Wor1dTrave11er Posted February 10, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I have an upcoming repositioning cruise on MSC Opera from Dubai to Genoa departing April 16, 2023. Really looking forward to it and sure hope it's not going to be what you thought from the title. 🤪 When I logged in today I noticed that the cruise region changed from "MSC Grand Voyages" to "POS" (see attached image). I called MSC but the rep had no idea what it means and said that they don't see what I'm talking about on their end. Does anyone happen to know what "POS" means? I'm mainly concerned about this cruise being cancelled last minute like it had been last year and then again this year when Opera was used as a floating hotel. Does anyone who either works with MSC or has seen this abbreviation before know what it means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fla Mike Posted February 10, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Gotta admit, I was thinking what we were all thinking... Perhaps "POS" refers to "rePOSitioning" cruise? 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wor1dTrave11er Posted February 10, 2023 Author #3 Share Posted February 10, 2023 12 minutes ago, Fla Mike said: Gotta admit, I was thinking what we were all thinking... Perhaps "POS" refers to "rePOSitioning" cruise? I sure hope that's what it is, although I've never seen POS as an MSC cruise type, these repositioning cruises have always been "Grand Voyages", and so had this one been until today. Although I see that others are mentioning website issues, so fingers crossed that's the reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT1962 Posted February 10, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 10, 2023 13 minutes ago, Wor1dTrave11er said: I sure hope that's what it is, although I've never seen POS as an MSC cruise type, these repositioning cruises have always been "Grand Voyages", and so had this one been until today. Although I see that others are mentioning website issues, so fingers crossed that's the reason. I just logged in and checked my booked Cruises. I have a cruise in May of this year from Miami to Barcelona and April 2024 from Dubai to Rome that were both listed as a Grand Voyages that now shows POS. I assume that means rePOSitioning. Maybe the longest segment possible is still called a Grand Voyage and the shorter segments of the same cruise are called POS for repositioning. The name change could also be a marketing change since people may search for a repositioning cruise and not realize it’s called a Grand Voyage on MSC 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rool Posted February 10, 2023 #5 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Our cruise from Southampton to Santos next October is also showing as POS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseScrooge Posted February 10, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I think some web pages or layouts have been redesigned the last few days. Anyway things just look different or new to me on web pages. Maybe POS and the image is just a placeholder while they change things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexddd Posted February 10, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Prime Ocean Sailing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mscdivina2016 Posted February 10, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 10, 2023 12 hours ago, Wor1dTrave11er said: 🤪 It's the new promotion to highlight their customer service. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TampaGambler Posted February 10, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Piece of Ship…. Letting you know the ship is falling apart and you get to take a piece home after the sailing, if it doesn’t sink entirely. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton Line Posted February 10, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I thought this was another thread about how bad MSC is.. 🤣 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomUser123 Posted February 10, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 10, 2023 I definitely had a different idea what I thought this thread would be about. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homosassa Posted February 10, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 10, 2023 The use of POS shows the pitfalls of a multinational corporation being caught by a word or term meaning something different to some parts of their consumer base that what is intended. Some of us still chuckle at the unintentional truth for Spanish speaking consumers in naming the Chevrolet Nova. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wor1dTrave11er Posted February 10, 2023 Author #13 Share Posted February 10, 2023 3 hours ago, Brighton Line said: I thought this was another thread about how bad MSC is.. 🤣 Yep I thought I'd give you guys an early Friday chuckle. 3 hours ago, TampaGambler said: Piece of Ship…. Letting you know the ship is falling apart and you get to take a piece home after the sailing, if it doesn’t sink entirely. Hopefully after we finish the sailing, not before or instead. This could be a new thing since it's hard to take chocolate ships home now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin79 Posted February 11, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Just logged in and my Northern Europe from Southampton 7 day later this month has changed to NOR and my New England and Canada out of New York is NOA. And the layout has altered a little. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wor1dTrave11er Posted February 11, 2023 Author #15 Share Posted February 11, 2023 52 minutes ago, Kevin79 said: Just logged in and my Northern Europe from Southampton 7 day later this month has changed to NOR and my New England and Canada out of New York is NOA. And the layout has altered a little. My guess would be it's "NORthern Europe" and "NOrth America". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules815 Posted February 12, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 12, 2023 On 2/9/2023 at 6:22 PM, Fla Mike said: Gotta admit, I was thinking what we were all thinking... Perhaps "POS" refers to "rePOSitioning" cruise? Point of sale?? 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisichka Posted February 12, 2023 #17 Share Posted February 12, 2023 I think this has to do with Covid testing requirements. All world and grand voyage cruise passengers are required to have a Covid test done up to 48 hours before sailing. Some GV cruises have had those requirement changed, while others still have that requirement in place. To distinguish between what your requirements are, those GV that no longer have the testing requirement are no longer labeled as a grand voyage cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wor1dTrave11er Posted February 12, 2023 Author #18 Share Posted February 12, 2023 10 hours ago, Lisichka said: I think this has to do with Covid testing requirements. All world and grand voyage cruise passengers are required to have a Covid test done up to 48 hours before sailing. Some GV cruises have had those requirement changed, while others still have that requirement in place. To distinguish between what your requirements are, those GV that no longer have the testing requirement are no longer labeled as a grand voyage cruise. Interesting idea and would make sense. My GV to POS cruise still requires testing (Dubai to Genoa), but with the Med and Arabian Gulf cruises dropping the requirement, hoping they will update for our embarcation in April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40yearcruiser Posted February 13, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I just checked my reservation on the website and our Grand Voyage on March 25 from Dubai to Genoa on World Europa is also now POS (whatever that means). I am also hoping that the Covid test requirement will be dropped before our cruise and the change to POS designation is our notice that it has been changed. I'll be watching the MSC website to see if anything is updated on their Health page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40yearcruiser Posted March 7, 2023 #20 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Has anyone found anything different from MSC about the testing requirements for POS cruises from Dubai? Their website hasn't been updated lately and when I called their representative had no idea what the current requirements were. I have been trying to send an email to customer service, but can't find an email address anywhere on the website and any email address I've tried bounces back as nondelivered. I guess they don't want to be bothered with customer concerns. None of the other cruises out of Dubai and none of the ports we visit require the Covid test so I don't understand why the requirement for all "Grand Voyages" if that is what it is still considered to be. If anybody has been able to find out if the test is still required for the POS cruises please post. It's hard to find a testing site in Dubai anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatordad1967 Posted March 7, 2023 #21 Share Posted March 7, 2023 On 2/9/2023 at 7:22 PM, Fla Mike said: Gotta admit, I was thinking what we were all thinking... Perhaps "POS" refers to "rePOSitioning" cruise? ,Plenty of Space??? 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mscdivina2016 Posted March 7, 2023 #22 Share Posted March 7, 2023 8 hours ago, 40yearcruiser said: Has anyone found anything different from MSC about the testing requirements for POS cruises from Dubai? Their website hasn't been updated lately and when I called their representative had no idea what the current requirements were. I have been trying to send an email to customer service, but can't find an email address anywhere on the website and any email address I've tried bounces back as nondelivered. I guess they don't want to be bothered with customer concerns. None of the other cruises out of Dubai and none of the ports we visit require the Covid test so I don't understand why the requirement for all "Grand Voyages" if that is what it is still considered to be. If anybody has been able to find out if the test is still required for the POS cruises please post. It's hard to find a testing site in Dubai anymore. I heard from my TA. We depart from Jeddah in 3 weeks. This is the list of.whats now Grand voyages. https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/destinations/msc-grand-voyages/cruise-itineraries 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40yearcruiser Posted March 8, 2023 #23 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Thanks for the info. Unfortunately our cruise is still listed as Grand Voyage so I guess we'll have to figure out where to get the test. I've been searching the internet and emailing possible testing sites but not having much luck getting info. We are leaving on Thurs. to take a transatlantic cruise to Spain then will fly to Dubai from Barcelona. I had hoped to have this all set up before we leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocdb8r Posted March 8, 2023 #24 Share Posted March 8, 2023 MSC World Europa from Dubai to Genoa has the same change. I would assume it refers to a "POSitioning" cruise...no idea why in cruise parlance we've fixated on "REpositioning". 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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