No low price guarantee??

[tartarea]

Hi Folks - hubby and i booked on Meraviglia (Apr 29 out of NY) for an interior room for $1600. I am now seeing that the same interior room has dropped considerably to $898 - same experience. Rep says I can cancel my current cruise for $398 fee and then rebook, but I am hesitant to trust that cancelling and rebooking will get me a cheaper price. Even with the $398 fee, I'd still be saving $300 so seems like a project I should undertake but I am unsure. (So far everything about MSC has me saying to myself - I'm sticking with RCC - who does price match when a cheaper fare is found.)
Anyone have any experience with canceling and rebooking to obtain a cheaper fare? Or any guidance as to how they handled this situation?
Thanks!

 

[mscdivina2016]

34 minutes ago, tartarea said:

Hi Folks - hubby and i booked on Meraviglia (Apr 29 out of NY) for an interior room for $1600. I am now seeing that the same interior room has dropped considerably to $898 - same experience. Rep says I can cancel my current cruise for $398 fee and then rebook, but I am hesitant to trust that cancelling and rebooking will get me a cheaper price. Even with the $398 fee, I'd still be saving $300 so seems like a project I should undertake but I am unsure. (So far everything about MSC has me saying to myself - I'm sticking with RCC - who does price match when a cheaper fare is found.)
Anyone have any experience with canceling and rebooking to obtain a cheaper fare? Or any guidance as to how they handled this situation?
Thanks!

 

I have and ended up getting screwed so I called back and used the "there must be an error because I am allowed 1 free cruise change"

 The rep told me i cancelled and rebooked and I of course to save my $398 I said no I was cancelling and rebooking on the next weeks sailing under 1 free change.  New rep straightened it all out.  In the end, I was on the next weeks sailing at a cheaper price.  Keep in mind I was in Yacht club and deposits are non refundable.

[Fla Mike]

This happened to us for our Nov Seashore cruise, only we were not subject to any fees.

 

Wanted to upgrade to a Aurea aft suite, was not able to get the website price and I had to cancel and rebook.

Received my $99. deposit back in about 10 days.

 See my "Kinda Shoulda" post for the whole fiasco.

[styles27]

1 hour ago, tartarea said:

Hi Folks - hubby and i booked on Meraviglia (Apr 29 out of NY) for an interior room for $1600. I am now seeing that the same interior room has dropped considerably to $898 - same experience. Rep says I can cancel my current cruise for $398 fee and then rebook, but I am hesitant to trust that cancelling and rebooking will get me a cheaper price. Even with the $398 fee, I'd still be saving $300 so seems like a project I should undertake but I am unsure. (So far everything about MSC has me saying to myself - I'm sticking with RCC - who does price match when a cheaper fare is found.)
Anyone have any experience with canceling and rebooking to obtain a cheaper fare? Or any guidance as to how they handled this situation?
Thanks!

 

I assume you’re paid in full at this point? 
If you cancel you cannot automatically apply the funds you’ve already paid them to your new booking. 
You would have to wait for MSC to refund that money meaning you have to put out the entire amount again for the new booking.
 

Personally I wouldn’t do it just to save a few hundred dollars. It can take months to get a refund from this company and it sounds like it’ll be a good chunk of money that they owe you. 
 

 

[JT1962]

One of the many differences between MSC and other lines is they do not adjust pricing after you book. You must cancel and rebook at the current rate. I tried to add someone to my solo booking and they told me it would be 3 times the rate I booked since it would be a cancellation and I would need to book 2 at the current rate, plus lose the $ 200 OBC from the original booking.
 

It’s frustrating, but cruising is one of the few industries I am aware of that will lower the price after you book if there is a price drop. Most airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, retail stores, car dealers, etc. don’t adjust your price lower if it drops after you reserve / purchase.  I’m actually surprised the other cruise lines still do it. If every passenger did this, the other cruise lines would probably stop the practice.

[B_A_H]

8 minutes ago, styles27 said:

You would have to wait for MSC to refund that money meaning you have to put out the entire amount again for the new booking.

That isn't true, actually the opposite is.  There's no such thing as a "change" with MSC.  Even a change affecting the same ship and sailing date has to be done as a "cancel" followed by a "book."  If the cancel/book is done within the same reservation, the balance on what was canceled is applied to whatever replaced it leaving either a debit or credit.  The same process applies when MSC vs. the passenger initiates a change. 

