MSC Bargains Thread

No, I don't have any MSC bargains. I am wondering if anyone else has?

It has been a depressing 6 months or so of MSC UK pricing - repo cruise rates drastically up, single supplements of 50 to 100% imposed on repos, when they were previously a solo-welcoming zero, and the 'experiences' introduced such that now the lowest-cost option, Bella, is significantly worse than the previous 'ordinary'. Taken together, they are a absolute pricing catastrophe.

I am always looking a year ahead for holidays and that in recent years has included a cruise. The current cruise horizon currently looks very bleak and depressing indeed. I am hoping someone out there will share a tidbit of information to cheer me up.

I am now looking for late 2015 or at last minute availability. I will sulk until something comes up.

Perhaps 'land-cruises' are the way ahead (far bigger 'cabins', no 'inside cabins' at all, no seasickness, guaranteed views, no embarking/disembarking crowds hassle, no daily service charge, cheaper all-inclusive, and generally small 'ships' with much more personal service etc.)? Perhaps someone could convince me otherwise.

Perhaps I experienced the 'Golden Age' of MSC UK pricing and it is time to move on to other, fresher pastures? Perhaps I am just too financially poor to partake?

The Divina out of Miami looks cheap but, having read all the associated threads, I don't think I would like the changed MSC product nor stand the U.S. immigration nightmare once more.

Ho hum. Thoughts, bargains, ideas anyone?

Anyone who can sail last minute from their own backyard can find bargains. I wish we were living in Europe right now, great bargains to be had, Baltic sailing on HAL, other Med values. The airfare is what stopped us, about $1100 rt. So, here we sit. btw, check out those deals from Vancouver to AK and back. Anybody want to house swap for the summer?

We're sailing an 11 night Western Med cruise from Civitavecchia on 4 December on the MSC Fantasia. The Fantastica experience is currently going for the same price as Bella and you can get an inside for £449pps, an outside for £549pps and a balcony for £649pps. For the length of the cruise and the ports I think it's a good bargain. Flights to Rome aren't too expensive at that time of the year either.

Also just to mention, if the US immigration issue is putting you off sailing from the US again, have you considered flying from Dublin or Shannon, where you can clear immigration before you fly?

Anyone who can sail last minute from their own backyard can find bargains. I wish we were living in Europe right now, great bargains to be had, Baltic sailing on HAL, other Med values. The airfare is what stopped us, about $1100 rt. So, here we sit. btw, check out those deals from Vancouver to AK and back. Anybody want to house swap for the summer?

I am already signed up for Love Home Swap!

Yes those Anchorage/Vancouver sailings are consistently the lowest at the moment. A quick check reveals they start at $36/night pre-taxes. Then it is the Miami 4 night-ers at a Dollar more. Anchorage and Vancouver sound cold and uninteresting. Is that just me? Where are they anyway?

There's some great pricing on the Orchestra's Middle East cruises in late Jan/all through Feb. Flights arn't too bad either!

Try getting anywhere from NZ!!! :eek:

Not only are the prices on the local MSC site roughly double even after currency conversion, but it costs a small fortune in airfare to get anywhere.

We are currently tracking flight prices to LA with the thought of taking the kids to Disney for three days then doing a 4 night cruise with Carnival from Long Beach in Dec.

I would absolutely love to live somewhere where Europe was on your doorstep and it didn't take at least 14 hours of flying to get anywhere vaguely interesting. I suspect there are plenty who would be quite happy to swap places with me though! :D

I think patience is needed for 2015. There are an awful lot of new ships in the Med next year, plus the Allure, plus an extra MSC ship or too, so too many cabins and not enough passengers perhaps. I think we might see lots of lower prices, if we can hold our nerve and not hit the book button.

RCL (USA) have already started with the BOGOHP and Celebrity with an early offer of 123 go for 2015. RCL UK are offering "free flights".

I think patience is needed for 2015. There are an awful lot of new ships in the Med next year, plus the Allure, plus an extra MSC ship or too, so too many cabins and not enough passengers perhaps. I think we might see lots of lower prices, if we can hold our nerve and not hit the book button.

 

RCL (USA) have already started with the BOGOHP and Celebrity with an early offer of 123 go for 2015. RCL UK are offering "free flights".

I'll keep my fingers crossed for 2016 then! We plan to take our kids to Europe and on a cruise so hopefully we can get some good prices.

I agree. I think up until 2012, there was surplus capacity in the Med. Since then the Navigator of the Seas has gone to Texas, the Independence of the Seas began doing Norway runs, and MSC have filled a lot of the gap. This year however, many newer, bigger ships are heading to Norway/the Baltic and the price reductions seen in the med a few years ago seem to be happening in Northern Europe. I stay near Glasgow, Scotland. We have the Ruby Princess visit twice a month. I used to be amazed at how high the fares on the Princess British Isles' cruises, whereas this year, they are down to £500 for 12 night trip (next year they are switching the Ruby to the Royal Princess for the British Isles, should be interesting!)

