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MSC Prepaid Drink Vouchers Cancelled


hummer88
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Today I went to book some beer and drink vouchers online for our March 2018 Seaside cruise. I didn't see them there so I chatted with the person online. They told me they are cancelled. I tried asking what the alternatives would be and that I was not happy since they were available when I booked. They just ended the chat. When I tried chatting again the person just disconnected me.

 

Has anyone had this type of service or do you think it was an IT problem?

 

Also what will be good alternatives? Those packages seemed very reasonable.

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Effective 10/16/17, the 18 voucher package (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and the 7 bottle house wine package were canceled. Maybe others I have not discovered. Packages that were already purchased will be honored onboard but no new sales as of that date. This decision, which came from the corporate office in Europe, completely blindsided the folks in the USA office (many thought it was just an IT glitch for over a week) and is creating numerous problems internally.

 

So far, no new package replacements have been announced.

 

Bret

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Today I went to book some beer and drink vouchers online for our March 2018 Seaside cruise. I didn't see them there so I chatted with the person online. They told me they are cancelled. I tried asking what the alternatives would be and that I was not happy since they were available when I booked. They just ended the chat. When I tried chatting again the person just disconnected me.

 

Has anyone had this type of service or do you think it was an IT problem?

 

Also what will be good alternatives? Those packages seemed very reasonable.

It's a goner.

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I've been disconnected from chat twice when they didn't have an answer for me. It's annoying.

Today I went to book some beer and drink vouchers online for our March 2018 Seaside cruise. I didn't see them there so I chatted with the person online. They told me they are cancelled. I tried asking what the alternatives would be and that I was not happy since they were available when I booked. They just ended the chat. When I tried chatting again the person just disconnected me.

 

Has anyone had this type of service or do you think it was an IT problem?

 

Also what will be good alternatives? Those packages seemed very reasonable.

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Macdon: When is your cruise? I called yesterday and was told they are available but only until the end of the year and we sail in 2018 so I was told they are not available. I think you should have bought them when you had that agent

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I've been disconnected from chat twice when they didn't have an answer for me. It's annoying.

 

 

 

I just started looking at MSC this week and had a few questions. I chatted and they disconnected me after my first question. Not a great first impression.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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These threads are monitored so we need to make as much disapproving noise as possible about the loss of the vouchers, they shouldn't be a victim of they're own success. Only having to buy the drinks you want is a winning formula, and being forced back onto an unlimited plan will effect the brand loyalty of a novice cruiser like me. When 2 out of 3 cruises have been with MSC, who gets cruise number 4 will depend more on price point than a crystal staircase!

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These threads are monitored so we need to make as much disapproving noise as possible about the loss of the vouchers, they shouldn't be a victim of they're own success. Only having to buy the drinks you want is a winning formula, and being forced back onto an unlimited plan will effect the brand loyalty of a novice cruiser like me. When 2 out of 3 cruises have been with MSC, who gets cruise number 4 will depend more on price point than a crystal staircase!
We bought the vouchers for our upcoming Rio /Venice TA next March (first MSC cruise). Thought what a good idea, DH doesn't drink, unlike his DW [emoji6]! Went to book some for our Divina TA 2019 and they're no longer available. Such a shame, as it was the perfect solution for us.

 

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This is really bad news! I hope MSC does the right thing (from a customer service perspective) and reinstitutes the drink vouchers. Giving no notice of this change is bad business. The vouchers were one of the big things that separated MSC from the other cruise lines. We don't drink enough to justify paying for the all inclusive package.

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Why not just buy your drinks individually? They haven't discontinued that. You're not being forced to purchase an all inclusive package. Drinks are very reasonably priced - moreso than many other lines - and if you're only drinking fewer than 18 in a week it won't be more than what? $25-50? For the difference in price instead of the vouchers? I understand it was a good program. But I don't understand how it's a make or break item to cruise with MSC or not.

Edited by Proseccoandsun
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Perhaps people should bombard MSC with emails complaining about the cancellation of this package and insinuating that its re-instatement will be an influencing factor in booking with them.

 

I sent MSC a message re: cancellation of the drink vouchers. We'll see if they respond . . .

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Why not just buy your drinks individually? They haven't discontinued that. You're not being forced to purchase an all inclusive package. Drinks are very reasonably priced - moreso than many other lines - and if you're only drinking fewer than 18 in a week it won't be more than what? $25-50? For the difference in price instead of the vouchers? I understand it was a good program. But I don't understand how it's a make or break item to cruise with MSC or not.

So true, the drinks are still reasonably priced compared to other mainline guys

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Very upsetting if they discontinue the drink vouchers. The 18 drinks was enough for us (plus free casino drinks), but without them now, the UBP(given as a perk) on NCL just became more attractive again.

Safe sailing

Except that you have to pay the 18% gratuity on the inflated price of the beverage package. Thus, you're spending $112 for the free drinks which could get you quite a few at the lower MSC bar prices.

