JT1962

I observed this when booking a future cruise onboard in October. I was able to see the screen the agent was using and there were probably 40-50+ lines with various codes and numbers he could select when pricing the cruise I wanted to book. He gave me one price, then checked another couple of options and could never find the original option again. Some options had OBC, others had free drinks & wifi, many seemed to be based on your country of residency, etc. None of the wording seemed to be easy to determine what the promotion was without choosing that line or possibly having a cheat sheet for the codes. It makes me think their booking system may have been what the shipping side of MSC has used for years and they tried to modify it for cruises. It may work great for pricing and booking containers for shipping, but is not user friendly for booking cruises.

I booked a cruise while onboard in October and the only advantage I saw was an additional $ 25 onboard credit. That was for an Inside Fantastica cabin. The prices were the same online when I checked after I got home, other than the additional small OBC.

It may have to do with the number of people on the ship, or at least in the Aurea cabins. I was on B2B cruises on Divina in October and went to the Aurea sun deck several times during the first 7 days. I had no idea it was a special deck. I never saw any signs or anyone checking. There were only a few people up there anytime I was there. The following 12 night cruise had more passengers. When I went to go to the sun deck, there was a rope across the stairway and a sign that said “Aurea Guests Only.”

The 3-4 night cruises seem to be packed “booze cruises” now with the cheaper fares that include the drink package. The 7 night cruises get better reviews.

Glad you got it resolved. The onboard Guest Services and shoreside Customer Service never seem to communicate well with each other (or anyone else 😊).

You likely will need to cancel with Guest Services on the next cruise since you are past the time they allow you to make changes online and possibly by phone.

Fully agree with this. Good onboard experience, great solo pricing, HORRIBLE website and customer service reps, at least in the US. Most of the customer service reps can’t assist with anything other than booking or taking payment. They all seem new and untrained. Why does pricing change on a fully paid cruise just for asking a simple question? It seems if they open your reservation in the system for any reason, even just to verify what time your dining time is, that it reprices the cruise it to the current rate and shows you owe more, even if paid in full. It then takes several days, emails, phone calls and providing proof of previous pricing correspondence to get the price back to what it was.

I was on the Divina in October, and was told they had not upgraded to a smart ship yet because they were waiting until the ship was going to be permanently redeployed to Europe. Their comment was the system needed for Europe is different than the US and they did not want to have to do the upgrade twice. I’m not an IT person, but I was not aware that there was a difference in the technology between Europe and the US for Wi-Fi that would be used on a ship. It sounded like it was probably a made up excuse for them not spending the money to upgrade it now.

Western Mediterranean? They are updating the cruise descriptions on the website. I have 2 Repositioning Cruises that previously showed Grand Voyage and now show POS.. Not sure if the 3 letter codes people are seeing are place holders, the code for the full name that will appear once programming is completed or they will be the new descriptions going forward.

you should be able to cancel up to 24 hours prior to the excursion. I would call before the cruise and cancel. They will tell you to allow two billing cycles for your refund the post, but I have found it’s generally 2 to 3 weeks.

It seems to depend on the bartender or server. On my cruise in January, a gentleman with the drink package ordered drinks for 6-7 people at a time in some of the bars on multiple occasions with no issues using only his card. He attempted to order a glass of wine at dinner for himself and one lady at the table and the server told him he could only order one glass for himself using the drink package. I observed similar differences on my cruise in October.

Glad it went smoothly.

The cruise line or employees are unlikely to ever tell you this. I learned it was an option by postings on Cruise Critic years ago. It doesn’t work on all cruise lines, but did for me on MSC last month.

No

In October when I returned from Panama/Colombia/Costa Rica, the facial recognition scanners were not working, and it took several hours to clear the ship. Last month the facial scanners were working, and I was off the ship very quickly.

The emergency repairs are scheduled to be completed in time for the cruise season. If the repairs pass the safety testing, ships docked at Railroad Dock Aft will use buses to take passengers past the slide area and ships at the Railroad Dock Forward Berth will use tenders. A slower process than in the past, but better than missing the port. https://www.cruisehive.com/alaska-port-rockslide-work-to-be-done-by-cruise-season/94215

Sorry for the confusion. I had been reading another thread about using onboard credit and that was on my mind. The only advantage I found to booking on board was an extra $25 OBC. If you were able to book a cruise that you want using the FCC, I would probably do that rather than waiting until I boarded and hoping they could get it right or apply it later. As many have learned, me included, contacting MSC after you have booked, or even made final payment, can result in additional charges and many phone calls trying to correct it. It’s best to book what you want and leave the reservation alone.

They would not let me charge the deposit to my room when I booked a cruise on board in October, so I doubt they would let you apply OBC to the deposit. I paid the deposit with the same credit card I had linked to my room, but they said it had to be a separate transaction, even if on the same card.

I have not done the excursion through MSC, but it is very easy to go to Chankanaab on your own. You can book several options directly online (with or without food, dolphin swims, etc.), then take a taxi to / from Chankanaab. Taxi fare is usually $ 15-18 each way for up to 4 people from the downtown pier. You would need to determine if the cost to go independently was more or less than the excursion. The advantage to going independently is that you can stay as long as want to as long as you get back to the ship before the all aboard time. If you are just wanting a nice beach day with food and drinks, Nachi Cocum, Mr Sanchos, Playa Mia, Paradise Beach are all probably better than Chankanaab. If you plan on snorkeling, going to the sea lion show, etc., then Chankanaab is fine.

Most cruise line onboard credit is non-refundable if not used. Why didn’t you go to the casino on the last day to get the unspent onboard credit back? Very easy. Charge the excess OBC to your room card at any machine, then cash out the ticket, take it to the casino cashier and get the cash. You then have no balance due you and the cash in your pocket.

I didn’t experience those issues on the Jan 20 7 Day sailing. I ate at the MDR 4 days for breakfast and 2 days for lunch with no wait to be seated shortly after opening. I was out in 40 min or less each time. I never had an issue getting glasses, silverware or a seat at the buffet. Sounds like your sailing was more crowded.

All cruise lines have had cutbacks and reductions in staff. I was on the Divina last month and the only real difference I noticed from October was differences on the Voyagers Club Diamond amenities - I got a chocolate bar rather than chocolate ship and was told I needed to go to guest services to get my gift (I forgot to go, so don’t know what it was.). Service was a little slower in the dining room, but that could have been due to our group requesting to sit together and be added to the wait teams normal number of tables and the assistant waiter seeming to be new to the role. I think all of the cruise lines are struggling with staffing issues. MSC may be struggling more than some since they seem to have large fluctuations in passenger counts between the 3-4 day & 7 day cruises. I see reports of 4,000+ on some of the ships on the 3-4 day cruises, then 1,800 - 2,400 on a 7 day cruise the following week. That makes it difficult to properly staff the ship, since they can’t hire temporary employees for a full cruise, as a land based business might be able to do, or not schedule employees for a slower week. The obvious answer is do not book more passengers than the crew can’t handle, but that’s difficult to do when the cruise lines need all the paying passengers they can get.

I watched the video and will be on the Seascape in May and am looking forward to it. He seemed to like the things that interest me such as quality of the ship, nice cabin, decent food and entertainment. I generally don’t go to the night club or late night parties, but did on the Divina a couple of weeks ago with those at our table, and I observed nothing like what he mentioned. There were very few kids of any age on that cruise. Customs and standards are different around the world, so having families at a late night party may be common outside the US. The main thing I got out of the video was reinforcing why I don’t have an electric car, lol. He had to drive an hour in the opposite direction to charge his car because there was a delay getting into the port due to a marathon. He said MSC is not the cruise line for him currently. That’s fine. No cruise line is going to appeal to everyone. He didn’t care for his experience and is moving on. That’s what everyone should do if they don’t like something.

I purchased an annual medical travel policy with GeoBlue this year. It covers up to $ 500,000 In medical / medical evacuation coverage while traveling. It was $ 151 for me for the year based on my age. My main concern is a medical event / accident, possibly requiring a medical evacuation, where the cost could be $ 100,000+. Losing a cruise or flights that cost a few thousand dollars isn’t fun, but a $ 150,000 uncovered medical expense could be life changing. Allianz also offers annual travel policies that cover flights, hotels, cruises, etc., but the medical coverages are not as high. An annual policy is usually cheaper if you are doing more than 2-3 trips a year.