The MSC cruise website is horrible

UK travel agents have had the "new" system since last year but as I posted earlier the TA I spoke to said it was no better! there is something wrong when after the initial booking that a TA cannot ring MSC for any changes to a booking and has to do it by E Mail!

Dear MSC:

Since you monitor these boards, how about fixing the glitch in your website to order a hard-cover brochure? After all information is submitted, an "error" page always comes up. Very frustrating!

Thanks!:)

The website here has been improved and seems to be a lot better than before. There's a new facility to download the excursion information for a booked cruise. All you have to do is input the booking number and the list comes up along with a 'download' button.

Bea ... That function has been there for a while but only works when the cruise is about 4 weeks away!

Bea ... That function has been there for a while but only works when the cruise is about 4 weeks away!

Not on the Ireland website, Dave. You could pre-book excursions but the 'Excursion Programme Download' facility from the drop-down menu under the 'Tour' tab with all the pricings is new.

We can't even book online here unlike in the UK! Although we're supposed to be part of the same market, ie UK and Ireland, the offers and promotions often differ and some of the itineraries aren't on the site here. The Divina repo in October and the Sinfonia repo in Autumn both this year and next are all showing on the UK site but not here! I only managed to book the Divina because a TA had it on offer here.

I am registered on their website, but I forgot my password. I clicked on that and got questions which I answered correctly. The site said email sent, but guess what. No e mail. Tried this about 5 times. I give up.

I think their web server runs on dial-up internet speed while the rest of the world is on fiber optic! lol Logging into the USA portion to look at reservations etc is terribly slow.

My heart is always warmed when I see this topic reappear. MSC's terrible website is quite endearing over time.

From Cruise Industry News:

New MSC Booking Engine Part of Sales Push

ON 30 JUNE 2015.

A new booking engine from MSC Cruises launched today in the North American marketplace and significantly improves the booking process for travel agents, ahead of the company’s continuing expansion and capacity increase in the U.S. market.

The new system was based on feedback and focus groups, according to the company, and plans call for 19 road-show visits around the country in the coming weeks to show off the new platform.

“We did different focus groups with travel agents, so it’s designed by agents for agents to give a very intuitive user experience that is easy to make bookings on,” said Jeff Herzfeld, project manager.

The engine, available through MSCCruisesAgent.com, breaks the cruise booking into four steps for travel agents, including pre-paid and attractive commissionable items for agents to upsell

“Travel agents asked us for a great tool to use online, they’ve asked and this is what we’re delivering,” Herzfeld added.

Contd:

Among the unique features are interactive deck plans (cabin selection) with the ability to select whichever cabin is available in inventory, as opposed to other portals, which may only show a handful of rooms.

The platform breaks down cabin category and experience selections, adding selling tools for agents that may be new to MSC, offering mouse-over tips on what packages entail and what’s included. Staterooms can be held for a few days, with the ability to book up to five per booking.

Potential itineraries can be tagged with customer names, so an agent can easily go back and find what a potential customer was interested in with one click.

“Saving a client’s (potential) itinerary is huge, and that is something we think is a great tool,” said Herzfeld.

Starting now, agents using the new platform will get a two percent bonus commission on bookings through the end of the year. There is also a contest for a free Yacht Club sailing through the end of September, for agents using the new system.

Other features include group management/pricing requests, multimedia, ship tours, ship inspection signups, the ability to order brochures and marketing collateral, as well as code to insert a consumer-facing version of the system into an agency website.

Bea,,there seems to be a few glitches with the new system. My TA has told me that he wasn't able to see his current bookings once the new system was launched,,,so of course he has to use the old system in order to access our two bookings. I haven't spoken to him in a couple of days so I'll reach out to him and see if MSC has rectified the problem yet. One would think the new system would be backwards compatible though right????

One would think the new system would be backwards compatible though right????

Haha..............I wouldn't have a clue, Mike :rolleyes: I can just about navigate my way around this forum. Techno stuff is waaaaaay beyond my ken!!!!! Though I do get what you mean.

Good morning Cruise Critic friends,

 

We do appreciate your input and monitor Cruise Critic closely. Your comments have been passed along to see what we can do to better improve our website and online support.

 

Recently our policy has changed regarding booking excursions and special services online. Originally you must have this completed and any changes or cancellations must be done 9 days prior to sailing; however, it has just changed to 4 days now. This is to allow guests to make any adjustments and become more guest friendly.

 

Again we appreciate your input and will continue to improve our website and online support.

