Solo in a Guarantee Balcony: How To Request Better Cabin?

[elbodans]

I fully understand that based on how I booked, this may not be possible. So if the answer here is "you can't do that" I totally get it. 

I booked a last minute 10-day sailing on the Divina. I paid for a guarantee balcony. I've since received a bid opportunity to upgrade, which I am not going to do because I am solo and to bid you have to pay the double occupancy rate. Note that I did NOT pay a 100% single supplement, as MSC has dropped that and in fact that's the reason I booked this sailing. Thank you, MSC, for making it more reasonable to cruise solo! 

I have since been assigned a cabin and it is all the way forward on deck 9 so it has one of those metal balconies. 

Will I die if I have to have a metal balcony? No. I'll be totally fine. 

However if there is a way for me to pay a reasonable amount for a "regular" glass balcony--so a cabin a bit less forward--I'm happy to do that. Is there a way to do that and if so, how would I go about that? I booked direct with MSC, not with a TA. 

 

I'm just not going to bid to pay significantly more to MAYBE get a better balcony. I was already auto upgraded from Bella to a Fantastica balcony, but I'm 100% certain this Fantastica balcony has a metal balcony; I checked on a bunch of cruise map sites.

Thanks! 

[JT1962]

Based on my experience, the only way to guarantee a better location is to call MSC and see what the price will be for a different cabin location. You will likely be locked into the rate structure you originally booked, not any current promotions. 

[cellfree]

I do not believe you can change the cabin assigned, but always worth a call if you have the time. About your last paragraph - the “metal” balconies could be considered “Fantastica Obstructed Balcony.”

The Divina is a beautiful ship, we have sailed on her several times, actually met someone in the Steakhouse who was sailing solo and said she was having a wonderful time. The Atrium is a lovely place to enjoy music and meet people and relax before and after dinner. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by cellfree

[styles27]

Doesn’t hurt to phone MSC and ask.
We upgraded our room on our upcoming cruise on Divina from obstructed view balcony to a premium however we booked Fantastica so we had chosen our first room.

 

When I noticed an aft balcony became available I wanted it so I used that as my “1 free Fantastica change”

It was $275 less than our original room which they honored.
It was before final payment though.