Has anyone received anything for FREE on a MSC, just by asking for it ?

[drsel]

 

On a Celebrity thread, so many people have received tons of goodies and gifts.

So I thought of starting the same on MSC

 

[Cruisergal1208]

Lots of nice goodies and gifts and never asked for them.  Perhaps they came since I am a long time cruiser with MSC.  Never asked why, just graciously accepted them. 

[Kevin79]

Members of the Voyager programme get gifts and stuff depending on what level they are, such as a glass of bubbly, fruit, free dinner, OBC.

[drsel]

I meant other than the Voyager club perks and benefits

[kelleherdl]

My wife and I were invited to dine with the Commandante. At dinner we were presented with crystal blocks with the ship's image etched in.  Very nice.

[sfaaa]

Free drinks at welcoming party. It was supposedly for higher level Voyager club members only but the staff let everyone walked in and helped themselves with free drinks. It was a mad house.

[drsel]

Free drinks at welcoming party. It was supposedly for higher level Voyager club members only but the staff let everyone walked in and helped themselves with free drinks. It was a mad house.

There are normally 2 cocktail parties.
One is for all return passengers, who are members of the voyagers club at any level.
The other is only for the Black/ diamond members

[drsel]

Even general voyagers club cocktail parties I have attended are very well organised without a rush

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

Well, I don't know if this qualifies, but when sailing on the Bellissima last year, I asked if there was going to be any night with Tiramisu for desert.  The answer was none was planned.  However, the Matre 'd ended up having it made specially for our table--he asked what night we preferred.  Don't know if this is standard on MSC, it was our first cruise with them.  I will caveat that we were in the Yacht Club in the Royal Suite.

[CruisingFox27]

1 hour ago, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

Well, I don't know if this qualifies, but when sailing on the Bellissima last year, I asked if there was going to be any night with Tiramisu for desert.  The answer was none was planned.  However, the Matre 'd ended up having it made specially for our table--he asked what night we preferred.  Don't know if this is standard on MSC, it was our first cruise with them.  I will caveat that we were in the Yacht Club in the Royal Suite.

 

We've requested certain dishes We've enjoyed before or if they'll be repeating them when having had them on that cruise and they've done so specially. In both YC and MDR. Always very accommodating in that way. We were very complimentary about a dipping sauce which came with a starter on our last cruise and we received it every evening without requesting. 

[gotta cruise again]

We’ve only cruise MSC once and will do so again; thoroughly enjoyed the cruise so this reply to OP’s question is not meant to be a complaint. But I did find the situation curious...

 

I was wandering around Seaside on a port day and came upon a trivia activity. There were only 2 teams participating and only 3 questions had been asked. One team had 5 or 6 people and the other had only 2. So I asked the couple if I could join them and they agreed; the host said nothing (pro or con) about my participation.

 

It ended up my team won; the host had plenty of prizes with him but would only give 2 to our team because I wasn’t there from the very beginning.

 

So you could say that by playing the trivia game and being on the winning team, I was in essence asking for a prize but was declined by MSC.

 

As a postscript: the couple did offer me one of their identical prizes as they thought it tacky I wasn’t included, especially since the host had enough prizes to give each person on the other team a prize had they won, but I declined—it was prize-enough for me to play, win, and to meet 2 very nice people!!

[KennyFla]

11 hours ago, gotta cruise again said:

We’ve only cruise MSC once and will do so again; thoroughly enjoyed the cruise so this reply to OP’s question is not meant to be a complaint. But I did find the situation curious...

 

I was wandering around Seaside on a port day and came upon a trivia activity. There were only 2 teams participating and only 3 questions had been asked. One team had 5 or 6 people and the other had only 2. So I asked the couple if I could join them and they agreed; the host said nothing (pro or con) about my participation.

 

It ended up my team won; the host had plenty of prizes with him but would only give 2 to our team because I wasn’t there from the very beginning.

 

So you could say that by playing the trivia game and being on the winning team, I was in essence asking for a prize but was declined by MSC.

 

As a postscript: the couple did offer me one of their identical prizes as they thought it tacky I wasn’t included, especially since the host had enough prizes to give each person on the other team a prize had they won, but I declined—it was prize-enough for me to play, win, and to meet 2 very nice people!!

 

Just out of curiosity, what were the prizes?

[gotta cruise again]

4 hours ago, KennyFla said:

 

Just out of curiosity, what were the prizes?

Golly, I wish I could remember!! I try to be very judicious when I travel (or anytime for that matter) about what I bring home so it’s safe to say that whatever it was, I didn’t really need it. Had it been a logo item denoting “Seaside” I’m pretty sure I would have wanted one; guessing it only may have said “MSC” and was something I already had back home sans logo.

 

But I do remember I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the couple...the host...not so much—LOL

[electro]

I got free stuff but I didn't ask for it.

I ended up on a back 2 back MSC Med cruise with no luggage. (not the fault of MSC)

I was told to let the front desk know.

They gave us a 100 euro OBC, free expedited laundry for the entire 2 weeks and when we got back to our cabin the first evening, there were 2 toiletry sets with toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, comb and a few other items, and 2 MSC t-shirts.

MSC went above and beyond are we were very grateful.

 

Full story in my review if you care to read it.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2352992-no-luggage-yc-upgrade-splendida-cruise/

[heatherb1958]

We got lots free drinks from a very generous bar server on Grandiosa. 😆.

