Prepare to be insulted !

[AmoMondo]

If only CFAR poli IRS existed here, but they don't.

 

My view is that it was not only MSC not being able to get the extra revenue from shores to Cairo, Luxor etc but also bookings being low due to the unrest. If you wanted to just stay in the Red Sea resorts which has no UK Government warnings, then I think folk would just book a land based holiday there. A lot of people who book cruises do so, in the expectation they can have ship's, private or DIY trips to the main tourist sites.

[EDLOS]

On Monday, I asked my TA to speak to MSC with regard to improving their $50 OBC on a 9 day Lirica Cruise that I booked in October after Armonia cancellation. Having heard nothing in 2 days I just canceled that booking. Final payment was due Aug 1st.

I also have found an 11 day HAL cruise in October visiting most of the same ports as the Lirica for about the same money.

MSC had a chance to hook me as a loyal customer (took my first MSC Cruise back May). It would take something special to lure me back. The old expression "If you have a good experience with a company, you tell 10 people ! If you have a bad experience, you tell 20 people ! "

[MSC Cruises USA]

On Monday, I asked my TA to speak to MSC with regard to improving their $50 OBC on a 9 day Lirica Cruise that I booked in October after Armonia cancellation. Having heard nothing in 2 days I just canceled that booking. Final payment was due Aug 1st.

I also have found an 11 day HAL cruise in October visiting most of the same ports as the Lirica for about the same money.

MSC had a chance to hook me as a loyal customer (took my first MSC Cruise back May). It would take something special to lure me back. The old expression "If you have a good experience with a company, you tell 10 people ! If you have a bad experience, you tell 20 people ! "

 

Edlos-

 

We regret to learn of your disappointment. If you booked with our office, please send your details to customer-srvc@msccruisesusa.com to speak with someone concerning the cancellation of Armonia.

 

Regards,

[Deckhandoug]

Unfortunatley they're American. I am not.

 

Wow, sorry CFAR insurance isn't available there. It's not a real expensive add on to your policy if you buy it right away over here

[EDLOS]

On Monday, I asked my TA to speak to MSC with regard to improving their $50 OBC on a 9 day Lirica Cruise that I booked in October after Armonia cancellation. Having heard nothing in 2 days I just canceled that booking. Final payment was due Aug 1st.

I also have found an 11 day HAL cruise in October visiting most of the same ports as the Lirica for about the same money.

MSC had a chance to hook me as a loyal customer (took my first MSC Cruise back May). It would take something special to lure me back. The old expression "If you have a good experience with a company, you tell 10 people ! If you have a bad experience, you tell 20 people ! "

 

Checked the HAL Roll Call for above mentioned cruise which originally scheduled for stops in Alexandria and Port Said, Egypt and switched to Haifa, Israel and Limassol, Cyprus with the Egypt unrest. On the Roll Call it said the HAL immeditatly credited every cabin with $100 OBC and reduced cabin prices for example on VF Cabins by $200. There is an old Management saying: " If you know you are going to have a problem, get out in front of it and manage it " which HAL seems to understand and MSC does not !

[nzrainbow]

At least you guys seem to have been offered SOMETHING.... I booked on the MSC 23 night Armonia Grand Cruise departing Venice October 25. This has had over 2 thirds of the itinerary cancelled and we have been offered nothing more than an amended itinerary (one which quite frankly really sucks) and one less night on board to boot! (They ARE now trying to flog off an extra week add-on at the end with an inflated "Special Price") They made sure they received final payment too before they notified of the changes! Shame on you MSC, it was to be the first of what I'd hoped would be many MSC cruises but with customer service like this I would't bother. Perhaps it's because we live in the limited "down-under market or that it was a Fly/Cruise package but given that it's such a long way to come the Grand Cruises are the best option for us. Contact with MSC resulted in a "take it or cancel attitude" and while I understand of the political situation in Egypt I think this cancellation is far more than is really necessary. I'd be interested in contacting others on this cruise, the only other person I was aware of has cancelled.

[Deckhandoug]

All these complaints on the board right now about the website, cancelled ports and changes to the itinerary without adequate compensation or consideration, trouble getting your club card have been discussed on here for years, it's what some of us have been trying to warn you about.

