Mandatory Service Charges

[smoothcruiser]

My wife and I have just received our cruise tickets for our forthcoming cruise in YC on Bellissima next week.

We booked the voyage well over a year ago.

On Page 13 of the cruise ticket is the following paragraph:

SERVICE CHARGE

The per guest per night service charge is not included in the cruise fare and is to be paid on board at the end of the cruise or pre-paid at the time of booking. The service charge is Mandatory and will be added to the final shipboard invoice. It is free for children aged up to 2 years old at the time of the cruise departure date.

Reading the above thread, I was of the opinion that MSC had reversed their decision tom enforce the Mandatory charge. If this is the case, I fail to understand why this paragraph appears on my ticket, only just received.

confused.com

 

 

[Epos Man]

stupid question but are you UK residents if you are then I expecet that the etickets have not been changed to show the reversal of the mandatory part

 

[KlausM999]

Just back from MSC Seaside, and indeed, the only possibility to remove or adjust the service charge is if you booked in the german market.  I do not know if this is possible if you are not a german and booked in the german market. We are from Germany and had to discuss the topic each week of our B2B cruise. 

[Epos Man]

or in the uk market if you booked before the changes were made then unmade also funnily enough if you book a USA cruise on the UK site it says mandatory charges not included if you book a european one it says up to you

[sidari]

The Left hand still doesn't know what the right hand is doing and it will never change !

[redandrea7119]

From the UK - also just back from a b2b cruise on MSC Seaside. Service charge removed no problem at all. Also my partner heard an American woman asking for it to be removed and stating that she wasn't going to pay it & again the guy on guest services told her he had removed it - she had no problem either.

In fact it was easier to get this removed than it was to get 3 charges that were mistakenly added to our bill for items included in our drinks package - these turned out to be an absolute nightmare to remove. 4 visits to guest services over the course of our 2nd week.

 

1st time took about 40 mins - man was adamant goods were not included in our package. I was adamant they were & also we had had many more of the relevant items that we had not been charged for (because they were included in our drinks package) but had been charged on 3 occasions. He took ages looking at the computer, printing stuff out, finding a booklet and reading sections of it - all without speaking to us. I told him we had booked the drinks package prior to the changes, I told him I had screenshots of what was included on my phone up in my cabin but it was out of charge at that time and being temperamental charging on the in room port.

Eventually he spoke to someone else who was obviously a superior who must have confirmed they were included and told us they would be removed.

The next day when we checked, they hadn't been. We waited another day, still hadn't been removed.

Guest services again - spoke to a lady this time, explained everything including all that had been said on prior occasion. She printed each individual receipt then wrote package numbers on the top of them, confirmed the items were definately included and said she had to go to the individual bars to get the charges removed and she would do that.

 

Checked next day - still not removed. On our final night we went to try and sort it again - unfortunately got the same guy as the 1st attempt (you would think this would have been fortunate as surely he would remember speaking to his superior etc etc. - nope). We explained everything yet again, reminded him we had spoke to him and after speaking to his superior he had assured us he would remove the charges, we told him about the 2nd conversation with his colleague and her writing the package no on individual receipts and saying she would go to the bars etc. Again he took an inordinate amount of time on the computer, got the little book out again, hushed me when I tried to remind him we had the old classic drinks package. Printed out the classic package and showed us where it said ice cream in cup or cone (the items under scrutiny)- I said exactly and that is what the charges are for - ice cream in a cup & it states there it is included. Told him again between myself, my partner and my son we had had many of these of all different flavours so if it wasnt included why had we only been charged for 3. He just ignored me. I pointed at print out again, he ignored me, I asked to speak to a manager, he ignored me. He continued insisting it wasn't included. He tried to fob me off by saying the ice cream stated on the drinks package print off was the soft serve from the buffet (never mind they didn't have tubs in the buffet only cones, never mind thst the soft serve was nothing to do with any drinks package but was free for everyone).

