Not impressed with new pricing structure

[Beamafar]

I have been trying to jog my memory. I remember the space "Piazza San Giorgio". I can only remember it as a beautiful, deserted space with a fountain surrounded by shops.

 

Did you not see the fabulous display of luscious cakes, cannolis, etc in that area? I have to say it was the first thing I spotted :D

 

There was a bar counter in between it and a gelato display which is on the left-hand side - many's the morning I hung out there with a hot chocolate & Baileys for elevenses :D:D ..........and now you're telling me you didn't even get to experience it with your premium package?! :p

[Skipper Tim]

Did you not see the fabulous display of luscious cakes, cannolis, etc in that area? I have to say it was the first thing I spotted :D

 

There was a bar counter in between it and a gelato display which is on the left-hand side - many's the morning I hung out there with a hot chocolate & Baileys for elevenses :D:D ..........and now you're telling me you didn't even get to experience it with your premium package?! :p

 

No, I saw none of that. It may have been because the Fantasia was still in 'Brazilian mode' and it is not part of the Brazilian offering or because I don't have a sweet tooth I just did't notice it.

 

Hot chocolate and Baileys..... I could be turned.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Here are some photos from the Pizza Del Doge on the MSC Divina which I took recently. On the MSC Fantasia this place is the Piazza San Giorgio:)

 

Sweet temptations:D

 

 

 

 

[Beamafar]

.........and Skipper Tim walked right past it! :confused::rolleyes::eek:

 

Just get a load of those prices They're that in Euros in the Med

Edited October 16, 2014 by Beamafar

[Elmartellama]

They looked yummy! Yet we never ate them, since the regular desserts were quite good (and we were eating way too much).

 

About price structure, it's not always about the extras, MSC clearly restricts your freedom on choice regarding diner times. They do not offer my time dining, they do not guarantee you might dine at a good time for you. They don't even put too much effort to advertise or promote speciality dining!

 

What other line is so restrictive in that regard?

 

I doubt not having a insignificant extra can ruin your cruise, but having bad dining experiences certainly can!

 

Why should we pay 200€ more to have "priority" to choose dining times? 200€ is a lot of money, and it means paying 10€ per person per night. That is the price difference of Bella and Fantastica for a 7 days cruise in 2015. The bella balcony costing 1.750€ + drinks + gratuities, which is not that cheap to then be treated like a second class passenger.

 

If we book in advance and they have part of our money a whole year before we cruise then I consider that should be a good enough deal to them. (having 25% of you next year income now is a HUGE source of finance)

 

Also, if we book a Bella balcony like we have had, why should we have less priority to choose diner times than people paying less money, for a Fantastica inside or ocean view? That does not make any sense to me.

 

The way I see it, MSC is failing in the American market, and they desperately need to grow in new markets, and reach a younger audience, to cope with fleet expansion. If they continue restricting freedom on people holidays, they get bad reviews, and then they can only attract people with very cheap offers.

 

One thing is for sure, new generations are used to having choices, and the rest of the industry is moving in that direction.

 

Giving people more choice does not mean having less income and more expenses. They can offer truly speciality restaurants for a fee, or my time dining to those willing to eat at the MDR.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Elmartellama

[GOLDENBONNY]

They looked yummy! Yet we never ate them, since the regular desserts were quite good (and we were eating way too much).

 

About price structure, it's not always about the extras, MSC clearly restricts your freedom on choice regarding diner times. They do not offer my time dining, they do not guarantee you might dine at a good time for you. They don't even put too much effort to advertise or promote speciality dining!

 

What other line is so restrictive in that regard?

 

I doubt not having a insignificant extra can ruin your cruise, but having bad dining experiences certainly can!

 

Why should we pay 200€ more to have "priority" to choose dining times? 200€ is a lot of money, and it means paying 10€ per person per night. That is the price difference of Bella and Fantastica for a 7 days cruise in 2015. The bella balcony costing 1.750€ + drinks + gratuities, which is not that cheap to then be treated like a second class passenger.

 

If we book in advance and they have part of our money a whole year before we cruise then I consider that should be a good enough deal to them. (having 25% of you next year income now is a HUGE source of finance)

 

Also, if we book a Bella balcony like we have had, why should we have less priority to choose diner times than people paying less money, for a Fantastica inside or ocean view? That does not make any sense to me.

 

The way I see it, MSC is failing in the American market, and they desperately need to grow in new markets, and reach a younger audience, to cope with fleet expansion. If they continue restricting freedom on people holidays, they get bad reviews, and then they can only attract people with very cheap offers.

 

One thing is for sure, new generations are used to having choices, and the rest of the industry is moving in that direction.

 

Giving people more choice does not mean having less income and more expenses. They can offer truly speciality restaurants for a fee, or my time dining to those willing to eat at the MDR.

 

Many lines so restrictive and on no line guarantee your dining time. what 25% ? last time I booked they took $100.00 pp .

What do you mean by truly speciality restaurants? They have it and it's really good .

[sidari]

Bea ... We had a few of those cakes etc on our Divina cruise along with the Baileys and chocolate, think we tried all that was available in the drinks there.

 

Ships can have as many Fancy pay restaurants as they want for me because we never use them, the only one time we did was on the Ruby princess and that was because it was a birthday celebration with around 6 others.

