Prebooking On-Board Services in the UK

All,

Need your opinions/advice before I call MSC.

I have a booking for the Divina In September. When I log on to order additional onboard services for payment onboard using the usual page everything has gone, (they were all listed previously. )

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/uk_en/Reservations-On-Board/Login.aspx

But If I click and log in using the new link on the front page I can see all the usual offerings.

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/uk_en/Book-Cruise-Services/Login.aspx

The thing is that you now have to prepay with Credit Card in GBP's and the exchange rate is sh*te. Ive compared the excursion prices etc and they frankly are taking the proverbial.

What are your thoughts? Im also thinking that MSC Club points wont applicable.

So if you prepay, say for a drinks package, does that mean that you wouldn't receive the points. Also, it says reserve, does this still mean that you have to pay in advance. I'm new to Msc, so sorry about questions.

Carol

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So if you prepay, say for a drinks package, does that mean that you wouldn't receive the points. Also, it says reserve, does this still mean that you have to pay in advance. I'm new to Msc, so sorry about questions.

Carol

 

 

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If you pre-PAY the spend DOES NOT count as onboard spend and so does not count for MSC Club points.

If you pre-ORDER (reserve) the cost is added to your onboard account and DOES count towards MSC Club points.

You do not have to pre-pay reserved items, unless they have changed the rules very recently.

Pete

All,

 

The thing is that you now have to prepay with Credit Card in GBP's and the exchange rate is sh*te. Ive compared the excursion prices etc and they frankly are taking the proverbial.

 

What are your thoughts? Im also thinking that MSC Club points wont applicable.

Looks like they have made the system pre-pay only.

I just tried a dummy reservation on my booking and can't see a way of pre-ordering.

So if you want the points, wait till you get on board and order and pay in euros or dollars and then you'll get the banks exchange rate when they bill you post cruise.

Pete

Correct Pete, I called them today. I've no issue with prepaying but the XE rate they are using is rubbish and inconsistent. I compared the shore excursions and they haven't even applied the same rate, it's like they've just picked GBP prices that they think are 'about right.'

Andrew

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Looks like another stitch up in order to stop people getting points while paying less ie the 15% service charge!

You won't be paying less due to the exchange rate, with excursions... You'll actually be paying more.

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Andrew, I'd contact MSC by email to rectify this. By doing it now you'll be giving them plenty of time to respond and deal with it. I'm on Divina a couple of weeks before you and I can't pre-book either, but I had this problem with my recent cruise and got it sorted before sailing.

As we all know, MSC's website leaves a lot to be desired, regardless of country you're accessing from! I don't intend to prepay for Allegrissimo as I intend to use OBC that comes with my booking. As I'll be in Yacht Club, if I can't prebook I'll do without. However, I've found that, once the Customer Care dept takes your issue on (in can take at least 2 weeks), they will keep at it 'til it's resolved. That's been my experience, anyway.

Can you buy drink packages when on board, or do you have to prepay before you go. Also, is this the same for excursions. Sorry, for questions, I haven't sailed with Msc before.

Carol

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Andrew, I'd contact MSC by email to rectify this. By doing it now you'll be giving them plenty of time to respond and deal with it. I'm on Divina a couple of weeks before you and I can't pre-book either, but I had this problem with my recent cruise and got it sorted before sailing.

 

As we all know, MSC's website leaves a lot to be desired, regardless of country you're accessing from! I don't intend to prepay for Allegrissimo as I intend to use OBC that comes with my booking. As I'll be in Yacht Club, if I can't prebook I'll do without. However, I've found that, once the Customer Care dept takes your issue on (in can take at least 2 weeks), they will keep at it 'til it's resolved. That's been my experience, anyway.

Thanks Bea, I intent to email them. Its not a major issue but it needs resolving before the moaning really starts, i haven't got the will or motivation the read the kinds of post that we'll see if they don't. lol.

I'm also in the YC so wont be booking the Allegrissimo, But if I was i'd have to pay £22 per day about EUR 30 at the current EX rate

If I was Italian i'd pay EUR26 per day, or buy on ship with 15% tip for.... EUR29.90

Do you see my point?

There is no benefit to pre booking anything now. Plus for things like excursions we will actually end up paying more if we pre book. Guaranteed to piss people off once they get on board.

Last thing..... You can buy OBC now in £ sterling. I asked how much that would be worth in Euro's and guess what.... He had no Idea. Very helpful chap and totally got the issue, but had no answers.

