Refundable Deposit

[Homosassa]

16 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@JamieLogical

 

@Morgsmom

 

@HomosassaIf MSC is sailing out of the USA, and if they want to be sucessful...they do need to change to meet the limited expectations of a certain national population...by which I assume you mean American. 

And in a nut shell, there is the limited horizons of some MSC passengers.

 

There are many countries that are "American"  with different cultural background and traditions.

 

North American actually has two different countries.

 

As for citizens of the USA, there are many of us that realize when we step outside our home, things can be different.

 

MSC suits us just the way it is with its international passenger make up and business  model that keeps fares low and quality up.

 

My theory about homeporting the Meraviglia  in NYC is not so much filling the ship with passengers from the US as being a more convenient port for those international passengers that often arrive at JFK and then have to travel to Florida for their cruise.

 

I would expect to see many of the European and Asian travel groups that are on air/cruise packages on board the ship.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Homosassa

[JamieLogical]

10 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

North American actually has two different countries.

 

22 other countries would like to have a word with you....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_countries_by_population

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by JamieLogical

[MsTabbyKats]

4 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

And in a nut shell, there is the limited horizons of some MSC passengers.

 

There are many countries that are "American"  with different cultural background and traditions.

 

North American actually has two different countries.

 

As for citizens of the USA, there are many of us that realize when we step outside our home, things can be different.

 

MSC suits us just the way it is with its international passenger make up and business  model that keeps fares low and quality up.

 

 

I seriously have to laugh at you....for thinking you know me or anything about me.

 

I live in probably the most diversified zip code in NYC....I can be in any culture in the world within 1 minute of walking or 15 minutes on the subway....and I thrive in all of them...despite limited language abilities.  So when I step outside my home (apt really) things are different...not everybody speaks English.  I'm a native speaker of English; English is my husband's third language.  Being with "English speaking Americans" of my ethnicity is far from my norm.

 

One thing I like about MSC is the international population....and I couldn't care less about announcements in 5 languages.

 

Does this make sense:

Mr & Mrs TabbyKats are booked in a Fantastica Balcony.  Mr Tabby has not been well, so  Mrs Tabby decides to upgrade to Yacht Club (not for drinks etc...but so Mr Tabby can avoid lines).

Mrs Tabby calls MSC to make the conversion.  NO.  I have to cancel first and rebook.

So Mrs Tabby cancels.  Then, being sick and tired of MSC customer service, I had the TA do the YC booking for me.  Including his discounts/obc....the fare was something like $500 less.

 

If the agent rebooked instead of canceling (it didn't affect her salary)...MSC would not have had to issue a refund...and then I book a cabin for less than what I would have willingly paid if their representative did it on the spot.  Me thinks, not such a great business model, MSC.

 

[MsTabbyKats]

16 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

22 other countries would like to have a word with you....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_countries_by_population

 

Despite the customer service, you'll love the ship.  And if you're a fan of pizza, you'll love theirs.  

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

22 other countries would like to have a word with you....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_countries_by_population

 

LOL - I stand corrected.

 

I was thinking of the continental land mass that contains Canada and USA.

 

I don't see the Saint Pierre and Miquelon which is a self governing  French territory.

 

Looks like the UN's list may be incomplete.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Homosassa

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

 

 

I live in probably the most diversified zip code in NYC....I can be in any culture in the world within 1 minute of walking or 15 minutes on the subway....and I thrive in all of them...despite limited language abilities.  So when I step outside my home (apt really) things are different...not everybody speaks English.  I'm a native speaker of English; English is my husband's third language.  Being with "English speaking Americans" of my ethnicity is far from my norm.

 

One thing I like about MSC is the international population....and I couldn't care less about announcements in 5 languages.

 

Me thinks, not such a great business model, MSC.

 

Perhaps if you thought of the MSC business model as a different culture that you are voluntarily choosing to deal with, then your thriving in different cultures would work in accepting MSC procedures and not have you insisting on their need to change to meet your expectations of how a cruise line operates.

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - I stand corrected.

 

I was thinking of the continental land mass that contains Canada and USA.

 

I though that you were thinking of USA and Mexico since....nobody thinks about Canada, eh? 😁

 

 

5 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

If there is a re-fare....it's again "cancel and rebook".  They don't adjust prices...like every other cruiseline!

