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Ocean Cay Opening Delayed Until October 2018

Mikesa1721

By Mikesa1721,
in MSC Cruises

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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Dave ................... I'm a bit pee'd off myself with MSC at the moment. Despite the lengths we've gone to have tickets issued correctly, the tickets we received yesterday for our upcoming repo are showing as "Member" instead of "Black Member". This is despite being assured onboard 4 weeks ago by the Cruise Consultant that he had checked all of our next 4 MSC bookings to ensure our status is included. Going on last month's experience, even when MSC re-issues the emended tickets there's no guarantee that we'll receive Black cruisecards on embarkation! Here's the email our TA sent:

 

Re clients Beamafar x 2

 

8th Oct ref no XXXXXXXX which got at the time 20% discount – black card

 

Clients are not happy that ‘ black card status’ is not showing on their tickets or bag tags.

 

I have assured Clients that cruise is booked with black card, and correct discount applied.

 

Can i ask you if possible to send over tickets showing ‘ black card status’ and can i ask MSCCLUB to double check card number and status the same.

 

Many thanks.

 

I think the TA missed the point here - I wanted assurances that the ship will have our status in their system so the correct cruisecards will be issued.:rolleyes:

 

Here's MSC's response:

 

Guests are indeed Black card members

This has now been updated to reflect on booking number XXXXXXXX

 

I will ask ticketing to release new tickets for this booking

 

Regards.

 

I wonder what he means by "updated" :confused: It implies that it wasn't on the booking to begin with, despite my getting the 20% Black Card discount!

 

At least we won't have problems with priority embarkation like we did last month as we have an Aurea Suite for this one. We'll also have more time onboard this time as it's a repo if we do have to chase up black cruisecards. On a 7 nighter, it's a p-in-the-a having to spend the first night queuing at the Cruise Consultant desk to sort it out.

 

Remember, MSC were the ones who brought in these changes whereby your cruisecard is now your membership card valid for three years from the date on it so it's crucial to have the correct card issued. Otherwise, I wouldn't give a fig. I'm not even keen on the idea that everyone on board sees your status - though the crew do make a fuss about it, rightly or wrongly.

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NCMtnBoys

NCMtnBoys

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That's simple. If you're booked on the Western swing, then you're now stopping at Nassau, which was already announced at the press conference. If you're on the Eastern swing that is already stopping at Nassau, then it's pure speculation at this point where the port stop will be. San Juan, St. Maarten or Key West would be the most logical. The Divina stops at the first two, so MSC has a relationship with those ports of call and Key West would be the closest geographically to where Ocean Caye will be.

 

I've also seen something on one of the cruise booking websites that indicated Grand Bahama (Freeport) replacing Ocean Cay on our Dec 23, 2017 itinerary. How they would have any idea when nothing official has been announced is beyond me, so I have no confidence that that's actually correct.

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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I've also seen something on one of the cruise booking websites that indicated Grand Bahama (Freeport) replacing Ocean Cay on our Dec 23, 2017 itinerary. How they would have any idea when nothing official has been announced is beyond me, so I have no confidence that that's actually correct.

 

 

Freeport was my first guess because the Bahamas currently accept garbage at the cheapest price per gross ton, so there is a fiscal incentive. However; that was nothing more than a mildly educated guess on my part and I didn't wAnt to float that possibility out there for fear mutiny :).

 

In fairness to MSC, this delay should come as absolutely no surprise. It Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the next delay is announced much closer to sail date.

 

Seaside looks like she may be fun to sail but I'm not willing to be a Test case at the current pricing structure. I suspect MANY HUGE sales in the future :).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Cuervosar

Cuervosar

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I think you're right about the sales. I think they'll have to do that to bring back the disenfranchised, including myself that cancelled because of this fiasco.

 

Oh the fury of the American Consumer wronged.

 

Thankfully the majority of people who cruise have never heard of this website, and thankfully those that have never make it past the reviews. I'm not sure why I'm here either, but it is this or something called "football" for entertainment. Thanks God for Tequila.

 

MSC will be just fine, even after all 20 cancellations. The vast majority of bookings were for 7 day trips, and this is one stop among many.

