NEW VC TIER BLUE DIAMOND

[sidari]

4 hours ago, Tierun said:

Seems to me that the goal is to get the current YC clientele to sail Explora Journeys.

Cannot see that happening as any level in the VC cannot be used on Explorer.

[sidari]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

 

My last Diamond parties in the Med were pretty much overcrowded with way more than just 60 people (although held in the morning).

 

Also in Europe there are thousands of Diamonds (and not just because of a status match). The reason MSC is inventing a new tier is because of the mass of people who have the Diamond status already.

 

steamboats

MSC have been inventing a so called New level since 2015! and has nothing to do with how many have status match confetti or how many Diamond members there are. our last Diamond meeting/party was on Virtuosa and was the worst ever in terms of attendance by ships crew, moving them to daytime from Gala evenings in my opinion was a bad move.

Edited Sunday at 10:31 AM by sidari

[Beamafar]

49 minutes ago, sidari said:

We got to black with 5 cruises, Three of which were 20 day repo's and all in what was then B2 now Fantatica Balcony cabins and one Outside cabin. 

Also, Dave, that was before MSC offered double points for booking early!  

[Beamafar]

42 minutes ago, sidari said:

Cannot see that happening as any level in the VC cannot be used on Explorer.

There’s talk over on the Explora forum that they’re introducing a loyalty programme (there currently isn’t one). It’ll be interesting to see if they will allow status-match with Voyagers Club members. 

[sidari]

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Also, Dave, that was before MSC offered double points for booking early!  

Yes Bea you are correct on that.

[Beamafar]

Just now, sidari said:

Yes Bea you are correct on that.

They’ve made it easy for those who status-matched to Black/Diamond to get to Blue Diamond with the double points allocations by only setting the tier achievement at 25000.   

[Beamafar]

15 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I would agree with this if there was much value in what’s offered at the new tier. On Celebrity the highest tier garners a free 7 night cruise. I will never in this lifetime earn enough points for such a thing  lol. 

I had always thought that, if MSC ever got around to adding a higher tier, that the points level would be set at more than 25000 and that the benefits would reflect what it cost to achieve that level.  To say I’m disappointed with this new addition is an understatement.  As others have said, where’s the real benefit for those who sail YC (and achieved those points for regularly sailing in that category, yet aren’t really benefiting at all)??

[sidari]

12 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I had always thought that, if MSC ever got around to adding a higher tier, that the points level would be set at more than 25000 and that the benefits would reflect what it cost to achieve that level.  To say I’m disappointed with this new addition is an understatement.  As others have said, where’s the real benefit for those who sail YC (and achieved those points for regularly sailing in that category, yet aren’t really benefiting at all)??

Maybe another level of say 40,000 above Blue would sort that out.

[Beamafar]

Just now, sidari said:

Maybe another level of say 40,000 above Blue would sort that out.

We waited a long time for a new tier to be added;  I very much doubt I’ll see another one in my lifetime.

 

We’ve become very disillusioned with the MSC product and, until recently, were convinced we were done with the company, after a very poor experience in YC on Seascape.  We’ve turned our attention elsewhere and currently have an Explora Journeys, 2 Princess and 2 Celebrity cruises booked as a result (we’ve since booked Divina for the itinerary and great fare).  This new tier will not be influencing our cruise choices for future sailings, that’s for sure!

[smokey01]

2 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Well as said I am on board Seaside and Preziosa very soon and will check the numbers (and the Blue details) for sure. A Diamond party with 60 would be a little bit shocking 😄 

 

 

I’m Diamond but have never been to a party

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, Beamafar said:

We waited a long time for a new tier to be added;  I very much doubt I’ll see another one in my lifetime.

 

We’ve become very disillusioned with the MSC product and, until recently, were convinced we were done with the company, after a very poor experience in YC on Seascape.  We’ve turned our attention elsewhere and currently have an Explora Journeys, 2 Princess and 2 Celebrity cruises booked as a result (we’ve since booked Divina for the itinerary and great fare).  This new tier will not be influencing our cruise choices for future sailings, that’s for sure!

We will be on Seascape in YC next month. Sorry to hear you had a poor experience in YC. Do you mind sharing details?

 

Regarding the loyalty tiers I have to say that I’m really not too bothered about it. We have never stuck with any cruise line based on chasing their loyalty points. I think the variety of experiences across all lines has kept us from getting too attached to any one product. That way, when they make changes we don’t like…and they will, we take it in stride and move on. 
 

We stuck with the Celebrity product the longest and I still cruise with them if the scenario is right but they changed some things, got stupid expensive, or maybe I just got bored with them. We turned to MSC and have been very pleased. 
 

My long way of saying, I think it’s a good thing to try different products. 

[sidari]

22 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

We waited a long time for a new tier to be added;  I very much doubt I’ll see another one in my lifetime.

