In March this year, the international cruise ship China business that pressed the pause button due to the new crown epidemic restarted. MSC Glory, the first large international cruise ship to officially return to its home port in China, means "supreme beauty" in Italian.
When passengers place orders for luxury cruise ships, they hardly think about associating this trip with "not grabbing food", "pushing" and "suffering". On social platforms, with MSC's nearly a month of going to sea and returning home, a large number of sharing posts of "stepping on pits" and "lightning protection" have been exposed. What happened on the MSC Glory after the maiden voyage in Shanghai?
Recently, MSC Cruises officially told Red Star News that it has paid attention to the relevant discussions on the MSC Glory on the Internet. At present, they have launched a series of targeted onboard policies and solutions, which will be further implemented and improved in the subsequent cruises.
▲When leaving the ship, the old man fell to the ground in anger. Photo courtesy of Xiao Xia
People are crowded and pushed, and the language barrier leads to disputes
"Chaos", "terrible" and "poor service", these are the three evaluations given by Xiao Xia, who boarded the MSC Glory on March 20 with his parents and young son.
On March 16, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism released the news that MSC Glory, the "Asian flagship" of MSC Cruises, the world's largest family-owned cruise company, officially launched its maiden voyage to its home port in Chinese mainland.
According to public information, MSC Glory's maiden voyage to Shanghai will be scheduled for 9 voyages from March 16, the first voyage is a 5-day and 4-night itinerary from Shanghai to visit Fukuoka, and the last voyage is a 6-day and 5-night itinerary from Shanghai to visit Sasebo and Fukuoka on April 19.
▲Voyage information
MSC Cruises' official account was posted on the Xiaohongshu platform under the top message of "Blockbuster Return", "eating is like grabbing money" and "disorderly disembarkation and disembarkation", and it seems that behind every comment is an angry passenger.
Before 2019, Shanghai citizen Xiao Xia once took her eldest son on the cruise ship Norwegian Joy and Royal Caribbean Cruises' "Quantum of the Seas" and "Spectrum of the Seas" and other cruise ships. After the epidemic, the MSC Glory resumed, Xiao Xia paid nearly 30,000 yuan for this 4-person cruise, she looked forward to bringing her youngest son a novel cruise experience, but in the end she just wanted to ask for "peace" - waiting in a long line for dinner, in the process of getting on and off the ship, Xiao Xia's parents and youngest son were pushed many times, and the scene was very thrilling.
Among the passengers on MSC's maiden voyage in Shanghai, many of them have the same rich experience of international cruise travel as Xiao Xia, and in their perception, "MSC's service and experience should be better than other cruise ships".
In the official website, promotional brochures and previous media reports, "300 years of seafaring family", "61,440 Swarovski brilliant crystal spiral staircases", "sea paradise with a maximum capacity of 5,686 passengers" and "London Theatre performance" are the labels of MSC Glory.
▲The crystal spiral staircase is overcrowded. Photo courtesy of Xiao Xia
Xiaomi, who boarded the ship on March 16 with three female friends, planned to shoot a "blockbuster" against the backdrop of a crystal spiral staircase and a blue sea and blue sky, and also prepared a dress and a variety of cameras for this purpose. "Don't say a blockbuster, even if I usually pass by (the crystal spiral staircase), I have to cheer up and not be squeezed and pushed, there are too many people. Xiaomi told Red Star News that she did not make the expected "blockbuster" until she got off the ship.
Xiao Xia told Red Star News that although the official information of the MSC Glory shows that the maximum passenger capacity is 5,686 people, in her opinion, the MSC Glory does not actually have such a large operational capacity to serve so many people.
"When the deck opens up in the summer and the passengers are diverted, it will definitely not be so crowded, and the experience will be significantly improved. Ayu, a professional cruise travel consultant, told Red Star News that after boarding the MSC Glory at her own expense on March 16, she took over the agency business of MSC Cruises. Before getting off the boat, Ayu began to post MSC's recommendation information and ticket booking advertisements in the circle of friends.
"It's a trivial thing that you can't take photos when there are too many people, and when you see that there are so many people that you always push and shove, you know that there are so many people here that it has affected the needs of normal life. Xiaomi said.
The language barrier is one of the triggers for some disputes on cruise ships. A number of passengers told Red Star News that the staff on the cruise ship mostly use English services, although there are special translators, but if you ask the translator directly for help, the other party will say that he is just a translator, and he needs to find a staff to seek service.
