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MSC Cruises

I was a cruise consultant at MSC Cruise Lines.  The job itself should be mindless, you are selling cruises to either Travel Agents or Direct clients.
To start, the training is one of the worst I have ever encountered. In addition to that, none of the systems work correctly.  MSC makes your job three times as difficult as it should be.  
The pay is horrible you cannot even live on the base salary. 
Most employees can survive only because of the commission received.  The commission is always late, along with ALWAYS being incorrect.  The company states the commission will be available in your account on the 15 of each month. Far too often the commission checks are late.  This is not a big concern to the leadership as they do not live paycheck to paycheck.
My advice is to stay away from MSC the company is going from bad to worse with the new leadership in place.  They preach that we are a "family" and go as far as placing posters on the wall.  They do not treat the contact center as family they treat us like garbage.  How can you NOT get commission pay to employees on time, especially when most live paycheck to paycheck.  I will tell you why, because leadership doesn't live paycheck to paycheck and they do not care!

I most enjoyable part of the job was the opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the world. Some of the friendships I made are ones that will last a lifetime; however, that is where the positivity of this review will end. The experience working for MSC up into the Covid 19 pandemic was terrible. The people at the home office have no idea what they are doing and this became even more apparent when (post Covid shutdown) I went on to work for other cruise lines that are better run. They play the blame game and do not take responsibility for their own actions, instead gaslighting the crew members to make it seem like they are at fault for the failure of various departments. During Covid, I was stuck on an MSC cruise ship in isolation for two months and was treated terribly and they broke the terms of their crew contract by refusing to pay me. 

I've went there as a lab technician working for the photo department. Lasted for 2 weeks then I signed off.
I was with another cruising company for 5 years and for me was quite normal working for 8-11 hours daily , 7 days a week. But at msc was absolutely NO way!
Doing more than 90 hours a week, in the gala day working for 21 hours ! 
The manager told me that I can work for 11 hours as per contract then he will find a way for someone else to continue, but he never put it on the schedule. He just turn the blind eye. The supervisor was on board also, he knew the situation. He told me that even if I do long hours on gala, the next day I'm doing only 6 hours.
Well,thank you .. that's kind of you sir.
Long story short : keep away !
Also for the salary.. they have lower base salary with the promise of high commission from sales if the target is achieved. Selling smoke .. dreaming about commission, but getting the base wage.
They always have vacancies not because of the fast growing business , but because people resign very often.

An upbeat atmosphere each day.  I learned a lot about geography as 11 of the 12 cruise ships sailed the mediterranean and other places in Europe.  Management was always helpful when needed but allowed us to make decisions and feel like we can handle the most difficult of calls.  I enjoyed my co-workers as they were happy to help the customes find the right cruises for them.  The hardest part of the job was a travel agent who was maybe miss quoted and who ever received the call would need to resolve the problem which most of the time when management would review the call would receive the mis quote.  I enjoyed when a cruise ship would come to Fort Lauderdale port and we would be able to go on board the company would often have parties so the staff could enjoy as well.

I appreciated the opportunity as I had no previous experience in the hospitality industry, so it was a good stepping stone. Speaking 3 languages was the way to open my doors into this area.
I had the advantage of working with international teams away from home in long shifts before so that part was easy to handle, but be ready to work Monday to Sunday around 10 hours a day (Turn around port 12 to 14 hours)
The atmosphere was not always the best, the management was poor and they treat you differently mostly depending on your nationality (even the salary is different, it is better for some of the europeans) 
In general the company was focused in sales an making money and not really in customer service or customer satisfaction so I did not learn much about this topics.

They don't give you enough training, then they basically throw you out to the sharks! Management never takes a call. When someone is yelling for a manager. Management wants you to handle the call but the caller does not want to speak to you! So the stress falls on you! Then they want you handle each call in 7 minutes don't give you time to write your notes and have conversations with you to get your scores up what a joke! They need to learn how to be reasonable! Not every call is going to be the same you have elderly customers that may take more time than someone making a quick payment! Then when you ask a supervisor for help on something you don't know they mad that you asking for HELP! WE WERE NOT TRAINED ON IT SO THATS WHY WE ASKING again a big JOKE! Management needs to change their ways in that company that's why people quit!

In ships there is this oligarqy - managers officers that see thenselves as distint pieces of superiority over two walking legs. Nobodys that due to long time on board are untouchable and experts on relating with who they need. And, to be a manager you must act like this. 

I had several managers and, count by my fingers the real good ones. The mix of good and bad people is around and in ships is more intense I worked with liars, gold diggers, people with that their only brain cells working were to be friends with the manager. People that mistreat you and look at you as if you are a piece of s...

 Italians rule the company and often are preferred for promotion. Management in general see other crew members as nobody.  If you are looking to work in a cruise ship just mind to do your certifications, MSC IS NOT THE RIGHT CHOICE. After having STCW the ship's world is yours.

The new CEO runs a tight ship, is very thorough and knowledgeable. In house C-level executives can get petty and play the blame game, but overall they're approachable. There is a consistent disconnect between international corporate HQ and domestic operations, which sometimes results in back tracking or duplicate work (i.e, international HQ gives direction that they don't clarify, or initiate temporary "fixes" that aggravate a problem). With the pandemic, there are a lot of "necessary" meetings, that can be very time intensive. The benefits package is good, with medical, dental, vision, a generous 401k plan, and your typical elective insurance policies. PTO and vacation offered is also average. The office location is convenient (right off I-95), but the parking can over-crowded.

MSC is a company that you use as a stepping stone, not to stay and work for many years. Working here is fairly easy if you dont mind being on the phones for your whole shift but they are trying to get strict which is making working here unpleasant and uptight. Its like high school all over again with management. They will talk behind your back and smile in your face. The shifts are so ugly it consumes your whole day. The managers dont even want to do their job which makes it harder for YOU to do your own job. No one is EVER on the same page so you're giving the guest a different answer to their questions each time which causes confusion and upset guest. Very unorganized company

What is the best part of working at the company?
The benefits and the cruise perks! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Meeting KPI’s and competing with coworkers for the same leads :(  It’s all about who gets the credit card 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very cut throat.  Your coworkers will steal your customer even if they ask for you!  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come in, check your emails and voicemails. Then smile and dial away all day!  Potential guests  constantly hanging up on you and yelling because they’ve been called so many  times over and over again by so many different people from the company.  The favorite line, take me off your list!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Sales consultant 2 salaries reported	$82,586 per year
Digital marketing manager 5 salaries reported	$89,078 per year
Virtual assistant 3 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Service assistant 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour
Sales representative 3 salaries reported	$90,948 per year

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