 

We’ve become very disillusioned with the MSC product and, until recently, were convinced we were done with the company, after a very poor experience in YC on Seascape.  We’ve turned our attention elsewhere and currently have an Explora Journeys, 2 Princess and 2 Celebrity cruises booked as a result (we’ve since booked Divina for the itinerary and great fare).  This new tier will not be influencing our cruise choices for future sailings, that’s for sure!

Like you we have two bookings with Princess for 25 and 26, the move from 3 to 5 years will be better or even a move to retaining the level attained as on other cruise lines would be a smart move for MSC to make.

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

We will be on Seascape in YC next month. Sorry to hear you had a poor experience in YC. Do you mind sharing details?

 

Regarding the loyalty tiers I have to say that I’m really not too bothered about it. We have never stuck with any cruise line based on chasing their loyalty points. I think the variety of experiences across all lines has kept us from getting too attached to any one product. That way, when they make changes we don’t like…and they will, we take it in stride and move on. 
 

We stuck with the Celebrity product the longest and I still cruise with them if the scenario is right but they changed some things, got stupid expensive, or maybe I just got bored with them. We turned to MSC and have been very pleased. 
 

My long way of saying, I think it’s a good thing to try different products. 

We sailed MSC as regularly as we did for the onboard vibe and the great fares.  Since they’ve built market share in the US it’s just not the same product anymore.  Also, everything has changed across all the lines since Covid and now it’s just about making up for losses during that awful time. 
 

We’ve sailed Celebrity,  Azamara and NCL in the last few years as we saw the MSC experience decline.  Our Seascape YC (back in May) confirmed to us that it isn’t the product it used to be. We spent most of our time outside of the enclave and even dined in the Aurea MDR on some nights.

 

It’s difficult to express in what way it was disappointing, but our very first encounter with the concierge got off to a bad start.  We were on a B2B and had been in Aurea for the first week.  On turnaround day we went to the lounge for B2Bers.  When they saw that the cabin we were moving to was in YC they asked if we had been contacted by a butler.  We hadn’t, so they immediately called for one to escort us up to YC to check in.

 

As soon as we arrived to the desk, the concierge asked the butler “What are they doing up here”?  Yes, that’s exactly how she said it!  We then had another butler escort us off the ship for immigration, then left us to find our way back onboard, rather than escorting us back (we’d lost our bearings for returning to YC).

 

That’s just a taste of what we experienced.  There were other incidents that, each on their own, may seem trivial, but, when added up, it was just not good enough.

I’ll add one other (of many) - a particularly bad experience on the day before disembarkation, trying to get our excursion tickets for the following day’s trip, which would end at the airport.  We got conflicting information all day from the different concierge staff (the tickets will be delivered to your room/ oh, we don’t seem to have them/ we’ll get onto the excursion team and have them sent up - etc all day and evening this went on). We still didn’t have our tickets that night so didn’t even know if the excursion was still on or had been cancelled.  We were then given the wrong tags for our luggage - twice.  Thankfully our butler called into the cabin to check on us (late in the evening) and I explained that we had filled out the luggage tags but that I was sure they were the wrong ones (despite the concierge insisting they were the right ones!). She finally got the right ones and told us to go and enjoy the rest of the evening while she filled in the right ones.  The whole experience left a bad taste.  We’ve sailed often enough in YC and this was about the worst YC experience yet. 

[JAGR]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Onboard expenses: you earn 100 points for every 150 €/$ spent on board, excluding casino expenses. Points for onboard expenses (including pre-boarding purchased shipboard credit) will only be assigned to the MSC Voyagers Club cardholder making the final payment.
*For currencies other than € euro, the currency conversion on purchase day will apply.

 

 

The onboard spend is interesting as it apparently does not apply to anything purchased in any of the shops onboard.  My DW bought a number of items, well over $150, and did not receive any points for anything outside the cruise. 

 

 

Was the final payment on your card? Then the points would go to your account. If you used your wife's card for settling your account, she would have gotten the points. They only got to one person by their policy highlighted above. That being said, we used to go to the concierge during the cruise, use my card for payment, but have them assign any onboard points to her VC number. Never had a problem.

[JAGR]

42 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

We sailed MSC as regularly as we did for the onboard vibe and the great fares.  Since they’ve built market share in the US it’s just not the same product anymore.  Also, everything has changed across all the lines since Covid and now it’s just about making up for losses during that awful time. 
 

Bea: I think your observation may be spot on. With the more generous tipping practices on North American cruises, my thinking is that the increase in ships strained the skilled resources available, and the "good ones" bid on US sailings for the money. That put a negative impact on qualified service levels on sailing in Europe in particular. If I was a pubic facing crew member, I would rather work on ships that have better tips, rather than the pre-paid tips on sailings in Europe.

