Very upset about possible MSC membership fraud

[Mikew0805]

So not maintained indefinitely then !

 

 

Um yeah.. with the qualifier that I mentioned. :rolleyes:

[Mikew0805]

MSC has made ownership of the Black card a total joke, how long before a whole ship sailing from Miami are all holders of a Black card!

 

Not a joke to those of us who earned it with another cruise line. ;)

 

The least they could have done is have some I.D. on the card which shows those people who have earned a Black card via cruises with them.

 

Why? Are those people unaware that they earned it via cruises, and need to be reminded? ;p

[sidari]

Um yeah.. with the qualifier that I mentioned.

 

So as I said not Indefinitely, if it was you would not have to cruise within 3 years again!

 

 

"Not a joke to those of us who earned it with another cruise line."

That is the point, you have not earned it have you ? you have been given it by MSC.

 

 

"Why? Are those people unaware that they earned it via cruises, and need to be reminded? "

 

The people themselves know of course they do, but the crew do not know do they ?

 

As I said the Black Card is now a Joke as is the not so loyalty part.

[Tatka]

Does crew really treat you differently on MSC if you have different card (number of cruises). Never noticed it on other lines.

 

MSC does have this weird rule about 3 years... No other line, but MSC. What happened if a person reached Black level and then couldn’t cruise for three years? Is it back to nothing?

[canny_cruiser]

The least they could have done is have some I.D. on the card which shows those people who have earned a Black card via cruises with them.

 

I thoroughly agree, Sidari.

 

I call my friend, who gained Black before she had ever set foot on an MSC ship due to her level on RCCI, the "Voyager Club interloper"!

Edited November 9, 2017 by canny_cruiser

[sidari]

Tatka ... Yes that is it, and another reason it makes the handing out of Black cards like Confetti a farce because those who status match have nothing to lose!

[Proseccoandsun]

It kind of makes the "Welcome Back" party a bit out of place - many have never been there in the first place! I'm not a black card holder on any line, but I agree there should be certain perks given to the true loyal customers that are different than status match. They're two different things.

Tatka ... Yes that is it, and another reason it makes the handing out of Black cards like Confetti a farce because those who status match have nothing to lose!

[Tatka]

Well, MSC is very aggressive in pursuit of North American market. Starting with pricing.

I am sure other cruiselines aren't very happy about them trying to steal their loyal pax base. Although MSC perks aren't comparable to for example RCCL.

[gtalum]

Well, MSC is very aggressive in pursuit of North American market. Starting with pricing.

I am sure other cruiselines aren't very happy about them trying to steal their loyal pax base. Although MSC perks aren't comparable to for example RCCL.

 

They seem to be placing themselves firmly in between Carnival and Royal, in terms of membership perks. I agree, the other lines can't be happy about their rates, but the spectacular ones offered last spring and summer seem to be going up now so I suspect they'll reach an equilibrium. With so many new ships coming on line so quickly they needed to do something to ramp up their customer base.

 

Now to see if they can hold on to us with the onboard experience. I'm looking forward to our Seaside cruise in June.

[Tatka]

Good luck!

We enjoyed our experience on Poesia and Divina. Beautiful ships, great entertainment, which we thought topped most of other ships. I do prefer production shows to Broadway ones.

The only downside for us was evening buffets offerings and quality and preparation meat. Hope this has improved.

On Divina we missed Italian flare of Poesia, as it was more americanized(nothing against my country, but we picked MSC to experience Europe :) )

I suspect Seaside will be geared even more to North American pax.

 

I would place MSC experience much closer to RCCL, than Carnival.

[gtalum]

Good luck!

We enjoyed our experience on Poesia and Divina. Beautiful ships, great entertainment, which we thought topped most of other ships. I do prefer production shows to Broadway ones.

The only downside for us was evening buffets offerings and quality and preparation meat. Hope this has improved.

On Divina we missed Italian flare of Poesia, as it was more americanized(nothing against my country, but we picked MSC to experience Europe :) )

I suspect Seaside will be geared even more to North American pax.

 

I would place MSC experience much closer to RCCL, than Carnival.

 

I'm not expecting much "Italian flair" on Seaside, but we will be pleasantly surprised if there is some!

 

We are easygoing cruisers, so I'm certain we'll enjoy ourselves. We are very frequent Carnival cruisers, but open-minded to try everybody else. Give me a beer and a deck chair overlooking the water and I'm happy. :D

 

The fare that snagged us was the Grand Suite. I'm looking forward to seeing what one of those actually looks like. We're going to sail in a 1-bedroom Grand Suite with drinks included for less than a very similar Carnival cruise in a standard balcony without drinks. Privacy from the kids in the cabin will be much appreciated, so we took that over a similarly priced YC Balcony.

[sidari]

"It kind of makes the "Welcome Back" party a bit out of place - many have never been there in the first place!"

