perakcruiser

6 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Am I missing something, or for many, is MSC Voyager's Club status nearly worthless?

Depends on "compared to what".

5% are 5%. A free photo is nice as the photos are very expensive (on all lines). Not needing to line up for a tender ticket is in my opinion the biggest perk, priority embarkation and disembarkation also nice. And then the free speciality restaurant visit, at least for Black/Diamond this is not bad at all.

Certainly there are two worlds, the world before the status match when almost nobody had Black and even Gold was something rare to see. Nowadays I guess on US cruises people without Black or Gold are already a minority 😄

Next thing, MSC is a European cruise line, yes, they want to rock the US market also, something nobody else is trying. But compared to their European rivals the Voyagers Club actually have the BEST perks.

Their biggest rival TUI Cruises is offering NOTHING at all, they not even recognize if you made many cruises with them before. 

AIDA and Costa do have a program but reaching the higher levels is almost impossible for people who do not cruise with them all the times. Actually at AIDA it is not even possible to reach level 2 of 5. And level 1 gives you exactly nothing and level 2 onboard credit of 15 Euro. 

18 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Please compare the above salaries with your country's salaries for the same positions.

Certainly the salaries on a cruise ship are much higher compared to my country. Maybe around fife times higher for waiters, cooks, room stewards. And even more when we talk about the Indos and Pinoys. That is why these jobs are so popular. On top, someone that works at a Dominos in Jakarta or Manila never in his life has seen a tip. 

7 hours ago, iwtobek said:

That's theoretically how tipping is supposed to work when you let MSC handle it. You should be able to go to Concierge Area and ask them to raise the gratuities for you.

That actually really happens. 

18 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Those that remove the gratuity, for whatever lame reason, then the cruise line has to make up the difference.

Almost nobody can remove the gratuity any more, MSC collects it already with the cruise price and the option to let it add day by day to the cruise bill is gone. As I prefer "final price" and no late additions I am happy about this. 

4 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

This bears repeating. The world is divided into two types; the givers and the takers. We all start out as takers and many of us eventually evolve into givers. "With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone." Oscar Wilde

I would say the world is divided into the societies that see tipping as antisocial behaviour. And others that see not-tipping as antisocial behaviour. For me tipping is antisocial and should not exist in a modern civilized society, but that is just my point of view, I have no interest that my opinon becomes an eternal law.

Things get strange when people think they have the absolute truth on their side. And everybody should behave like Americans. For some stange reasons "normal workers" usually have a much better income in non-tipping societies. 

Certainly you can do whatever you want, it is not about MSC forbids tipping, they just "do not recommend". It is not about guests are not allowed to tip, it is about if workers are allowed to take the tips. Maybe MSC already has given up their non-tipping policy in the US cruise market. So do with your money whatever you want, but by no means tipping makes you a "giver" and others a "taker". 

2 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Why are you looking to test in Hamburg?

Because the Virtuosa starts there on Nov 8. We will go there on Nov 6 already.

2 hours ago, les37b said:

I almost booked tests for my 8 Nov sailing and rang MSC yesterday with the cruise details to be 100% sure a home test was ok....

I am on the same cruise and refuse to think about the test before 1 Nov. I was told that there are unlimited test options in Hamburg where you get a certificate after 15 minutes. It is either free, costs 3 Euro or maximum 15 Euro.

2 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

That isn't the fault of MSC. With your own travel and hotel arrangement it is really your problem. 

It is as simple as this. If someone books the cheapest option for flights, hotels and even parking long in advance without any options for changing, then he has to take the risks.

And the Virtuosa is a wonderful ship I am delighted to touch a second time this year in a few weeks.

5 hours ago, margsipie said:

It’s our first time on MSC, so just trying to get a handle on things!

As you have probably read many times: "MSC does not recommend tipping individual members of staff". 

But as you are still asking, if you want to tip someone above the Service Charge, you can do so. Just do it as discreet as possible. Don´t cause troubles for someone by tipping him in front of other staff. Or in the worst case in front of his superiors. 

Another option is to raise the Service Charge at the Guest Relations Manager if you want to give more than the norm of 14 USD per person per night. 

Check if YC can still be selected on your date. If not, then maybe it is the reason for no bidding possible. It was in this way the last time for me. 

But no need to be disappointed, if no YC cabins left then also the bidding would have failed. 

4 hours ago, Canadian_J said:

The MSC site (https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/experiences-staterooms) seems a bit misleading as under the Auera Experience section is says "Available with Suites", which leads me to believe that perhaps these perks aren't offered with a balcony? 

Depending on their mood they sometimes call all there Aurea Balcony cabins "Suites", sometimes and earlier "Junior Suites". But even then "Available with Suites" is wrong as Aurea cabins are also available as Oceanview on newer ships. Or it is a Oceanview Suite😄 

Relevant for the Experience perks is always and only the booked Experience, never the cabin type. 

I was on a Caribbean cruise on the Armonia and teenagers were sent away from the Aurea restaurant because of wearing short trousers. But this was a cruise from Havana where US guests did or could not show up, all Europeans, Asians and Latin Americans. Probably they adopt the dress code enforcement for different markets. 

10 hours ago, les37b said:

I assume MSC think it's guests are a bit dumb regarding the "offer" and it represents a discount?

