alyssamma

Well, as the OP I just wanted to update on my experience. After 2mo of emails and being told everything to "soon", "once final payment is made", "onboard", "a few weeks before the sailing", and some weird thing about the contract they had with my TA, I finally got them to add it. As always, persistence is the key with MSC and the struggle and hoops they make you jump through to get the basic stuff that is owed to you is why I love sailing them 🙂

This is the perfect and correct answer (for the US at least). FYI, the TA I normally use does the above based on the cruise line. So for MSC, it is always OBC. But, for example, for HAL, they always do a discount.

Thanks for this...something has definitely changed. I believe they are even more a**backwards than usual on this.

The above posters gave excellent and correct info. I will just add that sometimes HAL gives money specifically for shore excursions. Not sure if any of your OBC is this, but if it is, then you can use it immediately. I know you'll get it with Have It All, but not sure if you can get it other ways. You may also have dinner credits (i.e., free dinners)...these you can book/use right away also.

So, to be clear, you purchased the "bag"...was it $40 - 15% or were you charged some other rate?

As Diamond, you know MSC...this attitude surprised you? 🙂

Is this the policy for non-alcoholic packages? I'd believe it from MSC, but was just making sure that's what you meant...

Based on your signature I assume you aren't in the US...the rules are different by country. The OP seems to be in Canada also, so maybe it will work for them. Also, to be clear, you said price match, but I assume you mean you repriced it because of a price drop...correct? MSC - at least for the US - seems to have several new policies...not repricing seems to be one of them. But even before I've had problems and had to cancel and rebook to get lower fares. That being said, regardless of what is being done, "no trouble at all" isn't really something people say when they have to call MSC...

I would suggest renting a car for the day and seeing all of the waterfalls and other scenery. Very easy to drive, and relatively inexpensive (compared to the cost of a tour).

Excellent responses, but I will add/clarify one thing. I don't think they honor price drops. With YC, it's basically too bad 🙂 With other categories I believe you have to cancel and rebook. Of course, what you said about calling back several times is *always* true, so who knows. I have a YC cabin I've called probably 5 or 6 times and wasn't able to get it dropped. I have a non-YC cabin with the same thing...they made me cancel and rebook.

This was not the case with my drop or the OP's.

You also get upgraded within your cabin category and you get priority tender, which on your sailing may be a big plus.

LOL, sorry, cruise *fare*, not face 🙂

So, we had this happen too. We transferred our cruise to a TA and I noticed the price dropped. When I looked at the details, the actual cruise face went up, but the port charges and taxes dropped from $460pp to $206pp. Didn't ask why, and won't 🙂

Thanks. However the problem is on their end. I'm an MSC vet and understand what you have to do. They keep telling me I'll get it onboard (which is a lie), so I have to just keep pestering until they do their job.

Crap like this is why I *hate* MSC. I had stopped sailing them but a friend is getting married and going on Seascape for their honeymoon and asked us to join. I can emphatically say this is the absolute last MSC cruise I'll take. No amount of luxury on the ship is worth dealing with their customer service.

The OP has a passport. It's the person he's traveling with that doesn't. Your advice is correct, and I would recommend traveling with a passport instead of BC, but it doesn't answer the OP's question which was how to enter BC info...

Ugh...reviving this thread. Has anyone who's booked in the last 3 weeks had a problem getting this credit applied? TIA

I sailed MSC once with a person who had a BC and just put in garbage for those fields (I think I made some far in the future date). When you check in at the port, they'll take care of everything. Side note, even if you don't get your papers before you reach the port, they will still check you in there, so no need to worry about getting on the ship 🙂

Change the doc type to ID card and then put in Birth Certificate. That should get you past the checks. You'll have to do a little extra at the port, but you should be able to get your docs.

I have a similar question for Europe...can anyone answer?

Others have given you great info. I would just add/clarify a few things... 1) Iceland air typically allows layovers for 1-3 days if this is something you would be interested in. 2) Iceland air flights are shorter than direct to Europe flights. If you can sleep on a plane, this might matter to you. You'll be doing 2 segments of 4-6 hours instead of an 8+ hour segment when you cross the ocean. 3) This of course depends on the plane, but typically US carriers are more comfortable than Iceland Air. This is definitely true in business where US carriers will have true lie flat seats, but is also true - in general - for economy. 3a) Delta in particular flies several planes that are 2-2 in economy instead of 3-3. This means if it is just you and your sig other traveling, you have the row to yourselves. 4) In general, if there is a problem with your flight, a US carrier will have a better chance of rebooking you. All of that being said, if the price is significantly cheaper, go Iceland Air.

Right...that's what I said (or tried to) in my first post (bold added). It seemed like the other posters were saying to grab the OV, but I was trying to say your point was the OV seemed normal, but the GTY was too much. I didn't have an answer as to why 🙂

No worries...and I took it in the spirit you meant it. I put a smiley on my comments but hard to tell tone via text. Like I said, I agree with your comments...

Really? So @riffatsea just did something illegal? 🙂 I am pretty sure you can give insurance advice without being licensed. I think the illegal thing is selling, soliciting, etc. But I agree with what you said...either get a broker/agent or use Google. @Lyndihop first, love the name. Second, @riffatsea gave you the best answer. Each policy is different, but typically you have to pay upfront and then get reimbursed. I've actually done this (my wife broke her foot in Mexico) and the process was easy and painless. I always use the same insurance and have had 2 claims with them...no problems either time.