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MSC refund policy coronavirus


niko40
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Hi Gerard02, 

 

Wow! They did not give a lot of notice on the cancellation. 

We are in a similar situation -- sailing with MSC Seaview from Santos, Brazil to Barcelona, Spain (March 19 to April 4). Not cancelled as of today. 

 

Did they provide any information about why the MSC Sinfonia grand voyage was cancelled?

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4 minutes ago, Gerard02 said:

Was due to fly to Brazil tomorrow and pick up the MSC Sinfonia and sail back to the Med. Cruise wads cancelled, Cruise 1st gave a full refund.

Full refund as in money?  Not credit?  Some people are saying refund when they mean credit.

 

And I'm sorry your trip was cancelled.

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17 minutes ago, juraspark said:

If you call the cruise assurance dept. # listed at the beginning they will let you transfer your cruise to another date up till Dec 31/21. It was a better resolve than through the casino dept. And yes he knew it was a cruise certificate and it was him that advised it was a better way to do it. The cruise assurance dept has more moveabitlity and the casino dept can only go by what their policy is. It's 2 different dept's that have different authority!

 

So you had a cruise certificate and were able to move your booking to a date beyond the expiration date with no additional cost?

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41 minutes ago, sofsolnanny said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but WHO  has declared the outbreak as a pandemic.

Not sure what impact this will have on the cruise industry---maybe all cruises will be cancelled. Maybe that MSC will cancel my cruise and save me making another date.Also have Princess cruises booked and not sure what to do about them either. Stay safe everyone.x

 

 

 

 

Now that it's a pandemic that will cause problems for many travel insurance plans that people have purchased.

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I received an email from my TA, MSC advised I should cancel my reservation for our MSC Grandiosa May2nd out of Marseille.

Does not appear refund is an option?  Has anyone had a refund without the hefty penalty?

I am not planning for another long distance holiday in 2021.

Is anyone able to get a travel insurance that will cover Corona Virus medical events?

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1 minute ago, antiq said:

I received an email from my TA, MSC advised I should cancel my reservation for our MSC Grandiosa May2nd out of Marseille.

Does not appear refund is an option?  Has anyone had a refund without the hefty penalty?

I am not planning for another long distance holiday in 2021.

Is anyone able to get a travel insurance that will cover Corona Virus medical events?

So are you saying that MSC advises you to cancel but will offer noting but FCC?  Can you share the email content?

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19 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

Now that it's a pandemic that will cause problems for many travel insurance plans that people have purchased.

 

We have an ongoing annual worldwide policy.  Are you saying most insurers won't now cover you even if you were insured before all this started?

 

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1 minute ago, Addict said:

 

We have an ongoing annual worldwide policy.  Are you saying most insurers won't now cover you even if you were insured before all this started?

 

YOu will only know by reading your specific policy but some do exclude pandemics.

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24 minutes ago, aprilF said:

Full refund as in money?  Not credit?  Some people are saying refund when they mean credit.

 

And I'm sorry your trip was cancelled.

Yes money refunded. As I said I booked with Cruise 1st. MSC cancelled the sailing and they did offer me an alternative on the MSC Seaside but I took the refund.

I tried to cancel the other day as I'm travelling with my 84 yo father and the itinerary was changed but at that time I could only get cruise credit and would lose my flights, hotels and a Rio tour.

I also got £486 out of £731 back from Saga for my fathers insurance.

 

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3 minutes ago, antiq said:

I received an email from my TA, MSC advised I should cancel my reservation for our MSC Grandiosa May2nd out of Marseille.

Does not appear refund is an option?  Has anyone had a refund without the hefty penalty?

I am not planning for another long distance holiday in 2021.

Is anyone able to get a travel insurance that will cover Corona Virus medical events?

 

Doubt very much you will get cover now for Corona Virus as it's now a known event.  Like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

 

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18 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

So you had a cruise certificate and were able to move your booking to a date beyond the expiration date with no additional cost?

No, I have not moved my cruise as yet.

He advised me that I could call back and move my cruise to another date of my choice up till Dec of 2021 and thus would not lose my certificate where as 'Luna" with the casino dept. told me that if I did not go on the booked and paid cruise I would lose whatever perks that I had with the booked cruise and would recieve a FCC for what ever extra's I had paid for.

Cruise assurance said if I went through the casino dept they could nonly do so much that the assurance offer would be only handled through that specific dept, which it states in the body of the information. That is why I called there to see if it was indeed a different offer.

If we have to cancel then I will find a suitable cruise and date and move my booking to it so as not to lose out. 'Luna" did not offer to move my cruise to another booking prior to expiry of offer only to refund any upgrades and extras for which I had already paid.

 

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35 minutes ago, mattcruise615 said:

Hi Gerard02, 

 

Wow! They did not give a lot of notice on the cancellation. 

We are in a similar situation -- sailing with MSC Seaview from Santos, Brazil to Barcelona, Spain (March 19 to April 4). Not cancelled as of today. 

 

Did they provide any information about why the MSC Sinfonia grand voyage was cancelled?

No reason was given but I imagine the fact we were due to go to 3 places in Italy tipped the balance.

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1 minute ago, juraspark said:

No, I have not moved my cruise as yet.

He advised me that I could call back and move my cruise to another date of my choice up till Dec of 2021 and thus would not lose my certificate where as 'Luna" with the casino dept. told me that if I did not go on the booked and paid cruise I would lose whatever perks that I had with the booked cruise and would recieve a FCC for what ever extra's I had paid for.

Cruise assurance said if I went through the casino dept they could nonly do so much that the assurance offer would be only handled through that specific dept, which it states in the body of the information. That is why I called there to see if it was indeed a different offer.

If we have to cancel then I will find a suitable cruise and date and move my booking to it so as not to lose out. 'Luna" did not offer to move my cruise to another booking prior to expiry of offer only to refund any upgrades and extras for which I had already paid.

 

 

Please post back here if you are actually able to move the booking beyond your certificate's expire date and without paying any additional money. Cruise lines are notorious for giving different answers every time you call. If they really are allowing this with casino bookings it would be a great help to us as we could move our bookings to January. Going in the late summer or early fall are not desirable for us as we don't want to cruise when kids are out of school or during hurricane season.

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Here is the email from my TA:

 

We are contacting you on behalf of your agent, in regards to your upcoming MSC Grandiosa cruise that is sailing on May 2, 2020. Our agency reached out to MSC to inquire about canceling both reservations you have so you can receive a Future Cruise Credit. 
 
MSC advised that should you cancel the reservations, you will be able to get a Future Cruise credit for 100% of the original cruise fare paid. The port taxes and fees will be refunded back to the original form of payment. You can apply the Future Cruise Credit to any MSC cruise of your choice departing on or before December 31, 2021. 
 
In the event that you do decide to cancel, our agency requires that you fill out and complete our cancellation form. Please be advised that our agency does charge a $100 cancellation fee per reservation, which is in addition to any vendor imposed fees. Should you rebook with our agency, we will apply the cancellation fee to your next cruise as long as you rebook prior to December 31, 2021.
 
 
I had replied to them if I can get a refund, we live in Australia and we don't travel to Europe that often, it's a bit tricky for us.
I had bought from a US agent and tried contacting MSC Australia and they don't want to help.  I had to go through my TA, and they have been very helpful.  This was supposed to be our 4th cruise with MSC.  
 
I called our travel insurance, I purchased back in Nov/Dec, they informed for any medical situation will be treated case by case basis and they won't leave us in a lurch however did not mention will or will not cover medical related to Corona Virus.   It's my 67 year old MIL who has problem getting a travel insurance to cover Corona since she bought after Jan 23rd 2020.  We won't be going on the cruise but will still go to The Netherland,  Austria, Czech and Slovak Republic and Belgrade.
I only need medical cover insurance for her (she is fit and healthy), I don't mind paying for rebooking hotels, flights etc but medical cost will be huge if needed ICU etc.
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We also have had to cancel, long story short but our kids were going with a school group from Australia to France and the education department banned all travel.  Also i work for the health department and I would have to self quarantine upon my return. 

We were booked on grandiosa on 18th April departing from Marseille,  3 Italian ports.

Msc offered to transfer,  but the only cruise that would suit us is Dubai in January and its 700$ less plus we would get $600 obc. So it was worth just losing the $1400 deposit from this cruise. Especially since booking a new cruise not just transferring gives us new booking conditions...ie lower deposit and chance to cancel,as opposed to risking the lot if things haven't settled down by January. 

I looked into our travel insurance which is an annual family policy taken out last july, basically they said any claim arising from corona virus trumps everything...

Anyway it seems i may have more luck with the credit card insurance...given decision was taken out of our hands (due to education and health departments) it may be classed as unforeseen circumstances and hopefully be able to recoup money loss there...fingers crossed.

 

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I am surprised they are only giving a credit for a future cruise and $100 per cabin if they cancel a cruise instead of giving a refund.

 

A few years ago we flew across the country to Miami to go on a cruise with Carnival. When we arrived they told us one of the engines on the ship was broken and could only go about 30% of the speed they normally do. As a result we spent many days at sea and only 2 ports closer to Florida. 
 

when we arrived they offered those that no longer wanted to go on the cruise a 100% Refund including paying for their airfare. Those that still wanted to cruise got a 50% refund and a 50% credit towards a future cruise. They also threw in $100 credit per person instead of per cabin which gave us another $400 onboard. I was really impressed with how they handled the situation. 

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According to the booking terms and conditions listed on the MSC website (at the time of my reservation), in the event that the company cancels a cruise a full refund should be given, not a voucher for future travel.

 

“Before the Voyage begins, the Company has the right to cancel the Voyage for any reason without notice. In such event, The Company shall refund the full amount of the Fare received, and the Company shall have no further liability whatsoever.”

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I believe this policy is less consumer friendly than other cruise lines. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but on other lines, If THEY (cruise line’s) cancel, then consumers get a refund (cash back). If the CONSUMER cancels, they get fcc. . I  am wondering if this policy is even legal for customers from the USA. 

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My family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) are booked on the May 30th sailing of the Seaside. I'm at the point now where I can get my money back minus my deposit. Come end of March when I'm 60 days out, that will no longer be the case. Does anyone know if they are doing anything for people like me, are they refunding deposits or issuing the deposit as a FFC? Or would I just be out the deposit? I REALLY want to go on our cruise, but if things continue to go south, I also really want my money back instead of a FFC so I'm trying to weigh my options before we reach the 60 day point.

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NEWS JUST IN

USA has suspended all travel from Mainland Europe into the USA for the next 30 days.

 

NOT THE U.K. 

 

Well this will have a massive impact on the cruise and travel industry

Edited by niko40
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