It doesn't feel to me like a 'revenue enhancement' policy scheme. Just corporate incompetence.

Andrew

Can you buy drink packages when on board, or do you have to prepay before you go. Also, is this the same for excursions. Sorry, for questions, I haven't sailed with Msc before.

Carol

 

 

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It is possible to buy drinks packages when on board, but, they will have a 15% service charge added to them.

If you are in an "Aurea" experience cabin they come with a drinks package as part of the deal which in the UK is the Allegrisimo package, other regions may have different offerings

It does look as though you now have to pre-pay, and not just pre-order; this may be a good idea for some of the limited places excursions, but you will have to consider the exchange rate that they use.

The major downside to pre-paying is that the purchases don't count towards onboard spend and so don't help with the points tally in the MSC Club loyalty scheme.

Pete

Thank you all for info.

Carol

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Thanks Bea, I intent to email them. Its not a major issue but it needs resolving before the moaning really starts, i haven't got the will or motivation the read the kinds of post that we'll see if they don't. lol.

 

I'm also in the YC so wont be booking the Allegrissimo, But if I was i'd have to pay £22 per day about EUR 30 at the current EX rate

 

If I was Italian i'd pay EUR26 per day, or buy on ship with 15% tip for.... EUR29.90

 

Do you see my point?

 

There is no benefit to pre booking anything now. Plus for things like excursions we will actually end up paying more if we pre book. Guaranteed to piss people off once they get on board.

 

Last thing..... You can buy OBC now in £ sterling. I asked how much that would be worth in Euro's and guess what.... He had no Idea. Very helpful chap and totally got the issue, but had no answers.

 

It doesn't feel to me like a 'revenue enhancement' policy scheme. Just corporate incompetence.

 

Andrew

That's one thing I'm not caught for this time - the currency exchange rate - as we use Euros in Ireland which is why I luuurvve MSC in Europe. However, my recent TA from Brazil ended up costing a lot more as the onboard currency was US$ and the rate plummeted just before the trip :mad:

It does look like MSC are trying to scale back point allocations for onboard spend by having people prepay for items as well as offering 'inclusive' drinks packages in the cruise prices. I got 18 points for onboard spend on my last trip in part due to the fact that I insisted on prebooking the Allegrissimo premium even though I would have got a better price had I prepaid it in € through my TA.

The thing with exchange rates when dealing with cruise lines is that they set the rate at a baseline over the course of a period of time which doesn't always reflect the rate at the time of your booking.

Andrew ... I meant paying less as in saving the 15% service charge by pre ordering instead of paying onboard and having to pay the 15% charge on drinks.

If you have to pre pay and not get points towards club membership I personally would rather do without the drinks package and not give them any more money as I have done in the past! it really does make you wonder who at MSC is making up this nonsense? first its Single cruisers now this!! as for trying to retain passengers it looks even more the case of not wanting them to stay.

Andrew ... I meant paying less as in saving the 15% service charge by pre ordering instead of paying onboard and having to pay the 15% charge on drinks.

 

If you have to pre pay and not get points towards club membership I personally would rather do without the drinks package and not give them any more money as I have done in the past! it really does make you wonder who at MSC is making up this nonsense? first its Single cruisers now this!! as for trying to retain passengers it looks even more the case of not wanting them to stay.

Wonderful! Yet another change that means heads they win, tails we lose!

The thing with exchange rates when dealing with cruise lines is that they set the rate at a baseline over the course of a period of time which doesn't always reflect the rate at the time of your booking.

That have set the baseline at the wrong level in my opinion. And it's inconsistent for different things.

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It happened the same to me in other countries websites. I finally ended up booking it via my TA...

I don't see the point in prepaying services that are not discounted. We booked an excursion in Flam, Norway, since it was a present from my sister and we wanted to secure it (we found it to be ridiculously expensive, yet she insisted)

Even if you pay the extra 15% gratuities i think it is still cheaper to pay in euros as you board and then get the points for onboard spend ?? rather than pay in advance in sterling. Im tying to get my travel agent to see if we can pre book in euros. We did this in March without any problem they must have just changed the rules.

They have changed the rules, prepay only, at a crappy eve rate. it is cheaper to buy on board confirmed to me in writing yesterday directly from MSC. It's a small saving but it's still a saving, plus the crew get the grats'

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