Apparently, Magnifica will be stretched and refurbished this year.

[Stockjock]

As you may know, Magnifica was scheduled for a major stretch and refurbishment this year, but there was some question as to whether that would happen.  Just spoke to MSC this morning and apparently it will occur, beginning in August.

I had 2 sailings booked on Magnifica, one in Oct 2021 and another in Nov 2021.  The October sailing was put into NAR status and cancelled.  The agent told me the reason is due to the dry dock of the ship, which will begin sailing from Saudi Arabia in November.  My November sailing was put into LAY status and "they're doing something on that but they haven't announced what.  They might move you into another ship or they might just cancel it.  But right now, it looks like they'll probably put you into a similar sailing at the same price that you paid".

If anyone has a NAR sailing or LAY sailing, my suggestion is do not cancel it unless you are certain that the cruise itself is cancelled and not just moved to a temporary "placeholder" cruise on a different date.  Generally, prices have gone up, so if MSC moves you, your old price will likely remain the same.  If you move the sailing, you will pay prevailing prices.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

Just to add to this, I looked at MSC’s website and Magnifica stops sailing in late July 2021 and resumes sailing out of Venice in October 2021. 

So apparently what the agent told me, i.e. my sailing was canceled due to the dry dock, is not 100% accurate since the ship will be sailing during that October and November 2021 period, albeit on different itineraries.  But I’m assuming that the ship will be undergoing the dry dock during the 2+ month period that it disappears from the schedule.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Stockjock

[DCGuy64]

I know that you were concerned about the lack of information coming from MSC, so this news will, I trust, help you understand why they weren't able to update you as quickly as you'd hoped. It might not be the news you wanted, but at least you have an answer. We have a cruise that's also NAR but it's not until August 29 so we're happy to keep waiting. I suspect MSC hasn't made a final decision on our cruise, either. Thanks for passing the information along about the Magnifica! I look forward to seeing how she looks after the stretch and refurbishment. If nothing else, it shows MSC is bullish (see what I did there?) on the cruise industry's future. ☺️

[Stockjock]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I know that you were concerned about the lack of information coming from MSC, so this news will, I trust, help you understand why they weren't able to update you as quickly as you'd hoped. It might not be the news you wanted, but at least you have an answer. We have a cruise that's also NAR but it's not until August 29 so we're happy to keep waiting. I suspect MSC hasn't made a final decision on our cruise, either. Thanks for passing the information along about the Magnifica! I look forward to seeing how she looks after the stretch and refurbishment. If nothing else, it shows MSC is bullish (see what I did there?) on the cruise industry's future. ☺️

Just to be clear, I'm just passing along what I was told.  This may or may not have been accurate.  I posted it on another site and someone who has a booking during the supposed dry dock period was told that it was not accurate and that her cruise was still on.

That's been a big beef of mine, so much conflicting information.  Something like a dry dock stretch and refurbishment is a major event.  You'd think they'd be on the same page.

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Something like a dry dock stretch and refurbishment is a major event.  You'd think they'd be on the same page.

Definitely! Those kinds of upgrades are (as best I understand) years in the making. I can only speculate that with the global shutdown, there might have been some hesitation about whether it would go forward. Maybe since things are looking rosier, it's back on track. But I agree that such an event should have been corporate-wide knowledge.

[Stockjock]

4 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Just to add to this, I looked at MSC’s website and Magnifica stops sailing in late July 2021 and resumes sailing out of Venice in October 2021. 

So apparently what the agent told me, i.e. my sailing was canceled due to the dry dock, is not 100% accurate since the ship will be sailing during that October and November 2021 period, albeit on different itineraries.  But I’m assuming that the ship will be undergoing the dry dock during the 2+ month period that it disappears from the schedule.

Just to correct myself, I checked again and the website does in fact show sailings occurring during the alleged dry dock period.  Since I can't edit this comment, I'll correct it here.

The dry dock info is sounding more and more dubious, but who knows?

