Oh boy! Here we go..Round 1 with MSC Customer Service! What's the over/under on how many rounds it takes? Place your bets!

[Georgia_Peaches]

A casino thread, woohoo!

 

I recently received a 30% off casino voucher from my November sailing on the Meraviglia!  DH was very proud of me for my casino contribution because 30% off is pretty sweet.  After reading some success stories from fellow CC members, I was delighted to learn that the casino offer CAN be combined with my 5% off Voyager's Club membership.  So who wouldn't jump on a 35% savings?!  Reaching out to my trusted TA with voucher in tow, I selected an August itinerary (well within the required 9 month expiration time of the voucher) for an interior YC stateroom, 7 nights on Seaside.  Price before taxes is $1739 pp.  With 35% off, the total price of this cruise becomes $2260 plus tax.  Not too shabby!

 

Fast forward to Round 1:  MSC customer service rep told my TA that I could use the 5% off or the 30% off but not both.  🤦‍♀️...Which one did I want to use?  🤦‍♀️

So I reread the fine print on the voucher:

 

Hmmm, where do you think this will go, CC friends?

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Georgia_Peaches
typo

[Two Wheels Only]

Not to split hairs but 30% off combined with 5% off isn't exactly the same as 35% off. 🤪

[Georgia_Peaches]

22 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Not to split hairs but 30% off combined with 5% off isn't exactly the same as 35% off. 🤪

OMG!  You're right, of course!  30% off plus an additional 5% off puts the fare at $2312, not $2260.  Thank you for splitting hairs!  I totally need to get my math straight!  🤦‍♀️

[HipHipOnAShip]

Take the 30% off and run.  Book that and then try to get the Voyager's applied.  Alternately, have TA call back and get another rep.  🙂

 

[bafinegan]

Yes you can get the Casino offer ( 30%) plus the voyager's discount (5%).  I did.  They have to put in the 5% first, then the 30%.  Thats what my PCP did and was no problem.  I got a 7 day on the Seaside April 2023 in a balcony room at the single rate ( including drinks easy + and wifi for one) for $880 out the door.  Oh and that was at the Fantastica rate too.

 

Keep trying until you get someone who knows what they are doing.

 

 

[mscdivina2016]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

A casino thread, woohoo!

 

I recently received a 30% off casino voucher from my November sailing on the Meraviglia!  DH was very proud of me for my casino contribution because 30% off is pretty sweet.  After reading some success stories from fellow CC members, I was delighted to learn that the casino offer CAN be combined with my 5% off Voyager's Club membership.  So who wouldn't jump on a 35% savings?!  Reaching out to my trusted TA with voucher in tow, I selected an August itinerary (well within the required 9 month expiration time of the voucher) for an interior YC stateroom, 7 nights on Seaside.  Price before taxes is $1739 pp.  With 35% off, the total price of this cruise becomes $2260 plus tax.  Not too shabby!

 

Fast forward to Round 1:  MSC customer service rep told my TA that I could use the 5% off or the 30% off but not both.  🤦‍♀️...Which one did I want to use?  🤦‍♀️

So I reread the fine print on the voucher:

 

Hmmm, where do you think this will go, CC friends?

 

I will place a bet.

You will get both, but you will be on another ship from another port on another date and you will be downgraded to a balcony on deck 8 with no reduction in fare.

[Stockjock]

46 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I will place a bet.

You will get both, but you will be on another ship from another port on another date and you will be downgraded to a balcony on deck 8 with no reduction in fare.

And then, there will be some issue with the reservation.  A call will be placed to correct it, at which time the cabin number will be changed to something inferior and price will increase by 50%.

[GOLDENBONNY]

4 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

35% off,

30+5 is not 35% off .

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

30+5 is not 35% off .

Agreed!  See post three...

