Ocean Cay Opening Delayed Until October 2018

[All-ready2cruise]

I tried to check price on my booked 1/18 7 day Seaside cruise about an hour ago and the site was down for updating. Just tried it again and can't get anywhere with it! Seems like all cruise lines have the same IT dept.,Nonexistant Inc.:confused::confused::confused:

 

Are you sure it isn't Numnutz IT CUMON dot com ?

 

No wonder some are worried about posting important info to their website.... sheeeesh...

[sidari]

Connie ... You guys are so lucky, years ago we had to put up with days of constant issues with the Hamster driven web site, now at least they have the Steam driven one that only goes wrong now and again ... :D

 

The same issues were to be found on the UK site yesterday, I could see our booking and the updated details but when you tried to see what cabins were available and the respective prices there was just a £ sign in the boxes of any available cabins.

[All-ready2cruise]

Connie ... You guys are so lucky, years ago we had to put up with days of constant issues with the Hamster driven web site, now at least they have the Steam driven one that only goes wrong now and again ... :D

 

The same issues were to be found on the UK site yesterday, I could see our booking and the updated details but when you tried to see what cabins were available and the respective prices there was just a £ sign in the boxes of any available cabins.

 

I know Dave, sorry, I shouldn't complain, I know the website is improved. The funny thing is, you mention only a £ sign in the boxes, well, that's all I was seeing when looking at cruises last evening... no amounts at all.

 

Final payment coming up soon, need to take care of it before we leave for our conference in Vancouver. Right now, the website won't let me add a payment, or anything else... guess I'm calling my PVP soon unless it gets fixed soon.

[sidari]

Are these guys for real ? MSC that is.

 

Yesterday I received an email telling me the New itinerary for the 23rd December sailing, I then replied asking when the official notification would be sent out giving details of the cancellation process.

 

Today I have just received a further reply to my question from the same person who sent yesterdays email, and here is the response ! ... :mad:

 

Dear Dave,

Thank you for your email

 

I have checked on the system and it shows that an official communication has been sent to you on May this year. (This was the change of day for the Nassau stop from Friday to Monday)

 

It is not considered a significant change, so there is not any compensation in this case.

I am afraid but you cannot cancel this cruise with refund of the deposit.

 

 

The significant change is the removal of Ocean Cay and St Thomas and replacing them with St Maarten and San Juan and changing the Nassau stop back to its original day, it really is like dealing with a 5 year old school child.

Edited October 12, 2016 by sidari

[djvand]

I think most cruise lines assume a lot of passengers (not all!) really do not mind port of call changes. In this case, the private island simply is not going to be ready, there is nothing MSC can do to fix this other than to throw in a replacement stop. The contract specifically states the cruise line reserves the right to change the ports of call so legally I believe they are entitled to do so. Now, I have had this happen on HAL and they offered OBC, free drinks, etc. MSC has not gone that far as of yet but who knows what will happen once on board.

 

I guess I am in the minority who pick a cruise based on the ship. I have been to most of these islands and they are all basically the same (again, just my opinion). I am anxious to try out their new private island but never plan on a company being able to pull off an opening on time, especially with hurricanes.

[sidari]

MSC has not gone that far as of yet but who knows what will happen once on board.

 

We cannot wait to be onboard just to see if they may offer something! the cost of flights from the UK will not allow us to do that alone.

 

When they make a change to port stops or other things on the booking they have to issue a New invoice showing those changes along with the opportunity to cancel or rebook on another cruise of refund the deposit, they have so far failed to do that.

[All-ready2cruise]

We, in NA are lucky, we can cancel/rebook right up until final payment is due without any penalty. Not so much for UK customers so I can see where the frustration is coming from Dave.

 

It's too bad MSC is playing this game with you, Dave and perhaps many others too, they may come to regret their actions if they don't smarten up. I hope their stance changes.

 

Good luck,

[sidari]

Connie ... I have emails from them telling me the exact opposite and even their terms and conditions say that an Official response will be made in writing regarding any changes! so far no Official notification over the current changes.

 

I also know of another passenger here that was told they could cancel and get their deposit back, re book on Seaside or another ship and were given a future cruise credit per cabin over the OC Fiasco.

