2travelers2go

No offense intended, but you are tilting at windmills. CEOs don't answer emails. They typically have administrative staff who are gate-keepers. You send an executive an email and the gate-keeper will just send it back down to a customer service person, etc.

Look online and you can probably find various options for a "beach canopy" similar to the sample one described below. I was recently at the beach and saw a couple with one that was in a small duffle bag. It takes a bit longer to set up since you have to put sand in the bags but it is definitely portable. "YENGIAM Beach Canopy Beach Tent Pop Up Shade 7.5X7.5 FT Portable Sun Shelter Extra Windproof Rope Stable Sun Protection with Carry Bag Easy Set Up for Family Outdoor Camping Fishing Backyard Picnics"

Hank, I appreciate your insights and understand your points. However, my position is that when a company makes an obvious mistake they should correct it. Matters not if it is directly with the customer or via an agent. We have also cruised before (certainly not to your expertise level) but I never had such a basic, yet critical, problem right out of the gate with other cruise lines. Sadly, corporate ethics seem to have gone the way of the dodo bird. Or in my case, I am the dodo for deciding to go ahead and give MSC a chance, despite doing research and reading some bad reviews. Lesson learned and one I will pass along to others...

^^ And found out (according to rep on the phone) that my reservation was cancelled!!

I did all this, and it's how I first discovered there was a problem. "If you are unable to see your cruise details and you have a reservation with us, please add your booking number in your Account Settings." Then I attempt to add the booking number in the Account Settings and get: "There is an error in your Booking ID added. Please insert it again." Booking number isn't recognized. That's when I called and started to try and resolve it.

MSC Divina, you seem to have had problems with MSC. Are there any insights you can give me, at this stage, which might help me resolve my issue with them?

I don't know anyone who speaks Swiss, LOL!

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? That should be shouted from the rooftops...

I had a prior post about a problem with my MSC booking number not working. I am afraid I am entering a swirling vortex of MSC incompetence and am going down fast. Still couldn't log into my MSC Account with my booking number today, as it still does not accept it. I call customer service again. The rep tells me my reservation has been cancelled. I'm shocked as I certainly didn't do it! In fact, I've been trying to CONFIRM my booking for several business days now. I tell her the saga: I booked the cruise and paid for specific cabin. My credit card was accepted and charged (in full) for the cruise. I have printed out/screen shots confirming all this, including e-mails that said my payment was a "success" and it was paid in full. Only problem was there system would not accept my booking number. She says she doesn't know what happened but she can say with certainty that my reservation was cancelled. She also said she saw that I was indeed charged for the cruise. This makes no sense whatsoever. Rep said she was going to send an email to MSC main office which is in Europe in Italy or Switzerland, I assume. She indicated that it might take quite a while before I'd hear back from them and many times things were not exactly understood due to "translation" issues. Wonderful. She was also able to give me the added "good news" that the cabin I had booked (and have a receipt for) is no longer available. We chose this cabin as it was in conjunction/proximity with friends we are going on the cruise with. That's why I paid extra to pick our cabin. Now I will have to wait and who knows where we will wind up. So far, MSC is an abject failure when it comes to their website and booking process. I only hope the cruise goes better. That is, if we will even go on it since we still don't have a reservation. I will say this: MSC is VERY VERY successful at charging you and taking your money, however. THAT had no problem showing up on my credit card within minutes and is still there. Why can't they make a correction in their own system without it taking a week or more? Bottom line: I was willing to give MSC a chance considering they are fairly new in the market. I saw some people had some issues with booking/payment in reviews but was thinking that might be the odd case. Until now - when I can count myself one of them. Buyer beware.

When I called MSC Customer Service, the rep was very pleasant and I had the impression they wanted to help. What was less than confidence-inducing is they did not know the difference between website addresses and e-mail addresses. While on the phone, they had me send an e-mail to "www.mscreservations@..." at least six times and (of course) it kept being rejected. I kept asking rep if that was a correct e-mail because "www" is usually the prefix for a website, not an e-mail address. On the seventh try, rep finally realized that "www" does NOT go in front of e-mail address. I sent the e-mail for msc existing reservations, got an automated response but have heard nothing back. This was last week. Not sure how long it should take just to get a confirmation of a booking?

Yes, I am using the same site. It is the same site that is included in the confirmation e-mail.

Recently booked an upcoming cruise in November via MSCs web site. Shortly afterwards, I received a very abbreviated MSC e-mail confirmation merely saying that entire amount was "paid in full" but there was nothing else on the standard e-mail confirmation other than our name, booking number, and amount paid in full. There were no details about the actual cruise date, stateroom we selected, etc. I then got another e-mail to set up my MSC Account Registration but when I put in the booking number it won't accept it. Called customer service and it was less than confidence-inducing as I was instructed to just send an email to MSC Existing Reservations. I got an automated email response and nothing more. What's next? At this stage, I have nothing in email confirming the date, itinerary and stateroom I've booked. Is that normal for MSC? Plus, without it accepting my booking number and allowing me to open an account, I can't look to see what drink packages or other offers are available. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears...