Great Captain, lovely islands, but wow the customer service is terrible

MSC Divina Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 57

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
MSC Divina

USA, Honduras, Belize, Mexico, Bahamas

Sail date: April 22, 2017

Ship: MSC Divina

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11179

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We had been hearing about a cruise line that was making their way to the United States and thought we would give it a try.  Our travel agent told us that the only complaints he was aware of was sometimes the language barrier between crew and guests and I totally understand that but I was willing to go and see if I was missing anything.  So Captain Scala was great the crew seemed to be nice and helpful, and the excursions really allowed us to have a nice time.  Once on the ship we had two instances of one on the first day back from an excursion our key wouldn't work to the room so we thought something was wrong with the key but as it turned out there was an issue with the entire lock so after about an hour we were fixed and good to go.  I don't fault MSC for this as accidents happen it was just a little inconvenient in order to get ready for dinner when I was being rushed and not able to have time to get ready but hey we are on vacation.  The second instance was a little more disturbing to me.  The pool is located near the dining so you always had to be very careful and watch the floors as it always seemed to be wet on our second night I came out and fell hard on my knee which was busted up pretty good.  However being embarrassed I just tried to laugh it off and kept going as I was not going to let this get me down but even as I fell in front of the dining crew member he did nothing to try and get the liquid off the floor that really should have been so no one else would have to endure that, but hey once again this is vacation and I am going to enjoy.  However the night before you leave if you don't want to carry your luggage you must put it by the door by midnight so we had several bags outside the door.  My new hard shell luggage that I bought three days prior to cruise was in perfect condition however when I got it at the port it looked like a crater in the corner.  As I wasn't going to let this trip end on a bad note I just went to the customer service desk and filed a claim report and was told to send pictures and they would match it up with my report.  The one key thing the lady told me was to continue to follow up as it was my responsibility to do so.  Long story short after over four hours of calls and put on hold, being told I needed to provide my copy of the report, rudeness and two months of time they finally allowed me to see how they don't value you or your belongings as a guest.  I offered to give Jess the receipt that showed three days prior to my departure the cost of the luggage and was told she submitted it twice to get the claim amount they offered.  Lets just say it was a joke.  However it was during this time that I learned how rude the customer service really was when all I wanted was resolution so I could go on with future travels.  I audit for a living and travel daily and have never seen luggage like mine was only to be told it probably wasn't their fault anyway.  Needless to say what a bad way to remember a vacation.  Here I was willing to invest my time and money on a cruise that I wasn't even appreciated for.  I know in the future we will go back with the cruise line where we know what to expect and feel treated like a human should being it is just a shame that Captain Scala is not the Captain of that line.  I feel that if you are going to expand your business to the United States maybe you should invest in a program to train people how to speak with guests and an improvement in customer service is highly recommended because now instead of the islands as my memory I remember Jess the rude customer service agent.  

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Awesome always clean and we loved the little touches

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 57

8 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Cruisesomemore    7 years ago

And I agree with the above...the damage could have happened off the ship.! And one has to be aware of wetness near a pool...isn't that normal?

OceanMan7    7 years ago

I agree with windlicht giving 2 stars over customer service is a little much

glomarrone    7 years ago

Sorry to read about your luggage problem.  Perhaps the problem was with the port handlers.  Customer Service should have been more polite to you. 

Katievp    7 years ago

We have friends that sailed on MSC and were not impressed at all. They did say the food was good but almost all of the staff they came in contact with was rude.

harlyri11323146    7 years ago

On a side note at one port we hadn't left at 5 pm ,I saw some people looking over the rail at the ramp , a woman was arguing with an officer, , one passenger, told me he had just came past them and she had left a baby stroller in town at one of the stores, ( don't ask me idk how but she did, ) well finally we see her jogging off back to town, went and got a drink came back 30 mins here's this woman pushing the stroller at top speed , they raise the ramp and we leave an hour late ,lol

harlyri11323146    7 years ago

I'm sorry that customer service hasn't done you right, I booked 4 balcony cabins 8 mo,s in advance thru an online travel service, at times I called MSC directly with questions , they were less than forthcoming ,never called back when they said they would, so I learned to call my online agent and she got things resolved while I waited on hold, on the ship everyone was great ,language barrier occasionally but all ships have foriegn crews, We were supposed to receive an onboard credit, reception desk knew nothing about it finally they let me use a phone to call my online agent , it was resolved, I was very happy with the ship the crew, food and all aspects , just their customer service does need to be more responsive

windlicht    7 years ago

So your cruise was great but the msc call center customer service was bad. I think 2 stars is a bit harsh.

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