Help to successfully rebook please

[aprilF]

I am hoping I can get some advice on timing.  Here is the situation, I booked a deck 15 port side room on the Seaview for next March on Expedia last October.  In December I sailed MSC and decided to visit the future cruise desk to see if I could rebook this room at a better rate.  There was a better rate available but I couldnt rebook the same room.  I had to book a new room, 14th floor and Starboard.  I asked on board if I could switch rooms later without penalty.  I've decided that I would like to have the Portside deck 15 room so I need to cancel this room and then switch my room reservation that I made on board a the lower rate.

 

If anyone has done something similar and has an idea of how long it takes a canceled Expedia room to show back up in the inventory, Id appreciate knowing.  Also if anyone has a "best" time to call MSC to do this, I'd love that information as well.  Thanks.

[blueslily]

Hello, I'm not sure about the timeframe for cancellations, but in response to a good time to call MSC, I am new to MSC and have called quite a few times recently due to multiple questions for my first cruise with them. My shortest wait times to call was Sunday morning very close to opening time. Less than 10 minute wait each time. Not sure if that's what your second question was about when you asked for the best time to call. Good luck

 

[aprilF]

23 hours ago, blueslily said:

Hello, I'm not sure about the timeframe for cancellations, but in response to a good time to call MSC, I am new to MSC and have called quite a few times recently due to multiple questions for my first cruise with them. My shortest wait times to call was Sunday morning very close to opening time. Less than 10 minute wait each time. Not sure if that's what your second question was about when you asked for the best time to call. Good luck

 

Thats exactly what I was asking, thank you.

[mef_57]

You know MSC reserves the right to change your room without notification, right?  So even if you go to the hassle of changing rooms to get the one on the 15th Deck, it doesn't mean that will be your final room. It improves your chances, but best to not be too committed to a location with them. 

That being said, I tend to call as soon as their office opens.

[lifeasme123]

On 1/11/2020 at 12:16 PM, aprilF said:

I am hoping I can get some advice on timing.  Here is the situation, I booked a deck 15 port side room on the Seaview for next March on Expedia last October.  In December I sailed MSC and decided to visit the future cruise desk to see if I could rebook this room at a better rate.  There was a better rate available but I couldnt rebook the same room.  I had to book a new room, 14th floor and Starboard.  I asked on board if I could switch rooms later without penalty.  I've decided that I would like to have the Portside deck 15 room so I need to cancel this room and then switch my room reservation that I made on board a the lower rate.

 

If anyone has done something similar and has an idea of how long it takes a canceled Expedia room to show back up in the inventory, Id appreciate knowing.  Also if anyone has a "best" time to call MSC to do this, I'd love that information as well.  Thanks.

I am assuming you booked the Seaview cruise while you were on Armonia.  If that is the case, then you did you use to book that cruise (Dec 16 Armonia cruise).  If it is expedia, then it is simple.  The cruise you booked while on board will be transferred to Expedia.  Call Expedia to make the change.  I've done this before.

[lifeasme123]

Forgot to add...in my case when this happened, the wait was 24 hours.  What I did was checked the MSC website to see when it is available and then called my agent to grab the cabin.

[aprilF]

1 hour ago, mef_57 said:

You know MSC reserves the right to change your room without notification, right?  So even if you go to the hassle of changing rooms to get the one on the 15th Deck, it doesn't mean that will be your final room. It improves your chances, but best to not be too committed to a location with them. 

That being said, I tend to call as soon as their office opens.

 

Of course I know this.  However there are only a few whirlpool baloney suites on the ship and they all hold the same amount of people.  AFAIK they all seem to have the handicap rating (as in no accessible).  Those are the more common reasons for moving people so I think I can reasonably expect to stay put in whichever room I keep booked.  That said, we wont be heartbroken if we dont get a port side room but if a simple phone call can make it happen and its our preference I see no reason not to try.

