Price Drop After Final Payment

[ESCARGO]

Does MSC offer any refund or OBC when the price drops after final Payment? Thanks, Ted

[styles27]

Yes I was able to get a price adjustment plus 2 additional $50 OBC because I hadn’t realized there was an extra 15% off Voyagers Club discount on top of the 5% I originally received. 
Did the price adjustment after final payment about 3 weeks ago. Received the refund this week. It was worth the call I saved a few hundred dollars 

[Gatordad1967]

1 hour ago, ESCARGO said:

Does MSC offer any refund or OBC when the price drops after final Payment? Thanks, Ted

Have your TA put in for it.

 

[Ofmyheart]

Just had TA call, not worth it with $50 change fee

[racephoto]

42 minutes ago, Ofmyheart said:

Just had TA call, not worth it with $50 change fee

Just so you know, that may very well be your travel agent charging a fee. MSC hasn’t charged me any change fee, and I went from a regular fare to the voyages select 5+15 fare before FP, then got two price drops inside of final payment, the last one being yesterday…..three weeks before sailing. 

[Ofmyheart]

1 hour ago, racephoto said:

Just so you know, that may very well be your travel agent charging a fee. MSC hasn’t charged me any change fee, and I went from a regular fare to the voyages select 5+15 fare before FP, then got two price drops inside of final payment, the last one being yesterday…..three weeks before sailing. 

Interesting, I have used this agent for years and not just for cruising. She has frequently given me her family & friends discount. I currently have 6 cruises booked with her & never have had a fee from her. She has always beaten any price I have seen published.

[Roger88]

I have never paid attention to they way the prices change. To me these are minor changes that dont rally effect the economy and my personal budget in particular. I doubt many of us experience it as well

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

57 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

I have never paid attention to they way the prices change. To me these are minor changes that dont rally effect the economy and my personal budget in particular. I doubt many of us experience it as well

Speak for yourself, Roger. As someone who clips $1 OFF coupons from the Sunday newspaper, I'll certainly go after a $50 price drop on my cruise and/or an upgraded cabin.

[racephoto]

2 hours ago, Roger88 said:

I have never paid attention to they way the prices change. To me these are minor changes that dont rally effect the economy and my personal budget in particular. I doubt many of us experience it as well

Well, I personally think $106 credit that I’ve gotten on this 7 day is worth the effort. That’s a free excursion plus a couple drinks.

[styles27]

$270 credit to my credit card and an extra $100 onboard credit is worth it to me. 
@Ofmyheartyour TA is either misinformed or charging you the fee for calling MSC.
I wasn’t charged any fee for the price change. Maybe call MSC yourself and see what they say. 

[perakcruiser]

MSC is a world company, not US company that acts also in other markets.

 

So they follow the local law for their markets. And have to respect what the competitors do in some market and what the customer expects. Always keep in mind everything you say or experience is only valid for your market. 

 

For example in most European markets even after the downpayment there is zero chance for any refund or OBC when the price drops. You just can cancel the booking and lose all the downpayment and rebook. MSC gives a best price guarantee valid for 72 hours after downpayment, if the price drops in this 72 hours you are eligable for the lower price.

 

We are cruising with MSC for about 15 years and another Golden Rule apart from "Never call MSC after your booking is as you want it" is "If you liked the price and booked the cruise, never check the price again" 🙂 

[styles27]

9 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

MSC is a world company, not US company that acts also in other markets.

 

So they follow the local law for their markets. And have to respect what the competitors do in some market and what the customer expects. Always keep in mind everything you say or experience is only valid for your market. 

 

For example in most European markets even after the downpayment there is zero chance for any refund or OBC when the price drops. You just can cancel the booking and lose all the downpayment and rebook. MSC gives a best price guarantee valid for 72 hours after downpayment, if the price drops in this 72 hours you are eligable for the lower price.

