The Batman

Thank you for your comments. I understood LadyLurkalots issue was she has not been told yet that her cruise has been cancelled and she is unable, as I was initially, to get anything in writing from either MSC or her Travel Agents. Travel Agents will only act upon instruction from the cruise company. As expected, MSC have managed this all wrong and are now struggling to cope with the problem they themselves have created. My comments to LadyLurkalot is to not try phoning anymore but use email which is future evidence of doing what she can to establish in the first instance if her cruise is actually going ahead. If not, seek her options, again in writing, so she can make an informed balanced decision. Not knowing is her concern if I have read her properly. Keep the correspondence calm and polite is paramount. Don’t let your frustration show. We all know MSC has done this for profit. Absolutely no doubt. That is good business sense. We would prolly do also if we were them. Sadly, it is the way they have done it and let fare paying passengers down that they should be extremely ashamed of. No integrity at all. I know some will choose an alternative cruise or cruise credit options. That is their prerogative, but me, I am taking the full refund (when it eventually arrives!) and have already booked an alternative with a cruise company who puts long term customer satisfaction before greed and a sporting event. Good luck Ladylurkalot, persistence pays.

please be aware of https://simpleflying.com/dubai-doha-world-cup-flights/ The Dubai-Doha Route Will Have Up To 48 Daily Flights During The World Cup Due to Doha hotel room availability, Dubai is going to be used significantly as a hub for additional hotel rooms and the airport and city are going to have football fans stopping over.

Dear LadyLurkalot (love the handle!) I am in the UK. I too had exactly the same responses from MSC and my TA. They are now suffering the consequences of their actions and unable to cope with the backlash. Only by sheer persistence with PlanetCruise, IGLU (PlanetCruise parent company) HQ Customer Services and MSC did I eventually get a written response. Telephone calls to MSC and PC don't work. Email and repeat emails, you have a permanent written record to take to ABTA and ATOL at a later date should you need to. I copied/pasted into this forum the key points as I knew MSC are been very liberal with telling everyone the truth they have put profit/greed before their paying customers. Try their email address customerservices@msccruises.co.uk and mscdirect@msccruises.co.uk. Put you email as "URGENT". I am reading the ships do not have the land based hotel restrictions on alcohol, so suspect the guests using the ships will be the ones who know they can drink to their hearts content. Also MSC wont restrict alcohol sales as this is all based on their profit. A powderkeg for drunken football fans from rival countries. The writing is on the wall!!! You can see the news reports already. The room costs are clearly shown on the internet so they are cashing in on the overnight stay, and revenue from alcohol will be a massive cash cow for them also. Hope to see you on any other reputable Cruise Companies ships who look after customers much better than MSC seem to have on this occasion. Good luck.

You don’t have to be Einstein to do the sums on this. If booking a cruise with MSC on any of these three ships would be about a minimum per week of 500 GBP x 2500 passengers, x three ships x six weeks. An eye watering 22.5 million GBP at LEAST. There are cabins more expensive so it is going to be much higher. Also remember, there is hardly any fuel been used as the ships are moored up for the six weeks. The engines will be simply ticking over to keep the lights on! You can imaging the senior board and accountants at MSC when the Qatar organisers of the World Cup opened their bottomless cheque book. Also remember, their as been a lot of negativity about this event regarding things as time of year the event is been staged, treatment of labour force, deaths of construction workers and abuse of the countries people, so they know they have to make this work. The eyes of the world are on this to succeed. Their answer is to throw money at it at the expense of the cruise passengers (that is all of US) that had paid to go on holiday. Shame on MSC, simply greed! it’s going to be very interesting to see how much cabins cost to book per night during the tournament. Then you will get a good idea of how many zeros where on the cheque!

After sheer determination and numerous email I have now got something from my Travel Agent. Having vowed we will NEVER book another MSC cruise, we have chosen option ONE. We hope this helps others and good luck with your choice. Option 1: Therefore, should you wish to cancel the reservation, you will receive a full refund of the expenditure to date with MSC Cruises, whether it be a deposit, full fare, or pre-paid packages. Additionally, on this occasion we will offer for the first two full paying guests in each cabin a cash compensation of £85 or $/€ 100 for the first two full paying guests in each cabin, to acknowledge the disappointment and inconvenience caused. Option 2: However, should you prefer not to cancel, we would like to offer you the possibility to book any other cruise currently available for sale, granting you the most convenient price between the original and new product, provided that the same accommodation category is reserved. Therefore, if the cost of the sailing of your choice is more expensive than your cruise originally booked, there will be no extra charge required on your cruise fare. While if the cost works out to be less expensive, your guest will receive a refund of the difference. Please note that if you choose the alternative of a new cruise, you will also receive as an additional benefit a refundable on-board credit equal to £170 or $/€200 for the first two full paying guests in each cabin, dependent on the area sailing for your new reservation. Option 3: As an alternative, you can request a Future Cruise Credit Voucher, equal to the value of the amount collected by MSC Cruises, which can be applied to any cruise fare published on our communication channels and can be redeemed on all departures/canvas open for sale. The additional benefits of double refundable on-board credit will be applied to the new reservation: the first equal to £170 or $/€200 on board credit per cabin (£85 or $/€100 onboard credit for single occupancy) to your future cruise, which cannot be combined with any previous voucher-related onboard credit already added to the original reservation. And the second on-board credit equal to £170 or $/€200 (£85 or $/€100 onboard credit for single occupancy). In addition to the Future Cruise Credit, they will also receive a full refund of any pre-paid package purchased with credit card on MYMSC AREA. The refund will be processed as soon as possible.

Our Travel Agent is allegedly still unaware of any cancellation to the cruises in the period of October and November 2022. 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! We shall await formal notification from MSC and PlanetCruise before making any rash decisions. Thankfully we booked on our credit card and can raise this with them if MSC play the “six month refund card”. Be assured this does not make me to be an advocate of MSC. Greedy bar stewards! 🤬

We too were booked on the MSC Opera sailing out of Dubai on 4th December., in less than 12 weeks time. When I called MSC on Friday to discuss something totally unrelated, they informed me I would be receiving a letter from MSC cancellations team with alternatives. When I asked, “are you telling me this cruise is cancelled”, they replied, “you’ll be receiving a letter from our….” Broken record technique!!!!! ABSOLUTLEY disgusted if this is because of football. How selfish and greedy of MSC if this is the case. This was the first cruise with MSC I had ever booked and if they are cancelling, it will be our LAST. Do I really want to take a cruise credit or alternative with a company that does this, DEFINITELY NOT! As anyone paid their full amount and got a full refund? A few have mentioned deposits, but we booked at Easter and only paid our final payment on 3rd September. I can’t wait months for the full refund as am limited on days holidays I have this year and need to book something else before it’s too late. My holidays at work are “use them or loose them”! Surely this is not something new to MSC? They must have know well before now?…..