Xiao Xia recalled to Red Star News that when leaving the ship, an elderly man was stopped by the cruise staff and asked to complete the settlement before getting off the ship. Photos provided by Konatsu show the old man lying on the ground with several passengers and the cruise ship's staff standing beside him.
Xiaomi told Red Star News that the interface to connect to the cruise ship's WiFi is in English, "Middle-aged and elderly passengers have very limited English." "In front of the staff who provide WiFi connection services, there are middle-aged and elderly people waiting to connect to WiFi almost at any time. Xiao Xia told reporters that the old man who fell to the ground was also because of the language barrier caused conflicts, and the old man said that he and his wife would settle the bill the day before getting off the boat, but the staff actually only settled one person, resulting in the next day because of a person who could not get off the boat because of the outstanding expenses. At the time of disembarking, the language barrier between the staff and the elderly still existed, and the dispute escalated.
▲The on-site order of the cruise ship. Courtesy of MSC Cruises
The passenger said that the root cause of the conflict was a problem with the ship's management
When it comes to the bad experience on MSC cruises, almost every passenger interviewed first talks about the dining experience, "It's about the most basic food and clothing." One passenger said. There are many accusations on social media that middle-aged and elderly tourists on MSC's maiden voyage to Shanghai take more and take more and waste food, is this true?
Xiaomi, a post-90s passenger, told Red Star News, "Some dishes are cold, and the noodles are also cold, and they can't be swallowed at all." After this kind of experience, sometimes I will play more, play more, have more choices, and have the possibility of being a little full. Xiaomi said.
Xiao Xia said that in her opinion, the root of the contradiction on the issue of eating is the management of the ship, "Many of the middle-aged and elderly people on the first voyage of Shanghai are Shanghai locals, and their quality is very high, and they are very particular about dressing, but the bad experience will stimulate the bad side of people." ”
▲There is a long queue outside the restaurant. Courtesy of MSC Cruises
"Every meal has to wait in a long line outside the restaurant, and when you go in, you find that there are still many empty seats in the restaurant. Xiao Xia said.
Qingqing is a yacht club passenger on MSC Glory, and she pays more and enjoys better treatment than the average guest. "It can be understood as VVIP, but it turns out that the so-called priority is that there are staff members who take me in line. I can feel the emotions of everyone when they are queuing, and I am really embarrassed. Qingqing said.
"The last voyage back to Shanghai was later than expected, and the passengers on the new voyage were getting more and more in line, and everyone was in a hurry to get on the ship, and the shoving started before they got on the ship. Xiao Xia told Red Star News that because the actual trip was later than the original time, she felt that the cruise ship was in a hurry, and she had a shaky feeling that she had not experienced on other cruise ships before.
▲The environment inside the cruise ship. Courtesy of MSC Cruises
Solutions have been made to problems such as crowd congestion
Yacht club passenger Qingqing said that she has not planned to completely abandon MSC cruises, but the service must be improved, and she is working with a number of yacht club passengers to write to MSC Cruises to report the problem and ask for improvement.
MSC MSC Cruises officials told Red Star News that they have made solutions to problems such as "managing the disembarkation process, optimizing the order of crowds" and "ensuring that all notices on board are communicated to every guest", and implemented them in the subsequent cruises.
The reporter noted that the content of the solution responded to the dissatisfaction of the aforementioned passengers, including "adding 1-meter barriers to separate queuing channels at key gates such as embarkation and disembarkation, round-trip dock sections, and dock entrances and exits, optimizing queuing lines to avoid crowd congestion", "adding Chinese guidance signs, and arranging dozens of 'Chinese service ambassadors' to provide on-site services, and the staff is responsible for guiding guests to queue up in an orderly manner to reduce collective panic caused by overcrowding. reduce the risk of safety accidents such as crowding and stampede".
Professor Wang Hong, President of China Europe International Business School, told Red Star News that on March 16, MSC Mediterranean cruises resumed sailing, and ports, shipowners, travel agencies, and consumers needed time to run in and re-familiarize themselves with the travel mode of cruise travel. "I hope you can give more support to the cruise industry, give us some understanding for our enthusiastic elderly tourists, and make cruise travel stable and far-reaching. ”
(At the request of the interviewee, Xiao Xia, Ayu, Xiaomi, and Qingqing are pseudonyms)
(Source: Red Star News)