Caveat emptor: MSC is sinking fast IMO

[SirWolf]

12 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

There is no "Swiss" language.

 

 

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* Off-topic *

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Correct.. but the most widely spoken language in Switzerland is Schwyzerdütsch (Schweizerdeutsch .. Swiss/German).

Swiss/German is a collection of Alemannic dialects no longer spoken in Germany and Austria.

Germans usually don’t understand Schwyzerdeutsch..

 

English: Cat

German: Katze

Schwyzerdütsch: Büsi , s

 

English: Shopping Cart (for supermarket)

German: Einkaufswagen

Schwyzerdütsch: Poschtiwägeli , s

 

English: That smells funny.

German: Das riecht komisch.

Schwyzerdütsch: Da schmöckt gschpässig.

 

3 other dialects are spoken in parts of Switzerland.. Swiss French, Swiss Italian and Romansh.

[Nikita4]

And the headquarter of MSC Cruises is located in Geneva, they speak french in this part of Switzerland :-).
But Schwyzerdütsch ist much nicer then french.

[perakcruiser]

1 hour ago, Nikita4 said:

And the headquarter of MSC Cruises is located in Geneva, they speak french in this part of Switzerland :-).

As discussed many times here, the Switzerland HQ of MSC is not dealing any daily business of MSC Cruises. All is done in Napoli, Italy. 

[shipgeeks]

OP,  I keep going back to your original statement that "the cabin I booked is no longer available".  That says to me that you do still have that cabin.  It doesn't explain all the other stuff you are being told, but it is a sign, I believe.

It seems that MSC keeps getting two groups of passengers: those who have not a single problem along the way nor onboard, and those whose bookings hit snags, usually, but not exclusively, after trying to make a change.  We are in the first group, and I hope you soon will be, too.

[77red96]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Noooo.  Not quite.  I am saying if you book any cruise line through a decent cruise/travel agent you will be better off....both financially and mentally (less stress).  I do not want to pick on MSC (we have cruised on 16 cruise lines) as, these days, just about every line has customer service issues.  We, as amateurs, can choose to deal directly with cruise lines and their relatively low paid reservations clerks or we can choose to use a professional travel/cruise agent (who works for us) as an agent to represent us with the various cruise lines.

 

What makes this a "no brainer" for me is not only do I get a professional to deal with the cruise lines, but these agencies actually pay me!  So, on an upcoming MSC cruise our cruise agency has given us $450 of OBC (this is actually not a particularly good deal) that we would not have received had we booked directly with MSC.  On some of our other cruises with other lines we have received thousands of dollars of OBCs and other amenities simply because we used decent discount high volume cruise agencies

I will add that if you are booking a low priced MSC Experience than using an agency is not going to get you a lot (everything is based on percentages).  On the other hand, if you book a World Cruise with a decent cruise line, having the right agent can save you $10,000+

 

My advice, for over a quarter century has always been the same.  Shop around among decent, reputable cruise agencies for their best deals and then compare it to what it would cost you to book direct.   It never hurts to shop around (other than the need to spend some time doing your homework/due diligence).  

 

 

Hank

I keep reading things like this and it pains me because I genuinely don't know who these people are and I know I'm not allowed to ask here. I wish there was a way.

[mscdivina2016]

34 minutes ago, 77red96 said:

I keep reading things like this and it pains me because I genuinely don't know who these people are and I know I'm not allowed to ask here. I wish there was a way.

Google largest travel agencies in your area or country,or you do realize that cruise critic sells cruises?

[papadave]

Based on a grand total of one cruise taken and a second booked, I can say that the on board experience is really great, but there are real issues with IT and customer service which MSC doesn't seem to be taking as seriously as they should.