This was at gone 1am when we had to be up before 7am to do self disembarkation to make the airport for our noon flight. Every other time we had looked at guest services that night the queue had been out into the corridor near the lifts. We were not prepared to spend our last night queuing that long so had waited until late.

Eventually as a result of frustration, stress, tiredness, getting absolutely nowhere etc I lost my temper. I acknowledged I was now losing my temper with the situation and said it was absolutely ridiculous. I didnt swear or call anyone names but I did get loud. The lady at the next service point asked me to calm down and said she would look into our query in a moment. We had been trying to sort the situation for getting on for 1 hour by then. I didn't calm down and just ended up saying you know what, forget it, we will just pay, its an absolute joke and we are getting nowhere so here is the money (I then threw a bundle of money over the counter). The lady at the next point was again telling me to calm down or they would call security. I told her to go ahead and that I was fine with spending the night in their cell (I was very angry and had just had enough of the situation. Also very tired and had an horrendous sore throat and was losing my vioce by now so wasn't shouting shouting but hoarsly trying to shout!) Surprise surprise though - suddenly a number of people appeared from the back office including a woman who said she was head of guest services.

She promptly looked at the situation, confirmed the items were indeed included in our package (not that I needed confirmation) and agreed that they would be removed 1st thing in the morning at 6.30am when she could speak to the relevant bar.

Maybe I embarrassed my partner and even myself somewhat  (though I dont regret it) but we were getting nowhere having spent the best part of 1 hour trying to sort it calmly. Within just over 5 mins of losing my temper it was sorted ... kind of. When we asked the woman in charge why we had been charged for some of these ice creams but not others she said that some staff knew what the codes signified and knew to override the system when it came up the item wasnt included when actually it was but other staff didn't know to do this. So the old packages ARE NOT programmed into the scanners but rely on the staff knowing all these different packages. Another couple we spoke to who also had classic package and soft drinks package for their kids were not only getting charges for the gelato like us but also several times for cokes - so what was going on there I don't know.

To end the saga, the following morning at 7am the charges were still on! We really thought it was going to be a nightmare again but my partner went down (I couldnt face it again and since my partner had left it all to me on each prior occasion then wondered why I lost my temper, he could deal with it now). But the woman in charge must have left a note on the computer as the man my partner spoke to just phoned up to the bars and the charges were removed.

 

I know I have kind of gone off topic but my point is it is not the service charge you need to worry about removing - rather it is faulty charges for items included in your packages that you will have a nightmare with.

 

It is such a shame that this was our final experience onboard as everything else over the duration of our 2 week cruise had been fantastic and this issue could have been so easily avoided with better systems and staff training rather than causing as much stress and wasted time as it did.

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, redandrea7119 said:

From the UK - also just back from a b2b cruise on MSC Seaside. Service charge removed no problem at all. Also my partner heard an American woman asking for it to be removed and stating that she wasn't going to pay it & again the guy on guest services told her he had removed it - she had no problem either.

In fact it was easier to get this removed than it was to get 3 charges that were mistakenly added to our bill for items included in our drinks package - these turned out to be an absolute nightmare to remove. 4 visits to guest services over the course of our 2nd week.

 

1st time took about 40 mins - man was adamant goods were not included in our package. I was adamant they were & also we had had many more of the relevant items that we had not been charged for (because they were included in our drinks package) but had been charged on 3 occasions. He took ages looking at the computer, printing stuff out, finding a booklet and reading sections of it - all without speaking to us. I told him we had booked the drinks package prior to the changes, I told him I had screenshots of what was included on my phone up in my cabin but it was out of charge at that time and being temperamental charging on the in room port.

Eventually he spoke to someone else who was obviously a superior who must have confirmed they were included and told us they would be removed.

The next day when we checked, they hadn't been. We waited another day, still hadn't been removed.

Guest services again - spoke to a lady this time, explained everything including all that had been said on prior occasion. She printed each individual receipt then wrote package numbers on the top of them, confirmed the items were definately included and said she had to go to the individual bars to get the charges removed and she would do that.

