Security charge?

[Omega1]

We have been on over 35 cruises on six different cruise lines - consequently we are very familiar with concept of the daily gratuity added to our on-board account.

Our up-coming cruise on the Musica will be our first on MSC. On reading various reviews, someone mentioned a 6 euro per day 'security charge' (in addition to the daily gratuity) - I can find no reference to this in MSC t&c's.

Is anyone aware of this?

[Kateann61414]

I’ve never had to pay it and there’s nothing on the website about it.

[1fifthavenue]

Hi Omega

 

Similarly, never heard of this in 10 cruises with MSC, never seen it on the bill either. There's the daily service charge aka gratuity and a 1Euro per cruise voluntary donation to Unicef.

 

Tim

[Bra_BE2014]

I've never been charged a 'security charge' yet.

Will pay attention at my invoice next week and let you know.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[GOLDENBONNY]

We have been on over 35 cruises on six different cruise lines - consequently we are very familiar with concept of the daily gratuity added to our on-board account.

Our up-coming cruise on the Musica will be our first on MSC. On reading various reviews, someone mentioned a 6 euro per day 'security charge' (in addition to the daily gratuity) - I can find no reference to this in MSC t&c's.

Is anyone aware of this?

Its not a charge, every cruise line have pre authorized hold on your CC. You don't see it on your bill ,but if you call CC they will tell you about hold funds. Maybe that what you see ?

[Omega1]

Thanks for the replies - they confirm what I thought. The particular review I read was more of a manic rant with the author hallucinating as well.😉

[1fifthavenue]

oh please share the link to it, just for giggles!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Thanks for the replies - they confirm what I thought. The particular review I read was more of a manic rant with the author hallucinating as well.😉

 

Gotta love those reviews!

[Omega1]

oh please share the link to it, just for giggles!

Sorry, but you did ask! (I couldn't get the link to work, so here's the text):

 

MSC Cruise? Never again. Here's why:

The Facts

Service charges are 15% on everything, yet hidden on most items.

A mandatory gratuity of €8.50 per day per guest suggests that staff is systematically underpaid.

A security charge of €6 per person per day is being charged, without prior notice.

Price increase of 2% between booking in March and the cruise in September.

We ordered a birthday cake for the 2nd October, which was offered on 27th September - kind of spoiled the surprise.

Only few hand sanitiser stations, most sanitisers empty.

No fruit juice available at any of the self service stations most of the day.

Hot water for tea and coffee barely warm.

I've been drinking a lot of bad coffees around the world, in fact, usually I finish other people's rejected coffees. But the one on board beats every description. Even I could not drink it.

No tea or coffee facilities in the cabins.

No water at one of the two self serve buffets.

No salt or pepper at the pizza buffet.

Tap water only offered on request at dinner, refills only at specific request.

Sauna only available for a charge, plus 15% service charge

Wifi only available for an exaggerated charge of €16.90 (!) per hour, most likely plus 15% service charge, though not indicated.

Laundry only available for an inflated €25 for 20 items (read it again for full impact: €25 for 20 items), probably plus 15% service charge though not indicated (I can buy new undies for less).

All excursions were erroneously booked in German, not English.

All paper information delivered to cabin in German, not English.

Tours for Le Havre and Bilbao impossible to book in advance through website due to website error.

One of the prebooked excursions (LIS08) was cancelled without notice. The substitute was charged at the full on board price, not at the reduced pre-book rate; when we asked to reduce the rate by €1.90 to the pre-booked rate we were told that neither staff nor management on the boat were able to do that.

The excursions for which the link on the booking site was broken (this had been reported to MSC by our travel agent), was happily charged at the full on board price, when questioned management refused to reduce to the web price.

Children allowed to use spa pool without adult supervision, pool attendants do not intervene.

Advertised Canasta lesson did not happen, without any notice or apology.

The omelet ordered from the menu was supposed to come with hash brown and toast, but it came just by itself. This also happened to another guest. Staff commented that it would have to be ordered especially.

