In my last blog I explained my opinion of the MSC ethos and it was not in any way complimentary. Up to yesterday I had made up
My mind to leave the ship today whilst docked in Malaga to the point of asking Moira( travel agent) to arrange flights back to Scotland.
So with this in mind I went to the customer services desk to inform them of my departure from the cruise.
The guy at the desk enquired as to the reason for my early departure and I suggested he read the notes of my misgivings which were no doubt attached to my registration.
He took a few minutes to read the concerns I had registered and then produced a form which he said required signing before I could leave the ship.
On reading the form it was apparent that I would be signing away any rights I had in law to claim recompense and damages due to the actions (or non actions) of MSC.
I told him that this was unacceptable and would only agree to the element concerning responsibility for having the necessary landing documents required for transit through Spain.
I also deleted the element concerning their responsibility in my costs and showed him what I was willing to sign, stating at the same time that there was no way they would be preventing me from leaving the ship.
At this point and after my insistence he agreed to consult senior management.
The upshot was that a meeting in one of the offices was set up with three managers.
There was a frank and open discussion of the issues I had raised and indeed of the general ethos of the operation of the cruise.
I was quite surprised at the level of agreement to some of the points I made. One of which was the general confusion and disorganisation prevalent on the cruise and indeed throughout the company. I made the point that the previous day I had written a travel blog which was highly critical of the company and had posted it on the MSC Facebook site. The blog was still there and had not been taken down. They seemed genuinely surprised.
The discussion was quite long and at the end of it the guy in charge asked, if I would reconsider, if they could perhaps address at least some of the issues I had highlighted.
I agreed and they came up with a range of changes.
My dining arrangements were changed to another restaurant where I had an open dining time. I could have any wine with my meal ( an offer I rejected).
I had the almost exclusive attention of a waiter( something I felt uncomfortable with, but at least there was no 45 minute delay between courses). I would receive a £100 on board spend allocation. I would receive a two device Wifi package for the same price as the single package I already have, which will allow me to switch between devices.
I had a very pleasant dining experience last night with good service and an excellent table looking out from the back of the ship.
Sometimes it is good to talk about concerns.
Malaga today and Valencia tomorrow.
One of my wee quotes :
Never be afraid to say what you honestly believe is the right thing to say, and never be afraid of listening, to what someone else believes is the right thing to say. Invariably the actual right thing, is somewhere in between.
Bob Costello 