Is it me is it msc or is it them? Bad reviews

[Beamafar]

15 minutes ago, JCOvergaar said:

 

It was an off-menu offer (see previous posting).

[3DogDay]

10 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

it was the Seaside out of Rio, and maybe that’s what made the difference. Giving credit where it is absolutely due, our cabin attendant was great. He even straightened the balcony chairs, which I had a bad habit or rearranging. 
 

I still owe @JamieLogical a full write up, and I’m going to get to that this weekend. 

I wanted to make a correction - it was the SEAVIEW and NOT the Seaside. 

[3DogDay]

10 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

t was the Seaside out of Rio, and maybe that’s what made the difference. Giving credit where it is absolutely due, our cabin attendant was great. He even straightened the balcony chairs, which I had a bad habit or rearranging. 

I wanted to make a correction - it was the SEAVIEW and NOT the Seaside. 

[JCOvergaar]

3 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

It was an off-menu offer (see previous posting).

I didn’t photograph every day’s menu on our last cruise (11 nights on Divina), but surf and turf was an option on it every day that I can recall. We never had laminated signs advertising specials like TGI Fridays, thought 
 

On elegant night, they had a duo of swordfish and a terrifying king prawn, if that’s a decent sub for lobster. 
 

On White night, our waiter said he saw how much my wife liked the prawn and brought a plate with *four* them to the table, and placed it so they were all looking at me, with their creepy feeler things pointing at me.  In red sauce. 10000 points for over the top service, but minus a few for red sauce when we’re both in pure white, and quite a lot more because multiple creepy water cockroaches staring at me was past it 🤣

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, JCOvergaar said:

I didn’t photograph every day’s menu on our last cruise (11 nights on Divina), but surf and turf was an option on it every day that I can recall. We never had laminated signs advertising specials like TGI Fridays, thought 
 

On elegant night, they had a duo of swordfish and a terrifying king prawn, if that’s a decent sub for lobster. 
 

On White night, our waiter said he saw how much my wife liked the prawn and brought a plate with *four* them to the table, and placed it so they were all looking at me, with their creepy feeler things pointing at me.  In red sauce. 10000 points for over the top service, but minus a few for red sauce when we’re both in pure white, and quite a lot more because multiple creepy water cockroaches staring at me was past it 🤣

 

You didn't have lobster at no upcharge on the Divina just recently? We were on the 2/11-2/22 11-day sailing and had it the last night of the cruise (not a Gala night) along with a full presentation by the crew with Baked Alaska and singing and dancing.

[JCOvergaar]

28 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You didn't have lobster at no upcharge on the Divina just recently? We were on the 2/11-2/22 11-day sailing and had it the last night of the cruise (not a Gala night) along with a full presentation by the crew with Baked Alaska and singing and dancing.

It’s certainly possible. I don’t like seafood and don’t pay much attention to it unless it’s literally staring me in the face. Did you do the Cartagena/colon/limon cruise? We did that one exactly 2 years ago (sailed 3/13/2022 (where the menu pics were taken), and are doing it again in 26 days 🙂

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, JCOvergaar said:

It’s certainly possible. I don’t like seafood and don’t pay much attention to it unless it’s literally staring me in the face. Did you do the Cartagena/colon/limon cruise? We did that one exactly 2 years ago (sailed 3/13/2022 (where the menu pics were taken), and are doing it again in 26 days 🙂

 

Our port stops were Ocho Rios, Aruba, Cartagena, Colon, Roatan, and Cozumel.

[Jay Es]

5 hours ago, JCOvergaar said:

The US website is indeed terrible, as is the app. Try signing up for VC without being logged in.  Try signing up logged into the European site or UK site. 
 

You can also email MSCVoyagersClub@msccruisesusa.com and after several days they will look into the issue and reply. Just got an email about fixing the second account (with no diamond status or vc membership at all) the casino agent booked me under. They figured out that she  had entered my DOB incorrectly, and that caused the divergence. Also my address (indan instead of Indiana, adv instead of ave) and a few other bits, but it was the dob that screwed everything up. 

good luck!

The problem is the way the address form is set up. You enter your Zip Code, and it automatically fills in the City and State. But it does not recognize my zip code, so it just says "error retrieving address". And it does not give me the option of typing in my city and state. So, I'm stuck at that point and can not proceed. 

 

I have emailed them, at MSCVoyagersClub@msccruisesusa.com, explaining this, even including a screen capture showing the error. But when they reply, they simply give me a link back to the same page. 🤦‍♂️

 

I had the same issue trying to check in, but I was able to talk to someone, and they entered the information for me. There's no one to talk to at the voyagers club. They operate using email only.

 

I had the same problem applying for a Brazil visa, so it's not just MSC, but I've never had this problem with Carnival or Royal Caribbean! 

 

BTW, how is South Bend these days? I used to live there years ago.

[JCOvergaar]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Our port stops were Ocho Rios, Aruba, Cartagena, Colon, Roatan, and Cozumel.

Ah, neat. Ours were ocean cay, ocho rios (supposed to be another one but we were diverted because of who knows), Aruba, Cartagena, colon, Puerto Limon Costa Rica. This next one removes ocean cay and adds Roatan.  Should be fun.
 

Any suggestions for Cartagena? We had a horrible time there last time. Long bus ride to a walking tour or something that wasn’t well done, ended up on a bus to get off at some shop or  restaurant, I forget, but they skipped it. and several others. At this point we’re planning to hit a beach or stay onboard. Don’t need any more emeralds.