 

Something just isn't quite right in the customer service department at MSC, I don't know if its because its a family business and they don't answer to shareholders or what is causing it.

 

My point has always been: we had a great time on our MSC cruise, we always do on all lines, and we are ok with everything not being perfect, it's understandable, but there was enough bad that we feel warning fellow cruisers of what we experienced is proper.

 

For us, the low prices and too much poor customer service are not worth risking our vacation over, we would rather spend our money with a tried and true highly rated line with a better track record with us.

 

It's cruise critic, after all, and I see plenty of criticism going on now.

 

I do hope you all get your issues satisfactorily sorted.

[All aboard??]

All these complaints on the board right now about the website, cancelled ports and changes to the itinerary without adequate compensation or consideration, trouble getting your club card have been discussed on here for years, it's what some of us have been trying to warn you about.

 

Something just isn't quite right in the customer service department at MSC, I don't know if its because its a family business and they don't answer to shareholders or what is causing it.

 

My point has always been: we had a great time on our MSC cruise, we always do on all lines, and we are ok with everything not being perfect, it's understandable, but there was enough bad that we feel warning fellow cruisers of what we experienced is proper.

 

For us, the low prices and too much poor customer service are not worth risking our vacation over, we would rather spend our money with a tried and true highly rated line with a better track record with us.

 

It's cruise critic, after all, and I see plenty of criticism going on now.

 

I do hope you all get your issues satisfactorily sorted.

 

Irrespective of the fact that I like MSC I do find that they need to stop micromanaging; everything, even issues on board the vessels need to go through Napoli and I believe that Napoli is too far removed from the actual to fully understand.

 

At first when I heard of the Armonia offers I was somewhat irritated, especially in that the cost of my flights have doubled -Las Palmas vs Sharm- however after due consideration I agreed to the terms and conditions of carriage which allows them tho change the itinery and a contract is a contract.

 

That being said the 20% discount if a person cancels is worth more than the 100 GBP if you stay on board and so, purely from a "business" position I am considering cancelling both my cruises, using the 2x 20% vouchers for 2 expensive cruises ( the two I am interested in would give me 1,100 GBP in discounts) and then possibly rebook the repo once I have found that the pull of the people on the roll call warrants the extra cost in flights.

 

I feel a better option would have been to offer thise staying anoard the 100 GBP and the 20% future discount thereby giving us the ability to recoup flight loses while ensuring repeated business.

 

Every time I hear Napoli come up in conversations regarding issues I get the distinct impression that they have become complacent, MSC is doing very well in that they have 7% of the cruise industry berths and maintain a 7% market share ( so in essence, in relation to the cruise industry as a whole and it's current trends MSC is running at full capacity), and as a result my complacency theory; "we don't need to offer more because we already full". HAL on the other hand has 5.3 of the market berths but only holds 3.3% of the market share; they need to over compensate their passenger because they don't have room to lose any more.

[sidari]

I think many people are hoping that come December there will be major changes within the MSC organisation as promised by Mr Vago one of which will be in the UK when Giles Hawke takes over in Customer services,lovely as Italian people can be sadly one thing that they are not good at is organisation which we have seen on numerous occasions and not just with MSC.

 

You only have fly from or to an airport in Italy to understand it,which it seems is reflected on most things when cruising with the likes of MSC and Costa!

 

This is where many issues emenate from with regard to bookings and getting information from them is most times like trying to get blood out of a stone.

 

More people are needed in their offices not less and telling one country one reason for a cancelation while another tells a different story is doing them no favours whatsoever and only serves to antagonise customers.

 

As "All aboard" says they have got to stop managing everything through Naples, in their brochure it says they aim to respond to any complaints within 28 days! having now gone beyond this time the only response i have had is that the person dealing with it is still waiting for information from yes you guessed it .... Naples .... :eek:

[papcx]

One thing I hope we can all agree on.

 

The MSC product is great once on board, but boy, they sure make you work before getting on board.

[AmoMondo]

One thing I hope we can all agree on.

 

The MSC product is great once on board, but boy, they sure make you work before getting on board.

 

Completely agree.

 

If it weren't for the fact that I enjoy the onboard experience so much, I'd never put up with the hassles of dealing with landslide customer services.