 

Checked next day - still not removed. On our final night we went to try and sort it again - unfortunately got the same guy as the 1st attempt (you would think this would have been fortunate as surely he would remember speaking to his superior etc etc. - nope). We explained everything yet again, reminded him we had spoke to him and after speaking to his superior he had assured us he would remove the charges, we told him about the 2nd conversation with his colleague and her writing the package no on individual receipts and saying she would go to the bars etc. Again he took an inordinate amount of time on the computer, got the little book out again, hushed me when I tried to remind him we had the old classic drinks package. Printed out the classic package and showed us where it said ice cream in cup or cone (the items under scrutiny)- I said exactly and that is what the charges are for - ice cream in a cup & it states there it is included. Told him again between myself, my partner and my son we had had many of these of all different flavours so if it wasnt included why had we only been charged for 3. He just ignored me. I pointed at print out again, he ignored me, I asked to speak to a manager, he ignored me. He continued insisting it wasn't included. He tried to fob me off by saying the ice cream stated on the drinks package print off was the soft serve from the buffet (never mind they didn't have tubs in the buffet only cones, never mind thst the soft serve was nothing to do with any drinks package but was free for everyone).

This was at gone 1am when we had to be up before 7am to do self disembarkation to make the airport for our noon flight. Every other time we had looked at guest services that night the queue had been out into the corridor near the lifts. We were not prepared to spend our last night queuing that long so had waited until late.

Eventually as a result of frustration, stress, tiredness, getting absolutely nowhere etc I lost my temper. I acknowledged I was now losing my temper with the situation and said it was absolutely ridiculous. I didnt swear or call anyone names but I did get loud. The lady at the next service point asked me to calm down and said she would look into our query in a moment. We had been trying to sort the situation for getting on for 1 hour by then. I didn't calm down and just ended up saying you know what, forget it, we will just pay, its an absolute joke and we are getting nowhere so here is the money (I then threw a bundle of money over the counter). The lady at the next point was again telling me to calm down or they would call security. I told her to go ahead and that I was fine with spending the night in their cell (I was very angry and had just had enough of the situation. Also very tired and had an horrendous sore throat and was losing my vioce by now so wasn't shouting shouting but hoarsly trying to shout!) Surprise surprise though - suddenly a number of people appeared from the back office including a woman who said she was head of guest services.

She promptly looked at the situation, confirmed the items were indeed included in our package (not that I needed confirmation) and agreed that they would be removed 1st thing in the morning at 6.30am when she could speak to the relevant bar.

Maybe I embarrassed my partner and even myself somewhat  (though I dont regret it) but we were getting nowhere having spent the best part of 1 hour trying to sort it calmly. Within just over 5 mins of losing my temper it was sorted ... kind of. When we asked the woman in charge why we had been charged for some of these ice creams but not others she said that some staff knew what the codes signified and knew to override the system when it came up the item wasnt included when actually it was but other staff didn't know to do this. So the old packages ARE NOT programmed into the scanners but rely on the staff knowing all these different packages. Another couple we spoke to who also had classic package and soft drinks package for their kids were not only getting charges for the gelato like us but also several times for cokes - so what was going on there I don't know.

To end the saga, the following morning at 7am the charges were still on! We really thought it was going to be a nightmare again but my partner went down (I couldnt face it again and since my partner had left it all to me on each prior occasion then wondered why I lost my temper, he could deal with it now). But the woman in charge must have left a note on the computer as the man my partner spoke to just phoned up to the bars and the charges were removed.

 

I know I have kind of gone off topic but my point is it is not the service charge you need to worry about removing - rather it is faulty charges for items included in your packages that you will have a nightmare with.

 

It is such a shame that this was our final experience onboard as everything else over the duration of our 2 week cruise had been fantastic and this issue could have been so easily avoided with better systems and staff training rather than causing as much stress and wasted time as it did.

