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Bar drink price increase and Classic Beverage Package

schiff1997

By schiff1997,
in MSC Cruises

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puschi1906

puschi1906

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, mlbdude said:

First bar hit on Divina with upgraded DOU to Classic, $8 maximum is holding.  With most drink prices matching Seaside mixed drinks are out.

 

Going to guest services now.

I am very curious what they are going to say.

 

The only thing that the customer service confirmed to me in their email reply is that the classic package we have is still valid in the specialty restaurants. 

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, 42go said:

We are sailing on Divina Dec. 9 and have been trying to upgrade our Drinks On Us package to Classic and have been told that it's not possible...

If MSC holds to the Classic dollar drink limits you may be glad not to have purchased the upgrade.  I upgraded from DOU to Classic at $198pp and will consider cancelling it as the only choices I will get above DOU is a few different liquor shots.  Otherwise the crappy wines will be the same, and the crappy beers might actually be fewer as DOU says it includes draught & bottled beers but Classic limits beer bottles to $5.50 and now there are none.

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42go

42go

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Até said:

If MSC holds to the Classic dollar drink limits you may be glad not to have purchased the upgrade.  I upgraded from DOU to Classic at $198pp and will consider cancelling it as the only choices I will get above DOU is a few different liquor shots.  Otherwise the crappy wines will be the same, and the crappy beers might actually be fewer as DOU says it includes draught & bottled beers but Classic limits beer bottles to $5.50 and now there are none.

Hahaha . . . . you might be right. Does MSC not care that this is going to badly damage their reputation? It's kind of a bait and switch . . . .

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FGJones

FGJones

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, sidari said:

Your sea pass card contains a code on the front which tells the bar staff and servers what package you have 534 is Classic, 536 is Deluxe if you had any of those booked before November 12th.

 

 

Surely you can can order a drink that is not included in your plan though. How would that play out at the bar?

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Até

Até

Posted
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4 minutes ago, 42go said:

It's kind of a bait and switch . . . .

Well, I can still cancel my upgrade.  But with my Aurea bookings I find it a bit more objectionable.  I can see MSC might need to change prices here and there, but to do it like this and suddenly eliminate so many of the drink choices I thought I would get is not a good policy.

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FGJones

FGJones

Posted
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2 minutes ago, Até said:

You would be charged full price plus 15% gratuity.

 

So my question is if I order something that is not included will the bartender warn me or just serve the drink and add it to my card?

 

Also do they really add drink gratuities on top of the daily automatic gratuities? 

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Até

Até

Posted
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11 minutes ago, FGJones said:

 

So my question is if I order something that is not included will the bartender warn me or just serve the drink and add it to my card?

 

Also do they really add drink gratuities on top of the daily automatic gratuities? 

Usually they would warn you, as basically they used to asked to look at your card if you ordered a premium drink.  But with all these different package's price limits it will be harder for the bartenders to figure it all out ahead of time like they once did. 

 

Yes, 15% on all drinks purchased outside of a package and on Drinks On Us.

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Mattnvick

Mattnvick

Posted
Posted

If the prices on Seaside  continue to hold and the old classic (whether updated by pax or not) is essentially worthless, You have to wonder how many people over the next few months are going to board and have a very nasty shock when they go to order their first drink.

 

Cruise critic members  make up only a fraction of people on board. Customer service dont so far seem to be able ( or are unwilling) to do anything.

 

Its really too bad. Extremely disappointed in MSC right now and will certainly think twice before booking with them and/or recommending them to friends 

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted

MSC follow these boards, if they fail to heed what is being said here and on other social media platforms then their new ships are not going to be filled and their inroads into the USA is going to stall badly for them 

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Mrearl said:

I have classic I will now order Virgin frozen Cocktails and then order a shot of rum, whiskey, or other liquor and put it in my drink myself 

That has been mentioned before and is a decent workaround for some cocktails.  Surely MSC is aware this will be happening, that is partly why I don't understand why they haven't just increased the Classic limits to cover what it once did.   Perhaps they have something against beer drinkers as there is no workaround for that problem.

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Mattnvick

Mattnvick

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, sidari said:

MSC follow these boards, if they fail to heed what is being said here and on other social media platforms then their new ships are not going to be filled and their inroads into the USA is going to stall badly for them 

 

Sidari i totally agree with you and top crew members are also always at the CC  meet and greet. Im really hoping someone on board maybe the baseball guy ( apologies i forget his name) is signed up for it and will go and see what their answer is. 

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Até

Até

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, Magnelasagne said:

Can I get this premium brands(JW Blue label, Remy Martin XO) outside of the YC?  

They only have them in certain bars around the ship, not all.

 

ETA: I bet very few bars will have them once people with Premium Plus start sailing.

Edited by Até
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rencamcruise

rencamcruise

Posted
Posted

IF anyone at MSC actually does read these boards and all the other Social Media chatter they should immediately take action. Some people have commented that "drinks are not what the cruise is about" and that is simply down playing the REAL situation at hand. 

 

People do not like feeling like they have been swindled, bait & switched or things changing without the opportunity to take action. When people book, they often BUDGET for their vacations in advance. They select which cruise line to take based on ALL factors...numbers were published when people paid. 

 

Frankly a lawyer friend said he would not be surprised if someone got angry enough to dig up a class action lawyer...dramatic.....I am sure they have contract law covered in T&C's for these crazy changes for the US, but if they did not, they would have had a real mess on thier hands. 

 

Why not professionally handle this?

 

They know all of their current, paid in full guests...they should have sent an email updating passengers that packages would be changing as of xx/20xx date. Allow people to opt-in OR opt-out based on those changes in ADVANCE. Transperancy and honesty is always the safest policy. 

 

So instead, after entering a NEW market, where they were getting good traction and taking from NCL, Celebrity, Oceania and Carnival, they now created a PR Nightmare, tarnished their brand due to people feeling they simply can no longer trust MSC!!! Wow, whoever is responsible for this unprofessional execution of a typical business transaction should be removed from thier role and trained in ethics and customer service in the hospitality business. 

 

I must say I feel bad for the employees that were given this pressure to deal with as they will take the brunt of the poor corporate execution. They will likely lose any good employees too....

 

Now, we all know everyone loves a good RECOVERY story and people are willing to FORGIVE when issues are well resolved for the collective group. From this mess, they could esrn long term loyalty...but action should be taken to connect with their customers...soon. Willing to cheer for the underdog if they try harder...

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schiff1997

schiff1997

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Posted
2 hours ago, mlbdude said:

First bar hit on Divina with upgraded DOU to Classic, $8 maximum is holding.  With most drink prices matching Seaside mixed drinks are out.

 

Going to guest services now.

This is not good. Sorry you are going through this, your suppose to be enjoying your vacation not running around trying to get a drink you already paid for !

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