We did not have a drinks package and on the first night in the bar hubby and I shared a large bottle of beer , we joked we were rationing ourselves. We would call in and have a glass of wine . After a couple of days we never had to pay for a  drink again ! He was a lovely bar server and on the last night we gave him a generous tip to which he was quite surprised at and said the drinks were a gift from him to us . Bless him.
 

Edited August 14, 2020 by heatherb1958

[JAGR]

22 hours ago, gotta cruise again said:

Golly, I wish I could remember!! I try to be very judicious when I travel (or anytime for that matter) about what I bring home so it’s safe to say that whatever it was, I didn’t really need it. Had it been a logo item denoting “Seaside” I’m pretty sure I would have wanted one; guessing it only may have said “MSC” and was something I already had back home sans logo.

 

But I do remember I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the couple...the host...not so much—LOL

On my three occasions on MSC (all out of Miami), the trivia prizes often had MSC logos.  I got some ball caps, a small drawstring tote bag, and an MSC coffee mug.  Nothing really fancy or something that would break the bank of the trivia host or hostess.

[drsel]

We got lots free drinks from a very generous bar server on Grandiosa. [emoji38]. We did not have a drinks package and on the first night in the bar hubby and I shared a large bottle of beer , we joked we were rationing ourselves. We would call in and have a glass of wine . After a couple of days we never had to pay for a  drink again ! He was a lovely bar server and on the last night we gave him a generous tip to which he was quite surprised at and said the drinks were a gift from him to us . Bless him.

That is quite incredible because for each and every drink they need to slash your card and charge you.

And the bill is generated immediately and remains in the system.

They don''t keep track of who ordered what, so that you can be charged at the end.

 

 

Also I doubt that a bartender has the authority to give free drinks to anyone.

Only the F&B manager (and above) has that authority.

 

 

I also doubt that if you tip the bartender $100 in beginning of the cruise, he will be able to give you free drinks for the entire Cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

@drsel, having cruised many times with RCI we often got complimentary drinks given to us from bar staff when we ordered . We were quite gobsmacked when it happened on Grandiosa but it was much appreciated how ever the guy did it . In fact he would come straight out to us when he saw us and just say “ usual? “. Made it a little awkward when one of the other staff came to us but we did place orders with them too. 
 

[Kevin79]

2 hours ago, drsel said:

That is quite incredible because for each and every drink they need to slash your card and charge you.

And the bill is generated immediately and remains in the system.

They don''t keep track of who ordered what, so that you can be charged at the end.

 

 

Also I doubt that a bartender has the authority to give free drinks to anyone.

Only the F&B manager (and above) has that authority.

 

 

I also doubt that if you tip the bartender $100 in beginning of the cruise, he will be able to give you free drinks for the entire Cruise!

 

 

 

 

 

You realise that you're literally calling @heatherb1958 a lair? That's a little rude. By all means express you're amazement, but assuming you weren't there, hope about a little more cordiality?

 

Having worked in bars in my student days, I'm aware that drinks can be produced without actually placing any entries into a till/POS system etc.

[drsel]

@drsel, having cruised many times with RCI we often got complimentary drinks given to us from bar staff when we ordered . We were quite gobsmacked when it happened on Grandiosa but it was much appreciated how ever the guy did it . In fact he would come straight out to us when he saw us and just say “ usual? “. Made it a little awkward when one of the other staff came to us but we did place orders with them too. 
 

I apologise, I don't mean to be rude. I was just amazed that you both received free drinks for the entire Cruise.

we have received one complimentary cocktail or beer now and then, but not for the entire Cruise.

[drsel]

 

 

 

I'm aware that drinks can be produced without actually placing any entries into a till/POS system etc.

wouldn't that be cheating and wouldn't the bartender be risking his job doing that?

 

 

[gotta cruise again]

7 hours ago, JAGR said:

On my three occasions on MSC (all out of Miami), the trivia prizes often had MSC logos.  I got some ball caps, a small drawstring tote bag, and an MSC coffee mug.  Nothing really fancy or something that would break the bank of the trivia host or hostess.

What nice prizes those would have been! As I collect mugs when we travel I certainly would have been interested in that or a hat. I think whatever they offered was a much lesser MSC-logo prize like a deck of cards or key ring or plastic bottle, nothing I really needed or found desirable. And I agree with you, especially in my case, that whatever the prize was it certainly was a minor gift (not like those nice ones you got!) and wouldn’t have broken this hosts bank just to offer it to me. (And I might have declined it but the offer would have been nice vs. his denial since I missed the first 2-3 questions).

 

I do look forward to cruising again and getting the chance to play trivia, whether I get a prize or not!!

[camofwilliamsburg]

Other cruise lines give pens, highlighters and luggage tags. MSC prizes are all found in the gift shops and the mugs are $9.99, the caps I think are a bit more. The back packs range are up to $20 depending on which they give out.  I have gotten blankets, which at the logo shop was 24.99. 

[sfaaa]

4 hours ago, Kevin79 said:

 

 

Having worked in bars in my student days, I'm aware that drinks can be produced without actually placing any entries into a till/POS system etc.

Of course you can until beverage cost gone out of whack or drink revenue potential calculation consistently comes up short after your bar shifts. That's when you will come under scrutiny or discreetly watched by management. There are also cameras in the bar area and some bar drink guns have counter built in to measure the number of drinks you had poured on your shift. Do it often and you will be found out.

Edited August 15, 2020 by sfaaa

[Stockjock]

Not by asking, but we took a tour when the bus broke down in the middle of the road in unbelievable heat with no air conditioning.  They sent us chocolate dipped strawberries and a bottle of Prosecco (but no refund).