Pondering Our First MSC Cruise

[dunedinmaiden]

Hello All,

My husband and I are contemplating our first MSC cruise (Yacht Club).  We have sailed most all major lines and normally book using our travel agent.  Our regular agent advised that AAA is not an MSC travel partner, so I reached out to a different travel agent who's a personal friend.  After a few calls to MSC, she stated it appeared the line would just prefer dealing directly with the cruiser instead of an agent.

For those of you who book with MSC, do you use an agent or book directly?  If you book directly yourself, how is their customer support if you have follow-up questions or concerns?

Thanks in advance!

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, dunedinmaiden said:

Hello All,

My husband and I are contemplating our first MSC cruise (Yacht Club).  We have sailed most all major lines and normally book using our travel agent.  Our regular agent advised that AAA is not an MSC travel partner, so I reached out to a different travel agent who's a personal friend.  After a few calls to MSC, she stated it appeared the line would just prefer dealing directly with the cruiser instead of an agent.

For those of you who book with MSC, do you use an agent or book directly?  If you book directly yourself, how is their customer support if you have follow-up questions or concerns?

Thanks in advance!

 

I looked at the MSC Website and picked two cruises that sailed around the time we wanted to sail.  I sent and email to my TA asking him to give me a quote for the two cruises.  We then picked the one with the better itinerary and he booked it for us.  

 

This will be our first MSC cruise and the this was the first cruise I have had the TA book for us vs booking ourselves.  All the others I booked onboard and then transferred to the TA.  

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

You can also look at cruise pricing on the internet mega-agencies such as cruise.com, cruisesonly.com, expedia.com, etc. I've always found their prices to be identical as to what is shown on msccruisesusa.com.

[RosieRoo]

2 hours ago, dunedinmaiden said:

Hello All,

My husband and I are contemplating our first MSC cruise (Yacht Club).  We have sailed most all major lines and normally book using our travel agent.  Our regular agent advised that AAA is not an MSC travel partner, so I reached out to a different travel agent who's a personal friend.  After a few calls to MSC, she stated it appeared the line would just prefer dealing directly with the cruiser instead of an agent.

For those of you who book with MSC, do you use an agent or book directly?  If you book directly yourself, how is their customer support if you have follow-up questions or concerns?

Thanks in advance!

Make sure you do a status match (link below) before booking. If you qualify for their highest level, you may be entitled to a discount on your booking. For the money, their Yacht Club far exceeds the suite experience on most other cruise lines. We do book through a travel agent who provides a little extra incentive, but some travel agents don’t like to deal with them. Their shoreside customer service isn’t the greatest.

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match?utm_campaign=usa-en-sem-brand_general&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=msc+status+match&utm_content=branded&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwvfmoBhAwEiwAG2tqzFUPWZY0eKLkKjwxuXazRPySBhXgu1J58UA81HpQVqte9aBQ_udGQRoCCoYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by RosieRoo

[Georgia_Peaches]

Definitely, without a doubt, use a travel agent. It’s the only way to go with MSC. I really can’t stress this enough. 

[perakcruiser]

4 hours ago, dunedinmaiden said:

For those of you who book with MSC, do you use an agent or book directly?  If you book directly yourself, how is their customer support if you have follow-up questions or concerns?

It is better to book directly than use a TA that has no high ranking with MSC. Better to use travel agents with the rank "Commander". As your friend said "it appeared the line would just prefer dealing directly with the cruiser instead of an agent" she definitely is no "Commander" 😉

 

Most important thing is to make a "good" booking. No changes later, book it, pay it, never touch it again. If you have any questions, ask the YC concierge on board, not the hotline. Then the chances are high, that your first MSC cruise will be the best cruise you had so far. 

[bundtkate]

MSC's supposedly dodgy CS is actually why I have a TA. I wanted to try them out, but dreaded the idea of dealing with them based on reviews, so I found someone to do that for me should anything go awry. Good thing too because despite making a good booking and never changing it in any way, they moved us from our chosen aft-facing cabin that we'd paid extra for to an ordinary balcony less than a month away from sailing and without notifying us at all. Luckily, I'm one of those people that obsessively checks my cruise countdown so I saw it and emailed my TA. He spent many hours on the phone with them getting this fixed. I did not and he nabbed me some extra OBC for my troubles.

Funny enough, they screwed up that OBC and accidentally gave us double what they'd offered so that can screw up in the right direction too. I also have no experience booking with them directly and my one experience could easily be an outlier. I've had another MSC cruise booked for a few months and sail in a few weeks. I only had a minor issue and it was an IT problem which is hardly unique to MSC, but regardless I'd rather not risk it personally.

[Fla Mike]

6 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Most important thing is to make a "good" booking. No changes later, book it, pay it, never touch it again.

 

This ^^^

[deliver42]

I book on line, but never, and I can't say that stronger, call customer service afterward, because they will mess up your reservation somehow.

[cellfree]

We have done 10plus MSC cruises, always do my research as to price and what cabin we want, then I book directly through website, have never had a problem.