jes1941

On 12/13/2021 at 10:36 PM, Reenie75 said:

If the cruise cancels or restrictions say Canadians (I'm Canadian☺) refund or credit for another cruise most likely would happen. We are sailing March 5th.

On 12/30/2021 at 4:59 AM, Couple-Somerset said:

We're on Jan 16th. The ports would have been nice but for us it's not the end of the World.

 

Still amazed that ANY cruise line accepts the unvaxed.

 

Its one thing having the virus onboard - which we MUST start to accept as being common just like flu or norovirus and cope with it as a mild irritation thanks to our jabs.

 

BUT it's totally different if the (older) unvaxed get it and overwhelm the ships medical facility.

 

On a positive note, YC Concierge just emailed to confirm Muse Restaurant opens at 6pm so we should still get to the only theatre show daily at 7.45pm - see, not all is bad.

 

IF MSC decide to put a pause in operations for 2 weeks, hopefully we can jump aboard another cruise line (we shall just wait and see).

 

 

 

We moved our 11 night cruise on 1/16 to later in the year - same itinerary - since the itinerary changed drastically; we have no interest in sailing to Honduras or Mexico.

On 12/13/2021 at 10:36 PM, Reenie75 said:

If the cruise cancels or restrictions say Canadians (I'm Canadian☺) refund or credit for another cruise most likely would happen. We are sailing March 5th.

I WISH MSC would cancel the 1/16 cruise so we could get a refund; the itinerary was changed drastically to ports we have no interest in visiting.

On 12/13/2021 at 9:19 PM, kj_connections said:

Is anyone worried about Omicron and canceling an upcoming cruise?  My sailing is March 20th and my final payment is in a few days and I do not know what to do.  Will cruise lines cancel cruises?  Will countries ban international travel?

On 12/13/2021 at 10:36 PM, Reenie75 said:

If the cruise cancels or restrictions say Canadians (I'm Canadian☺) refund or credit for another cruise most likely would happen. We are sailing March 5th.

I cancelled our 1/16 cruise and rebooted for later in the year; itinerary was changed and the ports have all been cancelled with two, Honduras and Mexico.  Not paying that much money for this cruise.

Just now, jes1941 said:

 

You only have to take ship excursions if not vaccinated; otherwise independent tours are allowed.

On 12/18/2021 at 6:47 PM, barb in ga said:

Following--We sail January 15 on Seashore, and it's our first time on MSC, we usually sail RCI. We're D+, but  the number of points needed to advance to Pinnacle(480) made us decide to try something new. We put in for a status match in October, but haven't heard anything back.

 

We're booked in a whirlpool suite with Aurea experience, so it should be fun. The easy drinks pkg came with our booking, but I think I'll upgrade to easy plus for a little better offering.

 

Do you have to take ship excursions or can we go off the ship on our own?

Thanks,

Barb

1 hour ago, harv2015 said:

I would like to move to Seaside but it's working out more expensive than Armonia. It's disappointing not to be sailing to Cuba and I'm definitely not paying more to sail on Seaside for similar itinerary on Armonia. Glad it worked out for you to change ships.

We really enjoyed our Seaside sailing 5/11. Puerto Rico was amazing and we enjoyed the evening walking tour with the beautiful sunset; we have been to the other ports more than once so at times it was "a hotel at sea!"  We sailed to Havana twice last year and would have gone again..it is so unfortunate for those of you who had planned this trip for that opportunity 😕

7 hours ago, Wyoming2010 said:

 

Whether you feel they owe us compensation or not, we've been on three cruises during three hurricanes and each cruise line offered compensation with discounts, onboard credits and future cruise discounts.  It's just plain good customer service.  NCL refused last year to do anything for any of us onboard and as a result, we will never sail with them again.  It's just a personal choice by how one is treated.  We work hard to get the time off and pay for the cruise, so every bit of good intentions by the cruise lines keeps us interested in their brand.  

Your problem is easily solved; don't sail during hurricane season!

8 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Totally agree, many US consumers are solely price driven and would never even consider a BBB rating. However; the current stance by MSC regarding imposing cancellation fees for Havanna supports the BBB "F" rating (since this rating is more about a companies integrity and willingness to resolve conflict). I think we all can agree that MSC often has an "our way or the highway" philosophy. As mentioned, I thought the failure rating was perhaps because MSC is an Italian line, but Costa has managed to pull out an A rating from the BBB.

 

I hypothesize, that in order to fill 4 ships from Miami this Winter, MSC will need to price themselves at the bottom of the barrel. Time will tell. 

Regarding your mention of the F rating from the BBB...this is nothing.  Do you realize how many millions sail on MSC and 77 complaints is hardly worth mentioning;  there were 7,000 passengers on just our 5/11 sailing.  the only reason that they have this rating is because they didn't deal with the complaints, that's it, and most huge companies won't bother because it won't hurt their business. Having worked for the BBB in Orlando,  I know exactly how this works, so if this alone is going to stop you from sailing with them, except for this Cuba thing, they are great.