Wow. I have to ask: how much money are we talking for the 3 ice cream cones? I'm sorry you went through this, but my first impression on reading this is: were 3 ice creams really worth 1) several different visits to GS, 2) all the time you spent arguing with them and 3) the stress you put on yourself at 1 am, a scant 6 hours before you had to disembark and catch your flight? I guess since I've been in your shoes more times than I care to admit, I've learned that some times being in the right isn't worth all the stress and anxiety, and for my own sake (to say nothing of those around me), it's better just to let it go. I try to remind myself that more often than not, people like those you dealt with are just ordinary human beings doing the best they can under the circumstances. Our MSC experience was on a relatively new ship and there were still kinks being worked out and staff didn't always seem to know how systems worked and such. We just took it in stride. Nonetheless, I'm glad things were eventually sorted out for you.

[thecruisers6]

23 hours ago, ikea logistics said:

or in the uk market if you booked before the changes were made then unmade also funnily enough if you book a USA cruise on the UK site it says mandatory charges not included if you book a european one it says up to you

Your 100% correct the below from my new booking for next year. Booked in the UK for a US cruise...

The per guest, per night service charge is not included in the cruise fare and is to be paid on board at the end of the cruise or pre−paid at the time of booking. The service charge is mandatory and will be added to the final shipboard invoice.

 

 

[sidari]

There is that word again, Mandatory! If the charge is Mandatory why In the same paragraph do they still say it can be removed.

Left hand/Right hand ... 🤔

As the days pass by I feel myself moving further away from MSC and their inability to employ sensible people and continue with their abject stupidity.

[Epos Man]

9 minutes ago, sidari said:

There is that word again, Mandatory! If the charge is Mandatory why In the same paragraph do they still say it can be removed.

Left hand/Right hand ... 🤔

As the days pass by I feel myself moving further away from MSC and their inability to employ sensible people and continue with their abject stupidity.

its so silly though that if you book a US cruise it says its mandatory but book a european one and its not maybe something to do with the laws in the USA

[sidari]

As far as I know the charges are not mandatory in the USA.

[redandrea7119]

9 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Wow. I have to ask: how much money are we talking for the 3 ice cream cones? I'm sorry you went through this, but my first impression on reading this is: were 3 ice creams really worth 1) several different visits to GS, 2) all the time you spent arguing with them and 3) the stress you put on yourself at 1 am, a scant 6 hours before you had to disembark and catch your flight? I guess since I've been in your shoes more times than I care to admit, I've learned that some times being in the right isn't worth all the stress and anxiety, and for my own sake (to say nothing of those around me), it's better just to let it go. I try to remind myself that more often than not, people like those you dealt with are just ordinary human beings doing the best they can under the circumstances. Our MSC experience was on a relatively new ship and there were still kinks being worked out and staff didn't always seem to know how systems worked and such. We just took it in stride. Nonetheless, I'm glad things were eventually sorted out for you.

I get what you are saying and I think from what you have said you have realised that it wasn't the cost - it was the principle. And yes totally sometimes it may not be worth the stress involved to make a point of principle but at what point do you realise you are flogging a dead horse and leave it. Had from the outset I had a crystal ball and could see that it was going to take so many visits and in the end the stress it did then totally I may well have left it and just paid.

But each time we were told it was sorted. The 1st time we had another unrelated reason to go to guest services so had to queue and wait on that occasion anyway.

When we thought it sorted then realised it wasn't we had already invested time in sorting it out and been told we were correct. The 2nd time was the least stressful and the woman was totally professional, knew the items were included, explained that they had to get the bar to take off the charges etc. Plus at this point we were still just over half way through. We wanted to know that we and our son could continue having ice cream without being charged. It could have kept happening and the amount increased.

The 3rd occasion - again we had gone to guest services at that time to discuss an issue with the fun pass, to settle our bill so we didn't have to in morning as well as query these charges again.