First, MSC has not too much to do with this. The offer is from the "upgrade company" that also is working for many airlines. For the flight upgrade from economy to business I never ever got a good offer from them, already the minumum bid was not worth it.

For MSC cruises I sometimes get not so bad offers, actually quite amazing ones. From Inside Bella to YC Inside for 330€ p.P. Or from Oceanview Bella to Balcony Deluxe for 60€ p.P. Certainly no guarantee that the minimum bid will work.

Sure most of the offers are useless, but that is the game. If you have Fantastica Balcony already then certainly the chances to get a good upgrade deal are very limited. And MSC prices change so often, don´t expect the upgrade company to react on this all the time. 

41 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

How can you justify if the price is high or low if the OP didn’t specify the type of COVID-19 test ?

I had so many Covid tests around the world in the last two years. All kind of and certainly at the beginning of the pandemic they were much more expensive then now. Yes, I was scammed a couple of times as a foreigner, but never ever close to 195 USD. 

43 minutes ago, SirWolf said:

SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Test (diagnostic)

STAT 30 minutes turnaround

Even for this, which is certainly not necessary for a cruise, 195 USD would be a scam. Just a smaller scam, not the biggest in the world. 

As many other European cruise companies lifted the testing requirements in the last two weeks MSC certainly had to follow. Good that they reacted fast.

$195 seems to be the biggest COVID scam worldwide since beginning of the pandemic. And there have been oh so many scams. 

1 hour ago, Nikita4 said:

And the headquarter of MSC Cruises is located in Geneva, they speak french in this part of Switzerland :-).

As discussed many times here, the Switzerland HQ of MSC is not dealing any daily business of MSC Cruises. All is done in Napoli, Italy. 

On 9/19/2022 at 2:43 PM, perakcruiser said:

 Sure, Qatar took already two MSC ships. But only last week they found out that they still lack of accomodation and announced that no tourists without World Cup tickets can enter in November and December. Grabbing a third MSC ship is probably the easiest solution. But thats still just a guess. 

This guess was kind of educated guess, Poesia cannot cruise around in November and December, she also has to work at the World Cup 😄 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/28291-doha-set-for-three-msc-ships-and-other-cruise-ships-for-world-cup.html

3 minutes ago, 2travelers2go said:

So are you saying that if you book directly with the company itself, MSC, you will undoubtedly be treated worse than if you were to go through a second party like a TA? 

Not true. If the TA is not really qualified to deal with MSC better book by yourself and don´t give away the booking to a second (third) party. If the TA is somebody that speaks the language MSC fluently, let him speak on your behalf. 

2 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I am a very vocal in telling everyone how lousy they treat the customers. I keep booking as yacht club is great but only with a TA.

With a TA that is well connected. MSC ranks TA in five categories. My TA has the highest rank "Commander" and does not lie when he says that they have a "good connection" to MSC. Can even change a "Bella" booking without letting MSC messing up things 😄

On 9/14/2022 at 6:21 PM, Crystaldawn said:

I see that MSC has also scrapped the early dec 2022 sailing on MSC Opera. Does anyone know why these sailings are being scrapped? And if more will be scrapped?

Most probably this has to do with the World Cup. Maybe Qatar wants to have a third hotel ship in addition to Poesia and Europa. With the end of december cruises you should be save. The Europa leaves Doha on Dec 20, the the Opera is bookable already from Dec 18 for a cruise without Doha. 

1 hour ago, The Batman said:

I still don’t believe MSC were not prepared or in discussions at such a late date with the Qatar organisers wishing to charter the ship as a hotel during the World Cup well before now.  It’s only been eight years in the planning!

Sure, Qatar took already two MSC ships. But only last week they found out that they still lack of accomodation and announced that no tourists without World Cup tickets can enter in November and December. Grabbing a third MSC ship is probably the easiest solution. But thats still just a guess. 

4 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Are we still to expect changes?

Looks like all is done now. 

7 hours ago, moe46 said:

I just booked my first cruise on MSC and I am confused regarding dining. My reservation is for early seating. I was told when booking 5:30-7:30. Does that mean I dine anytime between that time or I need to be seated at 5:30?

You need to be seated at 5:30, actually 5:45 with the 15 minutes grace period. 

1 hour ago, 77red96 said:

I believe it is only Grandiosa=>Virtuosa

No, the Preziosa is also involved in the big switch.

On 8/31/2022 at 8:25 PM, Raj.K said:

Does anyone have recommendations on the must do for these ports? Are there opportunities to book excursions outside of MSC? Are there things we can do on our own (using taxis or public transport)?

At the city stops you certainly can use public transport or just walk around. 

16 hours ago, midwife said:

Does anyone know what is the equivalent category please? 

The ships are so totally different, even if there is an "offical" equivalent category in reality the cabins are just not comparable. Overall being changed from Opera to Bellissima suite sounds not like a bad deal.

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

But it is MSC.

You are right. With the other things also. When it comes to places out of their home market (the Med), then things are totally different, I would not expect they let you off somewhere in the Caribbean or the Middle East. 

22 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Post Covid I have been denied multiple times by MSC and NCL.

You should write where MSC denied you. I don´t believe that MSC would ever deny to get off in one of their schengen ports in the Med that anyway have lots of pax embarking and disembarking. Not to talk about the above case leaving the cruise in Bari instead of Venice one day later.