 

I booked my upcoming cruise directly with MSC because they were running an excellent promotion and my travel agent and I could not connect.    Because of the promotion being offered, I knew the price was never going to go down significantly, but risked losing out on the deal -- $500 shipboard credit when booking a balcony, which ran around $750 (plus port charges and taxes) for a 17 day cruise as a solo, essentially $250 for 17 days, and that promotion was not showing up on my TA's website.   Perhaps I should have tried to reach a different agency, rather than booking on my own.   So far, only some technical issues where I haven't been able to complete on line forms because of their IT which still doesn't function correctly.   I have 8 weeks to take care of this, so I'm not in a panic, plus MSC just sent an email with my cabin assignment.

 

Back to the original problem posted on this thread -- this stinks.   MSC, as any company in this type of business, could make reasonable accomodations.   Maybe they can't give you the same cabin, but if you know approximately where you and your friends wish to be located, maybe they can find cabins near each other and make that work.   Get to the essence of what you really want in order to have the best cruise possible and communicate that.   And good luck.

[mscdivina2016]

37 minutes ago, papadave said:

Based on a grand total of one cruise taken and a second booked, I can say that the on board experience is really great, but there are real issues with IT and customer service which MSC doesn't seem to be taking as seriously as they should.

 

I booked my upcoming cruise directly with MSC because they were running an excellent promotion and my travel agent and I could not connect.   

You are aware that you can give the booking to a TA?  You have 14 or 30 days I think.

[papadave]

Your advice is solid.   I wound up playing telephone tag with my TA for a few days, then let things sit for too long.   Last week I spoke with my TA and they contacted MSC, but it was too late to give the booking to the TA.  Life, unfortunately, got in the way.   It will be okay, I hope, but I certainly would prefer to have a TA involved in case I have an issue going forward.

[Kupsha]

On 9/21/2022 at 6:23 AM, 2travelers2go said:

I had a prior post about a problem with my MSC booking number not working.  I am afraid I am entering a swirling vortex of MSC incompetence and am going down fast. 

 

Still couldn't log into my MSC Account with my booking number today, as it still does not accept it.  I call customer service again. The rep tells me my reservation has been cancelled.  I'm shocked as I certainly didn't do it!  In fact, I've been trying to CONFIRM my booking for several business days now.

 

I tell her the saga:  I booked the cruise and paid for specific cabin. My credit card was accepted and charged (in full) for the cruise. I have printed out/screen shots confirming all this, including e-mails that said my payment was a "success" and it was paid in full. Only problem was there system would not accept my booking number.

She says she doesn't know what happened but she can say with certainty that my reservation was cancelled. She also said she saw that I was indeed charged for the cruise. This makes no sense whatsoever. 

 

Rep said she was going to send an email to MSC main office which is in Europe in Italy or Switzerland, I assume.  She indicated that it might take quite a while before I'd hear back from them and many times things were not exactly understood due to "translation" issues.  Wonderful.

 

She was also able to give me the added "good news" that the cabin I had booked (and have a receipt for) is no longer available.  We chose this cabin as it was in conjunction/proximity with friends we are going on the cruise with. That's why I paid extra to pick our cabin.  Now I will have to wait and who knows where we will wind up.

 

So far, MSC is an abject failure when it comes to their website and booking process.  I only hope the cruise goes better.  That is, if we will even go on it since we still don't have a reservation.  I will say this:  MSC is VERY VERY successful at charging you and taking your money, however.  THAT had no problem showing up on my credit card within minutes and is still there. Why can't they make a correction in their own system without it taking a week or more?

 

Bottom line:  I was willing to give MSC a chance considering they are fairly new in the market. I saw some people had some issues with booking/payment in reviews but was thinking that might be the odd case.  Until now - when I can count myself one of them.

 

Buyer beware. 

My MSC cruise on the Opera was cancelled last week.  I have since been able to rebook a cruise on the MSC Seaview leaving on a different trip a few days later.  The trip is a week longer than my original trip but I got it no charge equivalent balcony.  Also the company is going to pick up the cost of additional flights to get back home.

At this stage if all goes well I can't fault them. Excellent staff in Sydney.

However if things go bad, I know where they live. LOL