Edited June 8, 2021 by Stockjock

[GenSteve]

Any update on Magnifica? I'm new to MSC and considering Magnifica for next year. Their website continues to indicate that the refurbishment is happening. If it's not, they are being very deceptive.

[sidari]

On 6/8/2021 at 3:55 PM, Stockjock said:

Just to add to this, I looked at MSC’s website and Magnifica stops sailing in late July 2021 and resumes sailing out of Venice in October 2021. 

So apparently what the agent told me, i.e. my sailing was canceled due to the dry dock, is not 100% accurate since the ship will be sailing during that October and November 2021 period, albeit on different itineraries.  But I’m assuming that the ship will be undergoing the dry dock during the 2+ month period that it disappears from the schedule.

Cruise ships over 25,000 tons will be Banned from Venice from August 1st 2021. Last weekend two MSC ships docked at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone because the port of Venice was closed.

Edited July 14, 2021 by sidari

[Tracyjj0]

On 6/8/2021 at 3:26 PM, Stockjock said:

As you may know, Magnifica was scheduled for a major stretch and refurbishment this year, but there was some question as to whether that would happen.  Just spoke to MSC this morning and apparently it will occur, beginning in August.

I had 2 sailings booked on Magnifica, one in Oct 2021 and another in Nov 2021.  The October sailing was put into NAR status and cancelled.  The agent told me the reason is due to the dry dock of the ship, which will begin sailing from Saudi Arabia in November.  My November sailing was put into LAY status and "they're doing something on that but they haven't announced what.  They might move you into another ship or they might just cancel it.  But right now, it looks like they'll probably put you into a similar sailing at the same price that you paid".

If anyone has a NAR sailing or LAY sailing, my suggestion is do not cancel it unless you are certain that the cruise itself is cancelled and not just moved to a temporary "placeholder" cruise on a different date.  Generally, prices have gone up, so if MSC moves you, your old price will likely remain the same.  If you move the sailing, you will pay prevailing prices.

Can I ask what the terms NAR and LAY mean please? We just booked around a month ago for the Nov 13th Saudi Arabia fly/cruise. I’ll be very annoyed if they  cancel. They shouldn’t take bookings if they  know that they are going to make changes. I was wondering about the break in service for around a week, before our cruise commences and wondering why they didn’t offer a re-positioning cruise from The Med, with Suez Canal Transit. Now, if they add that to our itinerary I’ll be very happy!

[Stockjock]

14 minutes ago, Tracyjj0 said:

Can I ask what the terms NAR and LAY mean please? We just booked around a month ago for the Nov 13th Saudi Arabia fly/cruise. I’ll be very annoyed if they  cancel. They shouldn’t take bookings if they  know that they are going to make changes. I was wondering about the break in service for around a week, before our cruise commences and wondering why they didn’t offer a re-positioning cruise from The Med, with Suez Canal Transit. Now, if they add that to our itinerary I’ll be very happy!

NAR apparently stands for "No Area" and this usually means that the cruise will be cancelled.  Not sure what LAY stands for, but it probably also means that the cruise will be cancelled.

If your booking looks normal, don't worry too much, but definitely keep an eye on it and have a Plan B in mind.  I can't tell you how many changes and cancellations I've experienced, partially due to covid and in some cases not, but fortunately everything I've booked in terms of flights and hotels have been changeable/cancellable/refundable.  Well, actually one hotel my GF booked was non-refundable, which I had asked her not to do, but I was able to talk them into providing a refund.

The changes were still annoying to say the least, but at least they didn't cost me money.  Had I booked non-refundable options, I'd be pretty unhappy.

Edited July 14, 2021 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, GenSteve said:

Any update on Magnifica? I'm new to MSC and considering Magnifica for next year. Their website continues to indicate that the refurbishment is happening. If it's not, they are being very deceptive.

I was told that the stretch and refurbishing was going forward.  That said, I/we get a lot of misinformation and I wouldn't be even slightly surprised if that information was incorrect.

It's hard to get accurate and timely information from MSC, even when one asks, and in terms of them volunteering info, "forgettaboutit"!

Edited July 14, 2021 by Stockjock