Tried MSC .....Great Ships but worst Management Staff EVER!

[Coochuck]

Just finished trying the MSC Divina as a first time cruiser of MSC. We have gone on around 50 cruises so we are not novices. We had a Yacht Club Suite and found the on board staff, i.e. Butler, Waiters, etc to be as good as any other cruise line we have gone on. With that being said the rest of the staff from the Front Desk to the Concierge gave inconstant information.

The worst experience came when we booked another Yacht Club Experience on the new Seaside while on board. The 'Next Cruise Consultant' booked our reservation, took our deposit, and told us that we could not use our 25% discount (given to all cruises who had cruises interrupted by the hurricane)on board, however once we got home we should call the MSC Main Number and the discount would be applied. THIS WAS A TOTAL LIE...I pushed this up within MSC and was told there was nothing they could do for us. I'm done with MSC....I will never use them again and tell my fellow cruises never to use them as they cannot be trusted. How can they employ someone to see cruise on board one of their ships that sells something to a customer that should not have been sold? Oh well....live goes on.

[travelberlin]

Sorry to read about your experience. Maybe de US office from MSC can help you? I have got the impression that they are very helpful from reading how they react here in CC.

[Coochuck]

Sorry to read about your experience. Maybe de US office from MSC can help you? I have got the impression that they are very helpful from reading how they react here in CC.

Tried them, the lady I worked with was very sympathetic, but could not help. I will just mark it off as a bad experience and move on....but thank you for your suggestion.

[Two Wheels Only]

I'm just asking (I have no experience with MSC) but what would happen if you canceled the cruise that was booked on-board then booked again from home? Would you get the discount then?

[Coochuck]

I'm just asking (I have no experience with MSC) but what would happen if you canceled the cruise that was booked on-board then booked again from home? Would you get the discount then?

I thought of that, but after the bad experience with MSC I feel my money is best spent elsewhere. MSC keeps preaching that they are a Family run line. Just glad to not be a member of their family after this bad experience. Perhaps if they were a publicly traded company they would treat their customers better than I was treated.

[riclop]

Just finished trying the MSC Divina as a first time cruiser of MSC. We have gone on around 50 cruises so we are not novices. We had a Yacht Club Suite and found the on board staff, i.e. Butler, Waiters, etc to be as good as any other cruise line we have gone on. With that being said the rest of the staff from the Front Desk to the Concierge gave inconstant information.

The worst experience came when we booked another Yacht Club Experience on the new Seaside while on board. The 'Next Cruise Consultant' booked our reservation, took our deposit, and told us that we could not use our 25% discount (given to all cruises who had cruises interrupted by the hurricane)on board, however once we got home we should call the MSC Main Number and the discount would be applied. THIS WAS A TOTAL LIE...I pushed this up within MSC and was told there was nothing they could do for us. I'm done with MSC....I will never use them again and tell my fellow cruises never to use them as they cannot be trusted. How can they employ someone to see cruise on board one of their ships that sells something to a customer that should not have been sold? Oh well....live goes on.

Agree with you they give nothing but wrong info but we will continue to cruise MSC.

[deliver42]

I've found that the people that do the next cruises on all the lines seem to give conflicting information. Sorry about what happened to you, but I agree with the previous poster about cancelling, then rebooking with one of their cruise consultants on land. If you were happy with the cruise experience, then it seems like you would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.I'm not trying to make light of your experience, just trying to give you the option, and enjoy your next cruise, with whoever it may be.

[SmoothFlying]

I thought of that, but after the bad experience with MSC I feel my money is best spent elsewhere. MSC keeps preaching that they are a Family run line. Just glad to not be a member of their family after this bad experience. Perhaps if they were a publicly traded company they would treat their customers better than I was treated.

 

Hmmm.. A 'Family run cruise line' huh..? Perhaps, their motto should be.. 'That's right, We ARE a 'family run cruise:eek: line'. And add in very small print..However for our passengers we DO believe in incest ! (Just kidding)..BUT ! It does make one wonder ?

 

Mac

[LMaxwell]

So you enjoyed the cruise, enough to book again, have complimentary things to say about your experience and staff, but are swearing off of them because a booking got messed up and be fixed by canceling at no penalty and rebooking?

