Fantastica drink vouchers

[ziggyuk]

2 minutes ago, boneatnik said:

Just talking to MSC now, they had a meeting about it this morning, and they "know people are unhappy."  Unnh, yes.

 

She is contacting a supervisor.  She also let me know that because I booked through a TA, all changes have to be made through a TA.  Tried that yesterday. Waiting 

 

I can understand why you are angry in your earlier posts but I honestly think your TA is responsible for much of this:

 

I don't know when you booked but your TA should have been aware of the end date of 25th March way back in July 2018.

 

The 5% is something that should be done right away, had you booked direct MSC would apply it right away and I see no reason why the TA wants you to wait until 4-6 weeks after your return.

 

Lastly, they should just be dealing with this on your behalf and not dragging you into conference calls and then saying they can't help, if the guys on here can sort it out for themselves surly a TA should have the influence.

 

Don't let all this get you down or it will spoil your cruise, the last thing you want is to board feeling angry with MSC, I really do feel a lot of the blame lies with the TA not MSC.

[boneatnik]

2 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I can understand why you are angry in your earlier posts but I honestly think your TA is responsible for much of this:

 

I don't know when you booked but your TA should have been aware of the end date of 25th March way back in July 2018.

 

The 5% is something that should be done right away, had you booked direct MSC would apply it right away and I see no reason why the TA wants you to wait until 4-6 weeks after your return.

 

Lastly, they should just be dealing with this on your behalf and not dragging you into conference calls and then saying they can't help, if the guys on here can sort it out for themselves surly a TA should have the influence.

 

Don't let all this get you down or it will spoil your cruise, the last thing you want is to board feeling angry with MSC, I really do feel a lot of the blame lies with the TA not MSC.

Just got off the phone with MSC trying to secure an OBC for the missing drink vouchers.  NO can do, period.  Reason given: if we had booked in 2018 we could have gotten an OBC. But we booked in 2019, so we cannot receive an OBC.  The agent, who was very nice DID put it back on the TA, saying that they had all been notified of this change.

 

We are, at least I am, still open minded about the actual cruise experience, no worries there. DH maybe not so much.  I can't wait to see the ship.  But, but, but......

[ziggyuk]

7 minutes ago, boneatnik said:

Just got off the phone with MSC trying to secure an OBC for the missing drink vouchers.  NO can do, period.  Reason given: if we had booked in 2018 we could have gotten an OBC. But we booked in 2019, so we cannot receive an OBC.  The agent, who was very nice DID put it back on the TA, saying that they had all been notified of this change.

 

We are, at least I am, still open minded about the actual cruise experience, no worries there. DH maybe not so much.  I can't wait to see the ship.  But, but, but......

 

This is what I felt with my reply above, the TA should have been well aware in 2019 the drink vouchers were not included.

 

That said it was badly worded and a lot of people struggled to understand when the "winter period" ended and thus vouchers ended, a TA should know their job and understand the situation, it's what they are paid for.

 

If we take it back to the start, it's the TA who left you with an expectation you would receive the vouchers and I think that is where the blame lies.

 

IMHO the only thing MSC have done wrong is issued boarding passed stating the vouchers were included, I don't want to play that down because it is a pretty serious error to make and reinforced the expectation of vouchers the TA had created. I personally think they could offer you a smaller OBC as an acceptance of the said error.

[styles27]

56 minutes ago, boneatnik said:

Just talking to MSC now, they had a meeting about it this morning, and they "know people are unhappy."  Unnh, yes.

 

She is contacting a supervisor.  She also let me know that because I booked through a TA, all changes have to be made through a TA.  Tried that yesterday. Waiting 

 

Good luck!  I think you’ll have better results if you ask to speak to a supervisor.  That’s who was able to issue me the OBC.

[Mattnvick]

On 4/9/2019 at 1:01 PM, styles27 said:

Our e tickets were also re issued this morning without the drink vouchers.  (The ones I printed out a couple of weeks ago included the vouchers) 

 

 I phoned customer service and after going through 3 different reps I was given a $75 pp on board credit “for the inconvenience”

 

So we’re happy with that considering the Fantastica experience was about $90 pp we received almost all of that back in OBC. I’ll use that for drinks or towards the service charge. 

 

 

I would call them today....you have more leverage to get this squared away now before boarding. 

We sail 04/28

 

Good luck!

Thanks for this update will be calling them tomorrow morning as we sail on the 20th( i find mornings are good to call with no wait) and asking for some OBC in place of the now defunct vouchers.

 

Interestingly we also had our tickets reissued last week but didnt think anyyhing of it except "its MSC" 😝 will compare it now to the previous ones.

 

If they appear to not want to play ball i will happily quote C.C. 😉

 

Will post any results ( positive or negative after calling).

