Is it possible to change my cabin within the same category without canceling?

[aero777]

When I booked,the cabin I wanted wasn’t available so I took the one next to it. Now, 45 days out the cabin I want shows available. It’s the same category and the price/perks the same as when I booked. Can the call center just change my cabin? Thanks!

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by aero777

[DingoMom]

I am pretty sure, YES! Same category, same price, no problem!

[aero777]

44 minutes ago, DingoMom said:

I am pretty sure, YES! Same category, same price, no problem!

Thanks, calling tomorrow. 

[Mark_T]

3 hours ago, aero777 said:

Thanks, calling tomorrow. 

One word of caution, they have a tendency to update prices whenever they touch a reservation, so you may have to call again to get this corrected.

 

Do let us know how it goes.

[aero777]

6 hours ago, Mark_T said:

One word of caution, they have a tendency to update prices whenever they touch a reservation, so you may have to call again to get this corrected.

 

Do let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the heads up. I called and they don’t show the cabin I want available even though it shows up in a mock booking on their website. It also shows up using another website. Weird.

[Illbcruzn4life]

12 hours ago, aero777 said:

When I booked,the cabin I wanted wasn’t available so I took the one next to it. Now, 45 days out the cabin I want shows available. It’s the same category and the price/perks the same as when I booked. Can the call center just change my cabin? Thanks!

 

just wan't to say that nothing is ever easy with changes. Good Luck!

[Tierun]

1 hour ago, aero777 said:

Thanks for the heads up. I called and they don’t show the cabin I want available even though it shows up in a mock booking on their website. It also shows up using another website. Weird.

I had this issue when I made a booking last night. The crazy part is that there was only one cabin that showed up for the rep, but after making the booking 6 new cabins suddenly appear open. I called back and got the cabin I originally wanted. So maybe switch to another cabin and then call back to possibly get the cabin you wanted.

[aero777]

After talking to the rep, I did another mock booking with the cabin I want except this time I went all the way to the payment page to see if it would let me. It did. Now the cabin doesn’t show up anymore, so I may have messed up 🥴 I’ll keep looking tho

[Stockjock]

Here's my recommendation:

My concern is two-fold.

1. They might count your change of cabins as your one free change.

2. MSC customer service screws things up (pricing, your cabin, OBC, etc), more often that not.

If the existing reservation is refundable, I'd book what you want as a duplicate booking.  If that's in good order, just cancel the other.  The only downside would be that they hold your first deposit for a few weeks, but that wouldn't bother me much.

[timf2001]

If you start a mock booking, the system may lock the cabin out from being selected for a period of time so no else tries to book it while you are finishing your booking.  You may be able to bypass the delay by changing the mock booking to a different cabin before closing your browser, but otherwise you have to wait for the hold to be released.

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, aero777 said:

After talking to the rep, I did another mock booking with the cabin I want except this time I went all the way to the payment page to see if it would let me. It did. Now the cabin doesn’t show up anymore, so I may have messed up 🥴 I’ll keep looking tho

 

The booking engine will keep that cabin on 'hold' for a short period of time, but usually within the hour the cabin opens back up. TA and Agent booking engines work differently than the public websites for all cruise lines. That can lead to the very situation you describe when someone cancels. You see it online, but the agents can't actually access it for whatever reason. I've seen folks post about similar situations across Cruise Critic. We've sailed 9 cruise lines so far so we're in a bunch of these forums. If the MSC agents can't change it, perhaps talk to your TA to see if they can get it changed through their contacts. They have both a direct line to call MSC agents and they should have a specific MSC rep to contact. Our TA has been able to 'make some things happen' when the 800 call centers can't. Not all the time, but on occasion it works out. 

 

Regardless of your cabin, you're on a cruise ship being tended to 24 hours a day, have an amazing time! 🙂 

[Illbcruzn4life]

11 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Here's my recommendation:

My concern is two-fold.

1. They might count your change of cabins as your one free change.

2. MSC customer service screws things up (pricing, your cabin, OBC, etc), more often that not.

If the existing reservation is refundable, I'd book what you want as a duplicate booking.  If that's in good order, just cancel the other.  The only downside would be that they hold your first deposit for a few weeks, but that wouldn't bother me much.

