The call to my travel agent

[Lowie]

i called my TA this morning to cancel our March Lirica cruise. she had booked us on last weeks cruise as part of a group. it seems that most of the group had already called her to complain about how awful the cruise was. she cancelled our cruise and waived the fee. now i can look forward to our carnival cruise!

[Megdgr8]

we too canceled our April 11th cruise on the Orchestra.... we are now going on the Ruby Princess on the same day... A lot of other people have also canceled on the 11th & are now going on the Ruby Princess

[lovetexas]

I called mine and she still believes in this cruiseline. She herself is taking the cruise.

 

Unfortunately, I am too late to cancel without loosing half of my money! That just seems like too much to loose.

 

I think I will just hang in there and wait for more reviews.

 

I wonder if a lot of people were just really mad about the late departure, and missing so much because of that??

[vpoopsy]

I think everyone is bailing out for the wrong reason. That was an odd cruise and there were some technical issues involved. If you read other reviews, this was the only time this has happened!!

[lawton54]

Yes, I see that the 2 day sailing could be considered odd. A short time to get everything lined out and all, but I seem to recall other lines doing weekend cruises, even 1 nighters and I don't recall this type of negative responses. The truth of the matter is MSC, or at least the Orchestra staff are totally in the dark right now as to what a cruise to anywhere should be. I am speaking from experience, having just endured 17 days of indifference, ineptness, and poor planning. Evening activities were scheduled such that if you had the late seating you could not participate in any of them, not that you really missed much. Activities were so few and dining availabilty was so limited that everyone was trying to do the same things at the same time, especially on days when the weather was too bad to be on deck. Pool areas had no lifeguards or security at any time. I saw kids shoving others into the pool, jumping from the sides, running around the deck area towel fighting and nothing was ever said. I saw one poor boys parents have to come to his aid after other bigger kids had thrown him in the pool. He lay beside the pool for several minutes while they attended to him and tried to calm down the action. Never once did anyone from MSC come around. The main desk constantly had passengers at it trying to get some issue or other resolved. I had several occasions myself to try to get things I had paid for or requested straightened out, only to be told that there was nothing they could do. It seems that no one aboard had the authority do make any descisions to accomodate passengers. I am not saying all of this to try to get back at MSC, I feel that this forum is a place to make others aware of potential problems or give advice, so use this information as you will.

[TNGALOHA]

We are cruising on the Orchestra this weekend and I will write a review when we return.

I hope that most of the kinks are gone but if not Oh Well, I am at least on vacation and on the ocean, in my first balcony cabin, with my very BFF in the world(my hubby of 29 years). I can't think of anything better then that!:)

[WhoDat]

Yes, I see that the 2 day sailing could be considered odd. A short time to get everything lined out and all, but I seem to recall other lines doing weekend cruises, even 1 nighters and I don't recall this type of negative responses. The truth of the matter is MSC, or at least the Orchestra staff are totally in the dark right now as to what a cruise to anywhere should be. I am speaking from experience, having just endured 17 days of indifference, ineptness, and poor planning. Evening activities were scheduled such that if you had the late seating you could not participate in any of them, not that you really missed much. Activities were so few and dining availabilty was so limited that everyone was trying to do the same things at the same time, especially on days when the weather was too bad to be on deck. Pool areas had no lifeguards or security at any time. I saw kids shoving others into the pool, jumping from the sides, running around the deck area towel fighting and nothing was ever said. I saw one poor boys parents have to come to his aid after other bigger kids had thrown him in the pool. He lay beside the pool for several minutes while they attended to him and tried to calm down the action. Never once did anyone from MSC come around. The main desk constantly had passengers at it trying to get some issue or other resolved. I had several occasions myself to try to get things I had paid for or requested straightened out, only to be told that there was nothing they could do. It seems that no one aboard had the authority do make any descisions to accomodate passengers. I am not saying all of this to try to get back at MSC, I feel that this forum is a place to make others aware of potential problems or give advice, so use this information as you will.

 

It appears each paid guest will be getting a $200.00 credit towards a future MSC Caribbean sailing. Why wouldn't they give it towards ANY MSC future cruise?