In the first two days we received a note to pay a "cash deposit" on our on board account. After we did not follow up on this non-urgent note for 24 hours we received another note with the same content. The receptionist asked how much we wanted to pay, and we answered all charges that had accumulated to that day. When we received our final invoice we queried in regards to the payment that we had made, which was not reduced from the original amount. We were told then that we had not made any payment at all, that at the time they only took an imprint of the credit card. We can only hope they are correct, as we were as yet unable to check our statement.

The Effects

The invoiced price for the ten day cruise per person was NZ$1435, to make it easy let me use a conversion rate of €0.50 to arrive at a rough €718. By the time €8.50 gratuity and €6 security is charged, none of which are optional, the price is €863 (NZ$1726). Why not say so in the first place?

Now that we are on board we feel trapped. We know that anything we buy (though not the perfume, we are told) attracts another 15% charge. Naturally, we try and purchase as little as possible (jewellery, handbags, drinks, snacks or ice cream). I refuse to go to the sauna, to which I had really been looking forward to. Every € we spend on land we give with cheer because we know we leave something in the local economy and not in the greedy hands of MSC. As terrible as the free on board coffee is we cannot get ourselves to throw even more money down the MSC throat and won't purchase at the on board bar. The coffee (cafe con leche) in the cafes in Spain and Portugal is very good and worth hanging out for.

We also noted that the staff is much friendlier than the other guests. Maybe it's because they know what the deal is while the guests are still finding out, and are less and less amused.

These days Internet access is part of life. The most notable and avoidable disappointment is the cost of internet on MSC Opera. Seriously, €16.90 for one hour of Internet?! Free internet access would let the guests check their emails, or on interesting information about the ports yet to be visited. Free internet access could be provided on just one deck on the ship, like Hurtigruten does. However, it would also let the guests vent their possible disappointment about what is being charged and how at the time when it is happening on social media, and MSC might be trying to avoid that.

On gratuity (€8.50 per person per day): We are well aware that many more people are working for the welfare of the many guests that we actually get to see. But we don't know how exactly the gratuity charge is being distributed. Does it just go to the head of department or is it evenly split to every invisible gofer and engineer? Add it to the price, and stop hiding a charge, that the customer has no choice on.

On security (€6 per person per day): at first we thought, surely they will only charge it for the airport-like security set up when we leave the ship and come back. No such luck, it has been charged each and every day of our journey, at sea or at port. A couple of hundred people had to stand and wait in a long queue in the hot sun to watch security take a fruit knife of a little old lady. Add the security to the price of the cruise at the travel agent, since it is not a charge you can get out of. Stop hiding the cost and create happy customers that want to return. Not me, I'm going back to Hurtigruten.

[Omega1]

Better still, I cried laughing at this one!😂

 

We just got back from cruising the Mediterranean via MSC Fantasia. Our trip was FREE - we didn't choose the cruise line.l I have been on a cruise before and found it to be one of the most luxurious and awesome experiences EVER. I was very excited for our cruise!

I loved the cities and stops (well, most...LOL) - but the ship was a beautiful nightmare. I would NEVER (and I mean NEVER pay for that cruise). And, I would never suggest to for anyone to get on that ship!

Oh, it's gorgeous. But, it's all superficial. You have 4000!!!! passengers packed in like sardines (and, extremely RUDE, pushy, no personal space type people) and it's immediate failure.

The food was HORRIBLE. I mean, just awful. We dined in the Red Velvet restaurant every night (well, almost every night - we did go to the Tex Mex place one evening because we were sick of the crap food of the dining room). It's like they don't even TRY to put any flavor or seasoning in their food. I talked to a staff member and he said they make it bland to please all guests - he thought the food sucked too! I thought I'd be safe with salads - um, they were all WATERED down dressings. It just seemed like everything was done as cheap as possible. To stretch it out and thin it out as far as they could. There is NO WAY that you can feed 4000 people and do it well. NOT possible.