 

43 minutes ago, lifeasme123 said:

I am assuming you booked the Seaview cruise while you were on Armonia.  If that is the case, then you did you use to book that cruise (Dec 16 Armonia cruise).  If it is expedia, then it is simple.  The cruise you booked while on board will be transferred to Expedia.  Call Expedia to make the change.  I've done this before.

 

Thanks!  I booked the Seaview twice for the same cruise.  Once in December (in the room I ultimately want) and then I booked whist on the Armonia in December.  I had been under the impression that I could rebook the same room and get the better price and OBC because other people had mentioned doing the same on here.  However the lady that was booking cruises on our sailing either didnt know how to do that or it was no longer possible.  So I need to cancel the Expedia cruise and hopefully be able to grab that room once it goes back into the available inventory.  What I am wondering is does it go back as available right away, at midnight the next morning, some other predictable time or just a random time?

 

Beyond that though, is there some reason to transfer the booking to Expedia once I get the room sorted out?  I initially booked with them because of an OBC offer.  Inexplicably I was given only half the expected OBC and that's why I started looking into rebooking the cruise on my Armonia sailing in the first place.  I am making the assumption that I wouldnt get both the Expedia offer and the MSC on board booking offer of OBC.  Is this an incorrect assumption?  I

 

 

[aprilF]

6 minutes ago, lifeasme123 said:

Forgot to add...in my case when this happened, the wait was 24 hours.  What I did was checked the MSC website to see when it is available and then called my agent to grab the cabin.

 

Thanks, very helpful.  Will be sure to do it on a time/ day when I can follow up the next day!  🙂

[lifeasme123]

3 minutes ago, aprilF said:

 

Thanks, very helpful.  Will be sure to do it on a time/ day when I can follow up the next day!  🙂

It was actually available less than 24 hours.  They told me to wait 24 hours.  However, I was too anxious so I checked the website every few hours.  LOL.  The cabin was available later that day.

[lifeasme123]

6 minutes ago, aprilF said:

Thanks!  I booked the Seaview twice for the same cruise.  Once in December (in the room I ultimately want) and then I booked whist on the Armonia in December.  I had been under the impression that I could rebook the same room and get the better price and OBC because other people had mentioned doing the same on here.  However the lady that was booking cruises on our sailing either didnt know how to do that or it was no longer possible.  So I need to cancel the Expedia cruise and hopefully be able to grab that room once it goes back into the available inventory.  What I am wondering is does it go back as available right away, at midnight the next morning, some other predictable time or just a random time?

 

Beyond that though, is there some reason to transfer the booking to Expedia once I get the room sorted out?  I initially booked with them because of an OBC offer.  Inexplicably I was given only half the expected OBC and that's why I started looking into rebooking the cruise on my Armonia sailing in the first place.  I am making the assumption that I wouldnt get both the Expedia offer and the MSC on board booking offer of OBC.  Is this an incorrect assumption?  I

 

 

All onboard bookings go back to the agency that booked the cruise you were on where you booked the future cruise.  This was true on Celebrity and RCCL for us.   Hope that make sense. 🙂  Have Expeida take care of this for you.  

 

You may want to call Expedia and give them the booking number of the one you booked while on Armonia.  My cruise last month was also booked on Expedia and they did not give me ANY of the OBC I was due to receive.  I booked 3 cruises while on Armonia last month and all three are automatically given to Expedia.  Now I am fighting to get them to release those bookings to a different agency.

[aprilF]

1 minute ago, lifeasme123 said:

It was actually available less than 24 hours.  They told me to wait 24 hours.  However, I was too anxious so I checked the website every few hours.  LOL.  The cabin was available later that day.

 

Again, helpful, thanks. 

 

I initially jumped on this room in October in large part because it looked like less than 1/4 of the room inventory was remaining.  Since then only one other room of this class has been sold...the one to me while on the Armonia.  LOL  Now I realize that being a Med loop that its likely only some of the rooms of this type are even available at my embarkation point.  So I am probably not going to need to fight off hordes of people to get my original room back but Id still like to do it asap.

