According to reports the ship was short of food, suffered blackouts on board and there was a mini mutiny - so in an order to keep passengers calm the ship decided to give them free drinks!!! what a gamble that was!!But.......MSC have gained widespread praise from agents and press alike for offering a free 10 day cruise for the troubles guests suffered for 3 days of their 10 day cruise - so the guests had a trouble free 7 days - but were still given another cruise for free for the troubles they had for the 3 days of the cruise - Im willing to bet that if this was P&O, Cunard etc - guests would receive a future cruise credit for an event that was out of the cruise lines control. GOOD ON MSC!!
For the last few years MSC have been trying to raise their profile in the UK with various offers including all inclusive packages and various other drinks packages, this has been working as I have sent family members on MSC more than once and have booked many guests on their ships - but what will this incident do to their efforts??
Personally I think passengers will realise that this could happen on any cruise ship and see that MSC have treated guests fantastically in difficult circumstances.
We've cruised MSC 5 times, the first occasion on Opera. Only once have we had reason to complain - on Musica. They are not the best cruise line on the oceans, but they have generally proved excellent value for money. Their compensation to passengers on this occasion is very good - they are trying hard to win over the British market and we have seen marked improvements over the past 7 years. We look forward to sailing with them again next year.
ReplyDeleteI was on NCL's Dawn when she also broke down 8 days into my 9 day cruise. We were immediately offered another cruise plus on board credit,
ReplyDeleteNot so good on Aurora two years ago - desperate PR.
ReplyDeleteI recently prebooked a cruise in 2012 to join in P&Os 175th year. All the advertising, national and personal gave a price although accompanied by that wonderful word 'from' P&O obviously knew what to expect but within an hour of opening the sale, they had increased their prices. Why rip off their clients? In my case the price went up £70 per person. Why?
ReplyDeleteFluid pricing on the first day? Usually the prices vary over the year but surely not on the first sale morning. I have two cruises booked with P&O but they will be my last. THis is a company you cannot trust.
My wife and I have had four cruises with MSC - the Baltics, Genoa to Tunisia, Venice to Istanbul and an Indian Ocean Cruise. Venice to Istanbul and return was aboard the Opera.
ReplyDeleteHowever, no more. Although the ships are fantastic, as with service and food, we are unhappy at the way MSC is trying to squeeze as much money out of its passengers when on board.
We don't drink alcohol so the drinks packages are not for us but we do object to having to pay for water at dinner. Jugs of water used to be provided free of charge but now it's only bottled water at meal times and of course there's a charge. Interestingly there doesn't appear to be a charge for water on ships sailing out of the UK but that does not apply to their other sailings. We cannot understand this.
The worst 'extra charge' was on the Genoa to Tunisia cruise. We sailed at 4.00 pm and at 6.00 pm we had our first port of call - Portofino. This was part of the advertised cruise itinerary and was a destination that most passengers wanted to visit. The landing was undertaken using the ship's tenders for which there was a charge! That is the first and last time that I have ever had to pay a fee to go ashore at a port of call.
On boarding at Genoa we were asked whether we wanted to go ashore at Portofino and were advised to book the tender straight away as places would be allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis. When told that the charge was 10 euros per person I asked why a charge was being levied to visit an advertised destination and was told that the ship would be uisng local boats - not its own tenders - for the landing and that the boat owners were making that charge.
Later of course we established that that story was totally untrue and when I again asked why there was a charge I was told that MSC had to pay an anchorage fee for mooring in Portofino Bay and the company felt that it would be unfair to levy the charge on all passemegrs if some of them didn't want to go ashore so a charge was payable only from those actually visiting Portofino.
I told MSC that I found that excuse unacceptable as this was one of the advertised destinations and for many passengers visiting Portofono was one of the highlights of ths cruise.
Although I wrote to MSC after the cruise I don't feel I have had a proper explanation of their policy in this respect.
The rest of the cruise was fine with a port of call every day but that charge for Portofino is something that sticks in my memory.
Not so good for passengers who had MSC Opera cruise May17 cancelled.We were offered re-booking but having to pay any supplement , a refund or 30% reduction on 2012 cruise. Not much compensation for last minute cancellation which wasn't our fault .
