Error null is not an object (evaluating 'o.ports') i.e. apparent schedule change.

[Stockjock]

I have a Northern Europe cruise booked for 2025, and had a lot of issues viewing the reservation, as I've mentioned previously.  Months later, we got that squared away, but when trying to view the booking today, I can still see some of the details, but there is also a pop-up message that reads, "Error null is not an object (evaluating 'o.ports')".  Also, I can no longer select any options, such as beverage packages or excursions.

And my sailing date is no longer on the schedule, but it does show a departure the prior day from a different port.  Looks like they might have scrapped the option to depart from the port we selected, and instead they are leaving from a different port a day earlier.  There's no notification to us that anything has changed, but guessing we'll see something sooner or later.

So if you see that error message, it probably relates to a schedule change, imo.

Edited May 16 by Stockjock

[Best Cat Mom]

What does your travel agent tell you about the sailing?

[Stockjock]

2 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

What does your travel agent tell you about the sailing?

I don't typically use a TA.  But in an earlier thread, I saw similar goings on before cancellations.  Those were mostly, but not entirely, related to schedule changes due to covid.

Pretty sure that nothing has been announced to a TA, or otherwise.  

[Best Cat Mom]

We always use a travel agent because of the 10% to 15% of the fare we get back. The fact that they assist when anomalies occur is just a bonus for us. You might want to take advantage of the savings and get the added assistance. 🙂

[Stockjock]

19 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

We always use a travel agent because of the 10% to 15% of the fare we get back. The fact that they assist when anomalies occur is just a bonus for us. You might want to take advantage of the savings and get the added assistance. 🙂

Most of my bookings aren't high dollar bookings, and I really don't like having to go through TAs to make changes.

I do book through TAs if it's a cruise covered by the American Express Cruise Privileges program.  As an example, I have an upcoming cruise on Oceania.  Any level cabin of cabin booked on my Amex Platinum card, though an Amex-qualifed travel agent, gets me $300 OBC, a bottle of wine of my choice (from a menu), and an invitation to an event (wine-tasting event, I think.)  Plus, they had several Amex offers that provided $200 off of $800 spent and they're running a current promotion for extra Amex reward points.

But, MSC doesn't qualify for that, so I would usually prefer not to drive a travel agent insane by forcing them to deal with MSC.

That said, none of this discussion of travel agents has much to do with the original post.

Edited May 16 by Stockjock

[Best Cat Mom]

I know from other postings that you and I both have Amex Plat. Just pointing out that both questions such as you have as well as monetary advantages can be gained by using a travel agent. I have had many weird website anomalies but my travel agent has made them a non-issue for us. Good luck to you.

[peder]

Thanks for this info. There's a whole language of technical issues like this that are helpful to understand how MSC operates.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, there are likely a ton of schedule updates about to be posted, mostly for 2026 but apparently you also some 2025 updates like your sailing.

[Stockjock]

38 minutes ago, peder said:

Thanks for this info. There's a whole language of technical issues like this that are helpful to understand how MSC operates.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, there are likely a ton of schedule updates about to be posted, mostly for 2026 but apparently you also some 2025 updates like your sailing.

I didn't see that post, could you provide a link?

[peder]

1 minute ago, Stockjock said:

I didn't see that post, could you provide a link?

 

Oh, just the one about website issues. The MSC website was down for an extended maintenance period, and I'm speculating that they're about to announce schedule changes.

 

They were probably first adding assets to support the new itineraries (maybe cruise thumbnail photos?) then they'll enable the schedule after they've done some internal prod testing and/or readied press releases or other communications to announce the release of 2026 itins.

[Stockjock]

3 minutes ago, peder said:

 

Oh, just the one about website issues. The MSC website was down for an extended maintenance period, and I'm speculating that they're about to announce schedule changes.

 

They were probably first adding assets to support the new itineraries (maybe cruise thumbnail photos?) then they'll enable the schedule after they've done some internal prod testing and/or readied press releases or other communications to announce the release of 2026 itins.

As discussed elsewhere, pretty sure we'll see the first MSC cruises to Baja California out of Los Angeles, albeit potentially delayed to early 2026.  Although it's always possible they don't announce it immediately.

[peder]

12 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I didn't see that post, could you provide a link?

 

And just today, we have schedule announcements for the Grandiosa! 

 

[Stockjock]

9 hours ago, peder said:

 

And just today, we have schedule announcements for the Grandiosa! 

 

I called MSC today.  The agent said my sailing is "locked" and she could not modify it in any way.  She didn't know what was going on, but did say that there would be an announcement pending regarding Copenhagen and Kiel Summer 2025 sailings.

[Ulsteinvik]

Which date is your cruise?

[Stockjock]

5 minutes ago, Ulsteinvik said:

Which date is your cruise?

October 2025 out of Copenhagen.  That cruise is off the schedule, but a cruise the prior day out of Kiel on the same ship remains.  The only thing I can do is make a payment, everything else is blocked.

[Ulsteinvik]

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it will then be stationed in the winter in the Orient, like this year. On October 13th this year there is also only one 6 day trip from Copenhagen to Kiel and they cancelled the 7 day one, because I heard that it will then sail empty with no passengers on 19 Oct from Kiel to Dubai via Africa (due to the war). The same could happen also for 2025 if they plan again to send her to Dubai after her Northern Europe summer season. 