[lifeasme123]

We did the med cruise in 2017 and 2018.  As you probably are aware, there is embarkation at each port.  So it may not be available at the port you choose to embark, the room may be available at a different port.  This is because the passengers occupying those rooms will have disembarked. 

Did you check the other ports?

 

But really if you are on top of it when it is cancelled....you should be ok.  

[aprilF]

2 minutes ago, lifeasme123 said:

All onboard bookings go back to the agency that booked the cruise you were on where you booked the future cruise.  This was true on Celebrity and RCCL for us.   Hope that make sense. 🙂  Have Expeida take care of this for you.  

 

You may want to call Expedia and give them the booking number of the one you booked while on Armonia.  My cruise last month was also booked on Expedia and they did not give me ANY of the OBC I was due to receive.  I booked 3 cruises while on Armonia last month and all three are automatically given to Expedia.  Now I am fighting to get them to release those bookings to a different agency.

 

OK, I think I am following now.  You are saying that since I booked the Armonia cruise on Expedia that when I booked the Seaview cruise while I was on the Armonia that I *really* booked with Expedia rather than MSC for the Seaview cruise?  It's my first time booking a cruise while on a cruise (for any line).  I have never heard this before. 

 

If this is the case, how quickly did you find out you were missing OBC?

[aprilF]

Just now, lifeasme123 said:

We did the med cruise in 2017 and 2018.  As you probably are aware, there is embarkation at each port.  So it may not be available at the port you choose to embark, the room may be available at a different port.  This is because the passengers occupying those rooms will have disembarked. 

Did you check the other ports?

 

But really if you are on top of it when it is cancelled....you should be ok.  

 

I already have the room I want booked at our Embarkation point so I know it will be available.  We arent flexible anymore on the embarkation point because we have flights and hotels booked for the land portion of our trip, Im not willing to redo all of that for a room change.  If it came to that I am OK with the room we booked whilst on the Armonia.

[lifeasme123]

2 minutes ago, aprilF said:

 

OK, I think I am following now.  You are saying that since I booked the Armonia cruise on Expedia that when I booked the Seaview cruise while I was on the Armonia that I *really* booked with Expedia rather than MSC for the Seaview cruise?  It's my first time booking a cruise while on a cruise (for any line).  I have never heard this before. 

 

You got it!

 

2 minutes ago, aprilF said:

If this is the case, how quickly did you find out you were missing OBC?

I was missing the OBC for the Dec 2019 Armonia cruise.  Expedia never gave me OBC for that booking.

[lifeasme123]

2 minutes ago, aprilF said:

 

I already have the room I want booked at our Embarkation point so I know it will be available.  We arent flexible anymore on the embarkation point because we have flights and hotels booked for the land portion of our trip, Im not willing to redo all of that for a room change.  If it came to that I am OK with the room we booked whilst on the Armonia.

👍  We did the same loop in 2017, but on Meravigilia.  We had visited Athens and Rome (DIY land) for 2 weeks prior to the cruise.

Edited January 13, 2020 by lifeasme123

[aprilF]

1 minute ago, lifeasme123 said:

You got it!

 

I was missing the OBC for the Dec 2019 Armonia cruise.  Expedia never gave me OBC for that booking.

Wow, the lady at the booking desk never even hinted that Expedia would have the reservation rather than MSC.  That seems like a strange set up that MSC is paying someone to book future cruises but they just give the reservation away.

 

Are you trying to switch agencies away from Expedia because of the OBC snafu in December?

 

 

[lifeasme123]

1 minute ago, aprilF said:

Are you trying to switch agencies away from Expedia because of the OBC snafu in December?

Yes.  

 

1 minute ago, aprilF said:

Wow, the lady at the booking desk never even hinted that Expedia would have the reservation rather than MSC.  That seems like a strange set up that MSC is paying someone to book future cruises but they just give the reservation away.

Essentially, Expedia was the "sales lead" for you to book another MSC cruise.  They aren't giving their reservation away because they are still getting the cruise fare.  Expedia is getting the commission.  