[Deckhandoug]

Irrespective of the fact that I like MSC I do find that they need to stop micromanaging; everything, even issues on board the vessels need to go through Napoli and I believe that Napoli is too far removed from the actual to fully understand.

 

At first when I heard of the Armonia offers I was somewhat irritated, especially in that the cost of my flights have doubled -Las Palmas vs Sharm- however after due consideration I agreed to the terms and conditions of carriage which allows them tho change the itinery and a contract is a contract.

 

That being said the 20% discount if a person cancels is worth more than the 100 GBP if you stay on board and so, purely from a "business" position I am considering cancelling both my cruises, using the 2x 20% vouchers for 2 expensive cruises ( the two I am interested in would give me 1,100 GBP in discounts) and then possibly rebook the repo once I have found that the pull of the people on the roll call warrants the extra cost in flights.

 

I feel a better option would have been to offer thise staying anoard the 100 GBP and the 20% future discount thereby giving us the ability to recoup flight loses while ensuring repeated business.

 

Every time I hear Napoli come up in conversations regarding issues I get the distinct impression that they have become complacent, MSC is doing very well in that they have 7% of the cruise industry berths and maintain a 7% market share ( so in essence, in relation to the cruise industry as a whole and it's current trends MSC is running at full capacity), and as a result my complacency theory; "we don't need to offer more because we already full". HAL on the other hand has 5.3 of the market berths but only holds 3.3% of the market share; they need to over compensate their passenger because they don't have room to lose any more.

 

I think you are confusing ship capacity with market share, HAL has many more cruises longer than 7 days, many more 12, 24, and some around the world cruises as well. They don't offer many, if at all, 3 or 4 day cruises, their market is the older retired crowd with plenty of time on their hands, so they don't get the constant influx of new passengers every few days.

 

They also have a new ship order, have steadily replaced their older ships and don't resort to heavily discounted prices to fill them.

[Deckhandoug]

Completely agree.

 

If it weren't for the fact that I enjoy the onboard experience so much, I'd never put up with the hassles of dealing with landslide customer services.

 

Well, I guess that's it in a nutshell :)

[Deckhandoug]

Here's what I'm talking about, some lines do a better job than others when schedule changes come up.

 

As many have pointed out, they don't have to do anything according to our cruise contracts

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1461

[The_Big_M]

One thing I hope we can all agree on.

 

The MSC product is great once on board, but boy, they sure make you work before getting on board.

 

Err, I'm not quite that positive!

[Skipper Tim]

One thing I hope we can all agree on.

 

The MSC product is great once on board, but boy, they sure make you work before getting on board.

 

Agreed! Making and maintaining 4 separate Armonia bookings is like a 50% full time job! By the time I get on the ship I will be so exhausted, I won't want to get off.

[Evita1216]

At first when I heard of the Armonia offers I was somewhat irritated, especially in that the cost of my flights have doubled -Las Palmas vs Sharm- however after due consideration I agreed to the terms and conditions of carriage which allows them tho change the itinery and a contract is a contract.

If I put out a contract to have my enemy killed, is that also a contract that should be honored? That's absurd obviously, but the point is that social policy (and laws which incorporate such policy) determines that some contract provisions should not be enforced for various reasons. One of those reasons is unfair overreaching by commercial enterprises, especially commercial enterprises that employ adhesion contracts (contracts that are a take it or leave it deal).

 

One thing I hope we can all agree on.

The MSC product is great once on board, but boy, they sure make you work before getting on board.

A great MSC product? That doesn't comport with the facts. MSC is the lowest rated mass market line and that goes not just for pre-boarding service, but for food, service and other areas once on board.

[papcx]

MSC is the lowest rated mass market line and that goes not just for pre-boarding service, but for food, service and other areas once on board.

 

Here we go again.

[Skipper Tim]

A great MSC product? That doesn't comport with the facts. MSC is the lowest rated mass market line and that goes not just for pre-boarding service, but for food, service and other areas once on board.

 

Rated by whom? A representative selection of those who cruise with MSC or those who frequent these boards and the ignorant who have an axe to grind?

 

1) Seek professional advice in carefully designing a neutral survey of people's cruise experiences in all applicable languages and cultures.

