Booking tours and preorder items... when?

[royandjenn]

We are sailing on the Lirica Jan 23, '09 and wondering when they will let us start booking tours and such. The other cruise we are on... which is AFTER this cruise, we booked everythiing a while ago. Does anyone have a clue when I can prebook things, or even have an email address for someone from MSC to order, or ask for an order form? Our TA said she's waiting for some sort of fax, and that was like 2 months ago!!! I am one of those people who like things to be all ready early, so there are no worries later on down the road!!

 

 

Thanks...

[henepup]

From everything that I have read, you either have to book thru your TA or wait until you are on board. I could be wrong. I would call my TA again and ask. Let us know what you find out.

Thanks

Henepup

[lawton54]

First, go to the MSC website and see what they have to offer that interests you. Write down the excursion numbers and description (e.g. TRT01 - The Baths of Virgin Gorda), then contact your travel agent with these numbers. For 2009 excursions in the Caribbean everything should be already available. I know for my TA in December I had to really stay on top of things to get what I wanted. The Ft. Lauderdale office was unsure of what excursions would be offered and had to contact the Italy office. It took a few days, but I almost missed out anyway while waiting for them to call me back. They were ready to cancel my request since I hadn't called them back to confirm. How I was supposed to know that they were holding my request pending confirmation is beyond me, since no one e-mailed or called to tell me they needed a deposit. I feel like MSC is gowing through growing pains as it expands into the Caribbean, so I suggest you be persistent in order to get what you want, and be sure to get it in writing. Hope this helps.

[14 Days or Longer]

First, go to the MSC website and see what they have to offer that interests you. Write down the excursion numbers and description (e.g. TRT01 - The Baths of Virgin Gorda), then contact your travel agent with these numbers. For 2009 excursions in the Caribbean everything should be already available. I know for my TA in December I had to really stay on top of things to get what I wanted. The Ft. Lauderdale office was unsure of what excursions would be offered and had to contact the Italy office. It took a few days, but I almost missed out anyway while waiting for them to call me back. They were ready to cancel my request since I hadn't called them back to confirm. How I was supposed to know that they were holding my request pending confirmation is beyond me, since no one e-mailed or called to tell me they needed a deposit. I feel like MSC is gowing through growing pains as it expands into the Caribbean, so I suggest you be persistent in order to get what you want, and be sure to get it in writing. Hope this helps.

 

We had to keep in touch with our TA to do advance booking on the tours for our cruise. MSC didn't have all the info on the tours even though they were listed on their web site. MSC would not let us book two tours in the same port(San Juan) even though we spend two days in port. We had the same problem with wine packages. MSC hadn't updated their pricing. Call or email your TA as soon as the tours become available on the web site and check your invoice .(you should get a new invoice listing the tour charges).Also cheeck out private tours,sometimes they are cheaper and don't involve the shopping stop. Happy Sailing!

[royandjenn]

Yeah... I keep calling my TA once a week, and she keeps telling me to wait; because she hasn't heard back from MSC. I already gave her all the tours we wanted to do, so I guess we will just wait.... But I will send her another email, reminding her... or asking her to try to contact MSC again... I wanted to pay for it all now, but she said they just reserve the spot, and then we pay for it all while on board. A lot of the tours show limited space... so that worries me!!! It would be nice to know the prices at least... because then that will help me decide to book on my own or with MSC..... thanks for all your input!

[AmoMondo]

Tours with MSC are normally booked onboard and added to your cruise card bill. There used to be a form somehwere on the US website you could complete but I don't know if they still have that. As far as the European passengers go, they are used to just booking onboard. Given you are haveing so much trouble trying to pre-book, I suspect others will be to, so i think it is unlikely that the excursion you wnat will be full before you reach the ship. Just get there early grab the Tour magazine in the embarkation hall and fill your form in right awaya and take it straight to the tour desk (unless of course, your TA manages to sort this out for you)

[lawton54]

OK, I'm not sure if this helps, but this is what the process has been for me so far. I am a TA, so I called and gave them the excursion numbers that were listed on the web. Some of the excursions were listed under Med. cruises, not Transatlantic but after checking with the Italy office I was told that these excursions were being offered on the TA for the ports we were stopping at. After confirming that they were available, I had to book and pay for them right then. The charges were applied to my CC when I checked, and excursion vouchers were included with my documents when they arrived.

[royandjenn]

Hi Lawton... thanks for the info... how far in advance did you book and pay for the tours? So should I tell my TA to call the italy office for the booking of excursions then? She told me in August that she was waiting for a fax from MSC... Thanks again!!!!!

[lawton54]

I worked with the Ft Lauderdale office, but they had to confirm everything with Italy. Once they had confirmed the availability of the excursion, they were able to book it at their location. I did this right after the final payment date, but before any paperwork had been mailed out. I'm not sure how late in the process you could book before they would tell you to just wait and book excursions on board.

[henepup]

We are going on the E. Caribbean route, and I just can't believe that MSC offers so few excursions. We are going to wait until we board to book our excursions, in the hopes that other things are available.

Henepup

[AmoMondo]

From the 3 cruises that I've done entirely ll in the cribbean or as part of a TA sailing, there were also a minimum of 3 different excursions available - some many many more. So I'm sure you'll have plenty to choose from

[royandjenn]

I decided to check out some private tours, and wow, there are some pretty nice ones! I am kinda happy I checked it out. All the ones I contacted were very aware of our ship, and the times we arrived and had to be back by, and they all offer refunds etc if the ship doesn't come to port for whatever reason.... The Samana one though... whale watching, I think we will have to book thru the ship for sure... we will be staying the night in hollywood florida the night before our cruise... if we are at the everglades at 11:30/ noon... do you think there would be much wait time? Thanks... AmoMondo, you have been a wealth of knowlege with MSC since we booked back in February. I appreciate all the input you have given! Too bad u weren't on our cruise, would be great to meet you!