The buffet was the 4th ring of hell - it was the Walmart of buffets. People throwing elbows over food that, again, tasted awful. Forget about getting a drink in the buffet. You MIGHT have it by the end of your meal. I understand that the staff needs to understand 5 languages but darn it, understand WATER! Also, there is NO convincing me that any of the meat, on that ship, was REAL or what it said it was. Had veal one night - sorry, that was NOT veal! If you think that any of the food was GOOD, you're lying or have just horrible tastebuds!

Service - slow, slow, slow. And, maybe, someone will understand you. Part of the "luxury" cruise is being catered to! You shouldn't have to wait 20+ minutes for ANYTHING when you spend that much money! Shouldn't happen!

Elevators - hmmm...4000 people, all trying to get around the ungodly huge ship = NOT enough elevators. I have no clue who designed this clusterpluck ship but...awful. Day 7 I still had no clue where I was going/etc. AND, when you expect women to dress up for dinner and wear HEELS, have more than 4 sets of elevators for 4000 people! I'll walk up and down steps in gym shoes/sandals but it's not happening in heels! A man, obviously, designed the ship.

Entertainment sucked - seriously...you should NEVER be bored on a cruise. There was never anything (minus ONE show a night) going on. Ever. And, the one performance that we did go to seemed like it was cheap and just thrown together.

Since we had our own private company taking care of excursions, I can't really remark on those. I could have done without the Bari stop. And, the Santorini stop was just miserable. Too many cruise ships coming into port at the same time.

There weren't any personal touches or fine detail that you expect from a cruise. The captain message every day, in 5 languages, got real old, real quick.

I enjoyed my vacation. I loved seeing different countries and cities. I hated that ship. I was so excited to disembark yesterday morning!

[ChrisB66]

Sorry, but you did ask! (I couldn't get the link to work, so here's the text):

 

MSC Cruise? Never again. Here's why:

The Facts

Service charges are 15% on everything, yet hidden on most items.

A mandatory gratuity of €8.50 per day per guest suggests that staff is systematically underpaid.

A security charge of €6 per person per day is being charged, without prior notice.

Price increase of 2% between booking in March and the cruise in September.

We ordered a birthday cake for the 2nd October, which was offered on 27th September - kind of spoiled the surprise.

Only few hand sanitiser stations, most sanitisers empty.

No fruit juice available at any of the self service stations most of the day.

Hot water for tea and coffee barely warm.

I've been drinking a lot of bad coffees around the world, in fact, usually I finish other people's rejected coffees. But the one on board beats every description. Even I could not drink it.

No tea or coffee facilities in the cabins.

No water at one of the two self serve buffets.

No salt or pepper at the pizza buffet.

Tap water only offered on request at dinner, refills only at specific request.

Sauna only available for a charge, plus 15% service charge

Wifi only available for an exaggerated charge of €16.90 (!) per hour, most likely plus 15% service charge, though not indicated.

Laundry only available for an inflated €25 for 20 items (read it again for full impact: €25 for 20 items), probably plus 15% service charge though not indicated (I can buy new undies for less).

All excursions were erroneously booked in German, not English.

All paper information delivered to cabin in German, not English.

Tours for Le Havre and Bilbao impossible to book in advance through website due to website error.

One of the prebooked excursions (LIS08) was cancelled without notice. The substitute was charged at the full on board price, not at the reduced pre-book rate; when we asked to reduce the rate by €1.90 to the pre-booked rate we were told that neither staff nor management on the boat were able to do that.

The excursions for which the link on the booking site was broken (this had been reported to MSC by our travel agent), was happily charged at the full on board price, when questioned management refused to reduce to the web price.

Children allowed to use spa pool without adult supervision, pool attendants do not intervene.

Advertised Canasta lesson did not happen, without any notice or apology.

The omelet ordered from the menu was supposed to come with hash brown and toast, but it came just by itself. This also happened to another guest. Staff commented that it would have to be ordered especially.

In the first two days we received a note to pay a "cash deposit" on our on board account. After we did not follow up on this non-urgent note for 24 hours we received another note with the same content. The receptionist asked how much we wanted to pay, and we answered all charges that had accumulated to that day. When we received our final invoice we queried in regards to the payment that we had made, which was not reduced from the original amount. We were told then that we had not made any payment at all, that at the time they only took an imprint of the credit card. We can only hope they are correct, as we were as yet unable to check our statement.