The stress was largely on getting the same member of staff as the 1st time and being astonished at his ineptitude. By the time I was so stressed I was prepared to pay rather than continue getting nowhere other than increasingly stressed I wasn't as quiet as started out and the issue came to the attention of others whom sorted it.

Also had we just not bothered and paid it what does this do for staff training and correcting when they get things wrong. It just reinforces for them to get it wrong or convinces them they are right which is then burdensome for future customers. I think giving in and knowing that the staff hadn't learned as a result but had just got the message reinforced that they were right would have played on my mind and irritated me even more.

[ziggyuk]

7 hours ago, redandrea7119 said:

I get what you are saying and I think from what you have said you have realised that it wasn't the cost - it was the principle.

 

I think you were missing the point, it's how you conducted yourself and treated members of staff.

Principle is fine but shouting at staff, throwing money over the counter, being threatened with security over your behaviour and having managers defuse the situation, all over 3 ice cream cones? It's just not proportionate and never justifiable. Quite honestly I would be too embarrassed to admit what I had done let alone put it in print for the world to see.

It's not what you do but how you do it, losing your temper and bullying people rarely gets you anywhere.

[redandrea7119]

1 hour ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I think you were missing the point, it's how you conducted yourself and treated members of staff.

Principle is fine but shouting at staff, throwing money over the counter, being threatened with security over your behaviour and having managers defuse the situation, all over 3 ice cream cones? It's just not proportionate and never justifiable. Quite honestly I would be too embarrassed to admit what I had done let alone put it in print for the world to see.

It's not what you do but how you do it, losing your temper and bullying people rarely gets you anywhere.

To be honest I think it is you who is missing the point. It wasn't over "just 3 ice-creams" - far from it. It was over the fact that I had spent 2 prior occasions dealing politely and calmly with this situation. The 1st time waiting a ridiculous amount of time before the member of staff checked with a superior that the items were in fact included in the old classic package and then reassuring us they would be removed.

The fact that the 2nd time the lady had printed each receipt, wrote the package no's and said she would go up to the relevant bars and get them removed.

 

So twice I had been calm and polite, twice I had had confirmation that they were included in the package and twice I was told the charges would be removed.

On the 3rd occasion I spent 40 minutes being calm and polite - despite it being the same gentleman that had dealt with the situation the 1st time. Despite reminding him of this occasion, and despite telling him of the ladies confirmation as well on the 2nd occasion. Despite him trying to tell me the cone and cup ice cream referred to on the print out of my drinks package was the soft serve ice cream (which has nothing to do with any of the drinks packages and is free to everyone), despite being ignored when I asked to speak to a manager.

 

If anyone was rude and a bully it was this member of staff.

 

Even when I lost my temper I did not in anyway insult the member of staff personally (though given his level of ineptitude and ignorant attitude I could easily have done so) as I am not a bully and have never bullied anyone in my life despite what you say. My comments were "this is absolutely ridiculous" "this is a joke, the items are included in our package, I know that and it has also been confirmed on the 2 prior occasions we've been to sort this out" "you know what, we will pay, just take the money" "yes I'm losing my temper because we are just getting nowhere in trying to sort this out when it was already supposed to have been sorted twice". I didn't throw they money at the member of staff I threw it over the counter in frustration. I didn't  swear at all. I probably wasn't even that loud as I had had a sore throat for the past 3 days and was losing my voice.

 

How MSC handled the issue of "just 3 ice creams" was disproportionate and unjustified. It should have been followed through on the 1st occasion when confirmation that the items charged for were included in our package was received from a senior member of staff. All it would have taken was a phone call up to the bar. 

 

Where is the justification in telling customers who have paid a lot of money for a relaxing and stress free holiday that something will be done only for it not to be done twice and not done for 40 minutes on the 3rd occasion whilst I was staying calm and polite?

 

I am not at all embarrassed. I put the experience into print for one main reason:

 So future customers (especially those on an old drinks package) can watch out for wrong charges. Maybe if they expect it may happen and may take 3 attempts to sort it they will be better prepared than I was and not lose their temper.