 

There will always be differences in levels of cabin but to make the base level worse than it was it plain stupid.

[Elmartellama]

Many lines so restrictive and on no line guarantee your dining time. what 25% ? last time I booked they took $100.00 pp .

What do you mean by truly speciality restaurants? They have it and it's really good .

 

We were charged 25% upfront when we booked our upcoming cruise for June 2015, not sure if its something about the TA or MSC. That's not a deal breaker, since the most important thing to me is the final price. But it's something worth noting.

 

In Royal Caribbean (and most others lines for that matter) you can choose My Time Dining and make reservations online months before the cruise. That is a guarantee indeed, and availability depends on how early you book your cruise. That's not a coincidence, you are given priority since they have a part of your money already.

 

Anyway, my point is that if cruise lines want their business to expand they have to attract new people who does not necessarily like the traditional way MSC handles some matters, people who won't tolerate being charged 200€ only for having "dining priority" and other insignificant perks. There is a big difference with MSC and all the others regarding dining, that's a fact.

[bamelin]

Here is a travel agent FAQ regarding the new pricing structure:

 

http://www.msccruisesgetforms.com/cms/cmsimages/TOOLKIT/Inclusiveexperiences/inclusiveexperiencesfaq.pdf

 

 

I will say that IMHO the prices on MSC are some of the lowest in the industry (and have gone even lower with the Bella pricing).

[bamelin]

Also if I am reading the above FAQ correctly, children can participate in the Kid's Club even if in Bella. Bella kids cannot take part in the Doremi cooking and language classes.

[Beamafar]

I will say that IMHO the prices on MSC are some of the lowest in the industry (and have gone even lower with the Bella pricing).

 

I agree........I haven't yet found anything that comes near MSC pricings, especially when they're on offer. I just hope it doesn't impact on the quality of the product.

[bamelin]

I agree........I haven't yet found anything that comes near MSC pricings, especially when they're on offer. I just hope it doesn't impact on the quality of the product.

 

Carnival prices are pretty comparable but the product offered for the price is not (MSC product is far superior based on my parents feedback). I haven't been on MSC but my parents have multiple times and rave about the cruise line.

[AmoMondo]

Also if I am reading the above FAQ correctly, children can participate in the Kid's Club even if in Bella. Bella kids cannot take part in the Doremi cooking and language classes.

 

I think Bella kids can do those 2 activities but it costs extra to do so.

[Beamafar]

Carnival prices are pretty comparable but the product offered for the price is not (MSC product is far superior based on my parents feedback). I haven't been on MSC but my parents have multiple times and rave about the cruise line.

 

Carnival wouldn't be on my radar as it's not really marketed here so I wouldn't know how prices compare. I'd have more idea how Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL compare, mainly for Med sailings.

[sidari]

Initially the Bella cabins had the Turn Down service removed, Room service and kids were excluded from the kids club, in the 2014/15 online UK brochure it is as Amo Mondo says regarding the kids in a Bella cabin ie pay extra for Doremi and Language classes and the Turn Down service has been added again.

 

It looks like MSC saw reason and common sense prevailed, well almost.

[AmoMondo]

It is good that they have made some changes from some of the new things that were widely unpopular.

 

I'm booked Fantatsica on my next cruise in 2015 as I wanted to be able to continue to get my room service breakfast and a better choice of dining times. Having some flexibility in being to able to make changes to dates is a good new perk in the UK. Booking so far ahead, well ahead of my work's holiday year, means I can't be guaranteed to get the time off that particular week. Before I often lost deposits when I had to swirptch cruises.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Costa have the similar type of categories and prizing and MSC follows the same way as they are the closest competitiors. Costa introduced the Classic, Premium, Samsara and Suites categories last year.

[sidari]

P and O have a similar system with their Select and Saver fares, below are the terms of the Saver fare. It looks like they even dictate who the Select Fare applies to !

 

Saver Fares require a 100% deposit at the time of booking and are subject to a 100% cancellation fee. No amendments are permitted once booked; any amendment will be treated as a cancellation. Bookings are made at the relevant cabin type and a cabin number is allocated by P&O Cruises prior to departure. Dinner seating as allocated on board. Shuttle buses in ports are an additional cost. Saver Fares apply to new bookings only. These terms and conditions vary, where relevant, the applicable booking conditions which are otherwise unchanged.

 

 

P&O Cruises Select Prices apply to £GBP passengers only and come with a range of benefits:

 

- they are available on all cruises, at all times

- choice of cabin number (subject to availability)

- first priority for dining time and table size in the main restaurants

- First priority for upgrades (where available)

- choice of on board spending money, car parking in Southampton, return coach travel to Southampton or airport parking. Available on cruises of 7 nights or more

- 15% deposit

- flexibility to change your booking (subject to our booking conditions)

- shuttle buses (where available and provided by P&O Cruises)

 

These benefits are subject to availability. Choice of benefits dependent on cruise type, duration and time of booking.

[American Bear]

Here is a travel agent FAQ regarding the new pricing structure:

 

http://www.msccruisesgetforms.com/cms/cmsimages/TOOLKIT/Inclusiveexperiences/inclusiveexperiencesfaq.pdf

 

 

I will say that IMHO the prices on MSC are some of the lowest in the industry (and have gone even lower with the Bella pricing).

 

Thanks for the info!:)