 

and Colon was a bust, too. Our train ride was canceled and people said you can’t really wander around Colon. We got off for a few minutes and took a couple photos of the boat. Suggestions there would be good, too. Canal related stuff just isn’t very interesting.

[JCOvergaar]

17 minutes ago, Jay Es said:

The problem is the way the address form is set up. You enter your Zip Code, and it automatically fills in the City and State. But it does not recognize my zip code, so it just says "error retrieving address". And it does not give me the option of typing in my city and state. So, I'm stuck at that point and can not proceed. 

 

I have emailed them, at MSCVoyagersClub@msccruisesusa.com, explaining this, even including a screen capture showing the error. But when they reply, they simply give me a link back to the same page. 🤦‍♂️

 

I had the same issue trying to check in, but I was able to talk to someone, and they entered the information for me. There's no one to talk to at the voyagers club. They operate using email only.

 

I had the same problem applying for a Brazil visa, so it's not just MSC, but I've never had this problem with Carnival or Royal Caribbean! 

 

BTW, how is South Bend these days? I used to live there years ago.

Try putting in the wrong zip code for your town, or pick one nearby. You can edit it later.  Also now that you’re checked in you may have better luck since your info is loaded. BTW if you have status anywhere - hotel, airline, cruises, but weirdly not casinos, you can match it and get a better starting point for the club. Silver doesn’t do much, but gold gets a few nice perks, and diamond gives you lots of good stuff. 
 

SB is good. Not as great as it could have been if Mayor/Secretary Pete had stuck around, but still growing and revitalizing.  I moved here from Michigan in 2000. When were you here?

Edited March 15 by JCOvergaar

[Jay Es]

14 minutes ago, JCOvergaar said:

Try putting in the wrong zip code for your town, or pick one nearby. You can edit it later.  Also now that you’re checked in you may have better luck since your info is loaded. BTW if you have status anywhere - hotel, airline, cruises, but weirdly not casinos, you can match it and get a better starting point for the club. Silver doesn’t do much, but gold gets a few nice perks, and diamond gives you lots of good stuff. 
 

SB is good. Not as great as it could have been if Mayor/Secretary Pete had stuck around, but still growing and revitalizing.  I moved here from Michigan in 2000. When were you here?

I moved there in the mid 90's. I left in 2007. I'm in the Virgin Islands now. It's funny, many people don't realize it's part of the US. I visited South Bend in 2012, and so much had already changed. I can't imagine the changes now.

[ray98]

14 hours ago, Jay Es said:

The website has been a nightmare. I still can't sign up for the voyager club. I've emailed them multiple times. I called customer service and they said I had to send an email. 🤷‍♂️

 

It is crazy....we just booked and they 'can't find' my Voyager account even though I provided the number, it is linked to my MSC account and I can enter it browsing for cruises to view the discounted fares.  I logged in and realized I did not get get credit for our prior cruise even though my wife did.  Right now it is in limbo, I can't access or manage our new cruise from the website and so far no response from the Voyage Club email I sent.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 2/13/2024 at 12:20 AM, Ryan82 said:

What do you think the underlying cause is for the bad reviews?

 

1. MSC over-sell their experience

2. Some passenger's have unrealistic expectations?

3. Some people innately like to whinge

4. Something else

 

It genuinely puzzles me when I read comments and revies of itineraries I've recently completed like "the staff are rude", or 'impossible to get a drink" , "all the food was terribl" when that's not my experience at all.

 

It is possible that the underlying cause for the bad reviews is that people had a bad experience. It is entirely possible that they had rude staff, couldn't get a drink (or pool lounger) and didn't like the food. Two of three of those are very subjective.

 

It also depends, I think, on the length of the cruise. People only doing 3 or 4 night itineraries are going to have a very different experience from someone doing a 7 night cruise and very, very different from someone doing a 16 night cruise.

 

And lastly, it depends on the point of view of the reviewer. A YouTube cruiser I follow had a very bad experience on MSC. He is an African American and never complains about feeling discriminated against, but in his review on his MSC experience, he says he felt it very blatantly as did his long time girlfriend, a white, Northern European.

 

Yes MSC probably oversells the experience, but I think most cruise lines do. The people you see in advertisements are never the people you actually see onboard. Almost every ad for almost every cruise line I've seen makes it look serene, luxurious and romantic and very few deliver on that.

[nferr]

On 3/11/2024 at 10:45 PM, perakcruiser said:

Good, because lobster at gala night is not something you can expect at MSC, I never had it from 2011 to 2023 and will not have it in 2024😄 I know that on some ships at some times MSC did offer it, I only believe because I saw the photos. 

 The Meraviglia has lobster every cruise out of NY now. 

[Beamafar]

4 minutes ago, nferr said:

 The Meraviglia has lobster every cruise out of NY now. 

MSC has upped their game for the US market.  

[cublet]

9 hours ago, Beamafar said:

MSC has upped their game for the US market.  

Hello,

 

By becoming more American and less Italian.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Beamafar]

6 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

By becoming more American and less Italian.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Yeah - I meant ’adjusted’ rather than ‘upped’. 🤪

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

Yeah - I meant ’adjusted’ rather than ‘upped’. 🤪

 

When Princess entered the Chinese market by basing ships there, they too adjusted their menus. And the same for the Australia market. It only makes sense.