 

I know this because I booked a sailing with MSC NL vs. USA and made a new reservation for a change I wanted to make thinking they could just move the deposit.  They had to cancel my new separate booking and replicate it within my original reservation.  The agent actually explained how their system worked to me.  Unlike the US, MSC NL is unbelievably helpful.  For example, I didn't read that the free move required 90 days notice.  MSC NL made the move for me at no charge anyway. In the NL, they have an exception handling process where non-standard requests are reviewed and responded to overnight.  In the US they just say "no."   Or worse, give multiple answers to the same request.  

 

Back to the OPs original question.  No, MSC offers no kind of best rate guarantee. The 90 day free move is one way around it and there's the odd chance that you might get a competent and helpful CSR willing to work with you.  If there's a price drop, your best bet is to try and change to a better category that is equal to or more than what you originally booked.  That way, there's no credit for MSC to deal with.  And you're getting something vs. overpaying based for what you currently have based on the new pricing. 

 

And refunds, like best rate guarantees, is something they don't do so well. MSC being "different" has been talked about ad nauseum.  These are samples of that.  And they aren't likely to change in the near future so MSC newbies be warned.   

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 2/26/2023 at 5:25 PM, tartarea said:

Hi Folks - hubby and i booked on Meraviglia (Apr 29 out of NY) for an interior room for $1600. I am now seeing that the same interior room has dropped considerably to $898 - same experience. Rep says I can cancel my current cruise for $398 fee and then rebook, but I am hesitant to trust that cancelling and rebooking will get me a cheaper price. Even with the $398 fee, I'd still be saving $300 so seems like a project I should undertake but I am unsure. (So far everything about MSC has me saying to myself - I'm sticking with RCC - who does price match when a cheaper fare is found.)
Anyone have any experience with canceling and rebooking to obtain a cheaper fare? Or any guidance as to how they handled this situation?
Thanks!

 

RCC will adjust your price even after final payment date? 

[CruisingNole]

On 2/26/2023 at 7:17 PM, JT1962 said:

 

It’s frustrating, but cruising is one of the few industries I am aware of that will lower the price after you book if there is a price drop. Most airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, retail stores, car dealers, etc. don’t adjust your price lower if it drops after you reserve / purchase.  I’m actually surprised the other cruise lines still do it. If every passenger did this, the other cruise lines would probably stop the practice.

Royal Caribbean no longer price adjusts once final payment date has passed, so the OP would be out of luck with Royal as well as his or her sailing is next month. This was a post-Covid policy change. Not sure how the other lines are handling this nowadays.

[CruisingNole]

12 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

RCC will adjust your price even after final payment date? 

Prior to COVID they would give you OBC or upgrade your cabin category to make up for the difference. They will no longer do that.

[Illbcruzn4life]

17 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

Prior to COVID they would give you OBC or upgrade your cabin category to make up for the difference. They will no longer do that.

Thanks for the confirmation. I didn’t think so.

[HardToPort]

The time of half filled ships is quickly passing. So, I expect, will be the special deals, flexible customer service resolution, re-booking convenience, throw ins like booze, grats, wifi, on board credits etc. Not just MSC but everywhere.

 

Last year, as a solo, I had a with balcony on NCL with drinks and wifi for about $1,300 Canadian. Darn good deal. The ship sailed 3/4 full and this was after moving a large number passengers over from the NCL ship that blew a motor and caused a cancellation.

 

Next month I’m doing another solo in an ocean view on MSC Divina with drinks and wifi for about $1,200 CDN. Still a good deal. NCL didn’t have anything to compare when I shopped and I’m retired so, when vacationing without my SO, it’s price price price. I can leave when I want, don’t care about ports. Just get me to the sun for a week and let me read, have a drink, listen to some tunes and chill.
 

BUT … just under 60 days out you can’t book a solo cabin on this cruise anymore. And my similar cabin type requires 2 person occupancy to get the pp rate I have. So, I’m basically filling a cabin for $1,200 but now they want $2,400 to sell that cabin. Fair play to them as far as I’m concerned. They’re in business to make money.

 

There’s pent up travel demand coming out of Covid, cruising is pretty popular, so as passenger loads increase we can expect some sticker shock and less flexibility. Grab some deals while you can because, as Dylan sang, “the times they are a changing”.

Edited March 2, 2023 by HardToPort