Boarding multiple cabins w/ one Diamond member

[aeraen]

This will be our first MSC cruise, and we're taking our adult children along with us, so three cabins. 

 

Because he has comperable status with a hotel brand,  my husband was granted Diamond status with MSC.  Yeah!  We will certainly take advantage of the express boarding.   However,  I am wondering if our children in separate, but linked, cabins can ride our coattails to the early boarding.   It appears a bit churlish to say "Ta ta!" while they wait in the long "steerage" line and we skip ahead! 

 

Have any Diamond members traveled with others on linked reservations and been able to parlay that status to include others traveling with them, but in separate cabins?

[hawkeyetlse]

It is completely up to the staff in the terminal who gets to use the priority check-in line, so you can try it. It is obviously not an official policy that a single Diamond member can extend his/her status benefits to an arbitrary number of additional cabins.

 

[TheSoccerCoach]

12 hours ago, aeraen said:

This will be our first MSC cruise, and we're taking our adult children along with us, so three cabins. 

 

Because he has comperable status with a hotel brand,  my husband was granted Diamond status with MSC.  Yeah!  We will certainly take advantage of the express boarding.   However,  I am wondering if our children in separate, but linked, cabins can ride our coattails to the early boarding.   It appears a bit churlish to say "Ta ta!" while they wait in the long "steerage" line and we skip ahead! 

 

Have any Diamond members traveled with others on linked reservations and been able to parlay that status to include others traveling with them, but in separate cabins?

What port are you embarking out of? 

[sidari]

2 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

It is completely up to the staff in the terminal who gets to use the priority check-in line, so you can try it. It is obviously not an official policy that a single Diamond member can extend his/her status benefits to an arbitrary number of additional cabins.

 

I think you will find it is restricted to those in the same cabin as the Diamond card holder. If everyone who held a Diamond card was to take on those in every cabin who they are with then it would be a pointless exercise giving priority boarding.

Edited November 12, 2022 by sidari

[Cruiseforever11]

If you have all booked the Aurea grade of cabin you would all get priority boarding. If you haven’t then Diamond would get priority but others would have to check in as normal as Sidari has said.

[JAGR]

3 hours ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

If you have all booked the Aurea grade of cabin you would all get priority boarding. If you haven’t then Diamond would get priority but others would have to check in as normal as Sidari has said.

The rooms are booked in Bella class, per the OP in another post, which would make using the Diamond boarding perk a bit too much to ask for.

 

To my mind, it is like a family booked together in coach on a flight.  If one of the family members gets or merits an upgrade to First, you would not expect that to entitle the passenger to have all the family members board in the early First Class boarding group.

Edited November 12, 2022 by JAGR

[WoodyWindy]

50 minutes ago, JAGR said:

The rooms are booked in Bella class, per the OP in another post, which would make using the Diamond boarding perk a bit too much to ask for.

 

To my mind, it is like a family booked together in coach on a flight.  If one of the family members gets or merits an upgrade to First, you would not expect that to entitle the passenger to have all the family members board in the early First Class boarding group.

Actually, most airlines will board all members of a single ITN with the highest status member of the group. I'm not sure about MSC boarding, though, the odds of success are higher their booking codes are linked.

[CruisingFox27]

I don't know if there is an official policy on how far the diamond benefit can be extended. The additional person in the cabin would be reasonable. Extending it to 5 other adults in 2 other cabins would be something of a stretch and outside the bounds of acceptable in my personal opinion. 

If the majority of the party had diamond, then I wouldn't see an issue in all boarding as priority but 1 or out of 6 seems to be taking liberties. 

[Morgsmom]

For 2 other cabins, who booked Bella, for whom it is their first MSC cruise to jump on the coattails seems bit of a stretch, IMO

[JAGR]

17 hours ago, WoodyWindy said:

Actually, most airlines will board all members of a single ITN with the highest status member of the group. I'm not sure about MSC boarding, though, the odds of success are higher their booking codes are linked.

Not AA or DL.

[Raj.K]

21 hours ago, WoodyWindy said:

Actually, most airlines will board all members of a single ITN with the highest status member of the group. I'm not sure about MSC boarding, though, the odds of success are higher their booking codes are linked.

Isn't the boarding order dependant on seating class or number on planes? Even access to lounges is limited to usually to member and one guest (on the same flight) on most airlines, right?

[WoodyWindy]

9 hours ago, JAGR said:

Not AA or DL.

That is not my experience. I have always seen the highest status prevail for travel companions. (I've been flying AA for years. Not quite Million Miler, but in the upper-mid hundreds of thousands, and multiple years of EXP.)

Edited November 14, 2022 by WoodyWindy

[WoodyWindy]

6 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Isn't the boarding order dependant on seating class or number on planes? Even access to lounges is limited to usually to member and one guest (on the same flight) on most airlines, right?

Access to lounges has its own rules, which are very different from boarding groups. Generally the whole party can board with the boarding group of the earliest member. (Also applies to early boarding for people needing special assistance - when that is available at all. Usually the whole party is allowed to board...).

Edited November 14, 2022 by WoodyWindy

[JAGR]

16 hours ago, WoodyWindy said:

That is not my experience. I have always seen the highest status prevail for travel companions. (I've been flying AA for years. Not quite Million Miler, but in the upper-mid hundreds of thousands, and multiple years of EXP.)