Looking to 2015, with the Allure and Anthem of the Seas operating in summer, and the Epic year round, I think other lines will react to protect their market share. Yes, 2015 is already on sale, but I think there will be price cuts to follow. Generally, I think there was too much capacity in the med, but they took too much out, and reacted by replacing that capacity after realising the Baltic and Norway were experiencing the same booking patterns.

Just my opinion!

The capacity argument is interesting.

MSC's message of late is that they are first and foremost The Mediterranean cruise line. The Divina sailing from Miami appears to have been little more than a publicity stunt to lure Americans from their regular cruise lines over to MSC - but ultimately in Europe. The reaction on this board to the Divina arriving in Miami reminds me of the electrification of the main line from London arriving in Leeds. The reaction in the South of England was as if we had just got electric for the first time. There was a perception that both MSC and the Divina were new. Only the marketing was new. The Divina is not even the newest in the fleet. And yes, we had electricity in the North of England a while ago.

With four to six 5,000+ capacity new ships arriving from 2017, I can see MSC will have to do something with prices but perhaps not just yet.

I still see the the next year as a lean period for cruise bargains. I would love to get hold of the actual statistics for projected capacity across all cruise lines in different regions but in the end it is whatever the bottom line is. Cruise lines may easily collude to sail with half-empty ships at artificially high fares for their collective long game.

Try getting anywhere from NZ!!! :eek:

 

Not only are the prices on the local MSC site roughly double even after currency conversion, but it costs a small fortune in airfare to get anywhere.

 

We are currently tracking flight prices to LA with the thought of taking the kids to Disney for three days then doing a 4 night cruise with Carnival from Long Beach in Dec.

 

I would absolutely love to live somewhere where Europe was on your doorstep and it didn't take at least 14 hours of flying to get anywhere vaguely interesting. I suspect there are plenty who would be quite happy to swap places with me though! :D

OK, you can have my house in Greece for a year while I fulfil my inner Lord of the Rings child tourism thing at yours. I have the Avios!

I already said I was on Love Home Swap. Can you find me a job too? I am good with animals.

How are you with kids? :P I'd definitely be tempted if I could leave the kids behind! :D

Here's a recent photo from Hobbiton. As you can see, I'm not that much taller than a hobbit myself!

Aaahhh....one of life's little problems... plenty of things to see and do...not enough brass to do it. It will be very interesting to see how it pans out with the cruise companies... a bit of a cat n mouse scenario. We the paying customer have now become used to the "bargains"..... don't we just luv em...do we want to pay full price....will we pay full price...not sure if we will. Maybe if it is somewhere special/different we will but the cruise companies are going to have an awful lot of beds to fill and at the end of the day its " bods in beds" that they need....empty beds pay for nowt.

Skipper Tim....land cruising may be the way to go for the moment but have you considered "proper" land cruising....by coach...some good last minute bargains with those....perhaps not your thing though....just an idea.

How are you with kids? :P I'd definitely be tempted if I could leave the kids behind! :D

 

Here's a recent photo from Hobbiton. As you can see, I'm not that much taller than a hobbit myself!

Great picture! So Hobbiton is real after all. I knew it!

I am no good with children at all unfortunately. They intimidate me. It feels like they have a special status which I never had when I was young. They know I am only a 'grown up' and they exploit it mercilessly!

Aaahhh....one of life's little problems... plenty of things to see and do...not enough brass to do it. It will be very interesting to see how it pans out with the cruise companies... a bit of a cat n mouse scenario. We the paying customer have now become used to the "bargains"..... don't we just luv em...do we want to pay full price....will we pay full price...not sure if we will. Maybe if it is somewhere special/different we will but the cruise companies are going to have an awful lot of beds to fill and at the end of the day its " bods in beds" that they need....empty beds pay for nowt.

Skipper Tim....land cruising may be the way to go for the moment but have you considered "proper" land cruising....by coach...some good last minute bargains with those....perhaps not your thing though....just an idea.

I can't do busses for long distance: 1) my legs don't fit and 2) I am always the first to get travel sick. 5 minutes in a car and I go queazy. I am fine on planes and on ships I know where to go to minimise the symptoms (a bar on a low deck and near the middle - a couple of stiff drinks soon compensates for the movement:))

It is a cat and mouse game, you are right. The variables and price timetables are forever changing and all one can really do it spot good value, which is a personal equation, when it appears and put aside all the marketing hype. I always read the Travel section of the Sunday Times and have a good laugh at all the 'special' deals advertised at "only"... upwards of ten times of what I would ever pay. If the price was right, they would not need to spend good money to advertise it. Finding cruise bargains though is a challenge....