Complaints..how about Royal Caribbean with 564 in the last three years and 264 in the last twelve months.  The reason they have such a good rating is because they DO deal with the complaints.  Look up all the cruise lines, none are complaint free!

51 minutes ago, harv2015 said:

 

Unfortunately anyone who booked through a UK travel agent will lose deposit if they decide to not sail with MSC.

There's a section on CruiseCritic that will let you know if the price of any cruise increases or decreases. 

idlewis45..so sorry I misinterpreted your review. I asked our son-in-law who is Chief Meteorologist for RCL why the different arrival times in port and he said often times depends upon how many other ships are due to be in a port on any given day.  I liked the later time because some docked in early morning and departed early afternoon..Me, an early person..lolol..not!  Whomever is responsible for the quicker disembarking,  hallelujah!!  Are the other cruiselines now doing it as well, because our last Carnival cruise a few months ago was not a good experience.  We really like MSC but after many, many cruises, NCL remains our favorite!  Happy sailing and I apologize again.

theEvilQueen2...Regarding your statement of the "F" rating for MSC cruises, I have worked for the BBB in Maitland,  FL and I think I am pretty aware of the ins and outs of the Bureau.  With 75 complaints and the millions of people sailing on MSC, this is nothing, and the number of people who complain just to complain is ridiculous; I had over 200 complaint files that I investigated and many times, the complaints added a little humor to my day!  If you will check further, you will see that MSC did respond to the complaints and offered a resolution but whether it was acceptable or not, that information cannot be released..I would like to think MSC made good!

theEvilQueen2, I think that is a very unfair statement about only being treated well if you're in YC..I beg to differ; we don't always do YC, depending on how many cruises we are planning.  As a matter of fact, sometimes we like to gamble and last cruise on Seaside 5/11, we did "balcony guarantee" and it could not have been any better and, granted, there are many YC perks, but we basically were treated no differently, and the price was unbelievable.  Doesn't seem fair that you are telling fellow cruisers to book only YC because not everyone can, or even wants to, spend that much!  We've decided we're not even sure we want to.  This is just my opinion!

deepblucru01, my sincere condolences to you and your family; I cannot even imagine the pain.  I am so glad you decided to continue with your plans because I think you knew in your heart, she would have wanted you to, and she was with you in spirit. Cherish the memories ~

idlewis45, I don't think you can compare MSC to Carnival in any way, shape or form.  Everyone knows Carnival as a party ship, i.e. hairy chest contest, best legs, stuffing ping pong balls in a female's bikini top, etc.  Too many kids most of the time but if we take kids, that's ok.  We are still in shock at how inexpensive the price of this cruise was! Disembark..off the Seaside 5/18 and back to our hotel room in one hour..Carnival, 3 long hours, and embarkation was not much different with the long lines. Disembarking at 5:00 pm was fine with us, and you knew that when booking.  The evening tour was good and not so hot and the sunset, amazing! Forts?  If you've seen one, you've seen them all. Of course, this is just my opinion.  Good luck in your future sailings.

I agree jcathers1..Wow, theEvilQueen2 (why that name?! not very complimentary); we have never had a problem on any MSC cruise except on believing what a bargain sailing on MSC is; it was less expensive than any other cruiseline - and we've sailed on many - for the itinerary we were looking for.  Our last, we left the Seaside Saturday 5/18 and I'm still in mourning.  No one could have been nicer; do wish more spoke conversational English but that was a nit because there were 179 dialects on this cruise, and that's one of the draws. You speak of poor reviews..those, I may have seen a few, but not nearly enough to sway our view of MSC.  I feel the same way as another post..I hope this doesn't turn anyone off to experiencing MSC and forming his/her own opinion.  We have never had to visit Guest Services for any reason. Of course I'm sorry you had this unpleasant experience but we will never abandon MSC and the dedicated and amazing staff/employees...even though we cruise free on RCL..their itineraries are not as favorable as other lines, especially MSC and more often, we feel shortchanged with their time in ports, or having to wake up at the crack of dawn to disembark the ship in the different ports.  Wishing you sincere good luck in the future with whatever line you choose!

We loved Havana; we've been there twice and would like to go again.  The Hop On Hop Off bus was great and a bargain at $10.00!

If you don't have a drink package, and you do this, you pay for your drinks; drinks on the other buffet are free.

If you google the Cuba travel, you will see nothing has changed; one thing that has changed is that you can't stay in hotels that have anything to do with the military..friends went for 2 weeks, stayed in an Airbnb for two weeks and had a great time, but this has been the rule for a long time now.  Google for all the details.

Thank you, so much; one of the posts confused me..but that's not difficult! haha

Free wine by the glass without any drink package; I wish..is this true;

Are there not free self-serve beverages on the buffet?

Nothing has changed; you just can't stay in hotels that have anything to do with the military.. same goes for businesses.  This has been the rule for a long time now.  Google for all the details.

I take an over-the-door hangar with 6 hooks and it works great!

We loved Havana and wanted to go back :-(

So sorry, I just asked about the beer prices..I should have swiped over to the other half of the page, so I did see them..thanks again for the drink menus!