 

 

It makes a mockery of it, would love to hear MSC talk their way out of that one.

[Beamafar]

Although MSC perks aren't comparable to for example RCCL.

 

The Black Card perks were watered down for us who earned ours through sailing with MSC when Voyagers Club and Status Match were introduced.

 

I wonder how all of those who've status-matched to Black would feel if the benefits they enjoy on other cruise lines were reduced to facilitate a similar quid pro quo.

[Tatka]

What were they before?

 

I would not liked it, but I am not sure I would try status match.

On our second sailing MSC forgot all together that we already sailed with them. We had to go to guest relations to fix this.

[Beamafar]

What were they before?

 

I'll quote a post from Skier52:

 

For the benefit of the status match people this is what the real black card holders gave up in perks:

 

1) 20% discount on any cruise; replaced by 5% for all members

 

2) A bottle of Moet and Chandon for each black card holder in a cabin; replaced by 1 bottle of prosecco per cabin

 

3) A sit down meal with the officers; replaced with a cocktail gathering

 

4) A meal in a speciality diner from the full menu 25% discount on drinks in the venue; replaced by a taster menu and no drink discount

 

5) 10% discount on excursions

 

6) other small discounts on a variety of spend items

 

What do we get in return a CHOCOLATE SHIP and queues in the priority boarding lanes.

[Tatka]

Yes. This is sad.

I guess it is a trade off for business development (new ships). They probably couldn't attract more pax without status match....

[dd likes to cruise]

The Black Card perks were watered down for us who earned ours through sailing with MSC when Voyagers Club and Status Match were introduced.

 

I wonder how all of those who've status-matched to Black would feel if the benefits they enjoy on other cruise lines were reduced to facilitate a similar quid pro quo.

 

No one would like their benefits reduced, BUT, you can't really fault us for matching if we wish to sail with MSC.

I'm sure if it benefited you to try another cruisline, you would do it also.

[Beamafar]

No one would like their benefits reduced, BUT, you can't really fault us for matching if we wish to sail with MSC.

I'm sure if it benefited you to try another cruisline, you would do it also.

 

I'm not faulting anyone for status-matching. As I've said, countless times before, my beef is with MSC for continuing to call it a loyalty programme.

[sfaaa]

I'm not faulting anyone for status-matching. As I've said, countless times before, my beef is with MSC for continuing to call it a loyalty programme.

 

MSC can call whatever it wants. It's just a name. Why does it bother you?

[sidari]

It appears some people just do not get it !

[Beamafar]

Imagine if you went to dinner and the waiter handed you a plate of, say, 2 fried eggs and you asked "What's that?" and the reply came "That's dinner" and you said "No, it's not". "Well, MSC can call it what it wants, it's just a name" comes the reply. So words have no real meaning, then!

[sidari]

I wonder if people would be so accepting of allowing a Homeless or Unemployed person to get the same Medical Benefits as them just for signing up ? I think I know the answer.

[cruzeluver]

I wonder if people would be so accepting of allowing a Homeless or Unemployed person to get the same Medical Benefits as them just for signing up ? I think I know the answer.

Awful comparison.

 

 

I would have no problem with that. But then I believe everyone should be able to have their medical needs met, regardless of their ability to pay. Its called being a decent, compassionate person.

 

 

Sorry for those whose befits have been diminished (I really am and I would not be happy about it either, although I doubt I would repeat it over and over and over again on Cruise Critic. We are Diamond on Royal and Elite on Celebrity, but they could ditch those programs tomorrow, take away all associated perks and would not change our vacation planning), but I still say Status Match is a stroke of genius. Its gotten MSC a lot of attention in the US market, and it costs them almost nothing.

 

Seems innocent posts where people are asking about Status Match because they are new to MSC have to be told how they are just being handed something others had to "earn" , and they should "stick to their own kind" (got that post removed).

Edited November 10, 2017 by cruzeluver
more info

[Beamafar]

I doubt I would repeat it over and over and over again on Cruise Critic.

 

Most subjects get repeated "over and over and over again" on Cruise Critic. I can't count the number of times I've answered the same questions over and over and over again. That's because I accept that there are always new people to the forum.

 

Bytheway, it's not the regular cruisers with MSC who've earned their Black Cards that keep bringing this subject up! However, we're entitled to contribute to the threads where it does and offer our views on the matter.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Beamafar

[dd likes to cruise]

I am very active participant of another cruise forum (non US).

 

Today I was PMed with a question if I can scan one of my loyalty membership cards (we are platinums/silvers/selects with several lines) so that person would use this scan,change my name to his and forward to MSC for membership match. He wanted to get to Black level, but even lower levels would be ok.

 

To get back to the original post - I would not help someone cheat the system and would think most cruisers would not either. Hopefully MSC does double check and make sure, but I guess we have no way of knowing. We just have to trust that too many others won't enable those wanting to scam and cheat.