NEW MSC Drink Packages (2021 onwards)

[Beamafar]

We’re so glad we upgraded to Premium+ when we had the opportunity and are planning to do so for our October sailing seeing as it’ll be our last chance to.   We certainly got our money’s worth at the time.  😄😄

[sidari]

Hi Bea ... I was looking through a few photo albums on the pc and came across these old drink packages.

 

[Nunagoras]

Only today I have read carefully this thread... TBHH, I've been mostly absent from CC during the pandemic. No need for USA or in less extent UK and EU internal politics subjects that have hijacked the boards during those so looooooong hard months!...

 

Eventually the usual cruise discussions are coming again!... Hope that they come definitely to stay and never end again!...

 

Back in the day when those packages started to roll on some 10 years ago, they were by the most part great. Even as a non drinker myself for health reasons, I could even justify the alcohol package out of those wonderful coffee and chocolate concoctions they used to have on the coffee bars plus the usual "little nothings" of water, sodas, etc. during the day, to let alone the wonderful gelato, some smoothies, and the freshly squeezed OJ by the morning!... Not anymore!... Gelato is now out of the packages, and freshly squeezed OJ is just available at the very top ones and YC... And the good coffee and chocolate concoctions and the nice smoothies are now flying to the rented spaces on the ships... I can't justify even such a non alcoholic package out of the above mentioned "little nothings"... I can have free water and even though not espresso, at least drinkable coffee from the buffet, so my policy for the times being would to be the following: If I happen to snag such a cruise with a drinks package promo, I'll take the best use I can from it and pay for the nice stuff separately. Pretty much everyone purchasing from Portugal do have one these days, apart the ones on chartered groups or the ones on very special promos like one they are selling now that is 2 for 1 travel pack for certain selected sailings. If I go on a charter group or without the promo package I'll just to pay a la carte for each item.

 

Oh, well, 21st century problems, really... But one must to make changes...

 

...And sadly, once again MSC is modifying their policies... Not for the best... Not for the worst either... It is rather for the more confusing today than ever has been, like the Italians seem to enjoy the most... Oh, my!... And be prepared: In an year term they will be more than pleased to announce the most confusing drinks package scheme ever built at sea!... 3000 drinks packages with just an item per package drink scheme!... Good for unlimited servings of the said item at its own "secret" bar location only!...

 

Have a nice day!...

Edited May 24, 2021 by Nunagoras

[Beamafar]

A big “Thumbs Up” for you, Nunagorus  👍👍👍

[JAGR]

24 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

A big “Thumbs Up” for you, Nunagorus  👍👍👍

My plan in our March cruise is to have a copy of my confirmation note.  It says available, and no mention of available at a given price point.

Edited May 24, 2021 by JAGR
Clarification

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, JAGR said:

My plan in our March cruise is to have a copy of my confirmation note

Unfortunately I have nothing like that showing in mine 😏

[sidari]

5 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Unfortunately I have nothing like that showing in mine 😏

Nuna ... We were discussing the drinks that have been cut from the Premium plus drink packages since we began cruising with MSC in 2012, at breakfast the O.J and great smoothies and lots of cocktails, in 2014 breakfast O.J available and for smoothies you had to go to the Spa and take them with you to breakfast, 2016 No smoothies but O.J and then later O.J removed along with certain cocktails and higher end drinks. This seems to have taken place after people from NCL were employed to oversea the drinks packages which were the best value anywhere on a cruise ship. More and more has been taken away while prices have increased.

[Beamafar]

Back in the early days of the Deluxe package I could get Remy Martin XO at €12 a glass;  then it was reduced to Janneau XO at €8.90.  Finally, before the introduction of the current packages, it had been watered down to €6.70 which only got me Martell VSOP at best (these were the top cognac/brandy offerings and not the per glass price limits).   Prem+ returned me to RM XO and now that’ll be gone again with next year’s offerings. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Beamafar

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

14 minutes ago, sidari said:

Nuna ... We were discussing the drinks that have been cut from the Premium plus drink packages since we began cruising with MSC in 2012, at breakfast the O.J and great smoothies and lots of cocktails, in 2014 breakfast O.J available and for smoothies you had to go to the Spa and take them with you to breakfast, 2016 No smoothies but O.J and then later O.J removed along with certain cocktails and higher end drinks. This seems to have taken place after people from NCL were employed to oversea the drinks packages which were the best value anywhere on a cruise ship. More and more has been taken away while prices have increased.

The individual price is not all that much 25-50-75 cents depending on the drink vs other lines. The drink package, unless you get it FREE. Is way out of line. However. MSC makes up on the cruise price by getting the high price for the packages. No coffee or tea in the specialty restaurants. Not in the main dining room either. This will be our first cruise on MSC in a very long time. The first one was not memorable at all. We will see if and how they have changed over the years. 🤞

[Beamafar]

Coffee and tea are now being offered in the MDRs.

