ludocdoc

We just got off Radiance this AM. The pod failed overnight, at a bad time as it was the first big storm we had - very lucky with weather this past week. The ship was really rockin on rough seas, and we got in to Seward 2 hours late. 
 

Hope for the best for those missing out on their cruises. Fam and I were talking about what we would do if we had just flown out and were in The situation. Could search for other lines going south from Whittier or Seward to replace the experience - we had 4 cabins, 9 people, so coordinating another family vacation months later would be hard. 

Has anyone done it? We've got hundreds left over in OBC even after using some on excursions. Can we pay my in laws gratuities with our OBC or is it cabin specific?

I actually got MSC to pick up the phone. They admit there are transfers, but ONLY from the airport in Cairo. Since we're staying overnight in Cairo, she couldnt offer a transfer from Cairo - I guess we could back track to the airport but who does that? You have to imagine lots of people will do a few nights before or after the cruise (or both). Anyway, she also wouldnt let me book the transfer - only my travel agent can book it. 

I also read that Egypt is improving access to the port. Who knows. I think you're the only one who has posted an actual experience, which is a surprise. I'm roaming some facebook groups for MSC to see if I can find any other experiences too. 

On 7/21/2023 at 10:47 PM, cwistyred said:

Ahhhhh here is where the story went bad.  I will tell you - MSC will tell you that they do not have transfers from the airport to Sokhna -they do.  Force the issue and take their transfer. Sokhna port is very difficult to get to. I booked a hotel in Sokhna for the night before the cruise. MSC said there were no transfers and I wanted to get to the port early. Got to the hotel, which is 15 minutes from the port, during check in I said I needed a car to take us to the port in the morning.  This started the misery. I was told point blank that the cars and taxis in that area cannot take passengers to the port. Special license needed. No one has one.  Cannot drop you at the port entrance, industrial port.  The hotel then spent over 6 hours trying to get anyone to take us to the port. Finally they got a hold of someone from MSC Egypt the next morning and they sent some guy who worked at the port to pick us up. I spoke to MSC USA and they basically said “ I should have booked a transfer”. I was told there were NONE. Told me they could not help me and this was my problem, Rough night thinking we would miss the ship and our shore excursion to Luxor. Moral of story - book the transfer!!!  The $175 from Cairo with delivery to the ship sounds about right. But be sure it is directly to the ship - I do not think most hotels in Cairo know the rules.

The shore excursion in Luxor and the 3 days in Cairo were wonderful. The hotel in Sokhna was sooooo beautiful (although we did not get to enjoy it). The staff of that hotel were the best. Saved that part of the trip. Great people.

Thanks a ton! Sounds like you didnt get to use their transfer. Did others on the ship say they did use it and how they got it booked? MSC customer service is... mmm....

On 7/1/2023 at 10:22 PM, cwistyred said:

We booked three days worth of private tours through Egypt Tours Portal. We chose what to see on what days. We booked the hotel through an online booking site. We then booked a car to drive us to Ein Sokhna to catch the MSC Splendida. Pretty easy to arrange on your own.

We've got a similar plan - embarking Ain Sokhna onto MSC Orchestra. They still arent selling a transfer, and who knows if they will. We plan on staying downtown Cairo the night before, visit the museum in the AM, and would like to get a private car to the ship. Vendors seem to want extra money - like $50 US - to gather documents and clear entry into the port with the police. Otherwise, they leave us at the port entrance. Sounds scammy. THe hotel wants $175 which seems high. Who did you use, and if you recall, the price?

Be a resource. Share solutions that have worked for experienced cruisers. Get public exposure for a major RCL fail. 

CEO's office turfed it back to my travel agent who has been trying to get RCL to fix this for a year now. Of course, nobody cares about my money as much as me - which is the RCL strategy - my TA isnt going to battle them for my missing $1000. She just accepts their BS about "give us 7-10 days to reaserch this" and then they come back with nothing. So I remain out $1000 cash and nearly $1000 in FCCs, a year into this.

Hi followers. I got a response from RCL - an admin in the CEOs office Feb 2, and nothing since. I've emailed once a week asking for an update and... crickets. Any ideas?

I've actually got a google spreadsheet for them. The gift cards saved me 15%, but wow what a hassle. Given that after the cards, I had correct FCCS from the 2020 cruise, I think they should be irrelevant, but RCL seems to have their own convoluted process.

I'm impressed by the $9, $10, refunds. One was a partial refund for a $280 beverage package - they kept the other 270. It's not enough to be tips, so .... what the heck?  THanks, will email the CEO.

3 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I'm sorry you're going through this.  I have no practical advice, aside from working with your TA and possibly sending an email to the mbayley address (if you search this board, I know it's been mentioned a couple times).

 

One thing that jumps out to me (if you end up copying/pasting what you wrote)... you mention your June 2019 cruise was cancelled by RCI because of Covid.  Covid didn't hit the US until January 2020.  You might want to double check your dates. 

 Yup. Was 2020 cruise, booked n 2019. ty.

Short: Had a family cruise booked for June 2020 -MIL's 75th BDay, and it was cancelled by RCL per COVID. Took forever to get FCCS straight, and rebooked 3 cabins for June 2022. My wife got cancer and we cancelled befor ethey changed the friendly policy. It's been 10 months and we still dont have FCCs right. Our travel agent has escalated through RCL, but they keep delaying, are full of excuses... meanwhile we cant book our next cruise. How can I escalate this?

More details: Booked the 2020 cruise with gift cards, which they say made it hard to give us the original FCCS. They never refunded the original taxes. We were paid in full for the 2022 cruise when the cancer came. We cancelled in March while RCL was still permitting no penaly cancellations. My wife was in the infusion center getting chemo on sail day :(. She's ok now and we'd like to re-re schedule. 

We had applied FCCs for the 3 cabins, plus had to pay extra out of pocket on final payment because of course, even with 25% bonus on the originla FCCs, costs were way up. We had beverage packages. 

RCL refunded one of the 3 cabins final payments (the tiny $60 one) and the soda package for one cabin.

RCL hasnt refunded the $500 and $400 final payments for the other cabins.

RCL says they refunded the original taxes from 2019 and the larger beverage package, but... nope. They refunded $9,9 and 10 fragemnts, but not the hundres of original price.

Each cabin has 5 FCCS (for 2 people) and none add up to the right amounts. Overall, we're $600 + short on the FCC side and $1300+ short on the cash side.

I used to be able to get through to RCL, and hear their excuses and promises to get back to me in 7 days, which they never do. Now I cant get through at all. My travel agent is working hard and getting the run around. She's escalated to management, but it's been ten months of effort and as we do this, the price for the cruise that we want to book on keeps going up and up, and cabins are vanishing. 

Any suggestions on getting action on this? Twitter, facebook have yielded nothing. 

I have a cruise booked June 14. I expect it to be cancelled. The same cruise a year away is 50% more expensive than when I booked. So the voucher wont cover rebooking. No surprise. Everyone who already planned to cruise in 2021 is booked, plus a massive captive audience of people with vouchers that must be used by end of 2021. Price gouging is already on.

I'm having an awful time trying to find a good transit map that helps with ferries. I have one that suggests you can ferry from Nybroviken to Skeppsholmen and on to Djurgarden, but cant find much online about that. I'd like the connection from Skeppsholmen to Djurgarden, after which we'd see the Vasa Museum and then head to Gamla stan, which I think I've got figured out. I'd also wonder if the Stockholm card corers any of these trips.

Help!