MSC Lack of Morals and Ethics

[styles27]

Just now, kidless said:

We completely cancelled. They had moved us from a 12 day cruise to a seven day, leaving on a different day going to different ports. Who does that? And failed to notify us or offer any help. So we want complete refund booked a Royal Caribbean cruise instead. 

Ahh okay gotcha. Was the 12 day booked pre-Covid? 
 

 

[lakelorain]

5 hours ago, styles27 said:

Yes that was our experience. The first morning when we woke up I was seeing people with suitcases getting off the ship   
I didn’t know what was happening lol 

Then as the cruise went on each night we saw luggage in the halls or actually near the concierge desk in the YC so I asked what was happening and that’s when he explained how their cruises work in the Mediterranean/Europe. 
 

It was definitely strange. To us at least.  lol

Other cruise lines do this in Europe also.  We have done that several times on Royal Caribbean in Europe.

[lakelorain]

MSC is an Administrative nightmare.  However, I like their product.  My travel agent deals with them for me so I don't have the headaches many of you have.

[kidless]

No, We booked it last February it's (or was) a 2022 cruuse

[sfaaa]

8 hours ago, styles27 said:

Our friends were supposed to come on Divina with us in November  but they’re older (late 70’s) and nervous about Covid so they cancelled and had their money back in 5 days. 
MSC has gotten better with refunds now. 

Yeah. I recently cancelled my Dec MSC cruise and received my refund within 2 weeks.

[intr3pid]

On 9/25/2021 at 3:33 PM, Stockjock said:

Since I mentioned Celebrity, I'll mention one more situation with some similarities.

I had a family sunset veranda, or something like that (forget the exact name) booked.  It was in a terrific location and was huge.  There were only 2 or 4 (I think) on the ship, as it had a unique layout and configuration.

Celebrity chartered that sailing out for a Rock and Roll private cruise and all reservations, including mine, were cancelled.

I got a call promptly from Celebrity Cruises.

Celebrity "Hi, stockjock, this is David from Celebrity Cruises.  I wanted to let you know that unfortunately we chartered out the entire ship and we've had to cancel all reservations, including yours".

Me: "That kind of sucks".

Celebrity: "We do apologize.  It's not something we like to do, but when the entire ship is chartered, there's not a lot we can do about that.  But here's what we've done.  I've reserved the same cabin on a similar sailing on a different, but similar date.  That cruise is more expensive, but your pricing will not change.  Let me know if this works for you, and if not, I'll try to find another solution".

Me: "Looks like the timing does not work.  But I see one that might".

Celebrity: "Unfortunately, those larger veranda cabins are sold out on the sailing that you're looking at, but I can book you very nice mid-ship veranda for a lower price and offer you $300 in onboard credit, plus, I'll give you a dining credit so that you can enjoy one of our specialty restaurants for the inconvenience".

I took that offer.  I think that's the way to handle these situations.  With a personal touch and to try to keep your customers informed and happy.

When I write things like this, I often see comments like, "If you like Celebrity so much, why don't you just book Celebrity".  Well, my next 2 cruises are on Celebrity and the one after that on MSC.  But I would like to see them clean up their customer service a lot, and I don't think it would really be all that hard to do.  

There are things to like about MSC, or I wouldn't sail on them, but there are also areas for improvement.  Hopefully, they periodically take customer comments into account so that they may offer an even better product, which is likely in their own best interest as well as in the best interest of their customers.

If anyone is interested, here's the free specialty dinner that we enjoyed.

 

To be fair, you are comparing a mass market cruise line with one that calls itself premium.  The difference is evident in pricing.  I'm sure there are many who will swear that a Viking or Regent ship wouldn't sell itself out to a rock and roll group in the first place...

 

MSC doesn't compete with Celebrity for 80% of its cabins.  It has to sell 2x-3x more cabins on each ship.  As awful as their customer service is, most of their cruisers aren't going to drop them and pay 3x the price for a nice phone call.  Just like they don't expect a see a Whole Foods fresh cut selection when in a Walmart.  You are back on MSC despite the experience - just like we all need to visit a Walmart no matter how much premium shopping we do.

 

RCL is a better comparison and FWIW still kicks MSC's back. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by intr3pid

[Stockjock]

11 hours ago, intr3pid said:

To be fair, you are comparing a mass market cruise line with one that calls itself premium.  The difference is evident in pricing.  I'm sure there are many who will swear that a Viking or Regent ship wouldn't sell itself out to a rock and roll group in the first place...

 

MSC doesn't compete with Celebrity for 80% of its cabins.  It has to sell 2x-3x more cabins on each ship.  As awful as their customer service is, most of their cruisers aren't going to drop them and pay 3x the price for a nice phone call.  Just like they don't expect a see a Whole Foods fresh cut selection when in a Walmart.  You are back on MSC despite the experience - just like we all need to visit a Walmart no matter how much premium shopping we do.

 

RCL is a better comparison and FWIW still kicks MSC's back. 

I do understand that Celebrity is considered more upscale versus MSC, but the basic premise that MSC needs to improve customer service, promptly inform customers of cancellations, and try to offer reasonable solutions, remains. 
 

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I do understand that Celebrity is considered more upscale versus MSC, but the basic premise that MSC needs to improve customer service, promptly inform customers of cancellations, and try to offer reasonable solutions, remains. 
 

That's all I am looking for. Move me to another week. That's it!  Or that was it,until I had to escalate things. 11 days and no supervisor has called me back, despite my calling 3 other times. 

[DCGuy64]

22 hours ago, lakelorain said:

MSC is an Administrative nightmare.  However, I like their product.  My travel agent deals with them for me so I don't have the headaches many of you have.

Same here. We've always booked through a TA and have experienced none of the issues others have raised. We had a fantastic time on our MSC cruise last month and can't wait to sail with them again. These kinds of problems are the exception, anyway. We talk to other passengers all the time and they have nothing but good things to say about MSC. 

[shipgeeks]

DCGuy, I concur 100%.