MSC Change Port From Amsterdam to Rotterdam Update

[janny444]

Hi everyone....I have now cancelled this cruise mainly because of how MSC have handled this change.

 

I understand about the extra port charge of 8 euros pp....would have thought that Amsterdam port authorities would have been in contract but that is by the by.

 

MSC made it sound that they were offering some sort of " compensation" but in reality they were not offering anything worthwhile. The nearest they came to it was putting on a shuttle for the journey back to Amsterdam from Rotterdam....about 50 miles each way. The ship has about 4000 passengers...that would need an awful lot of coaches or long long queues. I would have thought the majority of people would want to visit the cultural city of Amsterdam so the majority would be taking the shuttle.

Also what MSC didn't reveal is that the ship is due in at Rotterdam at 14:00...overnight stay but departs at 06:00 the following morning....hardly 2 days in Amsterdam ...in reality you would be lucky to get into Amsterdam for 16:00.

 

MSC then offered an included city tour of Rotterdam which was then advertised on my online booking then the following day there was a £47pp charge....couple of days later charge removed....couple of days after that charge put back on so I ended up not knowing if it was included or not. The whole thing left me with a feeling of uncertainty as to how MSC will actually handle the change.

 

They did offer  cancellation with no charge so that is what I have done.

[sidari]

Janny ... Sad to hear you have cancelled but I can see your reasoning for doing so, MSC really have become passenger unfriendly and seem to be getting worse.

I am not convinced that the €8 pp charge is the reason for not going to Amsterdam, after all they could have emailed everyone booked and told them they would have to pay it, as it is just MSC and CMV who are not going in there it appears that there is something else going on.

[cruiser82]

I'm sorry to hear that you've cancelled but I can also understand why. I'm planning on keeping my reservation for September but I haven't been told anything by MSC about the change and haven't been offered the shuttle or Rotterdam tour. I got a great deal on my cruise as a solo traveler and will not be able to book a replacement for anything close to what this cruise cost. I'll have to modify my plans for Amsterdam but luckily nothing has been booked yet so nothing needs to be cancelled.

[janny444]

2 hours ago, cruiser82 said:

I'm sorry to hear that you've cancelled but I can also understand why. I'm planning on keeping my reservation for September but I haven't been told anything by MSC about the change and haven't been offered the shuttle or Rotterdam tour. I got a great deal on my cruise as a solo traveler and will not be able to book a replacement for anything close to what this cruise cost. I'll have to modify my plans for Amsterdam but luckily nothing has been booked yet so nothing needs to be cancelled.

Hi....I don't know if your Rotterdam port arrival times are going to be the same as what ours were...14:00....but you may have to modify your plans quite drastically as your time in Amsterdam will be very limited if it is the same as ours was. I know on our cruise that there were many POC but Amsterdam was going to be the highlight of the cruise....it  really is a cultural city with many sights of interest.

Enjoy your cruise and I hope it works out better for you than it did for us.

[Captain-John]

Sorry to hear about this. Did you lose your deposit, or were you allowed to cancel penalty free due to the change?

[janny444]

13 hours ago, Captain-John said:

Sorry to hear about this. Did you lose your deposit, or were you allowed to cancel penalty free due to the change?

 

Hi...yes we could cancel penalty free and also any extra transport costs incurred in connection with the cruise will be reimbursed.