MSC - "ice water available" on Opera - Northern Europe cruise

Here is the email & reply I received from MSC concerning "ice water availabilty"

We are booked on MSC Opera in May for the Northern Europe cruise. I would like to clarify some information I have been given that I find hard to believe is true, so I hope you can clear this up for me.

I have been told from previous cruisers on MSC that you do not provide ice water in the dining rooms or in the buffet unless we purchase bottled water, nor is there anywhere on board to obtain water during the day. Is this true? Can we not ask the waiter for ice water? And do you not have water available in the buffet area during breakfast and lunch? I certainly hope that I have been misinformed.

hank you in advance for your reply,

REPLY FROM MSC

Hello and thank you for choosing MSC Cruises for your vacation plans.

Ice tap water is available complimentary during meals in the dining rooms as well as during the casual dining in the restaurant on the pool deck for breakfast and luncheon.

Guests can request this from the staff during the meals in the dining rooms or casual dining.

Thank you again and we look forward to welcoming you on board the beautiful MSC Opera.

Regards,

Lucretia LaBozzetta

Reservations Supervisor

MSC Cruises (USA) Inc.

I'm going to print and take this email on my cruise in case of a discrepancy.

You may well find this to be no problem as it is a sailing from England and they make a few changes for the British Market (just like they do for the US Sailings). I'd still take the email with you though. I like MSC but I do know that information disconnects are frequent as are probelms with administration.

I intend to take a copy with me, however I am not "going to war" over it.. I do not intend to tarnish my cruise over a glass of water. As well, I still plan on purchasing a mineral water package, I do like my H2O :)

We always order a bottle of water at dinner in the MDR but on the MSC (and Costa) cruises we've been on I've always seen the waiters bringing pitchers of tap water those guests who preferred tap. At breakfast and lunch there are ice/water machines in the self-service buffets on all the ships. During the day you can buy bottled water from any bar either with your cruise card or using one of the water package coupons.

I hope it is, because the way the pounds going thats all i will be able to afford ;):):)

I was on the Lirica (similar ship) this summer on a cruise to the baltic. We purachased water during dinner(maybe it wasn't necessary but we didn't know). However the rest of the day (from sunrise to sunset) almostly always the buffets were open for lunch or breakfast (not between 11 and 12), here where machines with water, not quite cold, you should to add ice to it (from the same machine). This was for free, no problem at all.

So at least don't worry about this.

Here is the email & reply I received from MSC concerning "ice water availabilty"

 

We are booked on MSC Opera in May for the Northern Europe cruise. I would like to clarify some information I have been given that I find hard to believe is true, so I hope you can clear this up for me.

I have been told from previous cruisers on MSC that you do not provide ice water in the dining rooms or in the buffet unless we purchase bottled water, nor is there anywhere on board to obtain water during the day. Is this true? Can we not ask the waiter for ice water? And do you not have water available in the buffet area during breakfast and lunch? I certainly hope that I have been misinformed.

hank you in advance for your reply,

REPLY FROM MSC

Hello and thank you for choosing MSC Cruises for your vacation plans.

Ice tap water is available complimentary during meals in the dining rooms as well as during the casual dining in the restaurant on the pool deck for breakfast and luncheon.

Guests can request this from the staff during the meals in the dining rooms or casual dining.

 

Thank you again and we look forward to welcoming you on board the beautiful MSC Opera.

Regards,

Lucretia LaBozzetta

Reservations Supervisor

MSC Cruises (USA) Inc.

 

 

I'm going to print and take this email on my cruise in case of a discrepancy.

Thank you bunnysmom. Can I ask you the email address that you sent to MSC to ask this "tap water", I am very interested to ask them the same question for my E. & W. meds cruises. I tried several time to email MSC club and the US office said they never received my email.

Thank you bunnysmom. Can I ask you the email address that you sent to MSC to ask this "tap water", I am very interested to ask them the same question for my E. & W. meds cruises. I tried several time to email MSC club and the US office said they never received my email.

I wouldn't get your hopes up about there being free tap water on Med sailings. The cruise they are talking about on this thread is sailing from the UK and they make changes for trhe British market that they don't do for other European sailings.

