cruise, I had called MSC's TA line regarding something innocuous. The agent erroneously removed my Voyager's Club OBC, and she couldn't get it back.  I couldn't cancel and rebook due to it being past final payment.

 

After phone calls, emails to MSC existing reservations, and Voyager's Club, and even the TA business development managers, I had not one reply.  Not one!

 

It wasn't until I was on the ship, and thankfully in Yacht Club with a concierge who emailed Naples, Italy, that I received my OBC. And no, this wasn't a special TA fare - I paid for Yacht Club because it was a great price when booked last year. 

 

I am glad it was my own booking that had the issue, but it is unbelievably frustrating to be a TA, trying to do right for your clients (or your own family, in my case!), and realizing that unless you have the email for MSC in Naples, Italy, you are going to have a hard time fixing any issues.  I don't blame other TA's for not wanting to deal with the mess of MSC customer service.

 

If MSC truly wants to court the North American clientele, they need to improve the customer service.  I am from Europe, but I grew up in America - I am familiar with the different, less "customer focused" mindset for companies overseas, but if you market for the States, someone in corporate has to realize the customer service game needs to step up a notch.

I did not know they had a substantial TA fare?  Have you received it?  Do Travel companies purchase huge blocks of rooms with MSC in advance?  I am not aware of this happening. I also am not sure MSC is courting anybody from the US specifically.  Since half of Miami are people not from the US, it makes sense that this is where the hub is.   After having problems with them myself for a few times now, I honestly believe they might not care. Its not a deal breaker though for me when I look at my bottom line. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by CampNCruise74

[luvavacation]

20 minutes ago, CampNCruise74 said:

I did not know they had a substantial TA fare?  Have you received it?  Do Travel companies purchase huge blocks of rooms with MSC in advance?  I am not aware of this happening. I also am not sure MSC is courting anybody from the US specifically.  Since half of Miami are people not from the US, it makes sense that this is where the hub is.   After having problems with them myself for a few times now, I honestly believe they might not care. Its not a deal breaker though for me when I look at my bottom line. 

I am afraid the times of great perks for being a TA are long gone.  Now the best perk is just a happy client that comes home and thanks you for helping them have a wonderful vacation with their friends and family!

Edited October 17, 2022 by luvavacation

[perakcruiser]

17 minutes ago, CampNCruise74 said:

Any TA's out there want to speak to all the free perks MSC gives you compared to Carnival and its affiliates?   I would be really anxious to hear about it.   Not arguing about the co-operation/call Italy thing.   

I am not a TA but I know the system of MSC. You have to have the MSC TA rank "COMMANDER" to get a good connection to MSC. My TA is a "Commander" 😄 and has a very good connection to MSC, even can change a Bella booking that technically cannot be changed. Commanders also get special bonuses, incentives and so on. Usually all TA have a special connection with one or two lines and then of cause they will try to move their clients to these lines. 

[BaracW]

My family was boarding the ship on 10/16, as the 10/13 cruise was disembarking.  We had to stand in a line for 2.5 hour (with 82 and 78 year old parents) while you all were held on board. There was no explanation, no direction, though they did pass water out. After originally being told to arrive at 11-11:30am for boarding, we finally got on board at about 2pm. Now, we are circling around Ocean Cay on a beautiful sunny day, because the current is too strong for the ship to enter the channel. That should have been accounted for when building the island. We will see how the rest of the cruise and our final disembarkation goes.

Edited October 17, 2022 by BaracW
Typo

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, mt234 said:

everything i’ve ever heard about MSC is bad. our TA will not even book this line and neither will many others. 🤮

Don't knock until you try it.  There's lots of wonderful things about MSC...we just hear more about the bad than the good.

[Acrobatu2]

1 minute ago, perakcruiser said:

I am not a TA but I know the system of MSC. You have to have the MSC TA rank "COMMANDER" to get a good connection to MSC. My TA is a "Commander" 😄 and has a very good connection to MSC, even can change a Bella booking that technically cannot be changed. Commanders also get special bonuses, incentives and so on. Usually all TA have a special connection with one or two lines and then of cause they will try to move their clients to these lines. 

Can I ask you the contact of your TA and if He/She caters to the US market?

[Gatordad1967]

2 hours ago, mt234 said:

everything i’ve ever heard about MSC is bad. our TA will not even book this line and neither will many others. 🤮

your TA is missing out.

 

[1kaper]

I met two TAs on my first MSC cruise and specifically asked them about the rumour I heard that TAs won't work with MSC.  One of them said she deals with MSC only and has never had an issue with them.  Both had nothing but good things to say about dealing with them. 
I also recently connected to another TA who is the head of our sailing online group.  Also reports having no issues with MSC and frequently cruises with them.  I'm going to book through him next time. 

 

I've also read about the rank system someone mentioned above so I suspect those with positive things to say about dealing with MSC have the higher rank. 

[perakcruiser]

13 minutes ago, Acrobatu2 said:

Can I ask you the contact of your TA and if He/She caters to the US market?

Unfortunately not handling the US market. And for legal reasons also not willing to do. But I think when the numbers for 2022 are calculated quite a number of US TA will get the highest rank from MSC in 2023. 

[rdslone]

43 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Don't knock until you try it.  There's lots of wonderful things about MSC...we just hear more about the bad than the good.

There is nothing good about MSC, I tried it!

[Boca10arg]

5 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yeah I don’t think it was too difficult to figure out. 

I saw on the second comment that it was Port Canaveral and then saw mention of Ocean Cay. People gotta grumble LOL 

[Boca10arg]

40 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

I met two TAs on my first MSC cruise and specifically asked them about the rumour I heard that TAs won't work with MSC.  One of them said she deals with MSC only and has never had an issue with them.  Both had nothing but good things to say about dealing with them. 
I also recently connected to another TA who is the head of our sailing online group.  Also reports having no issues with MSC and frequently cruises with them.  I'm going to book through him next time. 

 

I've also read about the rank system someone mentioned above so I suspect those with positive things to say about dealing with MSC have the higher rank. 

I know of two travel agents in Gainesville FL who refuse to book MSC but I haven't sailed with them yet to make my own judgment. I plan to do just that 😊

[mafig]

My TA has said that MSC is just about the same as the other cruise lines and that they have a special telephone number to call them if there's a problem and there's no waiting.

 

I remember about 10 years or so ago when some travel agents would not book Norwegian because of "too many customer complaints."  I heard it really was because their bonuses to TAs was lower.

Edited October 17, 2022 by mafig

[Stockjock]

 I just wrote a new thread about MSC's pros and cons.  There are cons for sure, but there are a lot of good things as well.  I do note that while there is more work to be done, I am seeing progress on several fronts. 

[Gatordad1967]

46 minutes ago, rdslone said:

There is nothing good about MSC, I tried it!

then why are you here?

[rdslone]

12 minutes ago, Gatordad1967 said:

then why are you here?

To try and save others from the same fate I had. I will do everything in my power to try an cost them business since they completely ruined the vacations of so many this weekend. That is why! Why you have an issue with that!

[Gatordad1967]

1 minute ago, rdslone said:

To try and save others from the same fate I had. I will do everything in my power to try an cost them business since they completely ruined the vacations of so many this weekend. That is why! Why you have an issue with that!

nobody likes a whiner.