MisterFidgetpants

They're trying anything they can to poach customers in a market where they don't have a historical presence... It's not rocket science. If such a small incentive earns them a new customer then they've won.

To be honest a unique itinerary won me over. Then the price was unbeatable with KSF. Third the ship looks beautiful and gets raves for entertainment. So I figured I have nothing to lose.

All the additional perks are a great sweetener and they automatically applied a 5% discount to my cabin fare. They do this on all cabin types.

Thanks everyone here for chiming in and being helpful. I'm looking forward to trying out something totally new and seeing how it measures up and how it differs. I hope this post raised awareness of the status match program and others take advantage of the offer.

OP, thanks for the updates. No blasting from me. That Izumi manager should have NEVER given you a hassle to start with. You were prepaid. Whatever they change it to onboard shouldn't impact you one bit. He was totally wrong.

LOL @ Royal $45 for Chops. Are they kidding?

So approx 100 days until first unconfirmed sailing.

Mad flyer do you have info as to when it goes on sale?

My wife and I were each just assigned black card status and will be on the Divina.

From what I originally read each of us gets a specialty dinner and can bring one guest (the other person).

Q1: Does this mean we can dine two nights at specialty with our black cards complimentary, or just one night in total?

Q2: It stipulates a tasting menu. What exactly does that mean? I have seen one of the restaurants offer various level of tasting menus. What does the black card benefit entail?

For those saying they haven't gotten a response; did you create a Voyagers membership online and THEN submit for a status match? The phone rep told me to do that and I got my discount same day; although have to call back today for the new invoice and black card welcome packet I was supposed to get in email but did not.

Call them up, they are pretty good on the phone walking you through the process if you have issues with their website.

Bonus - Their automated phone system uses the same "bong" sounds as the Seapass card mades on RCI ships.

Here are Menus from last year in the US

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/msc-cruises-divina-drink-lists/

A review

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/msc-divina-review/

Great photos here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eroller/albums/72157643234679793/page1

Easy to scroll through for food / menus / ship photos here (if you can ignore 75% selfies)

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mscdivina/

For the week I wanted to go MSC 7 day is $1375 for 3 with all taxes. My sailing did not qualify for the BOGO balcony but many others do.

Same week on Freedom of Seas to caribbean 7 day is $2190 with $100 OBC.

Comparable class cabins. Time to try the dark side...

That's a pretty significant difference

I first saw a television ad for MSC this morning and then came across this thread. I must say that after looking a little through their site that the ships definitely look very appealing.

 

Someone mentioned that they will match your status from other cruise lines. Most times when we book through NCL it is with some comped benefits from Casinos at Sea. Does anyone know if MSC might do something for Casino Players from other lines?

 

Currently though their prices are also quite attractive and I am already getting excited to give them a try!

Here is the information. I suggest signing up for membership and then having them do a status match. They matched my Royal Caribbean Diamond Benefits to their Black level already PLUS reduced my cruise fare 5% when the number kicked in. Cha-ching. Just booked my first MSC cruise today. Can't take a family of 3 on the Sky to the Bahamas for 4 days for what MSC is charging to take me to Bermuda (from Florida) for 7 days. Can't lose. Kids sail free. Have a true BOGO balcony deal going now too.

Click Loyalty Match here.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Voyagers-Club.aspx

He said he liked Oasis and that is what he would reccomend

You can suggest that ship to a total newbie or a cruise veteran and never have to second guess yourself if you gave someone good advice or not. There's nothing like Oasis-class.

So when someone asks you what cruise line is best.....do you tell them "Gee, I used to cruise on Royal but now I cruise on ____________, but for you, I suggest RCI/Royal" ? I know I am confused as to why you would suggest a cruise line you seem to no longer be cruising on, very much?

I would say 75% of my cruises have been with Royal. In no particular order I've also been onboard Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and Carnival, and today booked my first MSC to Bermuda from Florida (find that itinerary again! dare ya!).

I think Royal Caribbean is very consistent. You know the ships will be clean. You can expect good service. The crowd of other cruisers tends to be a nice cross section of people and usually not TOO rowdy or unkempt. Live entertainment is plentiful. I don't think their food is so great, especially after branching out, it just isn't as good as competing lines. And lately I think the prices are getting a bit stiff compared to the competition.

I have been on every class of RCI ship except for Quantum class. I would be VERY particular about who I would suggest a Sovereign Class, Vision Class, or Radiance class ship to. Someone who has cruised before and says they like small to mid sized ships without a billion things to do. For those that want fun and excitement and to be wowed, Voyager Class and Up. Those are easier to recommend and not feel like you maybe gave someone bad advice.

But I gotta say, when you start trying out other lines you discover a LOT of little things between all the lines that you wished Royal did as well, or did at all.

I'm not anti-Royal Caribbean. Not at all. Big fan. But the competition is really hot right now and Royal Caribbean can't coast on inflated prices, fake sales, and, for me, lackluster food.

The rep advised me to establish a membership as a "welcome member" and then my match will be on that to black status for RCI Diamond. So I was able to make membership numbers on their website, now to wait for the status match so I can call back for my 5% discount.

Wonder if MSC will combine the 5% discount with the BOGO???

The sailing I picked had a different Promo (Spring Promo) not the BOGO Promo.

The agent said if I booked today, once I receive my status match to just call back and I will get 5% off of the fare for guests 1 and 2 from my final payment. So promos don't seem to wipe out the discount.

Another thing I learned, regardless of room type you book there is only $100 deposit per adult, and bookings have a 48 hour courtesy hold with no deposit required

I may have to try MSC Divina, even before their new ship gets to Miami. From what I read, Divina is a beautiful ship. Thanks for the link. Hi to Leslie.

