Aircon contamination and disgusting service

<p>A year ago, my fiancé and myself booked for your Sinfonia crossing cruise in May, Capetown to Venice. Please note that this would be the fourth cruise that I have been on with MSC Cruises, the first, being on the Sinfonia to Mauritius etc. The second, on the Melody, which was also on a crossing from Genoa to Cape Town. The third cruise, at the beginning of this year to the Portuguese Islands. That was when the Company that I own, (Joburg Conferences and Events) was made an agent for MSC– agent no. Code ZA 00429/ZA 42091. All my past experiences have been to industry’s expectations.</p> <p>As an agent, I kept on getting notifications that the price on your cruise had reduced from what I paid at R26 000-00 p/p for an inside cabin to R19 900-00 p/p for an outside cabin. I then sent several mails to MSC JHB to ask for an upgrade because I had paid so much more and also because I had become an agent since the time I did our booking.<br />I eventually got a mail back from Stacey Barnett at MSC to inform me that I had been “upgraded” into a partial view – cabin 7136.</p> <p>When I boarded the boat and entered my cabin, I could not believe my eyes. I had been “upgraded” into a cabin the size of a closet, with a view of the mechanisms of a lifeboat outside the window. I went to the “check in desk” to ask them to please move me either into an inside cabin which is what I had asked the travel agent for, or otherwise a cabin with a normal proper view. The reception told me that the boat was FULL. When I questioned that it was not, I was told that the Sinfonia was taking on more passengers at Walvis Bay. After leaving Walvis Bay I realised that the boat was still not full and that they had **** to me. I then demanded to see the Guest Relations Manager Hilton Pasternak. He heard my story and told me to return two days later, and that he would have an answer for me. I left my business card with him.</p> <p>Upon returning he told me that I would have to pay for an upgrade as he did not know who I was, nor my Company, as nothing appears on his computer. He had an obnoxious attitude and told me there was nothing more he could do. I have never been treated so badly or rudely in my life by this so called “relations manager”………..</p> <p>I then discovered that my little round 5x mirror in the cabin had a thick layer of dust on it every morning, although it was a closed unit. My fiancé started off with a running nose and soon after headaches and a severe burning sensation in his sinuses. He used his hairbrush and banged it on the air conditioning outlet ***l, on which a cloud of dust emerged from it!! We went to the chemist and the doctor and was told that NOBODY had any flu medication on the boat (…..this was after only one week……….)</p> <p>When we got to Las Palmas, already quite a few people were sick, so much so that the chemist in the harbour had sold out of flu medication and he told us that the Sinfonia ship was full of sick people, as a lot of people from the same boat required medicine.</p> <p>By the time we reached Malta my fiancé was so ill that we had to find a doctor in the city, who informed him that the building that he was living in must’ve had air conditioning problems, due to his severe sinusitus (which he has never had before} We had realised by then, that it was our cabin and the dust every morning on the round mirror proved it. We could not adjust the air conditioner, the switch was not working. But then we realised that more and more people were getting sick so it was not just OUR cabin. By the time we got to Dubrovnic, we could tell which people had come off the Sinfonia due to who was coughing and sniffing all along. While being in the theatre, all you could hear was coughing and sadly, most of the passengers were elderly – I could not believe what was happening and that the management on the ship seemed unaware/nor cared about the problem. Although I had a flue injection prior to the trip, I started falling ill..</p> <p>The serving staff on the boat were very nice, and the food was below standard for an luxury ship (as advertised), not that much variety and not the quality that I had had before on the MSC ships , but by then we were too sick to really care. We did know of written complaints about the food by some passengers, on which a minor improvement was visible.</p> <p>Upon disembarkation there was also a huge mess up, because all of the South African passport passengers were told to firstly meet in separate lounges and then told to get their passports from the reception desk. The queues were right around the boat of elderly people coughing and sneezing, trying to queue for hours to get their passports. The whole disembarkation process was a disaster.</p> <p>Lastly I have never paid so much money to be treaded so badly and then be part of +-70% of passengers on the ship being ill. And then tide-up with the cost attached by going to chemists, doctors etc. Attached are pictures of our cabin and the “outside” view of the boat and people cleaning the life boat, looking into our porthole. When I told Hilton that we had cleaning staff looking into our cabin, he told us to keep the curtains shut…….</p> <p>Below please find a list of some guests who were miserably unhappy with the cruise, and also most of them who got sick. I told them that I would be reporting this alleged contamination as well as the bad service to yourselves. This will also be reported to “Hello Peter” (an online consumer complaint organisation) and to all members of the PCO Alliance, of which I am an Executive Member. I would furthermore like you to please take me off your data base as an Agent, as I could never sell a conference to any of my clients on any of your cruises, as I would be embarrassed and could possibly lose a client, if they were treated as badly as I have been.</p> <p>Lastly, but not the least, due to my many years in the hospitality and travel industry and my standing as a reputable member as such, a lot of business and non business related people ask me for my opinion and experiences re my huge amount of travel, whether by air or on cruises, I will certainly share my disappointment/experience and rude/unprofessional manner I came across with MSC Cruises!!!!</p> <p> </p>