[styles27]

49 minutes ago, boneatnik said:

Just got off the phone with MSC trying to secure an OBC for the missing drink vouchers.  NO can do, period.  Reason given: if we had booked in 2018 we could have gotten an OBC. But we booked in 2019, so we cannot receive an OBC.  The agent, who was very nice DID put it back on the TA, saying that they had all been notified of this change.

 

We are, at least I am, still open minded about the actual cruise experience, no worries there. DH maybe not so much.  I can't wait to see the ship.  But, but, but......

  

 

Oh okay...I thought you booked before the announcement was made in 2018.  

 

But as Ziggyuk said, since your e-documents were sent out saying that the vouchers were included it would be “good customer service” for MSC to give you something.

 

I also agree that your TA has completely dropped the ball.

 

I booked our cruise on the phone with MSC and was given the 5% discount immediately.  
I would also let the TA know that you aren’t comfortable waiting 4-6 weeks for them to reimburse you that money.   It sounds like they’re filing an insurance claim for it.  

 

Be assertive but calm and don’t let the TA push back.  It’s their job to get you all of these perks...we got them and didn’t even use a TA.

 

edit to add....my DH just reminded me that I did have to call customer service to get the 5% discount because Royal Caribbean took a little time to get me my loyalty status email.  But it was within 10 days of booking our cruise that we got the discount applied and way before we made final payment.

Edited April 12, 2019 by styles27

[myjillian]

well, this is interesting.  I also do the NCL posts and many are saying they are fed up with the "free" drink packages that NCL toots about because they are not really free.  Some people, like myself, don't drink a lot and find that the 12 drink package works great. Many NCL people have stated that they are going over to MSC  because of that policy...I wonder if MSC is aware of how many people book them because of that 12 drink policy.....when the people who are trying MSC for the first time discover that the policy changed...it will be interesting.

Again , some say that Celebrity gives "free" drinks etc....naw...your booking price changes when you book the price with the "free" benefits .....they just don't mention it...unless you book different combinations.🤗

[ssmea03]

On 4/1/2019 at 7:24 PM, mexico8 said:

We are on the Armonia cruise to Havana on April 29th and just got our e-tickets and they state we have the 12 drink vouchers.    I am not sure of what date that MSC announced the change so I don't know if they will honor the vouchers for us.   Do you remember the date of that announcement?   Perhaps we will get the drinks after all - I am hoping!  We have the Fantastica  experience as well.

I was told by a MSC customer service agent back in November that the announcement that the vouchers were to be withdrawn after the last winter sailing was made in August 2018.

[styles27]

2 hours ago, myjillian said:

well, this is interesting.  I also do the NCL posts and many are saying they are fed up with the "free" drink packages that NCL toots about because they are not really free.  Some people, like myself, don't drink a lot and find that the 12 drink package works great. Many NCL people have stated that they are going over to MSC  because of that policy...I wonder if MSC is aware of how many people book them because of that 12 drink policy.....when the people who are trying MSC for the first time discover that the policy changed...it will be interesting.

Again , some say that Celebrity gives "free" drinks etc....naw...your booking price changes when you book the price with the "free" benefits .....they just don't mention it...unless you book different combinations.🤗

 

 

We don’t drink enough to pay the hundreds of dollars for the various drink packages either, so the 12 vouchers was a nice addition for us.  

 

However if you think about people saying they’re going over to MSC because of the vouchers, it’s really silly.  

The vouchers weren’t good for every priced drink, from what I remember reading about them they were good for a drink up to $6 (or $8) then you pay the difference.  

 

So for $72 pp (or $96) worth of drinks I’m not sure it’s worth leaving one line for another. 

 

I think everyone is thinking that the vouchers were good for even the more expensive drinks

 

Nothing is free that’s for sure.  We’ve sailed NCL and the “Free unlimited drinks” cost us $370 service charge for the two of us.  I don’t think we came close to drinking $370 worth of alcohol that cruise.  It’s a ripoff in our opinion. 

 

And from what we observed on that cruise I think it makes some people drink more just to get their money’s worth.  

Edited April 12, 2019 by styles27

[Mattnvick]

Thank you CC members my dh called and he spoke to a rep explained the situation.

 

He said i will just comfirm what you told me. He put him on hold came back and said yes you are correct and added $80 OBC.

 

Result 👍🎉

 

We can now use that for some chocolate martinis in Venchi 😉 

[ssmea03]

3 hours ago, Mattnvick said:

Thank you CC members my dh called and he spoke to a rep explained the situation.

 

He said i will just comfirm what you told me. He put him on hold came back and said yes you are correct and added $80 OBC.

