Beware: Meraviglia drink package problems

[neptuno]

Although we prepaid our Easy Packages, many included drinks were charged to our account.  After three trips to onboard customer service I finally gave up.  They confirmed there was a problem with their system not recognizing our prepaid packages.  However we will have to contact the corporate office to get credit.

[stoneman56]

Do not, I repeat do not leave the ship without getting It sorted no matter how long it takes

[perakcruiser]

Absolutely! Don´t leave the ship without sorting this out. 

[Jimbo]

What drinks does the Easy Package include ?

[Fogfog]

Agreed. If you can show they package in place--then insist they fix it NOW while on the ship.

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Agreed. If you can show they package in place--then insist they fix it NOW while on the ship.

Another vote to sort it onboard, that is the only approach to take otherwise you will never see those dollars again! 😉

[Preziosa]

Check the Bill everytime when you buy a drink.

it has to Be 0,00. Just tell the bartender if it not shows 0,00.

they Can correct it.

[sidari]

Ask to see the Food and Beverages Director or Hotel Director.

[brillohead]

Or just get it fixed at the end of the cruise, instead of making a trip to the desk every single day.  

But I would totally get it fixed while still on board.

[hamrag]

17 hours ago, sidari said:

Ask to see the Food and Beverages Director or Hotel Director.

 

If all else fails onboard, that is exactly what I would do....but before penultimate day on board! 😉

[neptuno]

Thanks for the advice.  Too late, left the ship;  lines were so long at customer service, I just could not take it any more.

[CruisingFox27]

On 1/27/2020 at 11:40 AM, Jimbo said:

What drinks does the Easy Package include ?

All drinks under €/$ 6 and from the Easy list. Although sailings in the US include an additional couple of 'cocktails'.

 

[brillohead]

On 1/27/2020 at 6:40 AM, Jimbo said:

What drinks does the Easy Package include ?

Only one or two beers, from what I recall...

[neptuno]

Finally, to MSC's credit, customer service corporate has corrected our bill.  After three calls and nearly and hour of hold times, they finally go it right.

[CelebrationFamily]

Thanks for the update...it's ridiculous to have to waste so much time...but good to know they set it straight in the end...be persistent, folks! 💪

[heatherb1958]

Glad to hear you have got it sorted .

When we have a drinks package even though it is tedious to have to keep saying it I always tell the server Easy package drink and that the charge is Zero.

 

Twice we have had problems .  On Bellisima a bartender thought he was doing me a favour by giving me Premium vodka when I had already said Easy . When I checked the app , which I got into the habit of doing as soon as receiving any drink, his colleague had charged it up ,  I brought it to his attention I had been charged incorrectly, he wasn’t happy about having  to correct it but tough, his mistake , I hadn’t asked for it .

 

Another instance , again on Bellisima, we got charged for our Easy package wine in the MDR on the last night , €25 !! I brought it to the attention of the Maitre D literally 15 mins after the charge had been made, was told to go to Guest services to have the mistake corrected !!!  I politely told him I was not going to stand in line on the last night of the cruise to have a mistake that a member of his staff had made corrected.  Maitre D sorted it . 
 

You have to be on the ball all the time checking for erroneous charges . We did a UK all inclusive cruise at Christmas , no charges for anything , brilliant . 

[Fogfog]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

[omarchs]

Glad they finally sorted it out for you!
 

We were on the Meraviglia in October and were surprised at how much trouble we had ordering drinks with the drink package. Never had so much trouble ordering drinks on other lines with a drink package.

 

It appears that the bartender has to scroll through your whole cruise info when ordering a drink instead of just getting immediate info on whether you have a drink package and if so what type.

 

We upgraded to the premium package and the bartender at the first bar told us that he had to charge us for our drinks since they were over the easy limit. He then proceeded to scroll through all the info on his tablet showing only the easy package. I then had to wait 1 hour at guest services for them to tell me the bartender didn’t scroll through all the booking info to find the premium package upgrade listed. 
 

We continued to have issues on/off throughout the week ordering. We kept saying how is this order going to go and like you said we had to constantly check our account to ensure no extra charges.

 

It was also ridiculous how restrictive drink service was in the dining room. You could only easIly get their pick of a white/red that they had in the dining room rather than a particular wine. They really had no mixed drink service which was crazy. They would do it, but you might see your drink in an hour since they weren’t staffed for it. One of the Maitre’d s told us that there was a disagreement over whether the restaurant or beverage department would get credit for bar revenue in the dining room so MSC basically avoided the issue by advertising on their website limited beverage service in the dining room.

 

 

[Cruiser Bruiser]

1 hour ago, omarchs said:

We were on the Meraviglia in October and were surprised at how much trouble we had ordering drinks with the drink package. Never had so much trouble ordering drinks on other lines with a drink package.

 

It appears that the bartender has to scroll through your whole cruise info when ordering a drink instead of just getting immediate info on whether you have a drink package and if so what type.

 

It was also ridiculous how restrictive drink service was in the dining room. You could only easIly get their pick of a white/red that they had in the dining room rather than a particular wine. They really had no mixed drink service which was crazy. They would do it, but you might see your drink in an hour since they weren’t staffed for it. One of the Maitre’d s told us that there was a disagreement over whether the restaurant or beverage department would get credit for bar revenue in the dining room so MSC basically avoided the issue by advertising on their website limited beverage service in the dining room.

I have sailed on Magnifica in Europe and Armonia in the Caribbean, and I'm booked on Poesia in September and Lirica in 2021. I had the Easy package on my two past cruises, and I never had a single issue. The drink package code, as I understand it, is printed on the front of the key card, so it shouldn't be ambiguous. I wonder if it's a function of some operational change on Meraviglia? Also, on small ships like Armonia the bar servers memorize who you are very quickly, so maybe they just stop asking re the package?

 

Regarding the mixed drinks in the dining room issue: MSC does not serve mixed drinks in their dining rooms. Full stop. That's one of those Italian heritage things that you have to adjust to, or live with the fact that you are asking MDR staff to do something they don't typically do and do not want to do. MSC MDRs serve wine at dinner along with bottled water. And if you have the Easy package, they will keep the wine (and water) flowing freely throughout the meal.

[nanwel]

Can anyone tell me if you can buy a wine only pkg when you are on board?

The cruise is 4 weeks and the pkg is for all drinks and is over 1000 Cnd… do not want to be drunk everynight….

only want wine with dinner and maybe 1 - or 2 afternoon drinks.

[neptuno]

I did not see any wine packages aboard.  You may buy a bottle of wine for dinner and have it corked, or take it with you.

[heatherb1958]

1 hour ago, nanwel said:

Can anyone tell me if you can buy a wine only pkg when you are on board?

The cruise is 4 weeks and the pkg is for all drinks and is over 1000 Cnd… do not want to be drunk everynight….

only want wine with dinner and maybe 1 - or 2 afternoon drinks.

Don’t know which ship you are going on but in our experience there have been offers in the bars but you have to look for them, sometimes it is just a card on the bar top . Always ask if they are  doing any offers, sometimes they are time limited like Happy Hours . 
We did PAYG on Grandiosa , lots of offers in bars , bought a bottle of wine in Speciality restaurant . We drank what we wanted when we wanted and were up at the end of the cruise, like you say if you have a package you do tend to drink more .

 

[nanwel]

Thank you! 

Will look for the "daily" specials in the bars days I am on board.