Mandatory Service Charges

[sidari]

Bea ... The cruise I mentioned was booked In September 2018.

[jody75]

Just goto msccruises.co.uk choose Manage Booking then Before Departure. If you now select SERVICE CHARGES you get this :-

 

SERVICE CHARGE
Each day, MSC Cruises will debit the Service Charge to your onboard account. The charge covers the onboard hospitality services actually enjoyed and is calculated according to the itinerary chosen and the number of nights. For further details of the amounts payable in each currency, please refer to the table below.
However, should you wish to adjust or cancel any of the daily hotel service charges in the unlikely event that you did not receive a satisfactory service, you may do so on board

SUMMER 2019 & WINTER 2019 - 2020 / SUMMER 2020 & WINTER 2020 - 2021

 

I will be taking a copy of their statement and will ask for them to remove the charge from my account. 

[Beamafar]

Still showing as 'Mandatory' on the Ireland website:

 

[Magnelasagne]

Still no changes on the norwegian site

[sidari]

2 hours ago, jody75 said:

Just goto msccruises.co.uk choose Manage Booking then Before Departure. If you now select SERVICE CHARGES you get this :-

 

SERVICE CHARGE
Each day, MSC Cruises will debit the Service Charge to your onboard account. The charge covers the onboard hospitality services actually enjoyed and is calculated according to the itinerary chosen and the number of nights. For further details of the amounts payable in each currency, please refer to the table below.
However, should you wish to adjust or cancel any of the daily hotel service charges in the unlikely event that you did not receive a satisfactory service, you may do so on board

SUMMER 2019 & WINTER 2019 - 2020 / SUMMER 2020 & WINTER 2020 - 2021

 

I will be taking a copy of their statement and will ask for them to remove the charge from my account. 

That is at odds with Invoices people are receiving which says it is Mandatory!

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by sidari

[jody75]

59 minutes ago, sidari said:

That is at odds with Invoices people are receiving which says it is Mandatory!

 

No mention of service charges being mandatory on my booking invoice. For clarification of any issue with your booking it refers me to their website msccruises.co.uk.  As I mentioned earlier it is very clear that service charges can be adjusted or cancelled when onboard - to me that is very clear, NOT mandatory and unenforceable.

[sidari]

I have been speaking with someone recently back from Magnifica who was handed a letter telling them the DSC was Mandatory, as you can see on page 20 the bottom of the invoice says Mandatory despite the UK website saying different.

Just looking at a booking for our Xmas cruise at the side in Bold lettering it says Mandatory service charge is not included 

[Beamafar]

I wonder how much this will impact on repeat bookings?  It's certainly not going to go down well in some quarters!

 

I thought they were going to include it in the fare from earlier this month, anyway?  I'll believe that when I see it - tax implications are the stumbling block IMHO.

[jody75]

Sidari...... You obviously have a different cruise contract - LOL.   I reiterate no reference to mandatory service charges on my contract and nothing on their website at the time of my booking hence any subsequent change is unenforceable.  I have 3 future YC cruises booked all with refundable deposits (US agent) and any problems these cruises are expendable.

 

[sidari]

41 minutes ago, jody75 said:

Sidari...... You obviously have a different cruise contract - LOL.   I reiterate no reference to mandatory service charges on my contract and nothing on their website at the time of my booking hence any subsequent change is unenforceable.  I have 3 future YC cruises booked all with refundable deposits (US agent) and any problems these cruises are expendable.

 

So far we have no paperwork apart from the original booking stuff, if you go back to the early pages of this thread there is an email from MSC which I think says that even previous bookings are included but I would have to check.

[sidari]

On 2/21/2019 at 1:45 PM, sidari said:

Here is the MSC reply to my email this morning.

 

Good afternoon Mr. D

Thank you for your email.

We can confirm that cruises sailing from 31st March 2019, All passengers will be required to pay for our service charge on board.
These service charges are mandatory and cannot be removed. Should you face any poor customer service whilst on board, Please do not hesitate to contact our Guest Relations Manager. 
MSC Cruises wishes you and Ms. J a wonderful cruise on board MSC Meraviglia over Christmas 2019.
Thank you

This an email received from MSC UK.

[Beamafar]

There is nothing in our booking information on any of our 3 current bookings referencing the service charge, let alone indicating that it's mandatory.

 

 

[thecruisers6]

This is what my booking confirmation states. Booked directly with the UK site for a US cruise. 

Its on the very last page.......

 

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 cruise departure date.
For further detailed info on service charge please consult our website www.msccruises.co.uk

 

So if I go on the website (for further info as directed) it’s says what Jody says above 😳

Jody does your booking confirmation have the UK or US address on the footer of each page? 

[thecruisers6]

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, thecruisers6 said:

 

That's interesting, I just triggered a new booking confirmation to see if mine had changed since the last email.

This is how mine looks dated today:

 

[holidayqueen47]

I have just had an updated invoice as I have added on some extra things (cruise booked Jan 2018) and it says service charges are included but then says they are mandatory.  Booked in UK for Med cruise.  

[Beamafar]

 

11 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

 

That's interesting, I just triggered a new booking confirmation to see if mine had changed since the last email.

This is how mine looks dated today:

 

 

I was just about to post a pic of what's on our booking, too, which is identical to yours, Ziggy - no mention of the service charge anywhere.

 

Bytheway, I don't see Plymouth gin listed on any MSC menus.  I took a note of it when you mentioned it before.  Funnily enough, only yesterday I saw an ad on TV for it.

Edited May 15, 2019 by Beamafar

[mickey89]

Bea..... how to you get the Booking confirmation you copied above.  I booked with a UK travel agent and all I have is their Booking confirmation with the MSC booking ref no.  I can access My Cruise on the MSC website and it gives all the booking details but nothing else just reference to their website for T&C.

[Beamafar]

I always ask the TA to provide me with a PDF of the MSC booking confirmation that they receive (and that you get when booking directly with MSC) - some do, some don't/won't.  Those who don't never get a repeat booking from us!

Edited May 15, 2019 by Beamafar

[sidari]

Reply from MSC this morning says that the current status of the DSC is as per the UK brochure.

[ziggyuk]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Bytheway, I don't see Plymouth gin listed on any MSC menus.  I took a note of it when you mentioned it before.  Funnily enough, only yesterday I saw an ad on TV for it.

 

It is a bit strange, Plymouth Gin is showing on some menus and not others, I'm not sure if it is ship or region based.

 

The menu you posted below (post #94) lists Plymouth under the the premium selection at $8 on a US sailing, most menus don't list it though. I am keeping my fingers crossed as there is very little information on South America sailings on here and my next is from Rio, I hope it will be the same as the US menu you posted.

 

Plymouth is the best gin money can buy IMHO but you really want the the navy strength which is 57% rather than original strength that is 41.2%.

 

http://plymouthgin.com/gins/

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by ziggyuk

[Beamafar]

Thanks, Ziggy - I don't know how I missed that!  I'll keep an eye out on our Seaview (Med) sailing for it.  We'll be doing a US-based one after that, so will check it out there, too.

 

I can't answer about stock on S American cruises;  we did do a repo from Brazil but I don't remember what was on the menus.  This is the main reason why I'm now going to write a report containing bar lists and MDR menus on each cruise I do - it'll be a record for me to refer back to instead of having to rely on (a very dodgy) memory!  🙄

 

(Apologies, Dave, for taking the thread off-track.  I wanted to catch Ziggy and didn't want to start a thread on the subject).

[Beamafar]

59 minutes ago, sidari said:

Reply from MSC this morning says that the current status of the DSC is as per the UK brochure.

 

I wish they'd make up their mind lol!  I wonder if they're getting a lot of flack onboard if they're insisting at GS that the charges can't be removed, which would explain the flip-flopping on the subject.

[lyndarra]

I've been trying to find out if grats are included for my November cruise. I emailed my TA and they only came back with the old "mandatory" & "cannot be removed" spiel.

[lyndarra]

I've been trying to find out if grats are included for my November cruise. I emailed my TA and they only came back with the old "mandatory" & "cannot be removed" spiel.