 

I don't like to lose my temper. I don't think it is dignified in anyway. Nor do I think it is the answer in most cases and I always do my best to approach any issue in a calm and polite manner. Usually this works. Usually it works in leaps and bounds if it is your second time returning to the same issue. As for the 3rd time it should be that the organisation is falling over to apologise and rectify the issue. As much as I don't like losing my temper  nor do I like being taken advantage of, having to repeatedly deal with the same issue despite having been told it would be sorted, having the same member of staff completely ignore the reminder that he had spoke to his superior only a couple of days before who had confirmed what we had told him then and what we were now telling him again. Then having that member of staff ignore my (polite) request to speak to a manager.

 

Yes dealing with a situation by losing your temper rarely gets you anywhere. Especially if you have a temper from the outset. Unfortunately in this case being polite and calm got me nowhere and, again, unfortunately, it took losing my temper to bring forth a manager (again whom I had already asked to speak to and been ignored) who then promptly sorted out the situation. I would likely still be trying to resolve it now had I continued to remain calm. Although that would have meant another cruise so on that basis yes i do regret losing my temper.

[DCGuy64]

2 hours ago, redandrea7119 said:

To be honest I think it is you who is missing the point. It wasn't over "just 3 ice-creams" - far from it. It was over the fact that I had spent 2 prior occasions dealing politely and calmly with this situation. The 1st time waiting a ridiculous amount of time before the member of staff checked with a superior that the items were in fact included in the old classic package and then reassuring us they would be removed.

The fact that the 2nd time the lady had printed each receipt, wrote the package no's and said she would go up to the relevant bars and get them removed.

 

So twice I had been calm and polite, twice I had had confirmation that they were included in the package and twice I was told the charges would be removed.

On the 3rd occasion I spent 40 minutes being calm and polite - despite it being the same gentleman that had dealt with the situation the 1st time. Despite reminding him of this occasion, and despite telling him of the ladies confirmation as well on the 2nd occasion. Despite him trying to tell me the cone and cup ice cream referred to on the print out of my drinks package was the soft serve ice cream (which has nothing to do with any of the drinks packages and is free to everyone), despite being ignored when I asked to speak to a manager.

 

If anyone was rude and a bully it was this member of staff.

 

Even when I lost my temper I did not in anyway insult the member of staff personally (though given his level of ineptitude and ignorant attitude I could easily have done so) as I am not a bully and have never bullied anyone in my life despite what you say. My comments were "this is absolutely ridiculous" "this is a joke, the items are included in our package, I know that and it has also been confirmed on the 2 prior occasions we've been to sort this out" "you know what, we will pay, just take the money" "yes I'm losing my temper because we are just getting nowhere in trying to sort this out when it was already supposed to have been sorted twice". I didn't throw they money at the member of staff I threw it over the counter in frustration. I didn't  swear at all. I probably wasn't even that loud as I had had a sore throat for the past 3 days and was losing my voice.

 

How MSC handled the issue of "just 3 ice creams" was disproportionate and unjustified. It should have been followed through on the 1st occasion when confirmation that the items charged for were included in our package was received from a senior member of staff. All it would have taken was a phone call up to the bar. 

 

Where is the justification in telling customers who have paid a lot of money for a relaxing and stress free holiday that something will be done only for it not to be done twice and not done for 40 minutes on the 3rd occasion whilst I was staying calm and polite?

 

I am not at all embarrassed. I put the experience into print for one main reason:

 So future customers (especially those on an old drinks package) can watch out for wrong charges. Maybe if they expect it may happen and may take 3 attempts to sort it they will be better prepared than I was and not lose their temper.

