Our MSC Divina Cruise - Dec. 9-16, 2017

[asctony]

Hi Mike,

If MSC gets their customer service and some other issues up to a bit higher standard, then I will book her. In the meantime, !

Thanks for your input. We would like to know some specifics that affected your MSC cruise where you state that MSC needs to be a bit higher in standards. Without your specifics, it is almost impossible to help them to understand what needs to be done.

As for Customer Service, all of the cruise lines fall down in this area. Training is the biggest problem here.

Again, looking forward to your specific comments. No flaming intended. Happy Cruising on RCI. We are Diamond + on RCI.

[KeywestK]

Thanks for your input. We would like to know some specifics that affected your MSC cruise where you state that MSC needs to be a bit higher in standards. Without your specifics, it is almost impossible to help them to understand what needs to be done.

As for Customer Service, all of the cruise lines fall down in this area. Training is the biggest problem here.

Again, looking forward to your specific comments. No flaming intended. Happy Cruising on RCI. We are Diamond + on RCI.

 

The Customer Service issues we faced were, IMO, significant. I booked this cruise directly with MSC, 12 months prior to our sail date. We specifically booked the Fantastica experience because that would give us priority dining preference, accordingly to their website. During the booking process, I explained to the rep that we required early seating, due to health issues. We were told that booking Fantastica would be the way to go. One month before the cruise, I called back to double check our early dining and was assured we would have that. Imagine my surprise when we got to the ship and were assigned second seating. Not a good first impression at all. We were able to go to the dining room that afternoon and have it changed, but that situation NEVER should have happened.

 

The other issue was onboard credit we were promised by MSC when I booked. We were told we'd have $100 OBC, which never showed up on our account. I went to the Guest Relations desk to question it, and he said they had no record of it. Believe me when I tell you that the $100 was not the issue. What was the issue was that MSC customer service rep told us we'd have it, so I expected to receive it. After some back and forth with Guest Relations, they called me later in the day to tell me that they had to email corporate (in Italy!) to OK our OBC, and it was approved. Did I really need to hear about the process they went though to approve my OBC?

 

So clearly, we did not have a good first impression of the way this company is being run. Their customer service has a long way to go, IMO. We are not demanding travelers, and, for the most part, we travel with a go-with-the-flow mentality. It has served us well in 30 years of travel, much of which has been overseas. But dealing with a company where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, is, for me, not a pleasant experience.

[TrinaLC]

Not to minimize your annoyance, but OBC not showing up and dining time changes are probably two of the most common occurrences across all cruiselines.

 

Most don't fix lack of OBC so MSC checking with homebase and adding it back in my mind is actually good service.

 

In both cases, the "mistakes" were fixed. I think that is actually good service. So often on cruises they are not (all lines).

[CruisingFox27]

The Customer Service issues we faced were, IMO, significant. I booked this cruise directly with MSC, 12 months prior to our sail date. We specifically booked the Fantastica experience because that would give us priority dining preference, accordingly to their website. During the booking process, I explained to the rep that we required early seating, due to health issues. We were told that booking Fantastica would be the way to go. One month before the cruise, I called back to double check our early dining and was assured we would have that. Imagine my surprise when we got to the ship and were assigned second seating. Not a good first impression at all. We were able to go to the dining room that afternoon and have it changed, but that situation NEVER should have happened.

 

The other issue was onboard credit we were promised by MSC when I booked. We were told we'd have $100 OBC, which never showed up on our account. I went to the Guest Relations desk to question it, and he said they had no record of it. Believe me when I tell you that the $100 was not the issue. What was the issue was that MSC customer service rep told us we'd have it, so I expected to receive it. After some back and forth with Guest Relations, they called me later in the day to tell me that they had to email corporate (in Italy!) to OK our OBC, and it was approved. Did I really need to hear about the process they went though to approve my OBC?

 

So clearly, we did not have a good first impression of the way this company is being run. Their customer service has a long way to go, IMO. We are not demanding travelers, and, for the most part, we travel with a go-with-the-flow mentality. It has served us well in 30 years of travel, much of which has been overseas. But dealing with a company where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, is, for me, not a pleasant experience.