 

I have booked onboard before, with MSC, Royal and Celebrity....and they all do the same.  I would assume other cruiselines do the same as well.

 

I confirmed with the future cruise consultant that the reservation will go to Expedia.

 

If you had called MSC while on land and booked via them, then that reservation stays with MSC.  The MSC agent who booked for you will earn the commission.

[aprilF]

1 minute ago, lifeasme123 said:

Yes.  

 

Essentially, Expedia was the "sales lead" for you to book another MSC cruise.  They aren't giving their reservation away because they are still getting the cruise fare.  Expedia is getting the commission.  

 

I have booked onboard before, with MSC, Royal and Celebrity....and they all do the same.  I would assume other cruiselines do the same as well.

 

I confirmed with the future cruise consultant that the reservation will go to Expedia.

 

If you had called MSC while on land and booked via them, then that reservation stays with MSC.  The MSC agent who booked for you will earn the commission.

Thank you for the tutorial on how it works.  I've only really looked into future cruise while on board bookings for DCL.  Im pretty sure they dont do it this way, at least with Costco as the booking agent, based on conversations Ive seen about the process.  Costco doesnt book MSC or I probably would have just gone with them.

 

We havent used a local agency in more than ten years so I'm not even sure who I would ask to take over the booking.  But thank you for making sure I was forewarned about the OBC credit issue.

[aprilF]

Huh, it's funny that I cant pull up my cruise on Expedia since I wasnt given an "Expedia Booking Number" only an MSC booking number. 

 

When I want to switch rooms, who do you think I should call...MSC or Expedia?

[lifeasme123]

2 minutes ago, aprilF said:

Huh, it's funny that I cant pull up my cruise on Expedia since I wasnt given an "Expedia Booking Number" only an MSC booking number. 

 

When I want to switch rooms, who do you think I should call...MSC or Expedia?

Expedia.  Just give them your booking number.

 

When I called MSC about the bookings I just made on Armonia, I was told to contact "Travelocity", who owns Expedia.

[aprilF]

Just now, lifeasme123 said:

Expedia.  Just give them your booking number.

 

When I called MSC about the bookings I just made on Armonia, I was told to contact "Travelocity", who owns Expedia.

Thank you so much for helping me through this!  Wish we had met on the Armonia.  Hope you enjoy your future booked cruises!  🙂

 

[lifeasme123]

6 minutes ago, aprilF said:

Thank you for the tutorial on how it works.  I've only really looked into future cruise while on board bookings for DCL.  Im pretty sure they dont do it this way, at least with Costco as the booking agent, based on conversations Ive seen about the process.  Costco doesnt book MSC or I probably would have just gone with them.

 

We havent used a local agency in more than ten years so I'm not even sure who I would ask to take over the booking.  But thank you for making sure I was forewarned about the OBC credit issue.

Yeah Costco does not book MSC cruises.  

 

I don't have a local agent. In fact, I am not loyal or tied to any one agent/agency.  I happened to check my cruise on a online travel agency and found a better deal with them.  So began my journey to transfer the booking from "Travelocty/Expedia" to this new agency.

[lifeasme123]

1 minute ago, aprilF said:

Thank you so much for helping me through this!  Wish we had met on the Armonia.  Hope you enjoy your future booked cruises!  🙂

 

You're welcome.  And you as well.

 

The M&M on Armonia did not have many people.  I was the only Asian woman in there with a young daughter.  

Edited January 13, 2020 by lifeasme123

[aprilF]

7 minutes ago, lifeasme123 said:

You're welcome.  And you as well.

 

The M&M on Armonia did not have many people.  I was the only Asian woman in there with a young daughter.  

I was almost directly to the right of the cake as you were facing it.  Another family was seated with us and we spent a lot of the time talking with them.  Then the person seated behind me was someone that had been at out hotel so I spent a good amount of time turned around talking with her too.  I didnt really get to mingle all that much unfortunately. 

 

I will say that almost every passenger on that cruise was lovely, friendly and enhanced our experience.