hollyalyn

On 1/2/2023 at 1:20 PM, CTGirl74 said:

 

Yes. I haven't been cruising lately, so I can't comment on the staffing problems of ships; however, staffing problems are everywhere on land still, which logically would spill over to the cruise lines. 

 

This line right here is why I don't really give much credence to the review:  "Heard on last day they were short 500 crew members - unacceptable!"

 

Anyone who has simply existed in the world since the pandemic started knows there have been many staffing issues, supply chain dispuptions, etc. I'm not sure how much a cruiseline can do on short notice when they have an at-capacity holiday sailing and come up short on the crew.

They could have offered some kind of perk for the inconveniences or even an apology 500 crew members short had a significant impact . I probably should have detailed better my negative experiences reading back it's seemed petty but trust me I am not a petty person 

When we arrived to embark at 11 am (aurea thank God) people were still disembarking so you could only image the parking lot of cars lined up picking up as well as dropping off 

We stood in line for well over an hour  asking numerous times about aurea priority boarding finally an older staff member heard me being told no, that infact we did have priority and being escorted to the correct line 

YC members were ignored 

It was a cattle herd 

Possibly reading some of the other experiences as well you can now take more credence in my review/opinion 

6 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

It's like telling the airlines not to fill to capacity, or a hotel.  After 2+ years of hemorrhaging money they are going to capitalize on revenue when they can get it.  Are they going to lose some customers over it?  Yes, but overall they are trying to recoup the losses.

I respect that, but if you don't have the staffing then you shouldn't fill all cabins 

If an airline doesn't have enough staff for the flight they cancel it 

On 1/2/2023 at 1:20 PM, CTGirl74 said:

 

Yes. I haven't been cruising lately, so I can't comment on the staffing problems of ships; however, staffing problems are everywhere on land still, which logically would spill over to the cruise lines. 

 

This line right here is why I don't really give much credence to the review:  "Heard on last day they were short 500 crew members - unacceptable!"

 

Anyone who has simply existed in the world since the pandemic started knows there have been many staffing issues, supply chain dispuptions, etc. I'm not sure how much a cruiseline can do on short notice when they have an at-capacity holiday sailing and come up short on the crew.

Then they should not fill to capacity . Nor charge the higher holiday rates if they cannot provide the services they advertise 

2 hours ago, Ashley020781 said:

We were on the same cruise. It was myself and husband, and our three kids, my mother and my inlaws. For all but my inlaws, this was our first cruise ever, and most likely the last.

I didnt really have a lot of expectations going in, other than having fun and lots to do for the kids. Boy, was I wrong.

I knew it would be busy and crowded, being the holidays, and I always expect some things to go awry, but not EVERYTHING. No matter what we tried or where we went, there were problems and no one wanting to help solve them. Problems registering cards, out of numerous things, stores closed at what you would think to be peak times-the middle of a day at sea when its raining. Thats when you open stores. Cutting off cards, hardly any drinks available at the buffet, so youre forced to buy them. Arcade games broken, rides broken, stand in line for an hour for a wristband for the waterslide and they close it. Keep the pool open in rough seas, close them in calm seas. Coffee but no cups, cups but no ice, never any juice.

The food at the buffet and Waves was equally bad. The bacon had no flavor, which Ive never encountered. My husband stuck to salad and bread because the food didnt agree with him. That was until he found a roach in his salad.

 

NEVER AGAIN.

Sorry you had the same experience we had 

30 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Let me also address the comment that they were down 500 crew members. As I mentioned, I am on Viruosa right now and I ran this post by one of the MSC supervisors.
 

He said he does not believe that, and if so, they could not function if they were down 500 crew members. I asked him what his staffing was right now on the ship and he said it is 100% and they have approximately 1600 crew members.
 

He told me that MSC brought on additional crew members for the holidays, and that most or all ships should be above normal staffing levels because they knew how busy they would be.
 