 

Okay then...

[lmcgrail]

Just finished trying the MSC Divina as a first time cruiser of MSC. We have gone on around 50 cruises so we are not novices. We had a Yacht Club Suite and found the on board staff, i.e. Butler, Waiters, etc to be as good as any other cruise line we have gone on. With that being said the rest of the staff from the Front Desk to the Concierge gave inconstant information.

.

 

I had the same experience. We were on the hurricane cruise and the Concierge either did not know what was going on or gave misinformation. We found out from fellow passengers that we were going to have clear immigration/customs on the ship in Cozumel. Then, on the day we were leaving the ship, the Concierge told us we had to meet with Immigration at 6 am; so we got up very early, finished packing as we were told we had to bring all of our luggage including carry-ons. My husband went down to the concierge at 5:45 am who then said no we didn't need to be there until 730am and we did not need to bring carry-ons. We then went at 7:30 am and it was a zoo...hundreds of people in line, mass confusion, and one immigration officer. I knew more about what was going on than the concierge's by going to the daily Captain's talk.

 

Also, I had a bad experience with the night concierge. I tend to get up early so I went down to Top Sail to get a pastry. I got caught by the night concierge who spent a 1/2 hour telling me how bad MSC was to work and how awful her job was. I know, I should have walked away but I'm just too polite. I got rescued when another guest came up with a question.

 

The Captain, butlers, and room stewards were all great. Our room steward even wheeled our luggage all the way down the pier in Cozumel.

 

Lori

[sidari]

and one immigration officer.

 

 

Hardly the fault of MSC now is it !

[jacksonx]

I agree that the onboard cruise person was useless. I'm pretty sure you can just get better deals online.

These sound like trivial complaints but I'm glad some people believe this is enough to not cruise MSC again- means I'm personally more likely to get a terrific YC deal again. :)

[helen haywood]

Not to make light of the OP's difficulty with the onboard booking experience, but the same thing happens frequently on Celebrity's ships, and I'm sure other lines as well. Celebrity also has a terrible website! But that has nothing to do with our enjoyment of all our Celebrity cruises once aboard!

[Coochuck]

I had the same experience. We were on the hurricane cruise and the Concierge either did not know what was going on or gave misinformation. We found out from fellow passengers that we were going to have clear immigration/customs on the ship in Cozumel. Then, on the day we were leaving the ship, the Concierge told us we had to meet with Immigration at 6 am; so we got up very early, finished packing as we were told we had to bring all of our luggage including carry-ons. My husband went down to the concierge at 5:45 am who then said no we didn't need to be there until 730am and we did not need to bring carry-ons. We then went at 7:30 am and it was a zoo...hundreds of people in line, mass confusion, and one immigration officer. I knew more about what was going on than the concierge's by going to the daily Captain's talk.

 

Also, I had a bad experience with the night concierge. I tend to get up early so I went down to Top Sail to get a pastry. I got caught by the night concierge who spent a 1/2 hour telling me how bad MSC was to work and how awful her job was. I know, I should have walked away but I'm just too polite. I got rescued when another guest came up with a question.

 

The Captain, butlers, and room stewards were all great. Our room steward even wheeled our luggage all the way down the pier in Cozumel.

 

Lori

 

Lori, I'm sorry about your experience...and have spoken to others who got off in Cozumel....was a very bad situation. Unbelievable how much bad information was passed or or not passed on at all by their staff. LOL...was thinking they should switch the Butlers and the Concierge staff!

[Coochuck]

I agree that the onboard cruise person was useless. I'm pretty sure you can just get better deals online.

These sound like trivial complaints but I'm glad some people believe this is enough to not cruise MSC again- means I'm personally more likely to get a terrific YC deal again. :)

 

 

When someone that sells you something...and does not deliver on a 25% OFF discount...that is a big deal if it's your money. Yacht Club Cabins are not a trivial amount to me, perhaps to you. 25% off is over $1000...not trival.

[Cruisergal1208]

When someone that sells you something...and does not deliver on a 25% OFF discount...that is a big deal if it's your money. Yacht Club Cabins are not a trivial amount to me, perhaps to you. 25% off is over $1000...not trival.