ReplyDeleteYes MSC are still out for every penny they can make out of their customers. Our cruise Western Med. still the charge for every bottle of water. Then their statement that service charges at passengers discretion, untrue, that is added on the bill at 7 Euros per person per day.
ReplyDeleteCome on, be fair...for what you pay MSC it still delivers value for money. We asked politely and WERE given iced water with our meals after day2.
ReplyDeleteOur travel companions did nothing but moan...but then some people are hard to please. Food was plentiful and of good quality, especially for £50 a day FULL board, entertainment and sea travel. Cabin/restaurant/bar staff worked very hard and did their utmost to please...though the Italian personnel seemed to do very little all the time.
We've now done 3 MSC and already have the 4th booked...its an economical way to go far afield. I agree they did insist on charging 6$ a day service and I felt uncomfortable saying goodbye not tipping my cabin staff/waiters.
Yes by all means expect 5*service IF you pay accordingly. We had good 3/4* service AND FUN.
Very surprised to hear about the free cruise offer as MSC is generally very mean. The ships are nice, the service is so-so, but Costa ends up been better value for money as they tend to display some generosity (at least they have olive oil and balsamic vinegar in every table at the MDR while MSC almost hides the olive oil...) Also their Accounting staff on board are famously rude and display the worst customer service attitude I have found in the cruising industry. Pity as the ships, and the evening shows, are really good.
ReplyDeleteThe worst cruise line! We were cancelled on last minute because MSC failed to provide safety for their passengers. I was left on the streets of London with two small children, no place to stay, no help and no money. MSC took thousands of dollars from me since November 2010, I have to wait two more months to get nearly 3000$ back. They spoiled my children's birthdays. And no compensation for this mess! MSC does not tell the truth, shame!!!
ReplyDeleteMSC has treated people who were due to sail on the 17th May on the Opera disgracefully. To begin with we were not informed of the cancellation - we were only saved from a pointless trip to Southampton by a TV news item.
ReplyDeleteThe compensation offered is ridiculous. When I tried to book another cruise with 30% off, which because only 2 out of my party of three could now travel, cost approximately £1000 less than the original cruise,I was told that the surplus amount would not be refunded to me, but would be kept to be used as onboard credit! MSC has already had my money for 4 months, and surely should be paying me interest on it as they failed to deliver what I paid for. This was to be my first MSC cruise, and I will be booking with another company in the future. MSC clearly treat customers very badly and with contempt.
EX MSC Cruisers.Avoid P&O Cruise. They are just as bad. At least MSC replies to your complaint. P&O complaint policy is to ignore it. For those who wish to give P&O a try, a word of advice. Never book early.only book a month before departure and you will save over thousands £££.
ReplyDeleteEarly booking subsidize late late bookings.
MSC pricing is very similar to most of the major mainstream cruise lines that service the U.S. market such as Carnival. So to say you get some sort of big price break sailing with MSC is just not true. The cruise lines are under financial threat for the same reason that Most Las Vegas hotels are.....simple, THEY OVER BUILT CAPACITY! Now they scramble with low fares to keep their cabins full. The airlines on the other-hand were smarter by flying less aircraft and therefore limiting the number of seats available for any city-pair...This kept fares stable at a modest level. Cruise lines do not have the luxury of just scrapping out cruise ships of moth-balling them due to their enormous acquisition costs. Although the cruise lines are desperate to squeeze every last buck from each passenger they must learn to do so in a manner consistent with being a gracious host. To read how one lady was denied a 5-cent bag of popcorn poolside because she did not buy her drink at the pool's bar is very, very foolish on the part of MSC.
ReplyDeleteI was recently denied a soup and a salad at one of Carnival's premium (pay $30ppl extra) for steakhouse just last week. I was told i could have one or the other. Did I complain...YOU BET I DID! In their frantic search to stay alive financially these cruise lines are starting to treat their guests like cattle instead of people instead of focusing on the real issues......Hope they wake up soon before I cross sailing off my vacation-to-do list altogether....