 

2) Ask all cruise lines for their lists of all bookings within a defined period of at least two years.

 

3) Use a computer to pick pseudo-randomly at least 3,000 per line of those.

 

4) Carry out carefully supervised interviews.

 

5) Pursue tirelessly those who do not respond until they do, one way or another.

 

6) Adjust for any who did not respond.

 

7) Analyse the results and kindly report back here.

 

Even then, the results are not 'facts'. They would be representative opinions.

 

All we have now are totally unrepresentative opinions and most veer toward the ignorant side.

[Deckhandoug]

Rated by whom? A representative selection of those who cruise with MSC or those who frequent these boards and the ignorant who have an axe to grind?

 

1) Seek professional advice in carefully designing a neutral survey of people's cruise experiences in all applicable languages and cultures.

 

2) Ask all cruise lines for their lists of all bookings within a defined period of at least two years.

 

3) Use a computer to pick pseudo-randomly at least 3,000 per line of those.

 

4) Carry out carefully supervised interviews.

 

5) Pursue tirelessly those who do not respond until they do, one way or another.

 

6) Adjust for any who did not respond.

 

7) Analyse the results and kindly report back here.

 

Even then, the results are not 'facts'. They would be representative opinions.

 

All we have now are totally unrepresentative opinions and most veer toward the ignorant side.

 

Based upon your rationale and parameters, the positive ones (including yours) are to be discounted as aberrations too.

[Skipper Tim]

Based upon your rationale and parameters, the positive ones (including yours) are to be discounted as aberrations too.

 

I only studied statistics relatively late on in life (26) but when I did I thought it should be compulsory education to all at primary level onwards to interpret the appalling information that is constantly fed to us by politicians, newscasters and now, here.

 

Deckhandoug, please explain why a few complaints are more significant than hundreds of thousands of satisfied MSC guests who have no incentive or remote reason to visit an English-speaking cruise forum?

[Deckhandoug]

I only studied statistics relatively late on in life (26) but when I did I thought it should be compulsory education to all at primary level onwards to interpret the appalling information that is constantly fed to us by politicians, newscasters and now, here.

 

Deckhandoug, please explain why a few complaints are more significant than hundreds of thousands of satisfied MSC guests who have no incentive or remote reason to visit an English-speaking cruise forum?

 

Where are these hundreds of thousands of reviews?

 

You are assuming that all these non existent reviews would be positive.

 

You are the one telling readers to ignore all the bad published reviews, that you know for a fact that it is a great cruise line.

 

Why is your opinion accurate and the published bad reviews inaccurate?

 

There are good and bad reviews published, if you accept the good then you must also accept the bad.

 

You may not agree, but that doesn't give you the right to assume that all bad reviews are in accurate and that their are thousands of unwritten positive reviews.

 

CC has published reviews from its reader base, a group of peers and the majority of CC readers are just like the reviewers.

 

Where's your facts?

 

You are missing this point: the results are accurate because of it being an USA oriented website, with members accustomed to USA style cruising

 

I bet you have no problem with the reviews that support your opinion.

[Realitoes]

If I put out a contract to have my enemy killed, is that also a contract that should be honored? That's absurd obviously, but the point is that social policy (and laws which incorporate such policy) determines that some contract provisions should not be enforced for various reasons. One of those reasons is unfair overreaching by commercial enterprises, especially commercial enterprises that employ adhesion contracts (contracts that are a take it or leave it deal).

 

Typical straw man response.

 

If you didn't like the terms of the contract, then why did you agree to them?

 

A great MSC product? That doesn't comport with the facts. MSC is the lowest rated mass market line and that goes not just for pre-boarding service, but for food, service and other areas once on board.

 

Lowest rated by which market? They are rated fairly high here in Europe. It is a bit arrogant to presume your standards should be the standard expectation of the rest of the world!

[Deckhandoug]

Typical straw man response.

 

If you didn't like the terms of the contract, then why did you agree to them?

 

 

 

Lowest rated by which market? They are rated fairly high here in Europe. It is a bit arrogant to presume your standards should be the standard expectation of the rest of the world!

 

Do you have a link to the ratings? I would like to see how all the main lines compare

[Realitoes]

Do you have a link to the ratings? I would like to see how all the main lines compare

 

Clicky right here