 

They really are the Jokers in the pack.

[MarkusToe]

Ive given the case to my lawer: as the private island was promoted as special extra

This is a significant change.

Therefore we are entiteled for compensation or, if we will, free cancelation

[sidari]

Markus ... Please keep us updated on it.

[MarkusToe]

Keep in mind please , its german law...

Keep you posted... we've asked for 400us compensation

2pax 2 weeks 2 days on the island...,

thats the cost you heed to go to all incl hotel on day pass base

[sidari]

Just been on a few cruise travel sites this morning in the UK and found this Itinerary posted on one of them for a 14 night B2B cruise on Seaside from 23rd December under their "smart Package" deal. At least three of the others are still advertising Ocean Cay.

 

Miami : Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island : Nassau : Ocean Cay Marine Reserve : Miami : Ocho Rios : Georgetown, Grand Cayman : Cozumel, Mexico : Ocean Cay Marine Reserve : Miami.

[dd likes to cruise]

We are scheduled April 14, 2018 and finally on the MSC website all the cruises in that time frame have Ocean Cay removed. I will start complaining now though - does not look like they are replacing OC with another port as the article said. Mine had Bahamas already so we were suppose to get a 4th port - nope some changes around but only has 3 ports and an extra sea day.

[SNJCruisers]

There are 10 sailings in 2018 that are currently open for booking that are going to the western route. Six of them are substituting Nassau, while the other four are stopping at Costa Maya on Thursday after the Cozumel port stop and then having Friday as a sea day.

 

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[jerseyaxn]

It is strange they havent said anything to us that were booked on seaside with ocean cay on it.my cruise on the map of the cruise still shows ocean cay but in the itenerary says nassau 10_ 6.

 

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[All-ready2cruise]

Same for us. No notification but the change shows in itin but only if you click on the "Itinerary" icon.

 

The only thing I can think of is that for us in N.America we have the option to cancel up until final payment, whereas Europe and UK don't have that option it's totally dependent on the designation they apply to the changes made to the itinerary if it's a " significant change" it allows a change and full refund or switching to another cruise. (I think that's correct)

 

For us, it's simply a matter of what we feel is important, ports or ship. If it's the ship, no need to cancel, if it's the ports, as it would be for someone travelling a long distance to get to Miami, then it's likely a combination of both and IMO, those pax should be allowed to change or cancel. Not sure why MSC can't see that difference.

 

Cheers, (please blame any spelling errors on the wine I'm drinking, not me per se) :p

[RudiRatlos]

The only thing I can think of is that for us in N.America we have the option to cancel up until final payment, whereas Europe and UK don't have that option it's totally dependent on the designation they apply to the changes made to the itinerary if it's a " significant change" it allows a change and full refund or switching to another cruise. (I think that's correct)

 

Just had a look at what german judges decided in similar cases: small changes in itinerary are more likely not considered a significant change, whereas the replacement of a port stop by a sea day most likely would be seen as significant. Replacement of one port stop by another may be a significant change if the original port has been specially announced as a main part of the cruise or if the "character" of the cruise is changed by this modification.

[sidari]

MSC are doing themselves no favours but continue to annoy passengers by contradicting themselves, I have two emails from one person in the UK office, one saying the Official notification will come before or after the end of the year! and the second one saying that we can cancel free of charge and get the deposit back.

 

Having asked on Monday of this week about the itinerary change and an updated invoice which they are supposed to send out when they make any change I was sent the new itinerary and new invoices along with the news that No you cannot cancel and have the deposit back (contradiction from previous email) quoting the relevant sections of the T & C`s.

Having written back to them they now deem not to answer the difficult questions I have put to them!

 

The original itinerary was as follows.

23 rd December Miami Saturday

24 At Sea

25 At Sea

26 St Thomas 0800 to 1600 Tuesday

27 At Sea

28 Nassau 1200 to 2000 Thursday

29 Ocean Cay 0900 to 2355 Friday

30 Miami

 

In May this year I received an email and updated Invoice showing a change to the day the ship would go to Nassau along with time changes, No big issue for us, Did anyone else on this sailing get the email ? the change was as below.

