Stockjock

I understood that, as mentioned. The main point of the prior post was to let you, or anyone interested, know that they can receive a written inventory of included amenities upon request. Having a written record of promised amenities can eliminate disappointment or disputes once onboard. When we're on vacation, disputes and hassles are often the last thing we want to have to deal with.

I understand that you didn't care in your particular case, but just to clarify in terms of expected amenities, they can send you a separate written record by e-mail of any included amenities that are attached to one's booking. I always request that and save it by flagging it in my e-mail. If I don't receive something that has been promised, I'm able to retrieve the e-mail and show it to them once onboard.

I don't doubt that it would have, and certainly I always double-check my amenities before boarding. That said, I did cancel this sailing and decided to book with a travel agent due to pricing and OBC. I believe I cannot mention any specifics, so I won't.

Not sure if it matters, but the cruise is pretty close in. But from now on, I will call in and ask what they can do.

No idea why or how, but it didn't take much coaxing.

I was thinking about whether or not to book and I asked if I called back and spoke to someone else, would that person also be able to offer the amenity. He said, "Some might be able to do that, others won't". Figured I wouldn't chance it and booked through him. I did specifically "ask for the order", as they say in my business. Some/many probably don't ask. It's worth a shot, and might even be worth a call later if the agent on the phone says "no". Might have gotten lucky on my first try. He also offered a bottle or red wine (Estancia Cabernet, I think) or white (Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc), but I went w/the "Champagne" and strawberries (Chateau Ste. Michelle Brut).

Booked a very short 3 night cruise today. Just something to do coming up soon. I was going to book online, but called RCL and asked if he could do any better than what I was seeing online. He said, "I can't do any better price-wise, but I can give you an amenity". I asked what sort of amenity and he said, "I can add a bottle of Champagne and an order of chocolate dipped strawberries". I accepted that. Just as an FYI, it might be worth calling them for those who do book direct. It's not worth a lot, but it's something.

I was surprised that they were available 4 months out. i think making final payment (early) triggered this, as I didn't seem them before doing that.

To my knowledge, you don't have to buy insurance through MSC as long as it meets their stated requirements.

Is there a link to bid on an upgrade?

Did final payment about 120 days out. E-Tickets were available, despite the captioned warning that e-tickets would only be available "within 20 days of" cruise departure. No biggie, but if you want to see your e-tickets, they may be available well in advance of your sailing.

At the time of booking, I was offered Trio at a supposedly discounted price for Trio of $99 USD per person, which I accepted. I believe this was said to be a 10% discount and offered me 3 specialty restaurants with only 1 of the 3 visits possible at the steak house. Later, I clicked on "plan my cruise" and "specialty dining" to see that I was offered the Three Specialty Dining Experiences, also at 10% off, but $71 USD rather than $99 USD. If they are the same, obviously $71 is cheaper than $99. But I'm wondering if there are differences that I'm not aware of. Anyone know? Here are the descriptions. Three Specialty Dining Experiences Book now three exclusive distinct exclusive meals at the delightful Speciality Restaurants of your choice and save up to 10% vs onboard price! Three deliciously different flavour profiles at a Speciality Restaurants of your choice Valid in all Speciality Restaurants at lunch and/or dinner Carousel Productions at Sea show and cocktail for only 5 Euro once on board A 50% discount is applied to packages for children up to 12 years old No payment for kids under 6 years Gratuity and speciality service charge is already included in the pre-sale price. Trio - Three Distinct Experiences Reserve at a very special price three dining experiences in three Thematic Restaurants on board and savor a memorable gastronomic experience while you cruise. A dining experience (lunch or dinner) menu will be offered to guests who purchase the package. The menu delivers the concepts experience. The packages includes food only. Day of booking to be confirmed on board. Specialty restaurants vary by ship and must be part of each ship's Trilogy Package selection.

As mentioned, we'll be in Southampton from 9 am to 9 pm on an MSC cruise stop. They have a fair number of excursions and most/all are apparently bus excursions, so we're talking about roughly 5 hours by bus roundtrip, which doesn't seem too exciting. The MSC excursion I'd consider is about 10 hours in length and stops at the Tower of London and Covent Garden. The price is about $132 USD per person. It seems like the train gets us to London faster and probably cheaper, although neither of us is familiar w/London, so certainly we would need some sort of tour once we get there. I'm open to your suggestions and recommendations. Thank you in advance!