I wouldn't get your hopes up about there being free tap water on Med sailings. The cruise they are talking about on this thread is sailing from the UK and they make changes for trhe British market that they don't do for other European sailings.

Well, I just want to see what they reply, wouldn't hurt to ask for the med.

Thank you bunnysmom. Can I ask you the email address that you sent to MSC to ask this "tap water", I am very interested to ask them the same question for my E. & W. meds cruises. I tried several time to email MSC club and the US office said they never received my email.

Hi,

Here is the email address of the person who replied to my email, instead

of just a general email.

Emal to: LLaBozzetta@msccruisesusa.com

I had a reply within 24 hours. Good Luck :)

Hi,

Here is the email address of the person who replied to my email, instead

of just a general email.

 

Emal to: LLaBozzetta@msccruisesusa.com

 

I had a reply within 24 hours. Good Luck :)

Thanks again bunnysmom, I am going to send them an email, will see.

I am sailing on MSC Fantasia in the Mediterranean this summer and appreciate this thread. I just sent a similar email to MSC and will share their response.

Just a quick update to share that I have not received any response from either of my emails (2 separate MSC contacts from their website) concerning water on our July 10, 2010 sailing on Fantasia.

Still waiting and will share when (if) I get a reply!

I sent 2 emails, one regarding to ice water and the other one regarding to 110/220V on the Splendida, I only got reply for the 110/220V from

Charmaine Pearson, MSC Cruise Consultant but not the ice water email, then I sent the second email to Charmaine but no reply regarding to ice water, wondering what is going on??:confused:

The free ice water at dinner topic is beginning to get old. I've repeated this several times, but here goes again: If you don't want to buy a bottle of mineral water for dinner, just ask your waiter to bring you a pitcher of tap water. I've never seen anyone refused. A family at the table next to mine on my recent Splendida cruise had tap water every evening brought to them and I saw the pitchers on other tables as well.

That would be no problem if they let us have ice tap water in the MDR, we are used to it just like the caribbean cruises. We don't need bottled water.:)

I emailed the MSC reservations office, and I was specifically told that travellers from the United States booked on MSC Mediterranean itineraries will receive 1 free bottle of water in their cabin on a daily basis (1 liter). I guess that is how they know WHO booked their reservation from the US. When I called the MSC office in Miami for something else, they confirmed the same information as being the official policy regarding Mediterranean itineraries, at least for the MSC Magnifica ship. Beyond ONE free bottle of water per day, cruisers would have to purchase additional beverages.

In my opinion, since the price of the cruise is lower than competing cruise lines (and my son is travelleing for free), I do not mind paying extra for additional beverages, which we always do when we take land vacations in Europe anyways.

I FINALLY got a reply (after almost 2 weeks):

Hi Andrew

Thank you for choosing MSC Cruises as your vacation plan. At this time the Mediterranean sailings do not provide you with ice water. This is a known practice in Europe, but fairly new to the traveling U.S. Population. We understand that this may pose an Inconvenience for Non-European individuals. In an effort to combat this for U.S. Clientele, we have included 1 full size (liter) bottle of water per cabin served with dinner for the entirety of your sailing. We hope that this will appease any concerns that you have in regards to your beverage needs. Thank you again for choosing MSC Cruises and we look forward to having you onboard!

Regards,

Christopher Nelson

Christopher Nelson

Cruise Consultant

MSC Cruises (USA) Inc.

Phone: 954-772-6262

Reservations: 800.666.9333

Fax: 908.605.2600

Consumer Web Site: http://www.msccruisesusa.com

Agent Web Site: http://www.msccruisesagent.com

MSC Yacht Club: http://www.mscyachtclub.com

B2B Web Site: http://www.msconline.com

I just sailed the splendida they gave me a coupon booklet in my room for 1 free bottle. I purchased 14 bottles so that gave us 3 per day. I took one back to my cabin each night. Also I had ice in my room. You can take an insulated cup and ice tea and lemon aid to add to the water. We found this was nice to have in the room.