He said that after the holidays, once some of the staff members’ contracts run out, they will resume their “normal”, slightly lower staffing levels. But he said that there’s no way they could function if they were down 1/3 of their crew, and in short, that he did not believe that for a moment.

 

Let me also say that there are multiple ice machines in the Buffet, so in the event that one was down, there are probably at least 4 to 6 machines that would still be working, and I’m quite confident that they have the maintenance personnel on hand to repair the one ice machine that happened to be down.  Remember that this is the world’s first or second largest shipping company, so to think that they cannot repair one of their ice machines, or find a replacement for it, is pretty much ludicrous.  If I discovered that one of the race machines was down, I would simply find one that was working, lol.

If it was as simple as one ice machine not working.... It was one then another 

And when you found one that worked all the juices attached were empty 

Hi all, I appreciate all the comments, inputs.. 

I want to clarify, and agree that I planned this during the busiest time of year, with that being said, we spent the three days prior at universal, it was packed, ride wait times in the hours , but I expected it, and handled the masses very well, set my expectations accordingly

So I expected the same from the cruise I knew it would be at capacity I am a very understanding person, but I also expect a level of service that I paid a lot of money to receive, which is simply kindness, professionalism, knowledge of your job, and proper guest services. 

I knew and read that MSC experience is not the same as RC, or NCL I didn't it expect it to be, this was way more than differences it was a floating disaster 

Spent our honeymoon on meraviglia for a Christmas cruise 

I've cruised RC and Carnival thought we would try MSC - Big mistake 

ship was pretty - balcony cabin very nice -  that's about it....

buffet was bland 

Specialty dining - not worth the cost 

EIther a surcharge or limited choices on menu 

service was inadequate - seemed wherever we were on the ship, bars or restaurants "didn't have" many items on their menu 

Hola - no guacamole

gelato and crepes - no crepes 

Irish pub - several beers unavailable

buffet- ice machine not working 

always out of juice 

guest relations were rude - had a strange $300 charge on our account - they told me to come back tomorrow - and was annoyed w me for even asking 

on and on and on.... 

Heard on last day they were short 500 crew members - unacceptable!

won't cruise MSC again ! 

59 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Lol

 

I finally got my refund for a 2020 issue last month. Took a high volume TA to step in as I booked direct back then.

Ooof that's way to long to wait, I called and had them transfer it to OBC guess at least I won't be fighting for all of it back 

8 hours ago, navychop said:

I booked an Inside Yacht Club sailing Dec 11 on MSC Meraviglia. The lowest bid option costs MORE than simply booking a balcony Deluxe suite in the first place. MSC will also NOT let me simply pay the existing deal price for changing to the Deluxe suite. Unbelievable. 18 available, they don't want my money. 

  Like being on eBay and lowest bid for an item is $100 but can buy now for $80. Not a smart algorithm. 

I was able to make the 1 cruise change in which I saved 1,232.00 MSC won't refund me until after the Cruise, the stranger things was they also wouldn't let me use it to purchase on board extras 

I hope I have no issues getting it refunded when the time comes 

8 hours ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

You might not hear if your bid was accepted until a day or two before.  HOwever, as you said they often show bids for cabin categories that are fully sold out. Basically the (outside) company that runs this program is looking to gather data as to how much folks are willing to pay.   

Thank you for the information it's definitely helpful getting feedback from people who knows the process better than I 

Guess I'll I wait and see how it plays out 

Hi Everyone, 

I am new to this board.

We will be sailing the Meraviglia (first time with MSC) on the 23rd of December, staying in a fantastica balcony cabin, I have bid and then cancelled, but decided what the heck and bid again. 

as of today (12/07) I have not received any notifications that my bid/s was accepted, my credit card is also now showing any new charges. 

Just wondering if anyone has any experiences with the upgrade progam and if luck of the bid can come even closure to the cruise date, as cabins don't get booked. 

I also bid on cabins that are currently not showing available. Maybe because the initial email we received back when we first booked (OCT) they were still avail cabins. 

Hope this is making sense. 

Thanks !