 

When I actually went through my trip and looked at it in toto, the island became a complete non-issue. I'm ready to be on a boat for 14 days, and I don't care if you park it at Gitmo. If I don't like the smell, I won't get off. There is an open bar in there somewhere.

 

The island is one small part of an enormous enterprise. They have what 10 ships running right now? At 2,500 people per, that is 25,000 people on their boats at any one given time. Currently none of them is complaining that their island is not ready. So if fully half of a Seaside boat actively complained, we'd be looking at 8% of the customers complaining. And they will not get that.

 

They would not have entered the market if they didn't think they could do well and overcome a few hiccups along the way. Nobody's ships are leaving Florida half full. Even the worst marketing team can overcome this bump in the road. Hell, Carnival is still in business and they burn a ship a month.

 

Because I'm bored, drunk and curious most of the time, at least once a week I take a peek at my cruise to see how many suites are left, and how the various cabins are selling. Guess what? The number of available cabins is not going up.

 

I'm sorry if you are woefully disappointed, but like somebody else said, no one stop is going to make or break my trip.

 

I guess this board is a better place to complain than having to put a CSR through the wringer. Those poor kids are just trying to make it through the day.

 

If you really feel wronged, email the company. Maybe you get a bottle of wine out of the deal.

 

Peas Out.

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sidari

sidari

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MSC will be just fine, even after all 20 cancellations.

 

So you have access to all of MSC`s bookings then ?

 

Currently none of them is complaining that their island is not ready.

 

And you can provide the proof ?

 

They would not have entered the market if they didn't think they could do well and overcome a few hiccups along the way.

 

MSC have been sailing out of the USA for a number of years now, they are not just about Divina or Seaside as most there appear to think.

 

At least once a week I take a peek at my cruise to see how many suites are left, and how the various cabins are selling. Guess what? The number of available cabins is not going up.

 

And you think that a cruise line would feed all canceled cabins back in at the same time ? the last thing they would want is for people to see a large number of cabins suddenly become available.

 

If you really feel wronged, email the company.

 

Some of us have and are still waiting for a response, not helped by getting a reply about an issue on Monday this week and then getting the item below the following day from the same person!

 

Dear all,

Thank you for your email.

I am no longer employed with MSC Cruises.

 

Please redirect your emails to

cruisetickets@msccruises.co.uk for any tickets queries

operationsuk@msccruises.co.uk for any itinerary change query.

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted
That's simple. If you're booked on the Western swing, then you're now stopping at Nassau, which was already announced at the press conference. If you're on the Eastern swing that is already stopping at Nassau, then it's pure speculation at this point where the port stop will be. San Juan, St. Maarten or Key West would be the most logical. The Divina stops at the first two, so MSC has a relationship with those ports of call and Key West would be the closest geographically to where Ocean Caye will be.

 

We are doing two weeks...so I guess we are stopping at Nassau. When was this press conference and do you know where I can view it?

 

The second week, Key West seems the most likely port to choose only because it is closer than San Juan or St. Maarten and it would be the last port before docking back in Miami if I am remembering correctly.

 

It is disappointing to be missing the private island, but we mostly booked for the new ship....but still, we book for the "whole experience"-ship, ports, cruise line... we have time to think about it.

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suzyed

suzyed

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Construction timelines move all the time. The amount of red tape they have to deal with, as well as all the sub contracts, it's not uncommon for any major project to be shifted. I believe NCL had a similar issue with their Harvest Cay.

MSC gave you plenty of notice. I understand it is disappointing for many, but you have other options and I'm sure you can still find an enjoyable cruise until the island is ready.

 

Happy sailing, folks [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Except they DIDN'T give us notice! I only heard it here. They still list it as a port on our B2B.

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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All members get 5% off now, not 20% for black card as it was in the past.

 

I can only assume that this is a response to my previous post relating to my comment about "My Black Card discount of 20%". Otherwise, your post seems somewhat out of place. I'm a Black Card holder for some time now (with more than double the required points at this stage) so am well aware of what members get. In fact, there are cruises whereby members will get 5% + 15% discount - more easily referred to as 20% even though it's not quite.

 

The booking I was referring to was made before the introduction of Voyagers Club and the subsequent loss of the 20%. The point I was making is that my Black Card status is not indicated on the tickets for my upcoming trip despite the fact that it was recognised at the time of booking when MSC applied the 20% discount for my being a Black Card holder.