The Effects

The invoiced price for the ten day cruise per person was NZ$1435, to make it easy let me use a conversion rate of €0.50 to arrive at a rough €718. By the time €8.50 gratuity and €6 security is charged, none of which are optional, the price is €863 (NZ$1726). Why not say so in the first place?

Now that we are on board we feel trapped. We know that anything we buy (though not the perfume, we are told) attracts another 15% charge. Naturally, we try and purchase as little as possible (jewellery, handbags, drinks, snacks or ice cream). I refuse to go to the sauna, to which I had really been looking forward to. Every € we spend on land we give with cheer because we know we leave something in the local economy and not in the greedy hands of MSC. As terrible as the free on board coffee is we cannot get ourselves to throw even more money down the MSC throat and won't purchase at the on board bar. The coffee (cafe con leche) in the cafes in Spain and Portugal is very good and worth hanging out for.

We also noted that the staff is much friendlier than the other guests. Maybe it's because they know what the deal is while the guests are still finding out, and are less and less amused.

These days Internet access is part of life. The most notable and avoidable disappointment is the cost of internet on MSC Opera. Seriously, €16.90 for one hour of Internet?! Free internet access would let the guests check their emails, or on interesting information about the ports yet to be visited. Free internet access could be provided on just one deck on the ship, like Hurtigruten does. However, it would also let the guests vent their possible disappointment about what is being charged and how at the time when it is happening on social media, and MSC might be trying to avoid that.

On gratuity (€8.50 per person per day): We are well aware that many more people are working for the welfare of the many guests that we actually get to see. But we don't know how exactly the gratuity charge is being distributed. Does it just go to the head of department or is it evenly split to every invisible gofer and engineer? Add it to the price, and stop hiding a charge, that the customer has no choice on.

On security (€6 per person per day): at first we thought, surely they will only charge it for the airport-like security set up when we leave the ship and come back. No such luck, it has been charged each and every day of our journey, at sea or at port. A couple of hundred people had to stand and wait in a long queue in the hot sun to watch security take a fruit knife of a little old lady. Add the security to the price of the cruise at the travel agent, since it is not a charge you can get out of. Stop hiding the cost and create happy customers that want to return. Not me, I'm going back to Hurtigruten.

Brilliant. Love the way he/she goes around finishing other peoples coffees. Paper work in german? Simple solution, tell your cabin steward you need it in English. How they can even remember so many details to complain about i have no idea.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Forums mobile app

[riclop]

Never heard of it.

[1fifthavenue]

Oh dear Lord! Well, that's made my day haha - I really don't understand how some people have these experiences, it is so far removed from anything I've ever experienced. Some people!

[Bra_BE2014]

How do people come up with that stuff, lol

I wonder if they realise that their only accomplishment was embarrassing themselves...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Omega1]

Perhaps we should have a 'Best of the Worst Reviews' thread?

[GOLDENBONNY]

Sorry, but you did ask! (I couldn't get the link to work, so here's the text):

 

MSC Cruise? Never again. Here's why:

 

 

 

The Facts

 

Service charges are 15% on everything, yet hidden on most items.

 

A mandatory gratuity of €8.50 per day per guest suggests that staff is systematically underpaid.

 

A security charge of €6 per person per day is being charged, without prior notice.

 

Price increase of 2% between booking in March and the cruise in September.

 

We ordered a birthday cake for the 2nd October, which was offered on 27th September - kind of spoiled the surprise.

 

Only few hand sanitiser stations, most sanitisers empty.

 

No fruit juice available at any of the self service stations most of the day.

 

Hot water for tea and coffee barely warm.

 

I've been drinking a lot of bad coffees around the world, in fact, usually I finish other people's rejected coffees. But the one on board beats every description. Even I could not drink it.

 

No tea or coffee facilities in the cabins.

 

No water at one of the two self serve buffets.

 

No salt or pepper at the pizza buffet.

 

Tap water only offered on request at dinner, refills only at specific request.

