Canceling/Rebooking Onboard

[JamieLogical]

There is only one room left of the cabin type we want for an upcoming sailing. I had hoped to go to the Future Cruise Desk when I am onboard the Meraviglia next week to book the sailing for the onboard booking perks, but I am worried that one room will sell between now and then. If I were to book the room now and pay the deposit, do you think I would be able to cancel and rebook it once onboard? Has anyone done anything like this through the Future Cruise desk onboard? Did you have any success?

 

Note: This is NOT a Yacht Club room, so the deposit should be refundable.

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by JamieLogical

[Two Wheels Only]

How much faith do you have that MSC's onboard inventory will be updated immediately after you cancel? Will it be immediate?....within the hour?...within 12 hours?....up to 24 hours?....on the following cruise?....

 

How long will it take for your initial deposit to be refunded? Will it be immediate?...within a week?...within a month?...two billing cycles?...never?...

 

If you book now, you have nothing to lose. It the plan works, you gain a few bucks OBC, some points, etc. If it doesn't work, you got the last available stateroom that you want. 

[Jeal]

We tried to cancel a cruise on the Seaside a couple of weeks ago. We were told that we would need to call MSC to cancel the cruise.  

[JT1962]

I would book the room now. The perks for booking onboard aren’t that great - I got an extra $ 25 OBC vs booking online when I booked onboard in October 2022 for a cruise in October 2023. I believe you do get additional Voyagers Club points, but they aren’t of additional value if you were able to  status match to Diamond (or already reached Diamond).  
 

You can always check with the future cruise desk once onboard to see if any additional cabins have opened or if they can offer you anything extra for the booking you made online. 

[JamieLogical]

When we booked our Divina sailing for February while onboard the Meraviglia in April, we received some extra onboard credit, reduced deposit, and double Voyager's Club points, iirc. Also, I think there is something like a price drop guarantee?

[Ed342]

Price drop guarantee doesn't mean the same as the other cruise lines. The others refare the existing reservation. My experience with MSC, when I had a price drop was to cancel the existing reservation and rebook with the lower fare. Problem with this, is when you cancel, your cabin goes back into inventory. So I had to rebook with a new cabin #. When my old cabin reappeared, I called my TA to do the switch.

[Tierun]

Here's what happened to us trying to hold a cabin that way. After we canceled the cabin didn't show up to rebook with the agent, but it showed when we looked on the website. The agent couldn't book it, but I could do it online. So be careful. 

[RD64]

If you want it - book it now!  No point in playing these trying to better up my cabin games.

Edited September 22, 2023 by RD64
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