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Cuervosar

Cuervosar

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This might be slightly off topic, but does anyone WHERE in the Bahamas this island is located?

 

Found this; "The island lies 20 miles (about 32 kilometres) south of Bimini and 65 miles (about 105 kilometres) east of Miami, Florida." http://www.portsofcall.co.uk/msc-cruises-private-ocean-cay-facts/

 

Now I guess I'll go see if I can figure it out on Google Earth.

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calgaryhhr

calgaryhhr

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Found this; "The island lies 20 miles (about 32 kilometres) south of Bimini and 65 miles (about 105 kilometres) east of Miami, Florida." http://www.portsofcall.co.uk/msc-cruises-private-ocean-cay-facts/

 

Now I guess I'll go see if I can figure it out on Google Earth.

 

I believe that someone previously posted that this is the island:

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Miami,+FL,+USA/@25.4200264,-79.206768,764m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d9b0a20ec8c111:0xff96f271ddad4f65!8m2!3d25.7616798!4d-80.1917902

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sidari

sidari

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I was just looking at the UK MSC site for our 23rd December Seaside sailing to see if there had been any changes, here is what the New itinerary shows.

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVAL DEPARTURE

1 Saturday, 23 Dec 2017 Miami, United States-19:00

2 Sunday, 24 Dec 2017 At Sea - -

3 Monday, 25 Dec 2017 At Sea - -

4 Tuesday, 26 Dec 2017 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 08:00-18:00

5 Wednesday, 27 Dec 2017 San Juan, Puerto Rico 07:00-17:00

6 Thursday, 28 Dec 2017 At Sea - -

7 Friday, 29 Dec 2017 Nassau, Bahamas 10:30 -18:00

8 Saturday, 30 Dec 2017

Miami, United States 07:00 -

*Information subject to change as a consequence of final berth or anchorage effective availability.

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suzyed

suzyed

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I just checked ours for February 10th, 2017 and the changes have been reflected on the itinerary. They are as follows:

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVAL

1 Sat, Feb 10, 2018 Miami, Florida 7:00 PM

2 Sun, Feb 11, 2018 At Sea - -

3 Mon, Feb 12, 2018 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 9:00 AM--5:00 PM

4 Tue, Feb 13, 2018 George Town, Cayman Islands 8:00 AM--4:00 PM

5 Wed, Feb 14, 2018 Cozumel, Mexico 10:00 AM--6:00 PM

6 Thu, Feb 15, 2018 At Sea - -

7 Fri, Feb 16, 2018 Nassau, Bahamas 10:00 AM--6:00 PM

8 Sat, Feb 17, 2018 Miami, Florida 7:00 AM--7:00 PM

9 Sun, Feb 18, 2018 At Sea - -

10 Mon, Feb 19, 2018 At Sea - -

11 Tue, Feb 20, 2018 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8:00 AM--6:00 PM

12 Wed, Feb 21, 2018 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 AM--5:00 PM

13 Thu, Feb 22, 2018 At Sea - -

14 Fri, Feb 23, 2018 Freeport, Grand Bahama 2:00 PM--9:00 PM

15 Sat, Feb 24, 2018 Miami, Florida 7:00 AM -

*Itinerary and schedule is subject to change.

 

So it looks like they have added Nassau, Bahamas in place of the private island for the first week. And Freeport for the second week.

In addition they changed the Charlotte Amalie port to Philipsburg!!! I wonder why???

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sidari

sidari

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Totally underwhelmed with the changes, why they removed St Thomas for St Maarten is beyond us. It is looking like a thumbs down for the 23rd December cruise with a move to Seaview when the island is open.

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All-ready2cruise Holiday Sharing Rare

All-ready2cruise

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Totally underwhelmed with the changes, why they removed St Thomas for St Maarten is beyond us. It is looking like a thumbs down for the 23rd December cruise with a move to Seaview when the island is open.

 

That's really too bad about the choices they've made for replacing the private island. And why would they change St. Thomas for St. Maarten, certainly distance shouldn't make much difference. Number of other ships in port?

 

I'd be pretty upset with these changes as well, especially if it was a holiday cruise.

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