Edited November 29, 2022 by Georgia_Peaches

[Georgia_Peaches]

Round 2

 

After pointing out MSC's own policy to my TA, she in turn pointed it out to a different MSC service representative.  The second rep was aware of the policy and was able to book my room with the appropriate codes to reduce the price by 30% and then by an additional 5%.  The room I selected is booked and confirmed.  I lost the bet against myself as I figured it would take at least three tries.  ☺️

[JT1962]

38 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Round 2

 

After pointing out MSC's own policy to my TA, she in turn pointed it out to a different MSC service representative.  The second rep was aware of the policy and was able to book my room with the appropriate codes to reduce the price by 30% and then by an additional 5%.  The room I selected is booked and confirmed.  I lost the bet against myself as I figured it would take at least three tries.  ☺️

Getting an experienced customer service rep is key. They know the quirks in their system and how to book it. Most seem to be new and haven’t learned the tricks yet.

Edited November 30, 2022 by JT1962

[doones2]

9 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

A casino thread, woohoo!

 

I recently received a 30% off casino voucher from my November sailing on the Meraviglia!  DH was very proud of me for my casino contribution because 30% off is pretty sweet.  After reading some success stories from fellow CC members, I was delighted to learn that the casino offer CAN be combined with my 5% off Voyager's Club membership.  So who wouldn't jump on a 35% savings?!  Reaching out to my trusted TA with voucher in tow, I selected an August itinerary (well within the required 9 month expiration time of the voucher) for an interior YC stateroom, 7 nights on Seaside.  Price before taxes is $1739 pp.  With 35% off, the total price of this cruise becomes $2260 plus tax.  Not too shabby!

 

Fast forward to Round 1:  MSC customer service rep told my TA that I could use the 5% off or the 30% off but not both.  🤦‍♀️...Which one did I want to use?  🤦‍♀️

So I reread the fine print on the voucher:

 

Hmmm, where do you think this will go, CC friends?

 

I can’t get over how much you’re paying for an inside cabin.  The YC doesn’t excite me at all.  Good luck.  I think you will eventually get both but it’s not going to be easy.

[Georgia_Peaches]

32 minutes ago, doones2 said:

I can’t get over how much you’re paying for an inside cabin.  The YC doesn’t excite me at all.  Good luck.  I think you will eventually get both but it’s not going to be easy.

In my opinion it’s not just an inside cabin. The balcony isn’t important to me at all. What we are paying for is the yacht club experience which, in my view far exceeds the stateroom itself. Considering what we have paid for a suite in the past on other lines, I think we are getting a good deal. But it’s all relative, I guess. 
 

We did get it worked out in the end. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Georgia_Peaches

[sverigecruiser]

58 minutes ago, doones2 said:

I can’t get over how much you’re paying for an inside cabin. 

 

Really? It sounds supercheap too me!  

[graphicguy]

I know some of the other cruise lines do a little “sleight of hand” with promos and pricing.  But, it seems MSC doesn’t really know their own policies, nor will adhere to them even when they’re pointed out to them

 

Fight the good fight.  Said this in another thread, if you’re making policy, regardless of your intent, live up to what you post as promos and discounts.  A good company is not one who’s always right.  A good company admits they are fallible and does what’s right.  

 

Nice deal, by the way.  Good job!

Edited November 30, 2022 by graphicguy

[styles27]

12 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Round 2

 

After pointing out MSC's own policy to my TA, she in turn pointed it out to a different MSC service representative.  The second rep was aware of the policy and was able to book my room with the appropriate codes to reduce the price by 30% and then by an additional 5%.  The room I selected is booked and confirmed.  I lost the bet against myself as I figured it would take at least three tries.  ☺️

I’m glad you got it sorted out so quickly. 
 I’ve had to call MSC two times in the last couple of weeks for changes I wanted to make to our upcoming Divina cruise and both times I won the “MSC customer service rep” lottery. lol
These two young ladies were by far the best I’ve gotten since cruising with MSC.  
Both times they waited on the phone with me until I received confirmation emails and made sure the changes were correct. 

I hate to jinx it but dare I say they’re finally training (some of) their CS reps properly?

😬

[HipHipOnAShip]

47 minutes ago, styles27 said:

I hate to jinx it but dare I say they’re finally training (some of) their CS reps properly?

😬

BWHAHAHAH, that would be a true Christmas Miracle!!!

