Booking Seaside Questions

I am in the research phase and I have done searches here but have not found quite what I was looking for in the way of answers.

1. I see that there are OBC and other offers for Seaside currently. If I mock book a regular 7 day cruise these offers show up. If I mock book the offered combined 14 day cruise there are no offers. Is this usual? No offers when booking the offered combined itineraries??

2. I did a status match and received Silver. If I log in with my number and do a mock booking the price does not change even when I go all the way to paying the deposit. Does the 5% discount only work on certain room types? I am looking at interior for 2 adults 2 teens.

3. Flexi dining. I know it is new but can anyone tell me if we can get a table as a family only? We don't want to make new friends ;) Actually, dinner is precious family time to us and we just prefer this.

Not a question but why, oh why, do most cruise lines seem to think that every family is made up of mom, dad and same-gender kids? I noticed that on MSC and Royal Caribbean that balcony cabins only have the bed and a sofa sleeper. The thing that has kept us with Carnival is that no matter what cabin class we book we can get 4 distinct beds. In fact we have never had an inside and I am really apprehensive about having no natural light and no direct access to the outside. Vent over.

Thanks in advance for any information that is provided.

I think their website is not working correctly at the moment, and from what I've read that seems to be quite a lot. When I try to book on Seaside, it shows my teen kids at paying only tax/fees as 3rd and 4th in the same balcony stateroom (I don't think they are supposed to be free). When I get to the end, although the stateroom summary shows what appears to be a 15% discount (Voyager club) for the 1st and 2nd adult, the total does not reflect that and so the prices don't add up. On top of all that the price shown to pay in full now actually goes up by $189 over the previous total with no explanation for the increase. So basically, there are 3 DIFFERENT prices shown at the same time, lol. I'll just wait a little bit for them to hopefully sort it out and try again later.

Usually flex or my time dining is just your family, but I can't say 100% for sure yet for the Seaside.

Thanks. I really don't want to miss out on the $99 pp deposit but I will wait a bit more to see if anything changes.

Why not just call?

Why not just call?

Actually, I did call once. The woman on the phone was less than helpful. For every question I asked she said if I booked they would take care of it. All she was doing was a hard sell and I didn't appreciate it when I specifically led with I just had questions as someone who had never cruised with MSC before. She also said the 5% discount was only for booking a balcony when I also told her I was looking at Inside rooms.

I thought the experts here would be able to assist so I could go in armed with all the information I would need. This board seems less helpful than the other cruise lines though so I will just try to Google I guess.

Actually, I did call once. The woman on the phone was less than helpful. For every question I asked she said if I booked they would take care of it. All she was doing was a hard sell and I didn't appreciate it when I specifically led with I just had questions as someone who had never cruised with MSC before. She also said the 5% discount was only for booking a balcony when I also told her I was looking at Inside rooms.

 

I thought the experts here would be able to assist so I could go in armed with all the information I would need. This board seems less helpful than the other cruise lines though so I will just try to Google I guess.

Wow, what a nice thing to say. I was going to type some information, but you're right, maybe you'd be better Googling it with an attitude like that.You just posted these questions less than 24 hours ago (yesterday around 2:30pm). Sorry, but some of us have jobs and aren't home for about 8 - 9 hours of the day, and others of us also do this thing call "sleep".

Wow, what a nice thing to say. I was going to type some information, but you're right, maybe you'd be better Googling it with an attitude like that.You just posted these questions less than 24 hours ago (yesterday around 2:30pm). Sorry, but some of us have jobs and aren't home for about 8 - 9 hours of the day, and others of us also do this thing call "sleep".

Telling me to just call was not helpful at all. I have seen that response several times on this board. In fact someone was just raked over the coals for not coming back and thanking the people who had answered her questions. If you don't want to help people then just don't post but telling people to call or do a search is not helpful or very welcoming.

Maybe MSC is to elite for me, I should just stick with the down to earth Carnival people.

