Stockjock

For 20% more, I'd do YC. For 350% more, nope. P.S. Are you able to specifically show me *any* YC Deluxe cabin for only 20% more than a Fantastica veranda? If so, please provide the information, obviously without mentioning any travel agency. Somehow, I doubt it, but I'd love to see it.

Yep, plenty of issues and odd ones at that. I'm not sure that my middle name situation is the opposite of your kids', unless I'm misunderstanding you. For example, if my name is William David Jones, everything would show as "William David" (first name), not William (First name). So it actually sounds the same. In your cake example, if I had a cake that was supposed to read, "Happy Birthday William", it would instead read, "Happy Birthday William David", where MSC is carrying "William David" as my first name. Sounds like the same situation w/your kids. Here's the problem. Previously... MSC Account established as William (first) David (middle) Jones (last). Cruise booked as William (first) David (middle) Jones (last). When you log in to MSC's website, you see words to the effect of, "Hi WILLIAM, your next cruise departs in 235 days" If you click on my cruise/excursions/beverages/spa & beauty/Internet, Photo & Others/already purchased, everything is visible, as is the booking number, and you can view and modify those categories. So far, so good. Booking is in good order and everything visible when logging into Voyager's Club account online. In other words, everything matches up precisely. But... Later, MSC's system "magically" changes your name to William David (first) no middle Jones (last). Cruise booked as William (first) David (middle) Jones (last). This creates a mismatch error in the system and no details of your cruise are then visible or able to be modified when logging into your MSC VC online account. Pretty sure this impacts many people. Again, both me and my GF. MSC's solution is to eliminate the recording of a middle name on new bookings, but that still often doesn't fix the problem, as many online accounts still contain the customer's middle name (or a screwy first name that is both first and middle name combined). Booking name and VC online name must match precisely. There is a workaround for this issue. If it doesn't bother one that they cannot view their upcoming cruise(s) or modify them in any way, they can log out of their Voyager's Club account and log on again using only the booking number, first name and last name. That should work. As for me, when I log into my MSC account, I want to be able to easily view and modify upcoming cruises, so again, the solution was to ensure that the VC account and booking name perfectly match.

This is a fairly new issue. The reason I post this stuff is because many likely will experience the issue, and then, by reading my remarks, they'll understand what's going on. Anyone can do a mock booking and when you get to the area where passenger names are entered, you'll see that they are no longer asking for a middle name. This didn't just occur by accident. It's because there's a known issue, and I'l trying to alert folks to what's up, and the solution, in order to simply their lives if/when it happens.

I've not done YC. I can afford it, but choose not to. Maybe some day I'll give it a try. While it seems to be a better value versus other cruise lines' suites, here's my attitude. 1. It's considerably more expensive. For example, on an upcoming Norwegian Fjords cruise, the price of YC deluxe is roughly 3.5 times the price of my Fantastica veranda. Do you get more? Of course. 3.5 x more? Doesn't seem that way. 2. Not only do I not want a butler, but I think I'd find them to be annoying. 3. Obviously, an upgraded dining experience is nice, but 3.5 times nice? To some, sure. To me, probably not. That said, on a recent cruise, we got 4 speciality restaurants for $100 USD per person. 3 of the 4 were part of a $200 package. The 4th (2nd in Butcher's Cut) was a loyalty reward for being a Diamond member. So 4 of 7 nights in a specialty restaurant for $100 each? I consider that to be a great value. 4. I do like some of the privacy of YC, but again at 3.5 times the price? Nah. 5. I don't like the fact that YC deposits are typically non-refundable. While I don't book with the intent of cancelling, non-YC cabins can typically be cancelled without penalty up to 90 days before the sailing. Not the case w/YC. I also don't fly first or business class. I'd love to do it. I can afford to do it. I simply don't want to spend the money. Nothing wrong w/YC. I'll try it one day. But for now, you'll find me in a Fantastica veranda, or perhaps an Aurea suite, but only if the price is right.

I find that these offers can stack, i.e be used multiple times, even though it states that they're for new bookings only.