I'm Executive Platinum, so when I travel with DW I get her upgraded.  I would never think about having people I am traveling with on business tailgate with my boarding in Group 1.  If you choose to do it, fine, but I tend to follow the printed rules, so I wouldn't try it.

[WoodyWindy]

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

I'm Executive Platinum, so when I travel with DW I get her upgraded.  I would never think about having people I am traveling with on business tailgate with my boarding in Group 1.  If you choose to do it, fine, but I tend to follow the printed rules, so I wouldn't try it.

For reference, my context is almost all concerning family groups, which is what I thought this thread was about. I'm a whole lot more skeptical of tour groups trying to do something like that. Business cooworkers are a bit of an in-between state. In that instance, I would expect for a single travel companion on the same ITN would not be an issue. An entire department on an outing to a retreat or conference, unless they bought out the premium seating, would be more along the lines of the tour group mentioned above. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by WoodyWindy

[aeraen]

All of those who are offended at the question can unclutch your pearls now.  I only asked because I was part of a family group that was unexpectedly offered this courtesy on another cruise line when we had five cabins and wondered if MSC's service was as good. 

 

I had no intention of marching up to the desk in full Karen mode and demanding the courtesy.  As I said in my original post, I was torn between utilizing the option and leaving my kids to stand in line, or asking if they can be included.  I am going to ask upon boarding, but if the answer is "no" (worst case scenario), I would rather just wait with my kids.  This is the only opportunity to see them this winter, as we are all in different cities, so my spouse and I are using our annual vacation funds to treat them (hence, the simple Bella class that some appear to sniff at.)

[RC Dancers]

I am in the same situation as the original poster, the only Diamond in a family group of eight. I guess the only way to find out is to try. 🙂

[HipHipOnAShip]

On 11/20/2022 at 7:18 PM, aeraen said:

All of those who are offended at the question can unclutch your pearls now.  I only asked because I was part of a family group that was unexpectedly offered this courtesy on another cruise line when we had five cabins and wondered if MSC's service was as good. 

 

I had no intention of marching up to the desk in full Karen mode and demanding the courtesy.  As I said in my original post, I was torn between utilizing the option and leaving my kids to stand in line, or asking if they can be included.  I am going to ask upon boarding, but if the answer is "no" (worst case scenario), I would rather just wait with my kids.  This is the only opportunity to see them this winter, as we are all in different cities, so my spouse and I are using our annual vacation funds to treat them (hence, the simple Bella class that some appear to sniff at.)

No one is clutching their pearls.  I might say that the fact that you posed the question meant that you had doubt in your mind. The thought of stretching the courtesy of one cabin priority boarding to ALL cabins having priority boarding is, well, a bit entitled, is it not?  

 

By asking someone at the port (who is NOT an MSC employee) to honor the request you are putting them in an awkward situation because they don't know if you are going to snap on them and start getting all "well, I'm Diamond" ...

 

No one is sniffing at Bella category; it's a fabulous option.  However, with categories of service on MSC as well as levels of status there comes different services.  So if you are in Fantastica does that mean the other cabins you are traveling with can get room service breakfast without charge?  

 

If you are all linked for dinner take that as a win.  As Far as boarding, for the extra 10 minutes it might take you might to stick with your kids vs putting everyone in an odd situation to start out the cruise.

 

[carlmm]

 

1 hour ago, RC Dancers said:

I am in the same situation as the original poster, the only Diamond in a family group of eight. I guess the only way to find out is to try. 🙂

You know you are not entitled to. You know you want to induce somebody to grant seven people something all the other guests waiting in line would like to have, too. One out of eight, really?

Why do you think it is okay to put somebody in the uncomfortable situation of having either to act against the rules or to deny a customer a request?

[hamrag]

5 hours ago, RC Dancers said:

I am in the same situation as the original poster, the only Diamond in a family group of eight. I guess the only way to find out is to try. 🙂

Why not just join the other seven in the family group, and board with them! That way, you do all board at the same time....🙄

[sidari]

Maybe everyone In Aurea could join the yacht club line ... 😁

[emmas gran]

I really don't get why people think they are entitled!! Get in line like everyone else, if you don't want to queue pay the price.

[aeraen]

I just wanted to let all the church-ladies here know that I never did ask to have my children boarded early with my spouse and I... because the MSC people checking us in beat me to it!  They looked at our record and asked where the rest of our party was.   We waved the "kids" over and we were all checked in together.  Evidently it made it easier for the staff to check us in as a group, rather than individual cabins.  

It was a courtesy particularly appreciated by my spouse, who spend part of the night before performing CPR on a patient (a father of three young adults just like us).  He managed to bring the man back to life just as the doctor was about to call it.  Spouse was still tired and sore (CPR is physically exhausting for the person performing it) and appreciated not having to stand in line, but would have done so if our kids had to. 

[Bobbiegentry]

On 1/21/2023 at 1:04 PM, aeraen said:

 We waved the "kids" over and we were all checked in together.

That’s unfortunate. 

[CazualCruzer]

On 11/13/2022 at 10:53 AM, JAGR said:

Not AA or DL.

I’ve been Executive Platinum or ConciergeKey with AA for almost 20 years, and have never, ever had an issue with my family boarding or pre-boarding with me even if one or more of us is in Coach.