FCC Minimum Spend

[Beamafar]

I have an FCC of €1616.76 which I had used as a deposit for a cruise next month which has since been cancelled.  The total fare would have been approx €2500 before the Voyagers' Club + FCC discounts.  I just tried to reuse the FCC for another cruise and have been told that the cruise fare must be a minimum of €7083!   I told the rep that there must be some mistake but that's what his supervisor has advised him is the position.

 

He's going to "investigate" further.   The original price he quoted me seemed correct 'til he went off to his supervisor to check that he had the correct amounts and that is when he came back to me with the minimum spend amount.  Now, I had another FCC for €1029 and was told at another time that the minimum spend for it would be €2645, so something's not quite right.

[sidari]

10 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I have an FCC of €1616.76 which I had used as a deposit for a cruise next month which has since been cancelled.  The total fare would have been approx €2500 before the Voyagers' Club + FCC discounts.  I just tried to reuse the FCC for another cruise and have been told that the cruise fare must be a minimum of €7083!   I told the rep that there must be some mistake but that's what his supervisor has advised him is the position.

 

He's going to "investigate" further.   The original price he quoted me seemed correct 'til he went off to his supervisor to check that he had the correct amounts and that is when he came back to me with the minimum spend amount.  Now, I had another FCC for €1029 and was told at another time that the minimum spend for it would be €2645, so something's not quite right.

Bea ... Left Hand ... Right Hand ... 🙄

[NCTribeFan]

Is this just a UK thing?  The cruise I'm looking at in December will be a few dollars less than my FCC.

 

FAQ from the US site:

 

What happens if there is a difference in the new cruise fare and the Future Cruise Credit issued? 

If your new cruise booking is greater than the value of your Future Cruise Credit, you will be responsible for the difference.  

Alternatively, if the new value is lower than the FCC’s value, the remaining balance can be used towards upgraded accommodations, enhancements to your onboard experience, shore excursions, shipboard credits and more. 

 

[Beamafar]

Just now, NCTribeFan said:

Is this just a UK thing? 

It may very well be.  I posted this because I haven’t come across anyone experiencing it. 
 

The first time I used an FCC there was no mention of minimum spend.  The FCC amount (which happened to be the €1616 one) was deducted along with the VC members’ discount without comment.  It was when I was booking with the €1029 FCC that the rep said she needed to check that the cruise fare was at least at the minimum spend level. 

[sidari]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

It may very well be.  I posted this because I haven’t come across anyone experiencing it. 
 

The first time I used an FCC there was no mention of minimum spend.  The FCC amount (which happened to be the €1616 one) was deducted along with the VC members’ discount without comment.  It was when I was booking with the €1029 FCC that the rep said she needed to check that the cruise fare was at least at the minimum spend level. 

Or maybe they just don't know what they are doing !

[gtaylor]

My cancellation e-mail from MSC reads like this:

 

How to Use Your Future Cruise Credit

With the Future Cruise Credit, you can choose to upgrade your stateroom category or treat yourself to an add-on that you pre-purchase such as specialty dining, beverage packages, Wi-Fi or spa treatment. As an added level of comfort, if you do not use the Future Cruise Credit by December 31, 2021, we will automatically provide you a full refund equal to the original amount paid.

Your Future Cruise Credit is good for any future cruise of your choice – including any ship and any itinerary in MSC Cruises’ fleet, sailing before April 30, 2022, as long as it’s booked before December 31, 2021.

We hope you appreciate the increased value of the Future Cruise Credit and choose to sail with MSC Cruises in the near future. However, if you prefer a refund, after receiving your Future Cruise Credit, please call our Cruise Consultants at 866-420-3584 by February 28, 2021. At that time, we will deactivate your Future Cruise Credit and process your refund. Note, we can only process your refund once you’ve received your Future Cruise Credit. If you are outside of final payment, and prefer a refund of your deposit, our normal cancellation policies apply.

 

gary

[Two Wheels Only]

59 minutes ago, gtaylor said:

Your Future Cruise Credit is good for any future cruise of your choice – including any ship and any itinerary in MSC Cruises’ fleet, sailing before April 30, 2022, as long as it’s booked before December 31, 2021.

 

My most recent cancellation has...

 

"Your Future Cruise Credit can be used on any future cruise of your choice – including any ship
and any itinerary that is open for sale when you make your new booking. Please note, your
new cruise, using your Future Cruise Credit, must be booked by April 30, 2022."

 

...so depending on when booking dates are revealed and how far out they go, I could use my current FCC on a ship that isn't even close to being completed. 🤪

 

 

[Beamafar]

10 hours ago, sidari said:

Or maybe they just don't know what they are doing !

 

It's frustrating that they treat the US market differently.  I'm fairly sure that they've made a mistake in this instance.  The following was what was contained in the email notice:

 

Please note that if this is your base cruise you will receive a voucher for 125% of value of their cruise package, which can be redeemed on any future cruise at any point up until 30^th April 2022. Once you have received the voucher, should you wish to opt for a refund rather than the additional credit, please contact operationsuk@msccruises.co.uk  with a copy of your voucher to put forward this request.  

 

If you have already redeemed an FCC to the value of 125% the voucher you will receive is only valued to the original cruise amount. There will not be an additional 25% additional credit.

 

I never did get a "voucher", either for the original cancelled cruise from which the FCC came that I used to book this cancelled cruise, or, indeed, for this one.  I received this email back in February.    

 

I'm tempted to just look for a refund of the original deposit.  I'll certainly be doing that for our August cruise which was changed from Virtuosa to Seaview.  I'm not booking more cruises into the future 'til things return to some sort of normality.

[Two Wheels Only]

My FCC email came months after I already used it.

[Beamafar]

I rang MSC this morning and have had some clarity surrounding the issue.  The original cruise fare for which I received the FCC of €1616 was €7018 - €200 deposit plus 25% of the fare which is why I now need to spend a minimum of €7083, apparently.  It seems that the rep who booked the €2500 fare (for next month's cancelled cruise) with the FCC did so in error.  I'm now waiting to hear back about how much I will get as an FCC off the cruise I'm trying to book as the fare is less than the required minimum spend.

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

I rang MSC this morning and have had some clarity surrounding the issue.  The original cruise fare for which I received the FCC of €1616 was €7018 - €200 deposit plus 25% of the fare which is why I now need to spend a minimum of €7083, apparently....

 

That is exactly what happened with us. We had an October 2020 Meraviglia 12 night YC booking cancelled and chose the 125% FCC. When we tried to use the FCC on a shorter cruise, my TA advised the cruise had to be at least the cost of the original cruise and we could achieve that by booking the Royal Suite in YC. We passed on that one, as we do not need such at exorbitant rates.

 

We ended up booking 17 night Seaview November 2021 Barcelona to Martinique and hit the required amount by 2 or 3 hundred pounds in a YC Deluxe Suite. Hopefully this one will go ahead.

 

Always good to hear from you on these boards. 😊

[Beamafar]

Cheers, G.  Love seeing you around these parts, too!

 

While it’s understandable about the FCC setup, my confusion came about as a result of originally being able to use it against a €2500 fare.  At least I got an explanation today. 

 

TBH I really don’t want to be booking anything else (we have August with the ship changed from Virtuosa to Seaview and also October on Seashore) but friends have booked Seashore for next March and would like us to join them.  I just find all the uncertainty a pain and want to wait it out til things are more clearcut. 

[Beamafar]

On 4/26/2021 at 11:17 AM, hamrag said:

 

That is exactly what happened with us ...

The situation has become even more complicated.   The 25% was calculated from the original fare less the 5+15% VCS discount, yet MSC wanted me to book a cruise to the value of the full fare in order to redeem the FCC. 

 

Now, the cruise I want to book doesn’t meet the minimum spend (nor do I have any intentions of spending over €7000 on a cruise at the moment) so the rep said she would see what she could do for me.  Found out this morning that MSC has reduced the value of the FCC from €1616 to €1153 and reduced the minimum spend to €5768 (which is about what the original fare would have been after the VC discount). 🙄

 

Anyway, the cost of the cruise is still below this minimum so I’m just going to get a refund of the original deposit of €200. 

[sidari]

So glad we took a refund last year for our 14 night April Preziosa sailing.

[Beamafar]

You did right!   The FCCs looked great at the time they came out but the T&Cs are a pain. 

[sidari]

13 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

You did right!   The FCCs looked great at the time they came out but the T&Cs are a pain. 

They have made so many changes and made the FCC difficult to use. Common sense was never a feature of any of it.

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, Beamafar said:

You did right!   The FCCs looked great at the time they came out but the T&Cs are a pain. 

We got an amazing deal on FCC's. Our cruise had only been deposited 100pp, so all we'd paid was £200. When the cruise got cancelled they said we'd get 125% if we took the FCC. So, we expected an FCC of £250 but got £1,055 as the 25% element was based on the full cost of the cruise!! 🤑

 

Crazy, but that's what we have deposited against our next booking for November.

Edited April 30, 2021 by hamrag

[Beamafar]

Yeah ... we got €1616 for a €200 deposit but, having to use it on a €7000 cruise fare is a no-no for us.  I’m going to get a refund and have used a €1029 FCC against a 7 night Caribbean booking I made today which gets me a YIN for €833 pp with the VC discount.  Managed to score an H one, too, so fingers crossed this ship will sail 😂

Edited April 30, 2021 by Beamafar

[hamrag]

59 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Yeah ... we got €1616 for a €200 deposit but, having to use it on a €7000 cruise fare is a no-no for us.  I’m going to get a refund and have used a €1029 FCC against a 7 night Caribbean booking I made today which gets me a YIN for €833 pp with the VC discount.  Managed to score an H one, too, so fingers crossed this ship will sail 😂

Good stuff, which cruise is it?

[Beamafar]

Seashore from Miami in March.  Our Norwegian friends booked it and asked us to go along.  Getting tired of cancellations and changes at this stage but feeling a little more positive about this one. 

[JAGR]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Seashore from Miami in March.  Our Norwegian friends booked it and asked us to go along.  Getting tired of cancellations and changes at this stage but feeling a little more positive about this one. 

I hope you are on in early March!  We have a B2B on Seashore.

 

[Beamafar]

Just now, JAGR said:

I hope you are on in early March!  We have a B2B on Seashore.

 

I’ve just been reading the roll call - looks like we might yet get to meet up 👍