scorpioalon

another question about refunds/FCC:

on wednesday we requested FCC (100%) for the seaside 3/21 cruise (before it was officially canceled)

we already received the taxes/fees refunded to the CC used for payment

the offer now is for 100% cash refund or 125% FCC . . . 

we resubmitted the form for 100% cash refund since the cruise is canceled (obv)

1) what are the odds they refund us in full?

2) since the "Plusgrade" was paid using a different CC, will they refund each amount to the specific card?

confirmed on call yesterday that upgrade payment will be rolled into future cruise credit . . . but any prepaid purchases such as spa, internet, etc. would be refunded to CC used as well as port fees/taxes

55 minutes ago, NameThatFunnel said:

From speaking with a rep yesterday, I was advised that the full Plusgrade amount would roll into the FCC.

i was assured of the same, but the problem is they don't know "how" to do it yet 😕

We are scheduled to be on the Seaside on 3/21 (3 cabins - one of which we won a bid for an upgrade on) and are taking advantage of the "Cruise Assurance" program to re-book for another time. I called on Monday after they announced the policy, waited on hold for an hour, and was told that the system was not yet updated to handle these requests. I called back on Tuesday and after another hour got through to someone. Here are my learnings:

1) Any post-booking purchases (internet, spa, etc.) have to be canceled/refunded BEFORE you use the Cruise Assurance policy

2) Requests for standard bookings will have the phone agent generate an email with the promise that the "credit" will arrive within 14 days

3) Any booking with a "PLUSGrade" cannot be canceled yet. They said they had not yet made a determination on how to handle these and I was directed to call back in 48 hours (Thursday afternoon). As I still have over a week to submit this request, I am not worried. But for those of you who paid for an upgrade using the bid system, prepare for a headache . . . 

41 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I'm curious about pricing. March is pricing significantly cheaper than Easter week. You don't have to say the exact pricing if you are uncomfortable, but for us to to upgrade to an suite they want $110. Was your upgrade offer similar to mine? More? less? substantially less? What about your offers in the other categories? I'm trying to figure out if availability is an variable in upgrade offers. As mentioned, currently there are substantially more cabins available for all March sailings when compared to Easter week, so in theory, the upgrade offers should also be less (but I'm not convinced that is the algorithm used). 

our offer for a regular suite was ~$125 minimum and for a whirlpool was ~$500 minimum

we accepted an offer to upgrade from bella balcony (on the seaside later in march) to a whirlpool suite . . . the suite is an aurea-branded cabin but our boarding passes still clearly say "bella experience" . . . HOWEVER the boarding pass ALSO says "anytime dining" . . . so unsure of what to expect when we board

We are sailing on the Seaside in late March in a Bella oceanview . . . Bid on whirlpool suite upgrade and accepted, received new room assignment but still coded as Bella 😞

if the vouchers end on march 25th, what about cruises that start before march 25th and end after march 25th? specifically, seaside voyage 3/23-3/30 . . . 

we sailed on the seaside back in september 2018 and they did offer cans of strongbow (hard cider) 🙂

my understanding was that the 12 vouchers ended on 3/25/19 . . . we are going on the Seaside on 3/23-3/30 and the cruise description did not include the vouchers, but the e-tickets do . . . 

american coffee is available 24/7 in the buffets and is also served for free in the restaurants

espresso-based drinks are also available in all buffets/restaurants, but must be ordered/paid for (depending on class of service)

the venchi drinks are only available at venchi, but they are truly amazing

we also just returned from the seaside (9/22/18-9/29/18) and already booked the identical cruise for spring break march 2019 . . . a few minor issues but nothing that impacted our cruise

the only real issue we had was that the hot water was off for an hour or so one evening (~10PM) due to a broken pipe . . . we called to inquire about it (i was in the shower when it happened) and they said they were aware and would call me to let me know when fixed . . . i told them not to call as i had kids sleeping, so they sent someone up who knocked ever so quietly (barely audible - good for the kids) and told me it was fixed . . . the next day we had "apology" prosecco and chocolate-dipped strawberries sent to our room (without us asking or complaining)

just returned from the seaside on the 29th . . .

each cruise card as an "internet id" . . . the person that actually purchases the internet package has to log in to each device (just once) with their login credentials . . . once activated on the device, it locks that device to the account so once you reach your device limit, you can't deactivate a device and hope to activate a 5th device

though it may sound complicated, it really is simple . . . feel free to msg me w/ any questions

i did it by calling . . . wasn't available online

you just pay the difference, which is $8/day, or $56/week (per person)

the upgrade from classic (incl w/ aurea) to deluxe was easy . . . a quick call to MSC and a charge to my CC and it's done :)

So my family has 2 x Aurea balconies and 1 x Fanstastica inside booked. While we know about the set times for Fantastica and anytime for Aurea, if we want to eat together in the same dining room at the same time, what are our options (other than buffet obv)...

Our balcony cabins are nearly empty (2 adults, 1 child, and 1 infant filling both rooms as a result of the GS advertising glitch) with 2 adults in the Fantastica cabin, so we are still a fairly small party (4 adults, 1 child, 1 infant total)...

Thoughts?

Hilton Gold got me MSC Silver :(

TBH, the best malls in the area are Sawgrass Mills (~40 min from airport) and Aventura (~25 min from airport) with no easy mass transit to either, but Uber is very much accessible in the South Florida area (I live ~5 minutes from the Aventura Mall)

Miami's elevated train system (called "MetroRail") does terminate at MIA. From there, you can take the MetroRail downtown (and connect to the downtown free transportation system called "MetroMover") to go to Bayside which is a fun outdoor shopping/dining/entertainment destination right on the bay (very close to the port actually). Alternately, for just pure "mass-market" shopping, you can take MetroRail directly to the Dadeland area, which features a LARGE selection of major retailers including Target, Best Buy, and one of the area's larger malls.

so here's a question . . . i was one of those impacted by the mis-advertised GS "Corner" rooms and complained to MSC and was instead changed to 2 x connecting aurea balcony cabins . . . that has already been completed so yay! but now i did a status-match and am MSC Silver (had no status before) . . . i contacted my TA regarding the 5% retroactive discount, and she contacted MSC and was told that since the new package i was on was so heavily discounted already, i was no longer eligible for the 5% status discount . . . thoughts?

I just checked MSC's US website and it still shows 1P-2P and 6P-7P

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/Family-Cruises.aspx

Got the same email indicating a 1/1 instead of a 2/2 and not happy . . . reaching out to MSC directly to see what is being done about it as we specifically booked it for the 2/2 configuration