[Heartgrove]

We did a re-fare for our cruise in September out of Hamburg using the Black Friday sale. Saved almost $1K plus added drink package and WiFi, and had a fantastic MSC rep! Actually needed to cancel our booking, put our connecting staterooms in limbo, and then she was able to re-capture them. Whew! She stayed with us the whole time and even was able to figure out how to get us the 5% + 5% discount as we are outside the nine months from sailing. Only lost the double points that we had originally after booking 12+ months out. I wish that that you could be assigned a rep like other cruise lines.

[styles27]

24 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

We did a re-fare for our cruise in September out of Hamburg using the Black Friday sale. Saved almost $1K plus added drink package and WiFi, and had a fantastic MSC rep! Actually needed to cancel our booking, put our connecting staterooms in limbo, and then she was able to re-capture them. Whew! She stayed with us the whole time and even was able to figure out how to get us the 5% + 5% discount as we are outside the nine months from sailing. Only lost the double points that we had originally after booking 12+ months out. I wish that that you could be assigned a rep like other cruise lines.

I’m happy others are having the same experience I’ve had with great reps. 
 

I always book directly myself and when I was researching our cruise a rep reached out to me by phone and email and offered to be my MSC cruise consultant, so they do offer that. I guess they keep track of our “searches” when we do mock bookings which is how he knew I was planning to cruise soon. 
I declined as I like full control of my vacation. 

[mawvkysc]

This is from the homepage. The experience I had with a cruise concierge was better than with a customer service rep. They seem more knowledgeable and able to get a supervisors help easily. You will then have their personal contact info and  can use them again and again. (If you liked him or her )

Edited November 30, 2022 by mawvkysc

[mawvkysc]

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

We did a re-fare for our cruise in September out of Hamburg using the Black Friday sale. Saved almost $1K plus added drink package and WiFi, and had a fantastic MSC rep! Actually needed to cancel our booking, put our connecting staterooms in limbo, and then she was able to re-capture them. Whew! She stayed with us the whole time and even was able to figure out how to get us the 5% + 5% discount as we are outside the nine months from sailing. Only lost the double points that we had originally after booking 12+ months out. I wish that that you could be assigned a rep like other cruise lines.

See my post above. 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

1 hour ago, styles27 said:

I’m happy others are having the same experience I’ve had with great reps. 
 

I always book directly myself and when I was researching our cruise a rep reached out to me by phone and email and offered to be my MSC cruise consultant, so they do offer that. I guess they keep track of our “searches” when we do mock bookings which is how he knew I was planning to cruise soon. 
I declined as I like full control of my vacation. 

 I had one of these individuals call and disconnect from me when I asked a question about a current booking I had made directly.  I received an email later that day with contact details for a new MSC cruise concierge.  

[mawvkysc]

1 hour ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 I had one of these individuals call and disconnect from me when I asked a question about a current booking I had made directly.  I received an email later that day with contact details for a new MSC cruise concierge.  

Yes. They aren’t really supposed to help you if you booked directly. The concierge I spoke to very kindly explained that. He did say call me back if you ever have a question.    I then tried two regular customer service reps. It was awful. They gave me wrong info on my one cruise change allowance and one made no sense at all. I called the concierge back and asked him if what they were telling me was wrong. He was then able to get special permission from his supervisor to help me and rebooked the cruise for me. He did mention that if I ever cruise MSC again to please contact him. They do get credit for what they book. 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

2 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

Yes. They aren’t really supposed to help you if you booked directly. The concierge I spoke to very kindly explained that. He did say call me back if you ever have a question.    I then tried two regular customer service reps. It was awful. They gave me wrong info on my one cruise change allowance and one made no sense at all. I called the concierge back and asked him if what they were telling me was wrong. He was then able to get special permission from his supervisor to help me and rebooked the cruise for me. He did mention that if I ever cruise MSC again to please contact him. They do get credit for what they book. 

 

My point was a hang up isn't going to earn my future business.....

[mawvkysc]

4 minutes ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 

My point was a hang up isn't going to earn my future business.....

I agree. That’s why I’m so glad my concierge explained so nicely and why I felt comfortable calling him back. Now he will have my business in the future.