That is the ship we are looking at. They currently have ONE Bermuda trip from Florida (so no airfare for me) and kids sail free.

Even ignoring airfare, 7 days on Divina is over $2000 less than 5 days on Anthem to Bermuda. Kind of hard to overlook that sort of difference.

On the phone with Voyagers Club now to find out if first timers with black card get the 5% discount.

And yes, their BOGO balcony deal is for real, not like RCI's smoke and mirror deal.

In their T&C's I see it is 3 years between cruises or it expires but that goes for all members, not just status match.

Someone posted here a while back that the status matching was not a permanent thing. There was some sort of requiremement to cruise on MSC every so often. I never saw any details of this on MSC's website. Anyone else hear anything about the status matching not being permanent?

I can't answer to that, but here is the page outlining their benefits and with the link to match statuses. It is free and pretty easy to send the information so worth a shot, IMO, even if you have no immediate plans to try them out.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Voyagers-Club.aspx

I like the looks of their black card perks. I know long time people are ticked that it was degraded, but from where I sit free photo, free specialty restaurant, free time in thermal suite looks good to me. They don't have the cocktail hour of Royal, but it is a pretty good inducement to try them out over other lines.

In reality, you are still paying for the steakhouse meal - the $35 is the "upcharge" to cover the expense difference. $35 would never get you a meal at a "comparable" steakhouse on land, like Ruth Chris. In fact, that wouldn't cover most of the entree's they offer, let alone the appetizer, salad and dessert courses. That is why many find the steakhouse to be a bargain.

I did not think the quality of the steak warranted even the $20 upcharge in the MDR. It was OK. Not great. Certainly nothing spectacular/once in a lifetime sort of steak. No way comparable to Ruth's Chris

Now, I didn't get the full $70 steakhouse experience, but given that I got the "core" of what they do, if I had paid the $40 I would have felt very let down. Atmosphere and appetizers would not have impressed me.

If someone comes from an area without any steakhouses or wants to treat themselves, that is fine, I can see the appeal. But for me, nah.

My last two weren't with Royal, and my next two aren't either, even though Royal has for many years been my line of choice. I just think they don't offer enough differentiation to justify their higher prices. Maybe Oasis/Allure, or even Quantum and Anthem, but certainly not any of the older ships when talking about "regular" repeat itineraries. Having branched out to other lines I unfortuantely have to rank Royal's food at the bottom (although I think it is still good, it doesn't measure up to other lines).

Their stock price is super healthy, they are flush with cash, and pumping ships out. So I doubt they care what I think and probably haven't noticed my lack of recent bookings.

I still do find that when newbies ask me for a cruise line it is easiest to recommend RCI's big ships because you do know you will get a nice ship with good entertainment and decent overall value.

This board moves a lot faster than the MSC board.

Have any members here taken advantage of MSC matching Royal Caribbean status? It appears they will match (I think) their black card level to RCI Diamond. https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Voyagers-Club.aspx

If anyone has done this how did you find the use of the actual perks and the process? I just submitted my info to MSC for the match. Interested to hear other experiences.

Thanks for the tip Skier!

I've submitted a screen capture from my Crown and Anchor page.

My wifes C&A page has her maiden name so she will call to have that corrected before submitting hers.

Do you know if I make a booking and the issue the status after the booking, will we have the benefits on our cruise? or do I have to get the status match done before the booking? I don't want to miss out on price/cabin selections waiting on the status match.

Thank you. It just wasn't clear how it worked since neither Bella or Fantastica actually guaranteed a time.

Would have to book Fantastica to get the deck/room we want anyways, so looks like thats the way to go. I would assume on this ship many guests want late dining, so early shouldn't be an issue <?>

We were comped two steakhouse selection meals in the MDR ($40 Value). I felt the entrees were equal in quality to what used to be included in the MDR 10+ years ago. That said, I thought the MDR food was quite good and would not have paid $40 to upgrade if not comped. No way would I spend $70 to go to a Steakhouse (the ship I was on did not have the steakhouse proper). Between what I have paid for food and service in the MDR, to pay an additional $70 for the steakhouse and lose out on the meal I already paid for seems a bit excessive to me.

It says "No jeans" on the website still. What ship were you on last? We've not seen jeans allowed on Elegant night yet, but we've heard the rumors. DH is hoping it's true and they're not prohibited on our cruise (he won't wear anything prohibited, even if no one enforces, BUT we like to dress up as little as possible!).

I was on the Victory the first week of this month. I kept, and retyped on another post, verbatim what the Funtime had in it on Elegant night and it simply said no shorts or cut off jeans. it did *not* say no jeans and did *not* match the website.

I saw plenty of jeans in the MDR on elegant night, as well as shorts. In fact, except for a few more suits around the ship it really didn't look different from other nights.

But it is happening, every report from the Escape, since Margaritavilla went a la carte, has said it's been empty.

People don't have to belong to CC to not want to pay a la carte prices for something that was free when they booked.

Either on here or a FB group page someone said they paid $22 to eat there.

That's a business success. $22 revenue whereas before it was guaranteed $0 revenue.

So even if a handful of people eat there it is still a positive for the bean counters

I am looking to book Divina with either the Bella or Fantastica package. The Fantastica package says there is priority for choosing dining time, but ultimately says dining times are assigned on board. huh? Does that mean no matter what I select it won't be set until we board the ship?

We have a toddler with us and late dining time is a NO GO. Aurea experience with my time dining is not available for our cabin category.

Is there any way at all to ensure early dining time?

Won't be a happy camper if we have to go to buffet all week.

If I book first and they match status later (before sailing) can I claim the 5% discount? can I still claim the onboard benefits, or do I have to have the match done BEFORE booking. ?