 

We too were in the YC and I booked another Divina YC cruise on board while on the hurricane cruise. First paper work delivered to cabin had the wrong date for sailing. Went back to consultant to get it changed. Got home and contacted myMSC PVC to apply the 25% discount. His supervisor said it wasn't applicable to my booking. I then asked for an explanation in writing as to which wording in the certificate showed it was not. He came back and said oh, yes, it was applicable and he would send the new price as well as the adjustment on our insurance quote. So I guess it sometimes pays to be a little assertive. Sorry for your experience with the concierges. Some are better than others.

[spidybabe]

Also on the hurricane Irma divina cruise. We also mostly loved the cruise, except for customer service, both at the cruise consultant and guest services. You could tell onboard which staff was from other cruise lines(great people persons), and which staff was trained by MSC. We still will sail MSC again, because although we had a few fustrated minutes, overall the cruise was great

Safe sailing

[lmcgrail]

and one immigration officer.

 

 

 

 

 

Hardly the fault of MSC now is it !

 

 

 

Didn’t say it was. But the hundreds of people standing in line with no communication was MSC’s doing.

 

 

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[lmcgrail]

Lori, I'm sorry about your experience...and have spoken to others who got off in Cozumel....was a very bad situation. Unbelievable how much bad information was passed or or not passed on at all by their staff. LOL...was thinking they should switch the Butlers and the Concierge staff!

 

 

 

Maybe a switch is in order. The butlers definitely worked a lot harder than the concierges did. We still had a great trip and have the Seaside booked for next year.

 

 

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[lmcgrail]

We too were in the YC and I booked another Divina YC cruise on board while on the hurricane cruise. First paper work delivered to cabin had the wrong date for sailing. Went back to consultant to get it changed. Got home and contacted myMSC PVC to apply the 25% discount. His supervisor said it wasn't applicable to my booking. I then asked for an explanation in writing as to which wording in the certificate showed it was not. He came back and said oh, yes, it was applicable and he would send the new price as well as the adjustment on our insurance quote. So I guess it sometimes pays to be a little assertive. Sorry for your experience with the concierges. Some are better than others.

 

 

 

Hmm.. we were told we couldn’t apply it to an existing reservation. Your PVC’s initials don’t happen to be T.D. Guess I’ll be on the phone with him tomorrow.

 

 

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[sfaaa]

I love Divina. Beautiful ship and very competitive pricing. Unfortunately, some of the MSC staff including future cruise person I dealt with onboard were quite inexperienced and new to the cruise industry. Not entirely their fault I suppose. To be competitive and avoid problems described by OP, MSC needs to up its staff training program and hire more qualified staff already familiar with N America cruise industry.

Edited October 2, 2017 by sfaaa

[Janet&Carl]

Didn’t say it was. But the hundreds of people standing in line with no communication was MSC’s doing.

 

 

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I have had a similar experience in Japan on Princess - lots of angry people in a huge long line with absolutely no information or input from the staff - sometimes **** happens - you can jump up and down or you can go with the flow

 

Personally, I go with the flow and have never had a cruise that has upset me so much and always enjoyed my holidays. My advice. Don't sweat the small stuff - 25%off might sound good until the next special comes out 2 for 1 :)

[Janet&Carl]

I love Divina. Beautiful ship and very competitive pricing. Unfortunately, some of the MSC staff including future cruise person I dealt with onboard were quite inexperienced and new to the cruise industry. Not entirely their fault I suppose. To be competitive and avoid problems described by OP, MSC needs to up its staff training program and hire more qualified staff already familiar with N America cruise industry.

 

 

In my opinion (my own) I quite like that they are not "another" generic american cruise line

[GOLDENBONNY]

In my opinion (my own) I quite like that they are not "another" generic american cruise line

Amen :* I hope they will never become one. Enough Costa went down the drain after they sold it to CCL

[GOLDENBONNY]

I thought of that, but after the bad experience with MSC I feel my money is best spent elsewhere. MSC keeps preaching that they are a Family run line. Just glad to not be a member of their family after this bad experience. Perhaps if they were a publicly traded company they would treat their customers better than I was treated.

I am sure they will miss you. :rolleyes: