Picked my own balcony cabin - now nothing assigned.

[Heather1972]

Hi all,

About 3 weeks ago, I booked Meraviglia for September 13 as part of the pay for inside, but get a balcony cabin rate. I picked my own balcony cabin under Bella level. Today, I got an email saying I have a cabin change, but when I look online or at the document I was sent, I do not have a cabin assigned any more. Anyone have this happen to them now or before?  

[Notts1964]

Yes the same thing happened to us, although it was an inside cabin we booked. The cabin number we carefully chose and booked disappeared from our booking, and we did not have an assigned cabin for several days. We were eventually assigned a different inside cabin. Then a few days later the same thing happened again. We ended up with an inside fantastica in a worst position (in our opinion) right at the back of the ship on deck 12, instead of our original Bella inside in a central position on deck 10. MSC stated that it was an upgrade and we weren’t able to request a change to a more central location.

[Notts1964]

Just now, Notts1964 said:

Yes the same thing happened to us, although it was an inside cabin we booked. The cabin number we carefully chose and booked disappeared from our booking, and we did not have an assigned cabin for several days. We were eventually assigned a different inside cabin. Then a few days later the same thing happened again. We ended up with an inside fantastica in a worst position (in our opinion) right at the back of the ship on deck 12, instead of our original Bella inside in a central position on deck 10. MSC stated that it was an upgrade and we weren’t able to request a change to a more central location.

This happened on the run up to our cruise last week. As it happened the cabin was absolutely fine (nice and quiet) although a bit of a trek from the stairs/lifts.

[MStarzky]

this happened today to me, i just call and they assigned me the same cabin.

[Heather1972]

I called MSC customer service. Honestly, she really had no explanation as to why I lost my cabin nor could she get it back. I picked a specific cabin for a reason. Yes I could wait and see what MSC gave me and possibly be unhappy. My other options were to complain via email or when I got on board (according to customer service agent). Normally I wouldn’t care what side of ship or where I was located but I wanted control of where I was for this cruise. I wound up having to upgrade to fantastica to get and keep a certain cabin. 

[Geobugs]

20 days out, no balcony cabin assigned.

[tesni]

That is awful. I am obsessed with researching and choosing a cabin, so that would really frustrate me.

[carlmm]

Everybody sailing with MSC (or deal with any other company for that matter) should read the company's T&Cs and realize that this is the normal way of MSC cabin assignments.

 

Choosing a specific cabin number does explicitly not guarantee this cabin. You have a contractual agreement about you choosen cabin type and experience. Nothing else.

 

I would venture out  (but I might overestimate) to guess that millions of MSC guests have experienced this before.

[robenv]

5 hours ago, Heather1972 said:

I called MSC customer service. Honestly, she really had no explanation as to why I lost my cabin nor could she get it back. I picked a specific cabin for a reason. Yes I could wait and see what MSC gave me and possibly be unhappy. My other options were to complain via email or when I got on board (according to customer service agent). Normally I wouldn’t care what side of ship or where I was located but I wanted control of where I was for this cruise. I wound up having to upgrade to fantastica to get and keep a certain cabin. 

 

[alyssamma]

2 hours ago, carlmm said:

Everybody sailing with MSC (or deal with any other company for that matter) should read the company's T&Cs and realize that this is the normal way of MSC cabin assignments.

 

Choosing a specific cabin number does explicitly not guarantee this cabin. You have a contractual agreement about you choosen cabin type and experience. Nothing else.

 

I would venture out  (but I might overestimate) to guess that millions of MSC guests have experienced this before.

While you are *technically* correct, this post is very misleading. Most (all?) cruise lines have this verbiage in the T&C, but it is to handle extreme circumstances and not at all the norm. I would venture that 99.9% of the people here on cruise critic have always gotten their assigned cabin (excepting, of course, upgrades and GTY bookings).

 

What is much more likely is MSC is messed up. As an example, when they changed the itinerary on fall Carib cruising, most people lost their cabins and had to call in to get them back.

 

MSC's poor customer service, website, attention to details, etc., has nothing to do with T&C and everything to do with how they do business.

 

Unfortunately they have a very good product (once onboard) so many (including me) continue to sail with them despite their other problems.

[robenv]

yes, Heather 1972 this HAS happened already to us over a month ago...and it just happened once again within the week. We bought and paid for a balcony cabin BECAUSE of its location...reservations had the cabin assignment, then online our rezzies were changed to a Guaranty which we had NEVER made, MSC decided to do this...the cabin we were assigned to was much inferior to our original, (far from elevators which we need to be close to for my walking issues and also this new cabin has partially blocked views) well this was definitely NOT what we had booked.  Our travel agent is still trying to get answers from MSC; apparently they fall back on "social distancing  issues/Covid related which does not make any sense to me since I think my original cabin was reSOLD to a new customer. I believe they had such a good price because we made these rezzies soooo very long ago when prices were much cheaper so MSC would be happy to have us off the ship so they can get new higher-paying customers. They have all over balance paid in full and they just changed our rezzies once again and instead of the assigned cabin, the rezzies now read GUARANTY which means they can once again assign anything they feel within your cabin category even if it is inferior in our estimation.  BTW, I forgot to mention, they charged us over $100 additionally to be reassigned a much inferior balcony cabin ...now what happens?   What a joke of a cruise line! ...and their Customer Service should be embarased by what their company is now doing.