 

Wow! I'm appreciating a minor issue arose causings some frustation but it was resolved immediately, that doesn't constitute significant customer service issues accross the whole company.

[KeywestK]

Wow! I'm appreciating a minor issue arose causings some frustation but it was resolved immediately, that doesn't constitute significant customer service issues accross the whole company.

 

Tough crowd;) We felt the seating issue never should have happened. I could have purchased the Bella experience and saved the money and would have had the same outcome. I shouldn't have had to fight for what I was promised with the OBC. Yes, everything was resolved, but it all cost time and not a little aggravation. I understand that these issues can happen on any cruise line, but in over 20 years of cruising RCI, Celebrity, and even Carnival, I never encountered it. So the fact that I did on our first MSC cruise, it gives me pause.

[asctony]

Tough crowd;) We felt the seating issue never should have happened. I could have purchased the Bella experience and saved the money and would have had the same outcome. I shouldn't have had to fight for what I was promised with the OBC. Yes, everything was resolved, but it all cost time and not a little aggravation. I understand that these issues can happen on any cruise line, but in over 20 years of cruising RCI, Celebrity, and even Carnival, I never encountered it. So the fact that I did on our first MSC cruise, it gives me pause.

 

Thank you for taking the time to explain your dissatisfaction and concerns with MSC.

First off, I am not a Cheerleader for any cruise line. Have cruised on many of them over the years. Been on these boards for many years, too.

We are Diamond+ on RCI and Elite+ on Celebrity. The only reason I mention this is to let you know our experience with cruising. We have dealt with Celebrity Customer Service many times and were just like you. totally frustrated. We were Elite+, had it shown on our documents, etc., and we boarded a Celebrity cruise. All of a sudden we were downgraded to Elite on that cruise. We talked to Guest Relations on the ship, they in-turn called/contacted Corp., and it took all week to get no satisfaction. We got home and I continued to call Celebrity CS and spent hours with copies of screen prints, cruise cards from previous Celebrity cruises identifying us a +, to no avail. Finally after hours and hours of back and forth, we were reclassified as +. We lost our Elite+ perks during that cruise because of this.

My point here is that there is no Corporation that excels in Customer Service. I have dealt with T-Mobile for months on a problem, PayPal, etc. They do not train their people. They do not pay enough to hire qualified people. So, MSC is no different.

Does that make it right? No, but at least you got it resolved.

Yes, we still cruise Celebrity and we still use PayPal and T-Mobile. Big Corps. really don't care anymore. If you leave there is someone else to take your place.

You should not be flamed for pointing these concerns out. People who flame you would flame anyone, regardless. Unless it happens to them, they may never understand.

Like I say - it is your money, your vacation and your choice. You took the time to post on this forum. That is what this forum is about. Everyone has an opinion and this is 'free speech.'

Hope you continue cruising regardless which cruise line. Happy Cruising!!!.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your review!

[CruisingFox27]

Tough crowd;) We felt the seating issue never should have happened. I could have purchased the Bella experience and saved the money and would have had the same outcome. I shouldn't have had to fight for what I was promised with the OBC. Yes, everything was resolved, but it all cost time and not a little aggravation. I understand that these issues can happen on any cruise line, but in over 20 years of cruising RCI, Celebrity, and even Carnival, I never encountered it. So the fact that I did on our first MSC cruise, it gives me pause.

 

Mainly because you've dismissed an entire companies customer service due to minor issues, which shouldn't have happened but were resolved promptly.

We had an excursion booked and paid for on a cruise once, when the tickets arrived we only had 1 ticket and we had to spend a couple of minutes visiting the desk to get our missing ticket. It couldn't be described as a significant customer service failing of the entire company. It was a minor inconvenience and we moved on. I guess it's all personal perspective on situations and what is important as to what constitutes significant disruption. All companies make mistakes, it how they are dealt with that is telling.