Just to provide a bit more information, I just got off of the phone with an MSC agent. We discussed this issue and he seemed unaware of the glitch/problem with MSC's systems and middle names. However, he did say that he's been getting a lot of calls asking why MSC no longer allows one to enter their middle name on new bookings (do a mock online booking & you'll see this.) I'm guessing that most at MSC (and here at CruiseCritic), are not aware of the issue. Again, the main issue is the fact that MSC's system's cannot properly process/understand middle names, in some or many instances. At times, even when things are working fine, their systems combine the first and middle names to make one odd looking first name. So, I believe, their solution was to only request first and last names on new bookings. However, many of us have Voyager's Club accounts that contain a middle name, which creates a mismatch on the booking, and thus a "mismatched" booking is not visible when logging into your MSC account. What my solution is, was to have them modify my GF's account so that it looks like mine does currently, i.e. first and last name only. Their systems are very peculiar and fussy. I just double-checked and they did modify her Voyager's Club account to remove her middle name. It does now match the booking and the booking is now visible on her account and on mine. One more tip. If you call MSC, they will probably provide you with an e-mail address to use when you make the request. My suggestion is don't do this. I went back and forth for 2 months and not only was it generally not corrected properly, but at some point, they just stopped replying. This can be fixed with a single call while you are on the phone. However, the agent will probably need to send them a message and put you on hold while they address the issue. Remember, the booking and Voyager's Club names need to match precisely, and usually it's better if they list first and last name only. It's odd. It's MSC. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm wasting your time with this stuff. I write this info to try and help people, but I don't sense that it's appreciated. Oh well.

This is a subject that I've touched upon multiple times in the past. But it's becoming more and more clear to me that MSC hates middle names, or at least, their systems do. Some time ago, I had countless problems viewing or updating information on my GF's MSC account. She used her maiden name as her middle name and MSC's system's couldn't figure out how to deal with that. In the end, MSC made her maiden name her middle name and that seemed to solve the issue at that time, although we did have to delete her MSC account and re-enroll. More recently, I noted that MSC had lumped my first and middle name together on my MSC account, and they did the same on my GF's. So if my name was David Emerson Smith, everything would refer to me as David Emerson. Same deal for the GF. Her maiden name, which MSC carried as her middle name, magically because a part of her first name. So if she was Susan Ortiz Jones, she'd be referred to as Susan Ortiz, only as if Ortiz was a part of her first name. Recently, I noticed that I could no longer view a 2025 booking under my MSC account. I went back and forth with MSC for a couple of months, and this included a deletion of my Voyager's Club account, and then I had to sign up all over again. They told me to be sure to sign up as David (first name) Emerson (middle name) Smith (last name). I did all of that, and for a brief moment, things seemed fine. I'd log in and see, "Hello David!" (not my real name.) But shortly thereafter, the system once again combined my first and middle names as if they were my first name. "Hello David Emerson!" And thus, once again, I was not able to view my reservation on my MSC account. Why? Apparently this is due to a mismatch of the name on the booking, versus the crazy middle name situation on MSC. Their system combines the first and middle name as one first name, in 2 parts, while the reservation may be correct. But the mismatch does not allow one to view it in your MSC account. Because MSC could not solve the issue, months later, I cancelled the reservation and rebooked it (same price, no penalty.) But I noticed that on this new booking, they only asked for my first and last names, middle name was not even requested for me or my GF. Logged into my account and still could not see it. Why not? Because the new booking was under David Smith and Voyager's Club/MSC account was under David Emerson Smith, again a mismatch. Previously, MSC told me that the *only* way to modify a name was to cancel the MSC account and start from scratch. But this time, I called and someone was "magically" able to simply delete my middle name on my MSC account. MSC account = David Smith, check. Reservation = David Smith, check. So I was in good shape. But now, once again, we could not access my GF's booking within her MSC account. Why not? MSC account = Susan Ortiz Jones. New reservation = Susan Jones. Mismatch, and thus reservation not visible. Here we go again... Pretty sure they know about this, or at least someone does, and that's why new bookings don't ask for a middle name anymore. But it's clear to me that MSC hates middle names, or at least their system does. Just one more error to deal with. I suppose the next step will be to try to delete her middle name from her MSC account. Pray for me.

The problem is that we only had 3 days in Venice. The first day, we were jet-lagged and beat. So we wanted to have one day where we really got in a lot to get the lay of the land. The 3rd day, we just played it loose and did what we wanted to. But at least for us, if it's a place we've not visited, and we're not there for long, it can make sense to take a day where you really jam a lot into a short period of time. I enjoyed the tour, and again 4.9 out of 5 star rated, so obviously others have also enjoyed it.

For anyone interested, here's the tour we did. Not exactly cheap, but a good value imo and did include a gondola ride, admissions, etc. 9 hours long, so a lot is crammed into one tour. And the rating as of this writing, is 4.9 out of 5 stars, so it seems to be well-regarded. https://thetourguy.com/tours/venice/hidden-venice-express-st-mark-rialto-gondola

It's kind of like buying anti-griping for infinity insurance. She'd tell everyone that I was too cheap to buy a gondola ride in Venice for as long as we are together, and throw it back at me often. So I'd rather just do the gondola ride, and again, have it included in a broader tour.

