Different selections depending on your country of residence?

[Lunenburg]

I have been looking at specific MSC cruises and find that if I am on say the MSC UK site I get a drink package included but the cabin choices are limited yet if I go to a MSC site all in Spanish, suddenly the cabin choices on the same cruise open up and now I get gratuities and drinks depending on my cabin choice.

 

Do they really offer different options for the same cruise depending where you live? Why?

[Skier52]

I have been looking at specific MSC cruises and find that if I am on say the MSC UK site I get a drink package included but the cabin choices are limited yet if I go to a MSC site all in Spanish, suddenly the cabin choices on the same cruise open up and now I get gratuities and drinks depending on my cabin choice.

 

Do they really offer different options for the same cruise depending where you live? Why?

The short answer is YES

 

reason:- MARKETING

 

they are in business to maximize the revenue, and ultimately profit, from every region they operate in,

to this end they will give inducements to regions to entice people to book;. The expectations of the type of inducement and the value of it will vary from region to region reflecting the national psyche of the nations in that

region.

It is a known fact that they offer large blocks of cabins to one region at a time, probably for ~6 weeks, before releasing those cabins to other regions.

[Lunenburg]

The short answer is YES

 

reason:- MARKETING

 

they are in business to maximize the revenue, and ultimately profit, from every region they operate in,

to this end they will give inducements to regions to entice people to book;. The expectations of the type of inducement and the value of it will vary from region to region reflecting the national psyche of the nations in that

region.

It is a known fact that they offer large blocks of cabins to one region at a time, probably for ~6 weeks, before releasing those cabins to other regions.

 

Thanks for answering.

So I cannot book from an alternate MSC website where I am not a resident even if I see just what I want. Could I book that deal by phone do you think?

[Skier52]

Thanks for answering.

So I cannot book from an alternate MSC website where I am not a resident even if I see just what I want. Could I book that deal by phone do you think?

try it, you have nothing to lose, but they may say you can only book in your own region

 

 

I'd try booking on line first before getting a person who may tell you can't book out of region.

nothing ventured , nothing gained

[ken_ll]

To give some insight to booking on MSC using other countries website. Yesterday, I was on MSC-Australia for NZ and Australia bookings. I could only look at rates which at face value seemed significantly higher than US pricing. Once I attempted to go into do a mock booking, I got kicked out and routed to the MSC-US website.

 

Possibly my IP address was recognized as not being in Australia/NZ.

[perakcruiser]

The short answer is YES

 

reason:- MARKETING

 

they are in business to maximize the revenue, and ultimately profit, from every region they operate in,

to this end they will give inducements to regions to entice people to book;. The expectations of the type of inducement and the value of it will vary from region to region reflecting the national psyche of the nations in thatregion.

 

Second reason: LAW

 

They have to follow local law with their country websites. In many countries it is not allowed, to add any fees, taxes, charges whatever to the offered price later. So price comparing is VERY difficult and also it totally depends on the country of booking what is included in Fantastica and so on.

 

Second, as ken_II wrote, you have to beat the IP check if you want to book from another MSC site. This can be done of cause with VPN, but technically it is not allowed to book in a country that is not your country of residence.

 

But as Skier52 writes, sure you can try. They usually send nothing by post, I know many successfully booked abroad to grab a offer there. But keep in mind, if you make a booking like this you are not protected by the laws of your country anymore, if there are problems, they will be huge.

 

By the way, this is all the same with all cruise companies, what Celebrity offers on the German website is completely different.

[Lunenburg]

Thanks, I did not realize it was all so complicated. They usually want your address eventually so sticking to the correct country is probably a good idea !

[CruiseIreland]

I booked MSC Seaside a few days ago. I tried from Ireland to book on the US website but it sought address etc so I was snookered. I emailed a US travel agent who booked it at the desired price no problem. The difference between the US and IRL web prices was hundreds of Euro each for that particular type of stateroom but not every room had such a price differential. Ken

[Streblo]

I have experienced the same thing from the South African site. I googled prospective cruises with MSC in the Caribbean (we were originally booked on MSC Meraviglia Sept 2018 Hamburg-Russia-Hamburg, but decided we'd prefer a sunnier cruise with a bigger variety of excursions). I was directed by Google to the US MSC site. We found the one we liked: MSC Divina embarking Miami 28 Oct 2018. We chose the Fantastica experience based on the offering we saw on the USA website. It included the 12 drinks package and based on what I've read on this forum, I figured I could upgrade on board to include mealtime drinks packages, which will suit us as we are lightweight drinkers. I called the local MSC call center and booked and everything was arranged. A while later when managing my bookings I noticed that the South African version of Fantastica did not include the 12 drinks package, which means I will have to buy at least an All Inclusive Classic Package A and if I want to get anywhere near the value (±R 13000.00 / ±US$ 1000.00 per cabin) we will have to drink ourselves silly every day we are on board since 6 days of 11 we will be ashore.

 

Travel from South Africa to anywhere is very expensive and every cent counts. I told my story to a travel agent friend who deals with MSC and she has been kind enough to pass it onto people she knows at MSC. I don't want anything for free and am prepared to pay for what is offered to the US residents. I figure the value of my US$ is the same there as it is anywhere, so why can't I enjoy the same benefits.I am hopeful they can accommodate.

 

The current exchange rate difference is USA$ 1.00 = R 12.36 so if you convert the US$ / R costs, you will see how much more we in South Africa have to pay for much less. Even with other factors considered like taxes and levies and who knows what other fees etc.we pay nearly double. Seems a little askew to me.