My wife and I are frequent cruisers, and we also prefer Carnival for some reason. We decided to give MSC Seaside a try. We were also matched to Silver status. We booked our cruise for 11/10/18 and got the 5% discount. We can also confirm that kids are currently free (except port fees and taxes) on the Seaside, but that could change. The port fees and taxes are also off. They're coming in at approximately $43 dollars. It should be around $100 more. Our MSC Personal Vacation Consultant (PVC) said they may or may not add these back in at a later time. Additional OBC varies depending on the sail date and the offer i.e. Countdown to MSC Seaside. As Silver you're supposed to get $50 OBC in addition to other offers. I recommend 2 PVCs. Ask for Kevin Triplett (our PVC) or Tim Brosnan (seemed a little more knowledgeable). Make sure you mention the 5% for silver status.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but as it seems you're in a hurry, you will get more accurate and timely information from calling customer service. If they tell you they will get it worked out, they will. I have had several problems "worked out" in the end by customer service. They may not be super friendly all the time, but they do get the job done.

Telling me to just call was not helpful at all. I have seen that response several times on this board. In fact someone was just raked over the coals for not coming back and thanking the people who had answered her questions. If you don't want to help people then just don't post but telling people to call or do a search is not helpful or very welcoming.

Maybe MSC is to elite for me, I should just stick with the down to earth Carnival people.

I can understand your questions because we had them, as well. With MSC not being familiar to the U.S., we were skeptical about booking our first cruise with them. We've been on several cruise lines and several different ships, and Carnival was our worse, so far. Maybe we need to choose the newer ships or something, because I could show you photos of our dirty cabin on Carnival Paradise that would make you think twice about ever stepping foot on that ship. Maybe we just had a stateroom attendant that didn't want to do his job.

We've learned not to past judgement on cruise lines until we've had experience with that particular cruise line. We went on Divina, we're booked on Seaside, and waiting to book on Meraviglia when it becomes available in Miami. If it wasn't for us trying MSC, my next several years of cruising wouldn't be with them. You can't pick your cruises with a closed mind.

I believe YOU were the one that said you would just search Google, because this board wasn't helpful enough for you. You didn't give us 24 hours before it seemed that you were putting MSC cruisers down for not answering your question fast enough.

There is not as many people over here, because a lot of people aren't even familiar with the cruise line yet. Better for us MSC cruisers. It keeps the prices low, while still giving us a fantastic cruise.

As far as asking you to call. I think it was more about not telling you to call, but asking why you hadn't called yet. You didn't indicate in your post that you had called and got no answers. I've dealt with MSC cruise representatives on the phone several times now for my bookings or to ask questions, and I've always had my questions answered. Seems to me that you might be looking for excuses to convince yourself, as to why it's better for you to choose Carnival. You appear to feel more confident with Carnival.

I asked some questions over on a Holland America forum, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to book my next cruise on MSC, or if I wanted to try Holland America, which is a cruise line we've never been on before. It was more about the itinerary with Holland America though. I got blasted about how Holland America was not for me, and I'd be better going with MSC. I actually believe that I was hoping that's what they would say over there, because I was looking for excuses not to go with Holland America to begin with. LOL

My wife and I are frequent cruisers, and we also prefer Carnival for some reason. We decided to give MSC Seaside a try. We were also matched to Silver status. We booked our cruise for 11/10/18 and got the 5% discount. We can also confirm that kids are currently free (except port fees and taxes) on the Seaside, but that could change. The port fees and taxes are also off. They're coming in at approximately $43 dollars. It should be around $100 more. Our MSC Personal Vacation Consultant (PVC) said they may or may not add these back in at a later time. Additional OBC varies depending on the sail date and the offer i.e. Countdown to MSC Seaside. As Silver you're supposed to get $50 OBC in addition to other offers. I recommend 2 PVCs. Ask for Kevin Triplett (our PVC) or Tim Brosnan (seemed a little more knowledgeable). Make sure you mention the 5% for silver status.

Thank you! I will just call when I actually am ready to book and hopefully get all my questions answered.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but as it seems you're in a hurry, you will get more accurate and timely information from calling customer service. If they tell you they will get it worked out, they will. I have had several problems "worked out" in the end by customer service. They may not be super friendly all the time, but they do get the job done.

You did help. I am not in a hurry as I am not ready to book until I have all the information I feel I need to make the leap.

My advice on booking with MSC is to use a travel agent. It seems that quite a few people have had issues with MSC. Some because of misinformation, others because MSC just does some things differently. When I had luggage tag issue (which ended up fixed with no real problem) My agent took care of it...by using an agent who is more experienced with MSC than you might be, they can solve the hiccups and foresee issues. If you are worried about your booking, you may want to do that.