[Stockjock]

12 minutes ago, Ulsteinvik said:

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it will then be stationed in the winter in the Orient, like this year. On October 13th this year there is also only one 6 day trip from Copenhagen to Kiel and they cancelled the 7 day one, because I heard that it will then sail empty with no passengers on 19 Oct from Kiel to Dubai via Africa (due to the war). The same could happen also for 2025 if they plan again to send her to Dubai after her Northern Europe summer season. 

In this particular case, the cruise leaving from Kiel the prior day (same ship) is still bookable, so I don't believe it's going to be repositioned.  This is especially the case since the ship runs on natural gas and I think they do the Norwegian Fjords with it, as natural gas power is considered somewhat more friendly towards the environment, which is a major consideration in that region, to my understanding.

[Ulsteinvik]

I think you didn't understand my post that way, I didnt say that she will not sail anymore from Kiel. This year there was a grand voyage from Kiel to Dubai bookable from 19 Oct 2024 with stop in Copenhagen on 20 Oct 2024 and ending in Dubai on 16 Nov 2024. They cancelled this one because they decided to go without passengers from Kiel straight to Dubai via Africa, it takes around 4 weeks. That's why the last Norwegian cruise on 13 Oct - 20 Oct 2024 Copenhagen to Copenhagen has been removed and it is now instead a 6 day cruise ending in Kiel on 19 Oct 2024. That's why I think the same could happen to your cruise next year if they plan again to sail in the winter 2025/26 from Dubai as it is at the moment the last Norwegian Fjord cruise for 2025.

 

So on your case the ship sails regularly the 04 oct - 11 Oct 2025 Kiel-Kiel cruise and then heading straight from Kiel to Dubai without stopping in Copenhagen anymore on 12 Oct. That's what I think at the moment.

 

Edited May 17 by Ulsteinvik

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, Ulsteinvik said:

I think you didn't understand my post that way, I didnt say that she will not sail anymore from Kiel. This year there was a grand voyage from Kiel to Dubai bookable from 19 Oct 2024 with stop in Copenhagen on 20 Oct 2024 and ending in Dubai on 16 Nov 2024. They cancelled this one because they decided to go without passengers from Kiel straight to Dubai via Africa, it takes around 4 weeks. That's why the last Norwegian cruise on 13 Oct - 20 Oct 2024 Copenhagen to Copenhagen has been removed and it is now instead a 6 day cruise ending in Kiel on 19 Oct 2024. That's why I think the same could happen to your cruise next year if they plan again to sail in the winter 2025/26 from Dubai as it is at the moment the last Norwegian Fjord cruise for 2025.

 

So on your case the ship sails regularly the 04 oct - 11 Oct 2025 Kiel-Kiel cruise and then heading straight from Kiel to Dubai without stopping in Copenhagen anymore on 12 Oct. That's what I think at the moment.

 

My cruise is/was a 6-night ending in Kiel (Copenhagen to Kiel).

[Stockjock]

FWIW, once again, I cannot log in at all.  Just another error code 502, followed by a long animation of a little ship and then it fails.  Cleared the cookies and same issue.

The reason I started the MSC comedy of errors thread in 2018, or at least kept it alive, was to chronicle a long-running string of, sometimes, ridiculous and non-stop errors when dealing with MSC.  But I've been asked to discuss new problems as new, standalone posts, which works, but of course, it's not "one-stop shopping" in terms of putting together a documentation of these ongoing issues.

 

Error

 

Request failed with status code 502

Edited May 18 by Stockjock

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

The reason I started the MSC comedy of errors thread in 2018, or at least kept it alive, was to chronicle a long-running string of, sometimes, ridiculous and non-stop errors when dealing with MSC.  

As a contributer to your other topic, 

 I recognize this scenario.

 MSC changed the embarkation country in my case, eliminated the original country with no notice. It was my constant watching that I caught it.

 They also changed the debarkation port on that sailing as well.

[Stockjock]

22 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

As a contributer to your other topic, 

 I recognize this scenario.

 MSC changed the embarkation country in my case, eliminated the original country with no notice. It was my constant watching that I caught it.

 They also changed the debarkation port on that sailing as well.

I can't even count the number of errors.  New issues multiple times just over the past week.  Errors that baffle even the MSC employees.

Some probably think I document all of these.  The reality is that I probably discuss maybe 5% to 10% of the problems that I encounter.

A question that arises quite a bit is why I continue to book MSC with so many issues.  It's because the pricing is usually very good and onboard experience is mostly very good.  And by documenting some of the issues, I hope that someone at MSC takes notice and moves to resolve these issues, particularly the problems that have reoccurred over a span of months or years.

I may still add to that Comedy of Errors thread, but I'll try to mostly do new standalone threads, as requested.  For some reason, periodically adding to that old thread seems to *really* bother some, just as posting a video I recorded of a band playing in the Butcher's Cut specialty restaurant seems to *really* bother them as well.  I wish those folks would simply block me if they dislike my posts so much.

Edited May 19 by Stockjock