A few weeks?

[Stockjock]

38 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

A few weeks?

 

12 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Here's my recommendation:

My concern is two-fold.

1. They might count your change of cabins as your one free change.

2. MSC customer service screws things up (pricing, your cabin, OBC, etc), more often that not.

If the existing reservation is refundable, I'd book what you want as a duplicate booking.  If that's in good order, just cancel the other.  The only downside would be that they hold your first deposit for a few weeks, but that wouldn't bother me much.

The first time I read the OP's comments, I didn't see the part about being only 45 days out, which means they're within the final payment period, and thus subject to penalty if they cancel the first booking.  So ignore my prior comments based on that.

If it was me, if it's a really major big deal, then the only option would be to call customer service.  But as we've mentioned, calling customer service can trigger price changes and such.  I probably would try hard not to monkey with the reservation, if possible.

[aero777]

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments and words of caution. The cabin I wanted showed available again this morning. Apparently MSC holds a cabin for about 24 hrs if you go far enough with a mock booking. Yesterday when I called the rep only showed 1 cabin available in my cabin category (although MSC & other booking sites showed 7) and it wasn’t the one I wanted. Today I called and the rep found the cabin I wanted and made the switch with no problem. She sent the confirmation and waited until I opened it to make sure nothing else had changed. Very quick and efficient So score one for MSC customer service.

[Stockjock]

20 minutes ago, aero777 said:

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments and words of caution. The cabin I wanted showed available again this morning. Apparently MSC holds a cabin for about 24 hrs if you go far enough with a mock booking. Yesterday when I called the rep only showed 1 cabin available in my cabin category (although MSC & other booking sites showed 7) and it wasn’t the one I wanted. Today I called and the rep found the cabin I wanted and made the switch with no problem. She sent the confirmation and waited until I opened it to make sure nothing else had changed. Very quick and efficient So score one for MSC customer service.

You mean you called MSC customer service, they changed cabins and nothing got screwed up?

It's a miracle!

[aero777]

2 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

You mean you called MSC customer service, they changed cabins and nothing got screwed up?

It's a miracle!

Well, not yet 🤞🏻

[kjquilts]

16 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

You mean you called MSC customer service, they changed cabins and nothing got screwed up?

It's a miracle!

 

I experienced the same miracle for upcoming cruise on the Meraviglia.  So far all good.

[maehara]

Hey, I had reason to call CS today to add the Minors drink package for our kids (website wouldn’t let me do it there).  Seems to have been a successful engagement. 
 

Although I guess I should wait for our updated e-ticket to arrive before celebrating… 😬🤞

[Stockjock]

15 minutes ago, maehara said:

Hey, I had reason to call CS today to add the Minors drink package for our kids (website wouldn’t let me do it there).  Seems to have been a successful engagement. 
 

Although I guess I should wait for our updated e-ticket to arrive before celebrating… 😬🤞

Maybe they're improving things (he wrote, while secretly doubting that was true).

[Illbcruzn4life]

13 hours ago, Stockjock said:

 

The first time I read the OP's comments, I didn't see the part about being only 45 days out, which means they're within the final payment period, and thus subject to penalty if they cancel the first booking.  So ignore my prior comments based on that.

If it was me, if it's a really major big deal, then the only option would be to call customer service.  But as we've mentioned, calling customer service can trigger price changes and such.  I probably would try hard not to monkey with the reservation, if possible.

I only said 3 weeks because you were really giving them the benefit of the doubt with the refund timeline. lol

[ddlb]

For what it’s worth, I didn’t know you could downgrade and keep the same booking number. Today I downgraded my balcony to an ocean view, and even got to keep the original flash pricing for a solo. Totally unexpected. No penalties involved.

[floor13]

I also was able to easily change my cabin and didn't encounter any problems. The rep seemed a little unsure about certain aspects of working within their software which made me concerned, but in the end it all worked out despite the call taking longer than it would with other cruise lines I've sailed. Everything associated with my booking and the pricing were unchanged.