 

MSC is an Italian cruise line (unlike most of the others) so reflects many Italian traditions one of which is moving on to a coffee bar after dining.

 

Personally I’d rather not see MSC becoming another generic US style cruise line. 

[Nunagoras]

34 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Coffee and tea are now being offered in the MDRs.

 

MSC is an Italian cruise line (unlike most of the others) so reflects many Italian traditions one of which is moving on to a coffee bar after dining.

 

Personally I’d rather not see MSC becoming another generic US style cruise line. 

First of it all many thanks Bea for the kind words!...

 

1000% agree with you! I don't want MSC to become just another one... They could just to learn some lessons on general service quality level and let what they know how to do well to be what it has ever been... Sadly it seems that they're going the other way round... Meraviglia ship class seems for me such a white branded RCI Oasis class, for example... This soon to be drinks package move is just another one...

 

To all the others, especially @sidari: Yeah, I know these discussions on drinks packages, hence my ironic post on the subject.

 

Oh, well: Wouldn't it to be so nice if MSC worked out their drinks package scheme to be like what follows:

 

Zero - This package includes all the non alcoholic drinks sold aboard.

Happy - This package includes all the drinks included on the Zero package plus house beer and house wines by the glass, the drink of the day and the Weekly Specials (a short list of well known cheap trademark drinks).

Global - This package includes all the drinks included on the Zero package plus all the drinks sold aboard below or equal to €15. For drinks above €15 the package owner will to be billed for the difference between the limit and the drinks price plus the correspondent 15% service tax. The package also includes a 25% discount on any alcohol bottles purchased aboard.

 

This way they should to be able to cater for pretty much everyone onboard from non drinkers to the most demanding guests at an understandable way.

 

I understand the need for the companies to make the most on specialty bar/restaurant venues and then for the businesses renting that space to make the most from the potential clients at their terms and conditions discretion. That is the trend going on all the Tourism industry and on the mass market cruise lines these days, and Yeah, I'm OK with that and I may occasionally to purchase some items out of them!... But for the rest of us whom just want to have a nice holiday time at a controlled cost, let us to have real offerings on the drinks package department. I can't to see them with this soon to be MSC drinks package scheme offering!...

 

Have a nice day!...

[sidari]

6 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

First of it all many thanks Bea for the kind words!...

 

1000% agree with you! I don't want MSC to become just another one... They could just to learn some lessons on general service quality level and let what they know how to do well to be what it has ever been... Sadly it seems that they're going the other way round... Meraviglia ship class seems for me such a white branded RCI Oasis class, for example... This soon to be drinks package move is just another one...

 

To all the others, especially @sidari: Yeah, I know these discussions on drinks packages, hence my ironic post on the subject.

 

Oh, well: Wouldn't it to be so nice if MSC worked out their drinks package scheme to be like what follows:

 

Zero - This package includes all the non alcoholic drinks sold aboard.

Happy - This package includes all the drinks included on the Zero package plus house beer and house wines by the glass, the drink of the day and the Weekly Specials (a short list of well known cheap trademark drinks).

Global - This package includes all the drinks included on the Zero package plus all the drinks sold aboard below or equal to €15. For drinks above €15 the package owner will to be billed for the difference between the limit and the drinks price plus the correspondent 15% service tax. The package also includes a 25% discount on any alcohol bottles purchased aboard.

 

This way they should to be able to cater for pretty much everyone onboard from non drinkers to the most demanding guests at an understandable way.

 

I understand the need for the companies to make the most on specialty bar/restaurant venues and then for the businesses renting that space to make the most from the potential clients at their terms and conditions discretion. That is the trend going on all the Tourism industry and on the mass market cruise lines these days, and Yeah, I'm OK with that and I may occasionally to purchase some items out of them!... But for the rest of us whom just want to have a nice holiday time at a controlled cost, let us to have real offerings on the drinks package department. I can't to see them with this soon to be MSC drinks package scheme offering!...

 

Have a nice day!...

Oasis class are way better than the Meraviglia class of ships, I say that having sailed on both.

[Beamafar]

Just now, sidari said:

Oasis class are way better than the Meraviglia class of ships, I say that having sailed on both.

They’re also way more expensive - you get what you pay for. 

[sidari]

1 minute ago, Beamafar said:

They’re also way more expensive - you get what you pay for. 

Bea ... They might be now but when Oasis was just 3 weeks old it was a different story. 

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, sidari said:

Bea ... They might be now but when Oasis was just 3 weeks old it was a different story. 

I’ve always wanted to try other cruise lines but they never seem to offer the same value in our market as MSC does. Tried Celebrity’s suites once but didn’t offer anything close to YC despite being more expensive 

[DCGuy64]

28 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I’ve always wanted to try other cruise lines but they never seem to offer the same value in our market as MSC does. Tried Celebrity’s suites once but didn’t offer anything close to YC despite being more expensive 

So true! I’ve priced NCL Haven cabins and they’re easily 3x the cost of YC. Now if we were independently wealthy, that would be different, but we’re not. Celebrity is also too rich for our blood. We’d rather do 3 MSC cruises for the price of one on another line. (Your budget may vary, of course!) 