 

I don't like to lose my temper. I don't think it is dignified in anyway. Nor do I think it is the answer in most cases and I always do my best to approach any issue in a calm and polite manner. Usually this works. Usually it works in leaps and bounds if it is your second time returning to the same issue. As for the 3rd time it should be that the organisation is falling over to apologise and rectify the issue. As much as I don't like losing my temper  nor do I like being taken advantage of, having to repeatedly deal with the same issue despite having been told it would be sorted, having the same member of staff completely ignore the reminder that he had spoke to his superior only a couple of days before who had confirmed what we had told him then and what we were now telling him again. Then having that member of staff ignore my (polite) request to speak to a manager.

 

Yes dealing with a situation by losing your temper rarely gets you anywhere. Especially if you have a temper from the outset. Unfortunately in this case being polite and calm got me nowhere and, again, unfortunately, it took losing my temper to bring forth a manager (again whom I had already asked to speak to and been ignored) who then promptly sorted out the situation. I would likely still be trying to resolve it now had I continued to remain calm. Although that would have meant another cruise so on that basis yes i do regret losing my temper.

None of us reading your posts were there (I assume), so of course none of us are in a position to know exactly how things transpired and, given your description of how the 1st employee behaved, your frustration is completely understandable. When my wife and I went on our honeymoon cruise, we requested (at the time of reservation) to be seated at a large table. We are both Americans but we both speak Italian, and because we were on an Italian ship, we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to sit with Italians every night and practice with them, as well as to enjoy their company. However, it took several phone calls and trips to meet with the maître d' to get seated properly. In fact, the first and second nights we were seated alone. Why? Well, they assumed that, being Americans, we were monolingual and since they didn't have many Americans on board, they essentially ignored our request for a big table and seated us at a 2-top, i.e. by ourselves. Was this frustrating? Yes, it was. Furthermore, even though we had paid for the AI beverage package, it wasn't activated so that had to be sorted out. Lastly, we were kicked off two different excursions because, wait for it, not enough English speakers so they just canceled the English-speaking excursions. We had to get rebooked onto Italian or French speaking ones, because in addition to Italian, I speak fluent French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Norwegian, so I knew we'd find something we'd understand. Now, my point in telling this long story is to say that if you allow mistakes or ineptitude to ruin your holiday, that's a choice you are making. I understand your concern about not rectifying the situation and thus increasing the possibility that future passengers will suffer the same mistakes you did, but that's not really your job, is it? You admit that the female representative you spoke with was helpful, so it's not as if every single member of staff messed up. In retrospect, if I had gone through what you did, I would simply have paid the charges and then written to the cruise line's headquarters afterward. Most cruise lines request or encourage passengers to complete a post-cruise survey and you certainly could have done that (or maybe you did). On our last cruise, we met the captain at the Cruise Critic party and not only did he ask us how we were enjoying our cruise thus far, we ran into him a couple more times throughout the cruise and he asked us again how things were going. There was a small mistake that had been made and we got an apology and a little gift in our stateroom later. So I guess what I'm saying is that there are other ways of dealing with these snafus other than, on the one hand, just paying up even though you shouldn't have to, or, on the other, getting angry, raising your voice and causing yourself undue stress. You're absolutely right that the last thing you need to deal with on a cruise that you've planned and saved for, is stress. I agree 100%.

[Nic6318]

18 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I think you were missing the point, it's how you conducted yourself and treated members of staff.

Principle is fine but shouting at staff, throwing money over the counter, being threatened with security over your behaviour and having managers defuse the situation, all over 3 ice cream cones? It's just not proportionate and never justifiable. Quite honestly I would be too embarrassed to admit what I had done let alone put it in print for the world to see.

It's not what you do but how you do it, losing your temper and bullying people rarely gets you anywhere.

 

Hi

 

… but, I think it was proportionate. It wasn't over 3 ice cream cones. It was about repeated incompetence by multiple personnel. At a point where it starts appearing to be a Monty Python sketch, and a supervisor is not summoned after being requested (before this had escalated), then losing one's temper is appropriate. Walking away at any point would have accomplished nothing but rewarding this sort of lunacy, and reinforcing the continued incompetence for the next person in line.