There seems to be a good chance of operating with Constellation and Infinity, which could be transferred over from Celebrity. Horizon was getting a bit shabby. These ships should be in better shape. I suppose only time will tell.

My girlfriend and I have cruised on MSC once in late 2016. We did an 11 night out of Rome on Divina and had a great time. The ship was beautiful, while the itinerary changed, it was still very good. Only slight gripe was that the (mostly) Eastern European crew was somewhat unfriendly and seemed like they hated their jobs, their lives and their passengers. But otherwise, it was a generally positive experience. On that cruise, we visited Cinque Terre, which I really enjoyed. So I found a 4 night cruise out of Barcelona that stopped in Cinque Terre and booked that for early 2018. We figured we'd fly to Barcelona, spend some time there, and then do the short 4-night before returning home. Only MSC changed it from a 4-night out of Barcelona to a 20-night on a totally different date out of Brazil, which didn't work for us on multiple counts. Surprisingly and perhaps shockingly, MSC never informed me about the change in any way. I had to see it for myself while looking at the confirmation prior to final payment. Just glad I hadn't booked flights yet. So it had to be cancelled due to MSC's drastic schedule change. Meanwhile, to replace the cancelled Barcelona cruise, I booked another Barcelona cruise for 2019 on Bellissima. The cabin I booked, 14172, was listed as an inside but showed to be a balcony (see attached). Tried to get clarification from MSC, but they had no idea. Their website's deck plan showed my room to be a balcony, so I booked it, assuming that was the case. Perhaps it was one of those partially obstructed balconies, who knows? Next, I did a Voyager's Club status match and was concerned that I'd lose what little status I had. Normally, you have to cruise MSC within 3 years to maintain points and status, but since they cancelled 2018 Barcelona, that put me beyond 3 years. Called MSC to discuss the concerns. The MSC guy said, "Don't worry, they won't cancel your status and points. There's no way. I've been here 5 years (or whatever it was) and there's no way they'll do that. We cancelled your cruise and besides you have new bookings pending, so nothing will get cancelled". They then cancelled my status and took my points to zero. I then found out that the cabin on Bellissima shown as a balcony on the deck plan, was actually an inside cabin. I've tried to get some form of upgrade from MSC, and they said they'll try in "late January", only weeks from final payment is due. I also asked if they could throw in some OBC for the cancelled cruise and other issues. They didn't reply. Booked a subsequent cruise out of Miami in late 2019 under their "Drinks on Us" promotion. The website showed that my cruise on Seaside was eligible, so I booked it. However, it came up as "mealtime drinks" only. Called MSC and asked what the deal was. They said it was included in the "Drinks on Us" promotion, but they only offered "Mealtime Drinks" on that sailing (Huh?). They offered to allow me to upgrade to "Drinks on Us" at a cost, so I paid a bit more and upgraded the reservation, although I still didn't understand why I had to do that. A few days ago, I saw that this cruise was eligible for the new "All In" promotion, so I called MSC and asked if it would make sense to move to that. The agent said, "Yes I think it would, You'd get more OBC (I think he said $175), a better Wi-Fi package, a better drink package (Easy vs. Drinks on Us) and you won't have to pay gratuities on every drink. I asked if I could keep the same mid-ship cabin and he said, "Absolutely". So I told him to do it, as the cost was quite similar. Next thing you know, they moved my cabin from mid-ship to the front of the ship, changed from a non-adjoining room to an adjoining room, and changed it from a glass balcony to an obstructed steel balcony. But the drink package still shows as "Drinks on Us". So all they've done so far is to drastically downgrade my cabin. Oh, and supposedly now there's no OBC. Booked a 2020 cruise out of Paris with them and got an e-mail that I could get discounts on tours and such by booking them now. Tried to do that, as per the e-mail, but nothing is available yet. Let's hope that they don't change that one to a 20-night out of Brazil! I won't even go into all of the many, many errors with the website, with cruises disappearing, reappearing, some bookings shown, no bookings shown, unable to login etc. I like MSC and I love their beautiful ships, but working with these folks has been a real challenge. I've been communicating with a very nice booking supervisor who seems to want to help, but so far it's been a comedy of errors. My GF especially loves MSC. I get pretty frustrated dealing with one issue after another. Too bad they can't get their act together, they build such beautiful ships. MSC 14172