[Nunagoras]

1 hour ago, sidari said:

Oasis class are way better than the Meraviglia class of ships, I say that having sailed on both.

Yeah!... Have never been on Mera class, but I was on Oasis class (Allure to be precise), but from the photos and videos it seems like Mera is a poor imitation (white brand) version of an Oasis class vessel, instead of being a true MSC ship obviously updated with contemporary technologies!... Obviously RCI is way better than MSC in many ways, but as @Beamafar says it is way more expensive... But again: There are even things where MSC shines, cleanliness, sense of security, ship general maintenance, MDR food especially desserts, foreign language shore excursions management, among others are better fit with MSC...

 

Don't know what is going on other markets, but full cost compared, here from Portugal MSC is not anymore that cheap in both "steerage" or YC alike... These days I feel sorry for myself not to have done such an incredible deal I was offered on such one of the first YC itineraries back in the day when it was really affordable... Oh, my!... But I wasn't retired then... Oh, well... Not anymore... I'm retired now, but nor there will to be a 2nd opportunity, nor the current price tag will any day to resemble those days price tag... Not even in the best dreams!... For now I'd to be happy enough with a charter group deal that gives me such a 15% discount difference from the other lines on "steerage"... And I can only have it with such a specialty holiday club TA we have here whom sometimes have those deals... As far as they can go with them...

 

Have a nice day!...

[jules815]

3 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

So true! I’ve priced NCL Haven cabins and they’re easily 3x the cost of YC. Now if we were independently wealthy, that would be different, but we’re not. Celebrity is also too rich for our blood. We’d rather do 3 MSC cruises for the price of one on another line. (Your budget may vary, of course!) 

That's how we ended up trying MSC. I was researching NCL Haven, and MSC Yacht Club kept popping up. Had never even heard of it. Booked Seaside for January 2019 (which was our last cruise) and loved it. 

[MamaDG]

21 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We’re so glad we upgraded to Premium+ when we had the opportunity and are planning to do so for our October sailing seeing as it’ll be our last chance to.   We certainly got our money’s worth at the time.  😄😄

Hi Beamafar - In October are you in YC and planning to upgrade to Premium+? I’ve been enquiring for a while now on here and being advised from both MSC UK Cust Services and from Concierge onboard Virtuosa (Thanks to a very kind Maiden Voyage guest) that you have to pay for Premium+ in full £55pppn if you’re in YC but can upgrade from Premium at £13pppn if you are not in YC? 
Just seems like madness to me? Hoping to find someone booked in YC who has paid the upgrade to try and reason with someone at MSC to allow us to do the same! 😃🤞Thanks in advance. 

[Beamafar]

Hi MamaDG. I won’t be in YC this October and plan to upgrade from the included Premium package when onboard if I can’t do it beforehand. 
 

However, I have upgraded to Prem+ on previous sailings when in YC and only paid the difference in cost between Premium and PremiumPlus.  

[MamaDG]

Thanks Beamafar - before we booked (first time with MSC) I had researched this on CC and believed that would be the case but now I’m just hitting a brick wall! I shall keep persevering! Many thanks for the quick response 😊 much appreciated!

[Beamafar]

You’re welcome 😉 

 

I’ve experienced problems in the past trying to upgrade prior to sailing.   It’s never a problem at embarkation, but you have to pay a 15% added service charge that isn’t payable if you upgrade prior to your cruise. 
 

The problem arises because when MSC first made YC all-inclusive they never definitively stated that a specific drinks package was included.  It was/is just vague soundings when you query it at the concierge desk that drinks up to a certain price limit are included when outside of YC.   All drinks on the menus in the YC area are included except for those with prices listed which are the very high end wines and spirits. 

[MamaDG]

Thanks for all of the advice - much appreciated - I can understand where the confusion comes from. Whilst the YC drinks package does look pretty comprehensive we love Hendricks Gin (£14 on the Virtuosa drinks menus) & are rather partial to a glass of VC champagne so the Premium+ would hopefully have us covered! Worst case we can wait until embarkation then as 15% on the upgrade is significantly cheaper than the full charges! Cheers! 

[Beamafar]

Just to add - I managed to upgrade before our sailings. Hendricks was covered as was VC (which DH and I enjoyed a glass or two of each evening at the Champagne Bar 🤪).  DH also developed a fondness for Johnny Walker Blue 😂😂

[MamaDG]

Fabulous! Yes I definitely think we will be found regularly propping up the Champagne bar then! 😂 I can imagine that my DH will also develop a fondness for some top shelf spirits! Where are you sailing in October? It’s looking more hopeful now isn’t it! 🤞🤞