 

We are cruising with MSC for about 15 years and another Golden Rule apart from "Never call MSC after your booking is as you want it" is "If you liked the price and booked the cruise, never check the price again" 🙂 

Sure “never check the price again” if you live in Europe I guess, because you really can’t do anything about it.
In the states we can, so I do check it often and it pays off for us. 😊

 

[racephoto]

5 hours ago, styles27 said:

Sure “never check the price again” if you live in Europe I guess, because you really can’t do anything about it.
In the states we can, so I do check it often and it pays off for us. 😊

 

Yep. And if a cruise line doesn’t honor price drops, I tend to not book them. At least not unless it’s a last minute cruise, which is usually already deeply discounted. I don’t care if they’re not giving me a cash refund back to my credit card and just give me OBC, but give me something. OBC works out well for everyone, the customer feels like they got something, and considering how jacked up the prices are for everything that you could use OBC for, the cruise line is still well ahead of the game versus a new booking at that new lowered price.

[intr3pid]

These are pretty generic answers, OP.  The specific situation of the price drop will tell you whether you can access it or not. 

 

1.  If there is a Voyages Selection promotion, it's typically offered in the last few months before sailing, and you can have it reflected in your fare.  It's across the board for all members.

 

2.  If the price drops because MSC wants to discount the cruise to do a fire sale, you can't access the new price without cancelling your existing booking first.  Inside the cancellation window, you will be subject to penalties for doing so.

 

3.  If you are inside the cancellation window, any price reduction will not be refunded.  It will be converted to an onboard credit.

 

4.  In some markets, they do charge a fee to make any change.

[racephoto]

2 hours ago, intr3pid said:

 

2.  If the price drops because MSC wants to discount the cruise to do a fire sale, you can't access the new price without cancelling your existing booking first.  Inside the cancellation window, you will be subject to penalties for doing so.

 

This was not true for me. The price under the Voyages Select 5+15 promotion has dropped twice inside FP for me and I have gotten credit both times. Without canceling and rebooking and I’m still under my original booking number. I booked my 11/14 Divina sailing on 8/2/21 for a total cost of $705. On 8/10 I got my status match and called to get the cruise reprised under the 5+15 VS fare and the price dropped to $598.16. On 8/15/21 I made final payment on the booking. On Oct 1st I noticed a price drop on the 5+15 fare and called. I was given a $77.52 credit, bringing the price to $520.64. Same booking # & cabin. On 10/22 I noticed another little price drop, called again, and was cheerfully credited another $29.07 bringing the cruise cost to $491.57. I’ve gotten $106.59 credit for price drops since final payment. I didn’t try to get it back to my cc since it’ll go towards gratuity if nothing else. 

[intr3pid]

2 hours ago, racephoto said:

This was not true for me. The price under the Voyages Select 5+15 promotion has dropped twice inside FP for me and I have gotten credit both times. Without canceling and rebooking and I’m still under my original booking number. I booked my 11/14 Divina sailing on 8/2/21 for a total cost of $705. On 8/10 I got my status match and called to get the cruise reprised under the 5+15 VS fare and the price dropped to $598.16. On 8/15/21 I made final payment on the booking. On Oct 1st I noticed a price drop on the 5+15 fare and called. I was given a $77.52 credit, bringing the price to $520.64. Same booking # & cabin. On 10/22 I noticed another little price drop, called again, and was cheerfully credited another $29.07 bringing the cruise cost to $491.57. I’ve gotten $106.59 credit for price drops since final payment. I didn’t try to get it back to my cc since it’ll go towards gratuity if nothing else. 

Most of the price drops you mention seem to be re-pricing of their Voyages Selection fares.  I am referring to switching to a different promotion than what you have on your booking.  Inside the cancellation penalty window, they have the right to deny that request.  Some offices allow it on discretion.  We have had both experiences.

[perakcruiser]

18 hours ago, styles27 said:

Sure “never check the price again” if you live in Europe I guess, because you really can’t do anything about it.
In the states we can, so I do check it often and it pays off for us. 😊

That is true for sure 🙂

 

 

[quattrohead]

I was not able to get a reduction without changing my booking....not going to touch that with someone else's barge pole 🤬

I thought I would be getting $118 back for my voyagers club discount of 20% but apparently it is actually 19% but they don't know why 🤑

So to save $102 on an already cheap cruise I am not going to attempt to screw my whole screwed up booking up 🤢

[Magpye]

From the USA:  I called MSC a couple of days ago to see if I could get the new, more attractive fare for a Jan 2022 booking I already had.  When I called I got really good and helpful rep (truly, she was great!) and she explained that there is a difference between cruise fare price and cruise fare promotion.  The person I worked with said they don't price match per se, BUT was able to get me a better final cost due to the fact that the promotions they were offering had gotten better and my current booking qualified for the better promotion (savings of $172!).  One thing, I hadn't yet made my final payment so I am not sure if that would have made a difference to my experience.  I got the impression I could have gotten a refund or credit in that case, though I didn't specifically ask that question.

 

She did have to do a re-booking for me (which she handled fine, no problems - I got the same cabin and the same dinner time) and was very clear that I might have to be charged a $50 booking fee, depending on what the booking system allowed her to do.  I agreed to this - cuz saving $122 is still great - and got lucky, the booking system didn't force the change fee so I saved the whole $172.

 

Not sure if that is helpful info to everyone in all markets, but I found the clarification to be quite informative and thought others might do as well.  

Edited October 25, 2021 by Magpye
forgot to mention payment status of booking

[Patti72357]

Based on what some of you have been able to achieve, I tried three different times to get a price adjustment as the price of my cruise dropped over $100 within 48 hours of final payment.  I was told no all three times.  One rep did say that a change could be made by paying a $50 per person fee, so I guess that will only be worth it if the price drops again.  In any event, the original price was great for a 7 day cruise and it did come with $100 OBC each.   As we all know, prices can go either way ...

Edited October 25, 2021 by Patti72357

[styles27]

1 hour ago, Patti72357 said:

Based on what some of you have been able to achieve, I tried three different times to get a price adjustment as the price of my cruise dropped over $100 within 48 hours of final payment.  I was told no all three times.  One rep did say that a change could be made by paying a $50 per person fee, so I guess that will only be worth it if the price drops again.  In any event, the original price was great for a 7 day cruise and it did come with $100 OBC each.   As we all know, prices can go either way ...

My price was adjusted because when I originally booked (7/2/2021 for sailing 11/14/2021) they only gave me the 5% Voyager Club discount and $50 each OBC and it wasn’t until I saw @racephoto’s  post in our roll call that they were offering 5%+15% VC member discount on some voyages and ours was one of them and an additional $50 OBC each for higher level VC members (which we are Diamond)

Our cruise was already paid in full when I phoned MSC at the end of September and there was no question that they owed me the extra 15% off plus $50 OBC x2. The gentleman asked his supervisor and she was able to help him process the refund. 
They credited my cc the 15% and put the OBC’s on our account. 
So this wasn’t a price drop for us it was a promotion that I qualified for even though the cruise was already paid in full. I still have the same booking # and I wasn’t charged any fee to process this change. It was all pretty simple. I’m very thankful that racephoto shared the info with us because I didn’t know about the promotion. 

[Native Floridian 26]

On 10/23/2021 at 12:04 PM, Ofmyheart said:

Just had TA call, not worth it with $50 change fee

One reason I don't use a TA.

[Native Floridian 26]

Our 12/11 sailing has gone down a little in price (5+15 disct VC sailing).  However, our latest fare is the Labor Day which was also a 5+15 disct.  However today's price doesn't include the $200 OBC we got with Labor Day sale, so I won't request a price reduction as I'd loose that OBC I'm quite sure.

[pghflyer]

So with their "Total CruiseFlex" in the USA where you can change up to 48 hours prior to your cruise with no penalty, can't you just use that program to rebook and get current rates? Obviously may only be applicable for US customers........

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/total-cruiseflex

[Cruiser Bruiser]

It's interesting to hear that some folks are having success with adjustments. It sounds like most of the success relates to very specific promotions.

 

In my experience, once past final payment, MSC is very unlikely to make any kind of favorable adjustment. Back when I used to sail NCL, they would bump you up to a nicer cabin for no cost as prices dropped in the final days before the cruise. There a lots of balconies available on my sailing, so I called to see if I could get bumped up from an interior studio. I had to pay $57 to do so, even though I could book the cruise today for less than half of what I paid. That's just how cruises work. Given the state of the industry post-COVID, I feel like I'm giving back a bit, as I am still getting really good value for money for my 8-night cruise.