[love to cruz]

If the problems were only with the two day sailing why were nearly all the passengers on the 17 day Transatlantic crossing also upset about the tasteless food, rude customer service, and terrible service in the dining rooms all 17 days?

[Lowie]

I think everyone is bailing out for the wrong reason. That was an odd cruise and there were some technical issues involved. If you read other reviews, this was the only time this has happened!!

i don't know where you get that idea. but many of us on the lirica christmas and new years cruises plus the orchestra TA are VERY unhappy!

[bobnatt]

I think everyone is bailing out for the wrong reason.

 

I disagree. If you can bail out without any penalty why in the world would you stay with MSC until you start seeing consistently good reviews. This may take six months or more to see a positive pattern.

 

Life is too short and vacations are too precious to hang in with MSC when there are other great alternatives out there.

[BonnieVA]

I disagree. If you can bail out without any penalty why in the world would you stay with MSC until you start seeing consistently good reviews. This may take six months or more to see a positive pattern.

 

Life is too short and vacations are too precious to hang in with MSC when there are other great alternatives out there.

 

I agree. Why take a chance? Why worry for the next few months about your cruise & vacation when you can rebook something you're more confident about? I do hope they work things out quickly but I am shocked by some posters' comments that they are hanging in even when they can still get their deposits back. Some have said that the complaints aren't that bad. WHAT? They must not be reading the reviews & comments I've read on the Orchestra's TA & 2-day as well as some of the recent Lirica reviews. "Horrible", "worst cruise ever", "prison", can't wait to get home & cook a meal!!! These people didn't have minor complaints. Now for those who would only get a partial refund if they cancelled ... that would be a hard decision.

[daw]

Interesting thread.

 

I sailed MSC ( Melody) several years ago when the price was significantly cheaper than the mainstream lines. I was sailing with a good friend who at that time was on a very limited budget. I knew going in that there was no way that this cruise would be the caliber of what I had experienced on HAL or Princess, and it wasn't. But we still had fun.

 

The MSC experience was limited by both the ship ( very old, difficult to navigate and few amenities) but it was also obvious that MSC really didn't understand what the American audience expected in a cruise and from reading this board it seems it still doesn't. ( This was 2002 in the Carribean BtoB 11 day so I was on that ship for 22 days.)

 

It was extremely difficult to get basic things like coffee or iced tea outside of meal times. There was no P.M. buffet and the lunch buffet had a very limited time. They did have a midnight spread on deck. The food was very very marginal. Any extra request was usually turned down.

The staff, however, was well trained. They were not Italian but came from various places in Europe and Indonesia and were quite friendly and hard working. Most spoke good English. Daytime entertainment had very few choices and the shows were below average except fot the crew's show on deck.

 

There wasn't any problem embarking or disembarking but the tender stops were always disorganized and delayed as were the shore excursions.

 

I had a great time visiting with my friend and the ports were outstanding but I was also very aware that this was an inferior experience even though my friend ( being her first cruise) thought it was wonderful. So it's really about what one brings to the table. But now that this same friend has since cruised on Princess, we chuckle about our MSC experience.

 

Bottom line, I pretty much got what I paid for. I got to sail the ocean for 22 days visiting incredible ports. I was fed and had my room cleaned My focus was on the ports and visiting with a friend I hadn't seen in years and not on the cruise experience. Good thing because there wasn't much of one.

 

Today with prices being so discounted on the more established lines, all things equal, I would definitely choose one of those lines over MSC if these reviews are accurate and I have no reason to believe they aren't. It's been 7 years since my cruise and it appears MSC even with their beautiful new ships are still operating with a budget mentality and ignoring what American cruisers expect. I had no complaints because of what I paid but I would certainly not expect to pay mainstream prices for that experience.

 

For those that are booked and can't get their money back ...go with the right attitude and you'll have a great time. I did.

[Inshape]

And I was looking forward to this upcoming cruise....UGH!

[WhoDat]

And I was looking forward to this upcoming cruise....UGH!

 

Hang in there Inshape.....I doubt you'll have the same experience. At this point MSC must make changes and fast. Will all their issues be resolved? Probably not, but I am sure they'll at least get embark and debark under better control. And hopefully muster, that's an important one, IMHO. And the ship is so beautiful!:)