 

Sauna only available for a charge, plus 15% service charge

 

Wifi only available for an exaggerated charge of €16.90 (!) per hour, most likely plus 15% service charge, though not indicated.

 

Laundry only available for an inflated €25 for 20 items (read it again for full impact: €25 for 20 items), probably plus 15% service charge though not indicated (I can buy new undies for less).

 

All excursions were erroneously booked in German, not English.

 

All paper information delivered to cabin in German, not English.

 

Tours for Le Havre and Bilbao impossible to book in advance through website due to website error.

 

One of the prebooked excursions (LIS08) was cancelled without notice. The substitute was charged at the full on board price, not at the reduced pre-book rate; when we asked to reduce the rate by €1.90 to the pre-booked rate we were told that neither staff nor management on the boat were able to do that.

 

The excursions for which the link on the booking site was broken (this had been reported to MSC by our travel agent), was happily charged at the full on board price, when questioned management refused to reduce to the web price.

 

Children allowed to use spa pool without adult supervision, pool attendants do not intervene.

 

Advertised Canasta lesson did not happen, without any notice or apology.

 

The omelet ordered from the menu was supposed to come with hash brown and toast, but it came just by itself. This also happened to another guest. Staff commented that it would have to be ordered especially.

 

In the first two days we received a note to pay a "cash deposit" on our on board account. After we did not follow up on this non-urgent note for 24 hours we received another note with the same content. The receptionist asked how much we wanted to pay, and we answered all charges that had accumulated to that day. When we received our final invoice we queried in regards to the payment that we had made, which was not reduced from the original amount. We were told then that we had not made any payment at all, that at the time they only took an imprint of the credit card. We can only hope they are correct, as we were as yet unable to check our statement.

 

 

 

The Effects

 

The invoiced price for the ten day cruise per person was NZ$1435, to make it easy let me use a conversion rate of €0.50 to arrive at a rough €718. By the time €8.50 gratuity and €6 security is charged, none of which are optional, the price is €863 (NZ$1726). Why not say so in the first place?

 

Now that we are on board we feel trapped. We know that anything we buy (though not the perfume, we are told) attracts another 15% charge. Naturally, we try and purchase as little as possible (jewellery, handbags, drinks, snacks or ice cream). I refuse to go to the sauna, to which I had really been looking forward to. Every € we spend on land we give with cheer because we know we leave something in the local economy and not in the greedy hands of MSC. As terrible as the free on board coffee is we cannot get ourselves to throw even more money down the MSC throat and won't purchase at the on board bar. The coffee (cafe con leche) in the cafes in Spain and Portugal is very good and worth hanging out for.

 

We also noted that the staff is much friendlier than the other guests. Maybe it's because they know what the deal is while the guests are still finding out, and are less and less amused.

 

These days Internet access is part of life. The most notable and avoidable disappointment is the cost of internet on MSC Opera. Seriously, €16.90 for one hour of Internet?! Free internet access would let the guests check their emails, or on interesting information about the ports yet to be visited. Free internet access could be provided on just one deck on the ship, like Hurtigruten does. However, it would also let the guests vent their possible disappointment about what is being charged and how at the time when it is happening on social media, and MSC might be trying to avoid that.

 

On gratuity (€8.50 per person per day): We are well aware that many more people are working for the welfare of the many guests that we actually get to see. But we don't know how exactly the gratuity charge is being distributed. Does it just go to the head of department or is it evenly split to every invisible gofer and engineer? Add it to the price, and stop hiding a charge, that the customer has no choice on.

 

On security (€6 per person per day): at first we thought, surely they will only charge it for the airport-like security set up when we leave the ship and come back. No such luck, it has been charged each and every day of our journey, at sea or at port. A couple of hundred people had to stand and wait in a long queue in the hot sun to watch security take a fruit knife of a little old lady. Add the security to the price of the cruise at the travel agent, since it is not a charge you can get out of. Stop hiding the cost and create happy customers that want to return. Not me, I'm going back to Hurtigruten.

 

did they stoped by Jamaica or Colombia? :'):')