 

Sincerely,

 

MSC Cruises USA

Wow, this was in 2011, it's 2017 and their website is still messed up. I just don't get it. I'm thinking about canceling my booking because I can't manage my booking in the comfort of my home and can't even chat with them without a long wait. Geez, they better get it together if they want to wow the American consumer.

The MSC website is a pain...Can't always see my booking, hard if not impossible to modify personal info...can't enter my Voyager number, says it must match the customer info(?), incorrect Voyager level...last night could not login...not intuitive...very frustrating. I hope MSC executives make the website a priority in the customer experience. I have booked on the Divina for the 6/24/17 sailing and expect a really great Yacht Club experience.

There was no tab to even log in or view your booking this morning. They must employ 12 year old kids from India to run their website as bad as it is.

I've just recently started looking at MSC and totally agree. It makes getting info and cruise details difficult. I believe the mobile version is not mobile friendly, but I find this on many sites so don't mind sitting at the computer. I'd forgotten how many pieces of info one must gather when looking into a new cruise line. Thank goodness for cruise critic!

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All of my bookings are back this morning, but I won't be surprised to see them disappear sometime in the future.

I logged in today using my booking number and also my voyager club number but the website had no record of my upcoming cruise. Someone did respond to my email to say they would investigate. Although I have received the tickets today which has made me feel better.

I logged in yesterday and, selected my booking then clicked on E-Ticket...NOTHING!

This morning repeated process...NOTHING!

This afternoon, went to site and entered only the booking number, then tried to check-in...NOTHING!

I believe I am booked on the Divina, Yacht Club for 6/24/17 sailing.

My profile still does not reflect correct Voyager status, tried adding Voyager number to the passenger info screen...Error stating to use number that matches passenger information!! Completed the online contact to report the website issue and have heard NOTHING!

If the line does not improve the online customer experience, they will have difficulty making an impact in the North American market.

This is my first experience with MSC, having more than 22 cruises with other lines, and I will be hesitant to consider them for future cruises.

I will now go "old school" and pick up the phone to call them.

I sincerely hope that the on-board experience will be better than the on-line experience....

I know their website can be frustrating sometimes. But rest assured, the onboard experience is nothing like their online experience. We were on the Divina in April, and we had a fabulous time. Really, nothing to compare about. Embarkation was smooth and quick, the ship was clean, whenever we needed something crew members were more than happy to help. Sometimes I had the feeling they were mind-readers, issues solved even before we could address them. This was our second cruise, the first one was on Disney in 2014. Their online experience is of course superb, their onboard experience is great too, but I didn't feel that the Divina would be any worse either. In all honesty, if I had to pick between Disney or MSC I would go on MSC again despite the poorer online experience precruise.

Thanks for the info. As a retired CIO I realize the business and IT can be vastly different in some companies. The successful companies align both and the experience across all services are held to the same quality measures. I really look forward to sailing on MSC and will have an open mind when boarding the Divina on 6/24. That is if I can get my luggage tags printed.....lol

Thanks again.

The UK site is quite cumbersome & crashes every so often so it looks as though there are bad links to sort out. Still it kind of works & I have booked a few extras on it. It takes the payment but fine [emoji12]

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MCS have responded to inform me "there is currently a ongoing issue with guests trying to view bookings online" and "it is a technical issue the IT team is working hard to recify".

I've replied that the website is pretty bad on a good day so on a bad day it's appalling. I don't want to call anyone, I just want to view my booking and/or Voyager Club account. We travel imminently but according to MCS I don't have a booking!

I've also pointed out that it's a poor reflection on their usual high service standards and if they are investing heavily in a new fleet, with the aim to increase their market share, it will be pointless if the website isn't fit for purpose and customers can't actually book with ease or manage a booking online.

MCS have responded to inform me "there is currently a ongoing issue with guests trying to view bookings online" and "it is a technical issue the IT team is working hard to recify".

 

I've replied that the website is pretty bad on a good day so on a bad day it's appalling. I don't want to call anyone, I just want to view my booking and/or Voyager Club account. We travel imminently but according to MCS I don't have a booking!

 

I've also pointed out that it's a poor reflection on their usual high service standards and if they are investing heavily in a new fleet, with the aim to increase their market share, it will be pointless if the website isn't fit for purpose and customers can't actually book with ease or manage a booking online.

I don't understand why their site is so bad, this is not new technology they need to ask somebody how to fix it.

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I don't know if this helps but I cannot access msc usa website using Chrome, but have fairly good success using Internet Explorer. Someone else once said the opposite. You can try clearing all the cache, etc or try different browsers. It could help - could not possibly hurt.

Edited to add: the onboard experience, especially YC, is not at all reflective of the website performance.