 

I would have likely bought the vouchers. Now that they're not available, I just won't be buying any drinks, so in the end MSC loses that onboard revenue from me.

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Perhaps people should bombard MSC with emails complaining about the cancellation of this package and insinuating that its re-instatement will be an influencing factor in booking with them.
Bea, you seem to be one of the many helpful "go to" people on CC for MSC advice. (Plus I believe we're sailing together on the Divina TA 2019 [emoji3])

Would you happen to know, if I have any drink vouchers left over from our Musica cruise (pigs flying come to mind!) , can I use them on our Divina cruise? Rather like Princess and their coffee card?

Sue

 

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Except that you have to pay the 18% gratuity on the inflated price of the beverage package. Thus, you're spending $112 for the free drinks which could get you quite a few at the lower MSC bar prices.

 

I would have likely bought the vouchers. Now that they're not available, I just won't be buying any drinks, so in the end MSC loses that onboard revenue from me.

 

and trust me - on NCL you are still paying for the drink package - we in Canada have rates on NCL with Canadian at Par - much lower than the normal rates but no perks (no drink package) - if u want the rate with the drink package it is still about 300-400 more per person - remember, u never get anything for free - somehow, (whether it is visible or not), you are paying for it.....

 

Yes, i agree that the drink vouchers were a good deal - actually in my opinion, too good of a deal - they were the best value at sea - but like everything else in the world, things change - need to move forward - their drink packages and drink prices are still far less than other cruise lines - Ahhh...NCL charges 79.00 usd / pay plus gratuities for their drink package if u need to buy alternative -

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Bea' date=' you seem to be one of the many helpful "go to" people on CC for MSC advice. (Plus I believe we're sailing together on the Divina TA 2019 [emoji3'])

Would you happen to know, if I have any drink vouchers left over from our Musica cruise (pigs flying come to mind!) , can I use them on our Divina cruise? Rather like Princess and their coffee card?

Sue

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Hi, Sue. Yeah .......... I've signed up for the M&M so will probably see you there! ;)

 

TBH, I don't know if you can use any left-over vouchers on another ship. There are a lot of conflicting reports on here, with some saying you can (and claiming to have experience of doing so) and others saying that it's not possible.

 

I have 2 (fairly recent) experiences of using vouchers. The first was on a South Africa 4 nighter. The voucher numbers were noted against my cabin number so that nobody else could use them, should they be lost or stolen. I believe that's a particular policy for South Africa cruises, though, as MSC are hyper-security-conscious when sailing in that region.

 

The second was a few weeks ago when I purchased a wine & water package on Magnifica. I already had an all-inclusive drinks package so I didn't need the water vouchers. I had planned to give them to someone onboard but never did meet anyone to pass them on to. I plan to bring them with me on my upcoming cruise on Orchestra and test to see if I can use them then. I'll report back on how I get on.

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Hi, Sue. Yeah .......... I've signed up for the M&M so will probably see you there! ;)

 

TBH, I don't know if you can use any left-over vouchers on another ship. There are a lot of conflicting reports on here, with some saying you can (and claiming to have experience of doing so) and others saying that it's not possible.

 

I have 2 (fairly recent) experiences of using vouchers. The first was on a South Africa 4 nighter. The voucher numbers were noted against my cabin number so that nobody else could use them, should they be lost or stolen. I believe that's a particular policy for South Africa cruises, though, as MSC are hyper-security-conscious when sailing in that region.

 

The second was a few weeks ago when I purchased a wine & water package on Magnifica. I already had an all-inclusive drinks package so I didn't need the water vouchers. I had planned to give them to someone onboard but never did meet anyone to pass them on to. I plan to bring them with me on my upcoming cruise on Orchestra and test to see if I can use them then. I'll report back on how I get on.

 

Thanks for the prompt reply Bea, I'll look forward to hearing how you get on with your water vouchers on Orchestra.

Sue :D

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Why not just buy your drinks individually? They haven't discontinued that. You're not being forced to purchase an all inclusive package. Drinks are very reasonably priced - moreso than many other lines - and if you're only drinking fewer than 18 in a week it won't be more than what? $25-50? For the difference in price instead of the vouchers? I understand it was a good program. But I don't understand how it's a make or break item to cruise with MSC or not.

 

The average price of a drink is $7, while the face value of a voucher is $4.95, 18 drinks could be as much as $126, or up to $210 for 30. If you decide to pay as you go you are really going to cut back on your bar bill.

If MSC want to get away from paper vouchers surely they can come up with electronic vouchers or some kind of limited drinks plan that just uses your cruise card. Or even allow 2 adults to share an unlimited plan.

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I would have likely bought the vouchers. Now that they're not available, I just won't be buying any drinks, so in the end MSC loses that onboard revenue from me.

We too would have bought the vouchers. Instead we will buy just a few individual drinks and call it good. MSC will lose revenue on us as opposed to if we had bought the vouchers. NCL is looking more appealing to us. Hope MSC comes up with an alternative moderate drink package.

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