Answers in bold italics below: I have cruised with Princess, P&O, Carnival and RCCL but never with MSC. A. I think it's great to try different cruise lines, as there are sometimes major differences. We are looking at potentially booking a cruise for Aug 25 on the MSC Seascape out of Miami, but i have a few questions. Are the drinks packages and dining packages worth it? A. Generally, yes. In my view, MSC tends to offer the best pricing on both drinks packages and dining packages. The best deals are when you can get drinks and wi-fi baked into the price. Also, if they offer a dining package promo, *at the time of booking*, that's usually a better offer than what you may see later. Is there a piano bar? A. Different ships have different venues. I can often find someone playing a piano, but not always. It's not uncommon though. On some ships, we can often find a pianist, perhaps with vocals or guitar, in the Sky Lounge. We were recently on World Europa, and there was no Sky Lounge, which I deeply missed, but we did find a pianist in the Raj Polo Teahouse. The kids will be 11 and 13 - does anyone have experience of the kids club on MSC and could give me an idea of the kinds of activities they do in kids club for those ages? A. No experience, but we've wandered through the areas designed for kids and they seem to have good offerings. Not sure about 11 and 13 year-olds though, as they are a bit older. Any tips for a first time MSC cruise? A. Try not to call customer service, unless you have to. They have good intentions, but often screw things up due to MSC's screwy system. Also, you may have more announcements in many languages, so be aware of that. Be aware that MSC has an excellent status match program, so explore this if you have status on other cruise lines or hotel chains. Thanks for any info! A. Enjoy, and report back once you've returned. Keep an open mind, as MSC can be a bit different in some ways.

I’m particularly interested in somebody that had to file the claim with them. The pricing that they are offering on a cruise that I recently booked seems pretty good at $138 US for the two of us. I suppose the downside is that the limits are a lot lower than perhaps adding something on my own. Any thoughts on this? On an unrelated note, I mentioned in another thread that MSC could not figure out a way to make my booking appear in my MSC account, so I canceled it yesterday and rebooked it. They credited my deposit today, so less than a 24 hour turnaround. I think that’s the fastest refund I’ve seen from any cruise line so far.

We were in Venice last year. My GF *really* wanted to do a gondola ride. I didn't especially care, and I thought they seemed to be a bit pricey. But if we visited Venice and didn't do a gondola ride, I'm pretty sure I would not have heard the end of it, so I booked a tour that included one and a lot more. This was a third party tour that included a tour of Venice, boat rides to the nearby islands of Murano and Burano, and a gondola ride for I think 30 or 45 minutes. I felt like I got a better value for my money by baking the gondola ride into a much more comprehensive tour. I think this was a good way to do this, but Murano in particular was underwhelming, as we only had time to visit one shop and watch them make glass. It was interesting, but I would have preferred more time to walk around. Our time on Burano was also very limited. As to your question about getting on and off, it could be tricky. Depends on how bad your knee is. But there is a pretty big step-down into some gondolas, and they can move around a lot. One more tip: Some of the smaller streets simply end at the canal. One night, we almost walked into the canal while on our phones trying to get back to the hotel. Neither my GF nor I swim, so it could have ended badly. No light, no sign, no fence, the street simply ended at the canal. So be careful where you walk, particularly at night.

I don't know any reason why I shouldn't be able to document a long-running series of errors by MSC. If you don't like it, don't read it. Better yet, simply block me, which is a nice feature of Cruise Critic. It's actually far less repetitive than the "new" posts, which are typically the same questions asked and answered over and over again. I also think there's good info here, as an example, today's remark that if one opts out under privacy options, they may not have the ability to bid on an upgrade in the future. I'll bet most didn't know that. FWIW, I've cancelled the booking today, since MSC cannot figure out how to associate an MSC booking with my MSC online account. I may re-book at some point in the future.

As a follow-up to my most recent message, MSC restored my ability to log on, but my home address was missing and I could not access my privacy settings or see my booking. Plus, there was no way to modify any of these. I went back and forth with them for the past month by e-mail. They did restore my home address, although the formatting is wrong (my unit number listed first), but I'm not going to mess with that. Magically, one day, I was able to update my privacy preferences. This is important because if you opt-out, you may not have the ability to bid on an upgraded cabin via the MSC Upgrade program, as it's handled by a third-party. Anyone who doesn't receive those, should check their privacy settings and opt-in. Ultimately, they stopped replying to my periodic messages, so I called MSC this morning. She said, "Try to add your booking number now." I did and it worked. So I got off the phone, tried it again, and now I cannot view or add it once again. Fixing issues like this shouldn't be so difficult or time-consuming.