[robenv]

5 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

While you are *technically* correct, this post is very misleading. Most (all?) cruise lines have this verbiage in the T&C, but it is to handle extreme circumstances and not at all the norm. I would venture that 99.9% of the people here on cruise critic have always gotten their assigned cabin (excepting, of course, upgrades and GTY bookings).

 

What is much more likely is MSC is messed up. As an example, when they changed the itinerary on fall Carib cruising, most people lost their cabins and had to call in to get them back.

 

MSC's poor customer service, website, attention to details, etc., has nothing to do with T&C and everything to do with how they do business.

 

Unfortunately they have a very good product (once onboard) so many (including me) continue to sail with them despite their other problems.

I agree with you Alyssamma...changes can be made but those changes have always been satisfactory with the customer...OTHER cruise lines prefer to keep their customers happy...MSC doesn't seem to care. 

[alyssamma]

Just now, robenv said:

I agree with you Alyssamma...changes can be made but those changes have always been satisfactory with the customer...OTHER cruise lines prefer to keep their customers happy...MSC doesn't seem to care. 

LOL, true, they don't care, but don't underestimate the level of incompetence. Plus, since everything goes through Italy, talking to someone here in the US can be frustrating as they invariably send it to the "back office" or "escalate it" to get it resolved...which is rarely does.

 

The only good thing is once you are onboard the ship, you'll have an amazing time.

[codeyell0]

I booked back in march 
I selected a cabin and when i got the web check in email i went online and it says cabin not assigned
I called they said no problem the cabin is assigned.  I got the stateroom for a reason the balcony is bigger.
I have a PDF that says what room I have

I checked and I just got another document saying stateroom: - booked
Now online it says Stateroom:G00000
Now its too late to call I have to wait until the AM. 
Why would they just wipe all rooms?

I spent lots of time choosing the room. I got the room specifically because it was bigger and I have kids and we can all fit out there. 

[Heather1972]

1 minute ago, codeyell0 said:

I booked back in march 
I selected a cabin and when i got the web check in email i went online and it says cabin not assigned
I called they said no problem the cabin is assigned.  I got the stateroom for a reason the balcony is bigger.
I have a PDF that says what room I have

I checked and I just got another document saying stateroom: - booked
Now online it says Stateroom:G00000
Now its too late to call I have to wait until the AM. 
Why would they just wipe all rooms?

I spent lots of time choosing the room. I got the room specifically because it was bigger and I have kids and we can all fit out there. 

 

Looks like if you booked Bella, you aren’t guaranteed what you have booked. It’s not about reading the terms and conditions. It’s that MSC doesn’t work the same as other cruise lines. Sorry this is only my third cruise with MSC. My first one was free (MyVegas) and was given a large balcony cabin. My second cruise was a 3 day trip because it was actually cheaper to do that rather than stay in a hotel! I think I booked inside and MSC gave me a balcony cabin. I was just surprised to actually book a balcony cabin and have it taken away. They might want to rethink their terms and conditions IMO 

[robenv]

3 minutes ago, codeyell0 said:

I booked back in march 
I selected a cabin and when i got the web check in email i went online and it says cabin not assigned
I called they said no problem the cabin is assigned.  I got the stateroom for a reason the balcony is bigger.
I have a PDF that says what room I have

I checked and I just got another document saying stateroom: - booked
Now online it says Stateroom:G00000
Now its too late to call I have to wait until the AM. 
Why would they just wipe all rooms?

I spent lots of time choosing the room. I got the room specifically because it was bigger and I have kids and we can all fit out there. 

Yes, our stateroom states the same G00000...believe that means Guaranty...I dont know if this is a glitch in system...when happened prior, other sutomers were able to call and get their cabin back again...we are not able to call MSC since we booked with a travel agent so MSC will not talk to us...and issue has been escalated by our travel agent BUT nothing gets done to FIX THIS.  Yes, perhaps as stated by other cruise critic member, there is a serious issue of imcompetence. please let me know IF your issue gets resolved. we are still waiting...

[robenv]

1 minute ago, robenv said:

Yes, our stateroom states the same G00000...believe that means Guaranty...I dont know if this is a glitch in system...when happened prior, other sutomers were able to call and get their cabin back again...we are not able to call MSC since we booked with a travel agent so MSC will not talk to us...and issue has been escalated by our travel agent BUT nothing gets done to FIX THIS.  Yes, perhaps as stated by other cruise critic member, there is a serious issue of imcompetence. please let me know IF your issue gets resolved. we are still waiting...

sorry for incorrect spellings...customers/incompetence...just trying to "rush things along"

[codeyell0]

5 minutes ago, robenv said:

Yes, our stateroom states the same G00000...believe that means Guaranty...I dont know if this is a glitch in system...when happened prior, other sutomers were able to call and get their cabin back again...we are not able to call MSC since we booked with a travel agent so MSC will not talk to us...and issue has been escalated by our travel agent BUT nothing gets done to FIX THIS.  Yes, perhaps as stated by other cruise critic member, there is a serious issue of imcompetence. please let me know IF your issue gets resolved. we are still waiting...

I will reply tomorrow i'm seriously hoping I didn't lose my room
I got room 8191 on maraviglia 

[lovemycruisetoo]

51 minutes ago, robenv said:

Yes, our stateroom states the same G00000...believe that means Guaranty...I dont know if this is a glitch in system...when happened prior, other sutomers were able to call and get their cabin back again...we are not able to call MSC since we booked with a travel agent so MSC will not talk to us...and issue has been escalated by our travel agent BUT nothing gets done to FIX THIS.  Yes, perhaps as stated by other cruise critic member, there is a serious issue of imcompetence. please let me know IF your issue gets resolved. we are still waiting...

I believe we are on the same cruise and this happened to us as well. My TA was able to get our same room back after repeated attempts. They gave us a room in front of the ship which is definitely not what we wanted because of the motion. We are in the YC if that makes a difference but they also took away $200.00 OBC that they gave us from another canceled cruise. I will be sending an email with confirmations from them to their existing reservations email address to get this straightened out hopefully as my TA can’t get anywhere with them. If weren’t for our enjoyment of the YC, I really wouldn’t book with them in the future. 

[robenv]

2 hours ago, lovemycruisetoo said:

I believe we are on the same cruise and this happened to us as well. My TA was able to get our same room back after repeated attempts. They gave us a room in front of the ship which is definitely not what we wanted because of the motion. We are in the YC if that makes a difference but they also took away $200.00 OBC that they gave us from another canceled cruise. I will be sending an email with confirmations from them to their existing reservations email address to get this straightened out hopefully as my TA can’t get anywhere with them. If weren’t for our enjoyment of the YC, I really wouldn’t book with them in the future. 

lovemycruisetoo...would you pass that existing reservations email address along to me.  I think that's a great idea since TA do not seem to have success getting a response either. MSC has absolutely terrible Customer Service simply bcause they do not respond in a timely manner AND they either do not understand or simply do not care about customer issues. They claim they want to increase their U.S. customer base and up here in Connecticut I see an MSC ad quite often BUT initial US customers should only know what absolutely terrible is their Customer Service; perhaps the revenue that MSC is hoping to obtain would not be as much as MSC is planning. Good news travels fast; bad news even faster. I hope their corporate office gets to read some of these MSC boards on cruise critic; it should be an eye opening experience. Please don't forget that email address for me.  I need to try something; we (meaning ta) are getting no assistance from them...no wonder so many ta are refusing to do business with MSC---too time consuming for them and many unhappy cruisers.

[MarkusToe]

You may be happy to have a cruise at least...

They cancelled my booking 7 days prior departure....you may imagine the stress we had to get our cabin back....

[MStarzky]

i just checked again and they unassigned that cabin from me again, so they likely want me somewhere else. Oh well as long as they dont cancel my booking i dont care.

[dexddd]

11 hours ago, alyssamma said:

While you are *technically* correct, this post is very misleading. Most (all?) cruise lines have this verbiage in the T&C, but it is to handle extreme circumstances and not at all the norm. I would venture that 99.9% of the people here on cruise critic have always gotten their assigned cabin (excepting, of course, upgrades and GTY bookings).

 

What is much more likely is MSC is messed up. As an example, when they changed the itinerary on fall Carib cruising, most people lost their cabins and had to call in to get them back.

 

MSC's poor customer service, website, attention to details, etc., has nothing to do with T&C and everything to do with how they do business.

 

Unfortunately they have a very good product (once onboard) so many (including me) continue to sail with them despite their other problems.

100% agree.

[Dgshooter]

If it's any consolation, a couple years ago I booked a Bella guarantee cabin. I was assigned an Area room with an extra large balcony.

[lovemycruisetoo]

9 hours ago, robenv said:

lovemycruisetoo...would you pass that existing reservations email address along to me.  I think that's a great idea since TA do not seem to have success  

MSCExistingReservations@msccruisesusa.com