[frank808]

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Well as said I am on board Seaside and Preziosa very soon and will check the numbers (and the Blue details) for sure. A Diamond party with 60 would be a little bit shocking 😄 

 

 

Then you would have been shocked a few nights ago. 

 

I was surprised that there were so many in the deck 7 aft lounge.  Just stopped to look and was surprised there were so many. This was different than  my other D parties on MSC. This was in the evening 1745 and said formal wear. The others I have been to have been earlier and did not say formal wear.

Edited Sunday at 01:34 PM by frank808

[frank808]

23 minutes ago, JAGR said:

Bea: I think your observation may be spot on. With the more generous tipping practices on North American cruises, my thinking is that the increase in ships strained the skilled resources available, and the "good ones" bid on US sailings for the money. That put a negative impact on qualified service levels on sailing in Europe in particular. If I was a pubic facing crew member, I would rather work on ships that have better tips, rather than the pre-paid tips on sailings in Europe.

Just got off Peziosa and the entire YC staff from concierge, butler, waiters etc. was the best we have encountered as a whole. This was an European sailing. Pepe (YC director) has them working as a star team. 

[JAGR]

8 minutes ago, frank808 said:

Just got off Peziosa and the entire YC staff from concierge, butler, waiters etc. was the best we have encountered as a whole. This was an European sailing. Pepe (YC director) has them working as a star team. 

Fran: Happy for you, but I was speculating in a broader sense. As for Pepe, he is outstanding, and a good YC Director can have a tremendous impact. However, he is also an example of what I was talking about,. You'll soon see that he is moving to South American based MSC cruises soon.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 We then had another butler escort us off the ship for immigration, then left us to find our way back onboard, rather than escorting us back

 

 We did a B2B on Seascape in the YC on both legs.  We had a butler escort all the way up to customs to return to the ship.  From that point there was no butler escort as at customs the YC guest became intermingled with the other B2B cruisers.  We had no difficulty finding our way back to the YC after reboarding as we had been out and about the ship on our first week and pretty much knew our way around.  

 

I am not sure what your expectation was but as this was our first B2B we had no expectation as to what the butler escort would be like and were okay with the way it turned out.  Would it have been better if they had been a full escort the same way as regular boarding -- sure but it is what it is. 

 

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

Was the final payment on your card? Then the points would go to your account. If you used your wife's card for settling your account, she would have gotten the points.

 

You are quite right. I completely missed that.  The point were added to my account.  Oh well, since the Diamond benefit will be used by both of us, since we always sail together and she's pick up more than the 500 points she needs to make Diamond on our next cruise it is not a big deal. 

 

I'll keep that trick of charging onboard spending to her CC vice mine in mind going forward.  

 

[Beamafar]

15 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We did a B2B on Seascape in the YC on both legs.  We had a butler escort all the way up to customs to return to the ship.  From that point there was no butler escort as at customs the YC guest became intermingled with the other B2B cruisers.  We had no difficulty finding our way back to the YC after reboarding as we had been out and about the ship on our first week and pretty much knew our way around.  

 

I am not sure what your expectation was but as this was our first B2B we had no expectation as to what the butler escort would be like and were okay with the way it turned out.  Would it have been better if they had been a full escort the same way as regular boarding -- sure but it is what it is. 

 

I’ve sailed often enough on MSC and set my expectations accordingly. 
 

As an FYI, I, too, have done B2B in YC and it was handled very differently.  As they say - YMMV!

 

 

Edited Sunday at 03:34 PM by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

I just checked back through my records;  if Blue Diamond had been in place at the time, I would have been at that tier back in 2019.

[Miguelito79]

22 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

It's really not been hard to accumulate points under the old system, even without status match. I was status matched to Gold (4300 points) prior to my first MSC sailing in April 2023. Since then I am now up to 19600 points, which means I have actually *earned* 15300 points in what, a year and a half? More than enough to be Diamond even had I not gotten a status match. I think there might be more Blue Diamond members onboard US sailings than people here are predicting.

How many cruises took you to gain those 15,3K? Have you noticed a batch of points added that you cannot explain?

[SirWolf]

REMOVAL of Earning Points for On-board Expenses.

 

As per the new VC Terms & Conditions effective 07. November 2024

.. Removal of On-Board Expenses points attribution

.. Introduction of new ways to earn points (Bonus Points) listed in 2.c. of T&C

 

That means on-board expenses like spa treatments ($$$), hair style services ($$$), photos ($$), shopping purchases ($$$) and other expenses will no longer get VC points.

 

What’s the advantage of getting the new Blue Diamond with little or no benefits when they take away existing VC perks ?

Well done MSC marketing & financial department.

That’s s BIG thumbs down for MSC.

 

 

[Ryan82]

On board Splendida now. Asked the future cruise consultant and she said she's not heard anything confirmed about a new status level. I appreciate that she may not have been informed yet but i think this is a rumor still.