Their "only" equates to my HOW MUCH!!!!! a phrase I am sure you are very familiar with. My bargains are worked out by how much it is costing per night. We too are going to have to play the "long game"... en masse....we can afford to they can't but unfortunately we will have to accept a lowering of standards...long term...can't have our cake and eat it.

None of this is constructively helpful to you Skipper Tim at the moment. Have you considered Princess cruises...sometimes they have good last minute bargains but not sure how price would work out for solo passengers.

Their "only" equates to my HOW MUCH!!!!! a phrase I am sure you are very familiar with. My bargains are worked out by how much it is costing per night. We too are going to have to play the "long game"... en masse....we can afford to they can't but unfortunately we will have to accept a lowering of standards...long term...can't have our cake and eat it.

None of this is constructively helpful to you Skipper Tim at the moment. Have you considered Princess cruises...sometimes they have good last minute bargains but not sure how price would work out for solo passengers.

A few weeks ago I had posted in my signature a message along the lines of 'waiting for the single supplement to be removed on' and then the cruise I thought was most likely to be available without supplement and at a better rate nearer the time. It was the only Fantasia class (largest) MSC ship on a repositioning from Genoa to Santos - both ports relatively difficult to access - over 20 nights which many people can't do. I am sure this cruise will be drastically undersold. MSC must have been watching my posts because the single supplement increased from 50% to 100%!

I will take a look at Princess as they don't usually crop up on the U.S. comparison sites. Thanks!

Tim ... we asked about that cruise last week and were told it was now sold out along with the one from Venice, the Magnifica from Southampton is still available though.

For anyone wanting to travel around the UK on the 12 night Ruby Princess trips from Southampton there have been some great prices recently, as low as £599.

How about 3 nights on the Magnifica in September Hamburg to Southampton £79 each?

Tim ... we asked about that cruise last week and were told it was now sold out along with the one from Venice, the Magnifica from Southampton is still available though.

 

For anyone wanting to travel around the UK on the 12 night Ruby Princess trips from Southampton there have been some great prices recently, as low as £599.

Thanks Brian but is still for sale online in the UK.

None of these repo cruises will sell out - ever! If they get to around 70% occupancy they are doing very well indeed. This one in particular is unlikely to get to 50%. It is a Fantasia class ship with inconvenient ports at both ends.

How about 3 nights on the Magnifica in September Hamburg to Southampton £79 each?

Yes, I agree that is tempting. Having just come back from the Opera from a one-night sailing from Southampton to Amsterdam, which I have not yet recovered from, I could do with something longer and more relaxing. I wish for the sea days of a repo!

This one says sold out.....who knows why....it is so far ahead like a year and 4 months....I wonder if it is the cruise before the Divina is to go back to Miami????

10 nights departing September 26, 2015 on

MSC Cruises' MSC Divina

Brochure Inside $1,939

Inside $969

Teacher Rate $769

Brochure Oceanview $2,239

Oceanview $919

Brochure Balcony $2,739

Balcony $1,119

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Sat Sep 26 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00pm

Sun Sep 27 La Spezia, Italy 8:00am

Mon Sep 28 La Spezia, Italy 2:00am

Mon Sep 28 Cannes, France 10:30am 7:00pm

Tue Sep 29 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 2:00pm

Wed Sep 30 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 12:30am

Wed Sep 30 Barcelona, Spain 9:00am 6:00pm

Thu Oct 1 At Sea

Fri Oct 2 La Goulette, Tunisia 8:00am 6:00pm

Sat Oct 3 Valletta, Malta 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Oct 4 Messina, Sicily, Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Mon Oct 5 Naples (Capri), Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Tue Oct 6 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 8:00am

Hey Tim love the idea of the transalantic - looked at flights - i think you said before use a european airport rather than UK any tips ?

This one says sold out.....who knows why....it is so far ahead like a year and 4 months....I wonder if it is the cruise before the Divina is to go back to Miami????

I just checked on MSC USA's website and it is not sold out at all.

It's the the cruise before the dry dock.

Hey Tim love the idea of the transalantic - looked at flights - i think you said before use a european airport rather than UK any tips ?

Especially if you are using Avios, you can save most of the " taxes and fees" by flying Iberia from Madrid, Air Lingus from Dublin or Air Berlin from one its hubs in Germany. A connecting flight from your local airport on a separate ticket will be required but will more than pay for itself and is little different in convenience to connecting in London as is required with BA. The chief culprit is the extortionate UK air passenger departure duty applied to long haul flights. The strategy is therefore to leave the UK on a short haul, low cost airline flight then onwards, ideally in business, on a separate ticket.

An advantage of flying ex-Dublin to the USA is that US immigration is completed at Dublin and the flight is then treated as a domestic arrival in the US.

In the reverse direction the savings are less as UK APD does not apply but still significant because BA puts a lot of their fare in a notional fuel surcharge which must be paid for Avios redemptions.