MSC, cruise cancelled four weeks out???

[Alex71]

Good to know that this can happen and is managed so poorly. So far we only booked cruises from ports we could drive to, but as soon as flights are involved, this becomes a major problem.

 

The cruises out of Dubai and out of the Canaries looked tempting, but we won't risk booking them if there is a risk of them being cancelled on short notice.

[macrompian1]

Good to know that this can happen and is managed so poorly. So far we only booked cruises from ports we could drive to, but as soon as flights are involved, this becomes a major problem.

 

The cruises out of Dubai and out of the Canaries looked tempting, but we won't risk booking them if there is a risk of them being cancelled on short notice.

 

It is only on MSC that this happened to me, never on RCL , so bear that in mind.

[macrompian1]

That is so awful for you.

I'm beginning to think that TAs who are having to deal directly with their clients being let down by MSC should boycott the company. It seems to be causing nothing but headaches for them (not to mention us would-be/wannabe cruisers). I know in my case, my TA couldn't apologise enough even though, as she said herself, it was "outside my control".

 

RESULT!! The TA have come up trumps, msc said they sent a letter to the TA NOTIFYING THEM OF THE CHANGE of schedule , ta says they never received it, they did receive a call saying the times had changed as previously stated. So whilst MSC are behaving like they can survive without any customers at all , and don't feel the need to help sort this mess out, the TA , are footing the bill for all the changes, which MSC quoted as being an extra 3/4/k for flight & accomodation changes. So after a week of worry , wrangling of hands and annoyance, we are finally cruising again.... Feb 14th from Rome on splendida. Afew days earlier than intended, but I am not arguing that point!

Thank you all for your input.

[Beamafar]

RESULT!! The TA have come up trumps, msc said they sent a letter to the TA NOTIFYING THEM OF THE CHANGE of schedule , ta says they never received it, they did receive a call saying the times had changed as previously stated. So whilst MSC are behaving like they can survive without any customers at all , and don't feel the need to help sort this mess out, the TA , are footing the bill for all the changes, which MSC quoted as being an extra 3/4/k for flight & accomodation changes. So after a week of worry , wrangling of hands and annoyance, we are finally cruising again.... Feb 14th from Rome on splendida. Afew days earlier than intended, but I am not arguing that point!

Thank you all for your input.

 

I'm absolutely delighted for you - I'll watch for you boarding at Civitavecchia, haha.

I went to the Holiday World Show in RDS yesterday and met an MSC rep - it was great to talk to her. I outlined some of my experiences and difficulties. She took everything on board (no pun intended) and said she'd pass it on - which I suppose is as much as she can do considering everything is decided in Italy.:mad: She was also very helpful with a minor problem I'm having with a booking, so a big thank you goes to her (MSC themselves still have a way to go).

[pat1954]

Well that is good news like you I've never had any problem with RCI,NCL,Costa,Thomsons only MSC customer service isn't what you would expect. Ncl are excellent my daughter missed her Heathrow connection they put her in Hotel at airport flew her to Naples paid all Taxis and food vouchers and refunded 3 days cruise and they only really missed the day at sea now thats customer service.... but maybe you only get what you pay for!!!!!Glad you had a good T/A to fix it all.

[alpal1993]

It is only on MSC that this happened to me, never on RCL , so bear that in mind.

 

It happened last year on Carnival Sunshine as well Dry Dock was not completed on time and cruises were cancelled as close as 3 weeks out.So it can happen to any cruise line.How it is handled is another matter.

[Bob7]

That is so awful for you.

I'm beginning to think that TAs who are having to deal directly with their clients being let down by MSC should boycott the company. It seems to be causing nothing but headaches for them (not to mention us would-be/wannabe cruisers). I know in my case, my TA couldn't apologise enough even though, as she said herself, it was "outside my control".

Yup it's happened. One of the 3 largest cruise vendors in the USA (CruCon) has stopped booking MSC cruises, and taken them off their search engine. They told us there were just too many hassles for their customers.

MSC has some way cheap prices for the summer, but we can't deal with possible cancellations/departure changes with air already locked in.

-Bob

[macrompian1]

Yup it's happened. One of the 3 largest cruise vendors in the USA (CruCon) has stopped booking MSC cruises, and taken them off their search engine. They told us there were just too many hassles for their customers.

MSC has some way cheap prices for the summer, but we can't deal with possible cancellations/departure changes with air already locked in.

-Bob

Well , good, companies who show such disregard for their clients should be shown the door. Thanks for letting us know :)

[clivep]

If MSC continues to mess about with the February cruises then consider switching to Costa... they currently have numerous 7 day February cruises at £299 for a balcony cabin.

[macrompian1]

If MSC continues to mess about with the February cruises then consider switching to Costa... they currently have numerous 7 day February cruises at £299 for a balcony cabin.

 

I was looking at Costa to see what they had to offer, but I am not sure how they compare to Msc or Rcl ? I usually cruise with Royal but decided to go with Msc due to the reasonable price of the cruise, am really sorry now, because it is not worth the extreme hassle of getting it sorted ;(

I am still waiting on confirmation to see if the prepaid gratuities are going to be transferred to the new booking, a week waiting, ridiculous service from MSC, never ever again.......

[macrompian1]

Well, the bags are unpacked are the washing machine is going full throttle. I am surveying my latest batch of fridge magnets accrued over the past week, gonna have to get a new fridge, double door style!

So, Splendida ..... Beautiful ship, helpful staff, decent size balcony cabins (8173 & 8175), no extra charge for the view of the lifeboat outside our windows. Food quality, not brilliant, cafeteria style but warm ,not hot, not cold, do not touch the coffee! large choice in buffet, dining room was much better, but still not brilliant, the shows we saw were entertaining, some awesome acrobatics . Excursion prices are a rip off, we did our own except for Tunisia for safety reasons, at half the cost. I had a difficult time with this booking as my previous posts identify, which I suppose soured the trip for me a little, but I can honestly say that whilst I did not have a horrible time, I am in no hurry to go back onto another MSC ship again.