 

The one ingredient that is missing from this thread is the "MSC is inconsistent" factor.  I have had a Yacht Club price adjusted when the port fees dropped. I kept my lower fare price and had the port fees lowered. I kept the same confirmation number, same stateroom, etc. The only thing different was the new total which was lower. If I didn't call, I would have paid the higher total. 

 

Is that normal? No.

Should that be expected? No.

Is that likely to happen for me again without anything getting messed up? No.....but it has happened. 

 

MSC is too inconsistent to state that anything (good or bad) will happen with 100% certainty. 

A good thing that happened for me might not happen for anyone else. 

A bad thing that happened for me....or for "mscdivina2016" might not happen for anyone else. 😉

[Julia’s Journey’s]

On 3/28/2023 at 6:22 PM, Robkat said:

Oh, I guess I should have been a little more descriptive about what I was referring to ... 

What I meant is that it was sad that MSC's reputation of handling passengers' various requests/changes/calls to CS for info or help, etc. are quite often met with ineptitude or misinformation or, in some extreme cases, actual problems created with the bookings.  

I'm not saying that this is universally the case, but it happens and gets reported upon sufficiently often enough that a first time MSC cruiser, like the OP for example, feels that in order to make a fairly common cabin change, the best way to mitigate potential detrimental changes happening is to outright cancel the booking and start over.  

 

In my opinion, this is a reputation issue that MSC should address.  

We decided to try MSC as hubby has a friend who enjoys it, I emailed my TA who I have booked over 30 cruises with and she responded she cannot work with MSC, they don’t answer the phone and don’t want to work with agents😳

[perakcruiser]

32 minutes ago, Julia’s Journey’s said:

We decided to try MSC as hubby has a friend who enjoys it, I emailed my TA who I have booked over 30 cruises with and she responded she cannot work with MSC, they don’t answer the phone and don’t want to work with agents😳

She lied to you. MSC works perfectly with many agents. But your TA seems to be not qualified for the "special" phone line for preferred MSC agents, understandably that makes her not happy. And she has probably a fine status with other lines, so she directs her clients to these lines. Always keep this system in mind when booking a cruise with a TA. 

[UPNYGuy]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

She lied to you. MSC works perfectly with many agents. But your TA seems to be not qualified for the "special" phone line for preferred MSC agents, understandably that makes her not happy. And she has probably a fine status with other lines, so she directs her clients to these lines. Always keep this system in mind when booking a cruise with a TA. 

correct. My agent has never had an issue with booking me on MSC. 

[JamieLogical]

Wanted to post an update that my refund for my original booking deposit showed up as "Pending" on my credit card sometime yesterday. Not bad. Roughly 48 hours after I had called to cancel.

[MsTabbyKats]

18 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Perhaps if you thought of the MSC business model as a different culture that you are voluntarily choosing to deal with, then your thriving in different cultures would work in accepting MSC procedures and not have you insisting on their need to change to meet your expectations of how a cruise line operates.

 

 

 

I am not insisting that they change for me.  I am suggesting that they would have a better chance of success if they adapted to "the American Style".   Except for you and a few other diehards, nobody likes the cancel/rebook and other customer service anomolies that we have to deal with.

 

Enuf said...........

[Homosassa]

19 hours ago, Julia’s Journey’s said:

We decided to try MSC as hubby has a friend who enjoys it, I emailed my TA who I have booked over 30 cruises with and she responded she cannot work with MSC, they don’t answer the phone and don’t want to work with agents😳

My travel agent also works well with MSC.

 

For truth in posting, there was a limited time period toward the end of the Covid sailing period that his agency suspended routine booking of MSC cruises. At that time, MSC was changing almost daily the policy for booking and cancellations because of Covid

 

They would do it if the client insisted and signed an agreement that they knew the conditions under which they were booking and would not hold the agency responsible for any problems with their booking.

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

 

I am not insisting that they change for me.  I am suggesting that they would have a better chance of success if they adapted to "the American Style".   Except for you and a few other diehards, nobody likes the cancel/rebook and other customer service anomolies that we have to deal with.

 

Enuf said...........

I am not a die hard.

 

I just cruise enough different cruise lines to know that not all operate the same way.

 

When I book Viking Ocean, I know and abide by their final payment schedule (six months to one year in advance of the cruise) and other more stringent policies about cancellations and changes.

 

In many ways, Viking and MSC are similar.  They have policies that ensure that the passenger knows the price they will pay (no fare churning)  and, therefore, the the line knows the per diem basis that they can use for onboard and shore expenditures.