MSC Germany and Dreamlines.de - advice to recover difference on cruise price fall

Hi,

By mid October, I booked a two weeks cruise with MSC through a German agent, dreamlines.de, with flight.

I used them before (not with MSC though) and I was quite happy with their service.

However, I now I have the following problem.

The first issue was with the itinerary.

On their site there was one itinerary, but after I made the advance payment, I received the confirmation, and it was for a slightly different itinerary (the difference was quite significant, three less ports).

The problem was they had a wrong itinerary on their website.

I first wanted to cancel and contacted them, after three days.

They replied very slow, after 7-10 days and they said I can cancel but I have to pay 30% cancellation fee. My initial request was 73 days before the cruise date.

I decided to keep it, even with the different itinerary (even if I felt I should have the right to cancel without such huge fee).

In any case, about two weeks later I checked by chance the MSC Germany website and found exact the same cruise with exact all conditions (flight included, exact the same cabin class, same passengers) 1300€ less then the price I received.

With this huge difference, and the initial fact that I received a cruise for different itinerary than one presented on agent site made me feel really ripped-off.

I contacted the agent several time, asking for recalculation, or at least to convert the difference to OBC, or get an upgrade, or ... anything, to feel I recover at least part of this huge difference and they told me the price cannot be changed.

I contacted MSC Germany as well on this matter, they said they cannot change anything because cruise was booked through agent and asked me to contact the agent.

But I feel the agent actually didn't cared at all and didn't tried to do anything on this matter.

It seems I'm at a dead end.

Is there anything I can do about this?

Does anyone has any similar experience and got a favorable resolution?

I appreciate any advice.

PS. As a last resort, I thought to just talk about this with the Customer Reps on the ship as soon as I start the cruise, and if they refuse anything, to just ask to remove the service fee. But really I'm thinking this will not impact MSC but the employees(cabin attendant, etc). It;s not their fault for this situation at all, so I'm reluctant for doing this.

In my opinion I would get this matter handled before you cruise . The customer service representatives on board seem to be unable to correct situations such as yours , and almost always say they need to clear up these problems with the main offices on land.

Since you booked with a travel agent the MSC phone representatives can only deal through them. You may be able to get some general questions answered but any changes or credits to your reservation would have to be handled by the TA. All the phone reps we have dealt with have been extremely helpful and courteous and always able to handle our concerns .

You are correct in thinking that removing the service charges would only hurt the staff and crew. Not really a fair way to deal with the situation .

Good luck to you and I hope you are able to get this all worked out.

the german laws are very easy in this case: if a booked cruise has a significant change in itinerary (3 is significant), you may cancel without any cost involved...., additionally if you have additional cost, because of that - may be cancel booked non ref. flights or so, they have to pay for that as well

Markus ... If MSC advertised the wrong itinerary to begin with then there is enough cause in that to claim a Significant change regardless of the three less ports.

Getting MSC to admit to that is a different matter that may require a lawyer to take up the case unless the Travel agent actually does what they have been paid to do and have it rectified by MSC.

The problem is not with MSC but with the agent.

The cruise itinerary was different on agent site.

I didn't checked on MSC site before.

The problem is the agent was not at all open to any change or adjustment.

I don't want to cancel now, but I would like to recover part of the extra cost I paid.

Any advice on how to persuade them to discuss this with MSC?

To all my calls they replied (very slow, more then a week after my every message) telling that noting can be changed after the booking was made.

Thanks

bzm72 ... This taken from a UK company called Holiday travel watch. I have no idea if you have a similar thing in Germany that refers to Regulation 13 mentioned below.

In the last edition, we briefly explored the rights that can arise for the travel consumer, when a Travel

Provider makes a significant change to the ‘Package Holiday’ they have booked. We saw that an

Organiser must ‘notify the consumer as quickly as possible’ where such a change is to be made. The

consumer will then have the option to withdraw from the contract without penalty or to continue with the

holiday.

Regulation 13 of the Package Travel Regulations (PTR) sets out the extent of the rights that flow from a

significant change made to their holiday contract. The Regulation states that its terms are implied into

every contract, so, even if the tour Operator does not state openly within its terms and conditions the

Regulation 13 rights, they are to be read into the contract itself.

If the Organiser makes a ‘significant change’ to the holiday before departure, the consumer is entitled to

the following:

“To take a substitute package of equivalent or superior quality if the other party to the contract is able to

offer such a substitute, or”

“To take a substitute package of a lower quality if the other party to the contract is able to offer him one

and recover from the organiser the difference in price between the price of the package purchased and

that of the Substitute package, or”

“To have repaid to him as soon as possible all the monies paid by him under the contract”

In addition, the consumer can recover compensation from the Organiser for non-performance of the

contract, except where the package has been cancelled because of low numbers or because it has

been cancelled because of unusual or unforeseen circumstances. Note however, overbooking does

not prevent a consumer from seeking compensation!

These are considerable rights, and should be used by consumers to good effect - do not be put off by

lame excuses!

HolidayTravelWatch

10 May 2007

The problem is not with MSC but with the agent.

The cruise itinerary was different on agent site.

I didn't checked on MSC site before.

 

The problem is the agent was not at all open to any change or adjustment.

 

I don't want to cancel now, but I would like to recover part of the extra cost I paid.

 

Any advice on how to persuade them to discuss this with MSC?

To all my calls they replied (very slow, more then a week after my every message) telling that noting can be changed after the booking was made.

 

Thanks

It sounds as if the agency falsely advertised the cruise that they sold. I don't see how MSC would get involved since it was the agent that advertised the wrong itinerary, not the cruise line. If you booked with a credit card, I'd check into see what rights you might have through the credit card company. And while you could also press the agency, odds are that you'd end up with a refund and no cruise, although it sounds like you want to still take the cruise but with some compensation for being misled.