 

Of course I wasn't there and I am only hearing one side, but the scenario seem pretty straight forward. To have the charges reversed shouldn't have taken more than 5 minutes, one time. 
 

[redandrea7119]

23 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

Hi

 

… but, I think it was proportionate. It wasn't over 3 ice cream cones. It was about repeated incompetence by multiple personnel. At a point where it starts appearing to be a Monty Python sketch, and a supervisor is not summoned after being requested (before this had escalated), then losing one's temper is appropriate. Walking away at any point would have accomplished nothing but rewarding this sort of lunacy, and reinforcing the continued incompetence for the next person in line.

 

Of course I wasn't there and I am only hearing one side, but the scenario seem pretty straight forward. To have the charges reversed shouldn't have taken more than 5 minutes, one time. 
 

Thanks Nic6318

You have understood the situation and how I felt perfectly.

[jody75]

I have read most of this thread and are CONFUSED as I have checked the Terms & Conditions on both U.K. (msccruises.co.uk) and the US (msccruises.com) and both state that the Service Charge can be cancelled hence it is NOT compulsory.  What am I missing as there is no mention of a change to the T&C ?

Edited April 27, 2019 by jody75

[Nigelp]

 Just got on board MSC ship yesterday went to guest services this morning if took thirty seconds to get the tips removed, no problem at all they didn’t have any problem with it at all. Always tipped in person I like to know they get it and that it doesn’t just disappear into the cruise lines pockets !!!

[sidari]

43 minutes ago, jody75 said:

I have read most of this thread and are CONFUSED as I have checked the Terms & Conditions on both U.K. (msccruises.co.uk) and the US (msccruises.com) and both state that the Service Charge can be cancelled hence it is NOT compulsory.  What am I missing as there is no mention of a change to the T&C ?

Do a dummy booking on the UK site for a Miami sailing, when you choose your cruise on the right hand side you will see the word Mandatory unless it has been removed in the last week.

[jody75]

11 hours ago, sidari said:

Do a dummy booking on the UK site for a Miami sailing, when you choose your cruise on the right hand side you will see the word Mandatory unless it has been removed in the last week.

 

Thanks, I see that but that's invalid if the T&C say different.

Most people don't book via the MSC website, they use a Travel Agent as I do and they make no reference to a service charge being mandatory.

[sidari]

4 minutes ago, jody75 said:

 

Thanks, I see that but that's invalid if the T&C say different.

Most people don't book via the MSC website, they use a Travel Agent as I do and they make no reference to a service charge being mandatory.

Not if the T & C's have not been updated to include the word Mandatory! This is part of the problem with MSC no one really knows what they really mean.

It has been pointed out to them about the wording but as you have seen, it still remains on the booking side.

[8420PR]

On 4/23/2019 at 10:43 PM, redandrea7119 said:

From the UK - also just back from a b2b cruise on MSC Seaside. Service charge removed no problem at all. Also my partner heard an American woman asking for it to be removed and stating that she wasn't going to pay it & again the guy on guest services told her he had removed it - she had no problem either.

In fact it was easier to get this removed than it was to get 3 charges that were mistakenly added to our bill for items included in our drinks package - these turned out to be an absolute nightmare to remove. 4 visits to guest services over the course of our 2nd week.

I hope the poor service getting the incorrect gelato charges removed wasn't related to removing $360 of service charges.

[thecruisers6]

Is this another change in wording?

Goal posts moving again. 

This is from a booking today made in the UK and posted on Facebook. 

The per guest, per night service charge is included in the cruise fare. 

 

Yippee for all the staff who work so hard to make my holidays so wonderful. 

Shame on those who take money away from their families 😀

 

Sorry i can’t get the image any better

[Epos Man]

nope no change in  wording it was announced at the launch of bellissima by the CEO of mscruises europe that from may the prices would include the service charges

Saying that if you go to the website and look at the cruises it says that the service charges aren't included

Edited May 2, 2019 by ikea logistics