 

Result 👍🎉

 

We can now use that for some chocolate martinis in Venchi 😉 

And our friends who booked shortly after us, also now have the $80.

[styles27]

5 hours ago, Mattnvick said:

Thank you CC members my dh called and he spoke to a rep explained the situation.

 

He said i will just comfirm what you told me. He put him on hold came back and said yes you are correct and added $80 OBC.

 

Result 👍🎉

 

We can now use that for some chocolate martinis in Venchi 😉 

 

 

Excellent.  $80 total or each?  We got $150 total OBC ($75 each)

[Mattnvick]

2 minutes ago, styles27 said:

 

 

Excellent.  $80 total or each?  We got $150 total OBC ($75 each)

$80 each person. 😁I was happy

[boneatnik]

7 hours ago, styles27 said:

 

 

Excellent.  $80 total or each?  We got $150 total OBC ($75 each)

Did you book in 2018 or 2019? Thanks.

[boneatnik]

12 hours ago, Mattnvick said:

Thank you CC members my dh called and he spoke to a rep explained the situation.

 

He said i will just comfirm what you told me. He put him on hold came back and said yes you are correct and added $80 OBC.

 

Result 👍🎉

 

We can now use that for some chocolate martinis in Venchi 😉 

You folks who are getting success with OBC could you let us know if you booked in 2018 or 2019? MSC is telling us that since we booked in 2019 we are out of luck.

Thank you CC members.  See you at M and M!

[styles27]

1 hour ago, boneatnik said:

Did you book in 2018 or 2019? Thanks.

 

2018 before the announcement that the vouchers wouldn’t be honored after March 25, 2019 

[ssmea03]

2 hours ago, boneatnik said:

You folks who are getting success with OBC could you let us know if you booked in 2018 or 2019? MSC is telling us that since we booked in 2019 we are out of luck.

Thank you CC members.  See you at M and M!

January 2018, and our friends, February 2018. I was told back in November 2018 by a MSC CSA that the announcement was made in August 2018.

[ssmea03]

9 hours ago, styles27 said:

 

 

Excellent.  $80 total or each?  We got $150 total OBC ($75 each)

$80 each, $160 total, in 2 blocks of $40. You should call back and ask for your extra $10. We booked Jan 2018.

[Mattnvick]

2 hours ago, boneatnik said:

You folks who are getting success with OBC could you let us know if you booked in 2018 or 2019? MSC is telling us that since we booked in 2019 we are out of luck.

Thank you CC members.  See you at M and M!

 

Early 2018.

 

I know MSC had to make the cut off somewhere but where i think they are wrong is that it seems regardless of when   they said it and regardless of when you booked they screwed up by showing it on your etickets last week.

 

That really is the stick to beat them with. Yes they have reissued but the first lot said vouchers and it may be worth going back and arguing that with them.

[styles27]

1 hour ago, ssmea03 said:

$80 each, $160 total, in 2 blocks of $40. You should call back and ask for your extra $10. We booked Jan 2018.

 

lol I’m not going to worry about $10. But it’s weird that they issued us $75 each and everyone else $80. I’m beginning to think I was the first one to call and the supervisor pulled that number out of his head. lol

 

[ssmea03]

6 minutes ago, styles27 said:

 

lol I’m not going to worry about $10. But it’s weird that they issued us $75 each and everyone else $80. I’m beginning to think I was the first one to call and the supervisor pulled that number out of his head. lol

 

Yes  I definitely think you were the trail blazer.Now you just ask, they check the dates, and give it to you. No arguing. They may even be adding it automatically now, I'm waiting on clarification of a FB post.

[styles27]

3 hours ago, ssmea03 said:

Yes  I definitely think you were the trail blazer.Now you just ask, they check the dates, and give it to you. No arguing. They may even be adding it automatically now, I'm waiting on clarification of a FB post.

 

 

I’m so happy it’s working out for everyone...I feel bad for the people who aren’t on Cruise Critic and won’t see this.

 

Hope you guys have a great cruise!  When are you going?

[ssmea03]

Just had it confirmed,  MSC are adding it automatically in some cases. But still call if they haven't added it to your booking yet.

[styles27]

5 minutes ago, ssmea03 said:

Just had it confirmed,  MSC are adding it automatically in some cases. But still call if they haven't added it to your booking yet.

 

Wow kudos to them for doing the right thing!  Great job MSC!

[ssmea03]

3 hours ago, styles27 said:

 

It’s possible you booked after the announcement was made that the vouchers wouldn’t be honored after March 25th.  If I remember correctly the agent I spoke to from MSC said it was announced in August 2018 but it doesn’t hurt to try. 

 

Good luck!

We were also told August back in November, but were hearing MSC are claiming now it was earlier. I have an April 2018 brochure and it isnt in it.