 

23 rd December Miami

24 Nassau 0700 to 1500 Sunday

25 Sea

26 St Thomas 1300 to 23.59 Tuesday

27 St Thomas 0000 to 0200 Wednesday

28 At Sea

29 Ocean Cay 0900 to 2355 Friday

30 Miami

 

Then they announced in September that O.C would not be ready until October 2018 (work should have begun in March) eventually they changed the itinerary to the following.

 

23 rd December Miami

24 At Sea

25 At sea

26 St Maarten 0800 to 1800 Tuesday

27 San Juan 0700 to 1700 Wednesday

28 At Sea

29 Nassau 1030 to 1800 Friday

30 Miami

 

So Nassau has gone from Thursday to Sunday to Friday, Ocean Cay removed, St Thomas also removed and St Maarten and San Juan added bearing in mind that they are also saying that this may not be the final ports of call!

 

I believe the above does constitute "significant" change. I am waiting for a response from Holiday travel watch UK with regard to the issue and will post it here when I have it.

 

MSC UK seem to think if they ignore the issue it will go away.

Edited October 14, 2016 by sidari

[eroller]

According to a Travel Weekly article yesterday, MSC has stated that Eastern Caribbean itineraries will now visit St Maarten, San Juan, and St Thomas until May 2018 when Ocean Cay is scheduled to open. Western Caribbean itineraries will visit Nassau instead of Ocean Cay with the remainder of the itinerary unchanged.

[sidari]

Ernie ... You have to wonder where they are getting their info from! I think the itineraries may well change again at some point and it makes you wonder where the May date came from for O.C.

 

There has been no word about work having started there after the Hurricane so how it moved forward some five months is anyone's guess.

[rjuray]

Ocean Cay, a new cruise port in the Bahamas under development by MSC Cruises, will now open in October 2018, 10 months later than originally scheduled.

The cruise line purchased the 85 acre island in the Bahamas and is in the process of transforming it into the only marine reserve island experience for cruise passengers. The island will also have a dock so there will be no need for tendering.

 

MSC Cruises said the reason for the new opening date for Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve was to ensure the level of quality and attention to detail that guests have come to expect from the cruise line. Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, gave the following statement:

 

“As we sat out to finalize construction plans for this one-of-a-kind destination, we realized that to ensure the level of quality and attention to details in both infrastructure and services that our guests have rightfully come to expect from MSC Cruises, it was only appropriate to allot a longer time frame. In fact, while working on the final project, it was hard not to further enrich this unique beach destination with new and additional unique services for our guests. This naturally called for more time than originally planned.”

 

Work is officially underway on Ocean Cay with a ground breaking ceremony scheduled to be held on October 6, 2016. In attendance will be the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Right Honourable Perry G. Christie, and other high dignitaries from the country’s government.

http://cruisefever.net/0914-opening-new-bahamian-cruise-port-pushed-back-2018/

Say it isn't so!

[eroller]

Ernie ... You have to wonder where they are getting their info from! I think the itineraries may well change again at some point and it makes you wonder where the May date came from for O.C.

 

There has been no word about work having started there after the Hurricane so how it moved forward some five months is anyone's guess.

 

 

As you know everything concerning MSC is subject to change! LOL

 

The information was retweeted by Ken Muskat, EVP of MSC Cruises USA so I like to think it's accurate. I do find it odd that often times information about MSC is retweeted from 3rd party sources by their own executives, rather than just posting the information themselves.

 

I did read this small blurb about Ocean Cay post hurricane Matthew.

 

'It's in the early stages [of development]. We're OK there,' said Rick Sasso, chairman, MSC Cruises North America.

 

[sidari]

This is where some of the problems are with employees putting out information that has not come via the official channels of MSC in Italy or Switzerland! just like so far there has been no Official email to anyone of the changes that are being made to itineraries and that O.C will not be ready.

 

They need to get a grip and the likes of their employees like Muskat need to stop putting out non official information.

 

It is quite clear from the post above from rjuray that even now there are plenty of people who have no idea of the changes being made.

[jerseyaxn]

Im just glad Seaside is on schedule

 

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[sidari]

Im just glad Seaside is on schedule.

 

For Now! there may be strikes coming up due to sackings at the yard ..:eek: