Can you book on the MSC Italian site if you are not resident of Italy ?

[newbie8]

Can you book on the MSC Italian site if you are not resident of Italy ?

I know booking in the US is the best for price and terms but the cruise I have my eye set on is

only offered on their European sites and Italy seems to have the best price. 

So wondering if I can just book the cruise on the Italian website (with help of google translate).

Will this be accepted or do I need an Italian address ?TIA

[modes]

No you can't.

[jody75]

14 hours ago, newbie8 said:

Can you book on the MSC Italian site if you are not resident of Italy ?

I know booking in the US is the best for price and terms but the cruise I have my eye set on is

only offered on their European sites and Italy seems to have the best price. 

So wondering if I can just book the cruise on the Italian website (with help of google translate).

Will this be accepted or do I need an Italian address ?TIA

 

Assuming you are from the UK, I would say YES although have never tried.  

We can book via Germany without any hassle so don't see why you can't from Italy.  Check to see if the particular cruise is being offered to the German market and try them.  Otherwise the only way to be sure is make contact and ask.

Edited May 10, 2019 by jody75

[8420PR]

For as long as the UK is part of the EU, you can book from any of MSC's EU markets.   If you don't have an Italian address you will have to call, or use a local travel agent (which may be easier).

 

If or when the UK leaves the EU, you would lose this legal protection and your booking would be against MSC (and most cruise lines) terms and conditions, which may or may not have some consequences.

[newbie8]

Thank you all for the replies. I thought the same about being free to book with any country within the EU zone.

I guess I better find an Italian online TA for the booking. Not sure if I can find one though, tried google but have not been able to get some yet. Will keep searching. 

 

As for the German market, price is still much higher than the IT website. BTW, did you book direct with the MSC German website or with a German TA ?

[jody75]

Try scanning the seas.

[newbie8]

Thanks, will have a look.

[korpo024]

On 5/10/2019 at 4:54 AM, modes said:

No you can't.

And thuis is very stranger under EU law!

[Beamafar]

21 hours ago, newbie8 said:

 

As for the German market, price is still much higher than the IT website. BTW, did you book direct with the MSC German website or with a German TA ?

 

We've booked our upcoming cruise with the German online TA that's been indicated by Jody.  It was cheaper than on the Ireland MSC website.  However, we have a couple of other bookings that were more expensive (or not available) with the same TA, so they're not always better value.  Like everything else, you have to shop around and hope that prices don't fall after you book.  Also, that particular online TA looks for a heftier deposit than MSC does (and other TAs).  We had to pay a 20% deposit which was 3 times the deposit we would normally pay to either MSC or an Irish TA.  Flights were not included in the booking, just the cruise. 

 

You cannot book directly with MSC in a different country to the one you reside in - they will refer you to your own country's office.  We have to phone MSC UK to book directly, but we only get access to prices and cabins allocated to the Ireland market, despite it being the same office!  Nor can we avail of offers open to the UK market.  Their system is split into UK or Ireland bookings and cannot interchange them.