Earlier this week I wrote about a new status match offer from MSC Cruises. If you hold elite status with another cruise line or hotel/tour company, they’ll match you to an equivalent status in their MSC Voyagers Club. Voyagers Club is a 5-tier program with benefits that increase in value as you climb up the status ladder.

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The best benefit of all is a 5% discount off your cruise fare, with bigger discounts and even onboard credits available for select voyages. The perks for elite status are pretty typical, ranging from priority boarding to welcome back cocktails and onboard parties and late check-out/disembarkation. You can view the complete list of benefits here.

The Status Match

I decided to go ahead and apply for a status match based on my Diamond Plus status with Royal Caribbean International. While I’m sure I have a Diamond Plus membership card somewhere, I can’t find it, so I took a screen shot of my status from the Crown & Anchor member page at royalcaribbean.com.

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Once I visited the loyalty match page at MSC’s website, I was able to easily attach the screen shot of my RCL status.

MSC Cruises, Voyager's Club, Status match

I received a message that my application was received, and they’d be in touch within 2 to 3 business days.

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True to their word, I received an email yesterday with my new MSC Voyagers Club status.

Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 10.15.54 AMWhile I do not have immediate plans to book an MSC cruise, the likelihood that I do just went up. They have some fairly attractive pricing in the Caribbean from Miami that is difficult to ignore. Not to mention, some interesting new ships coming online soon.

However, please note that unlike the other cruise lines that I’m most familiar with, Voyagers Club status is not “lifetime.” If you review the terms and conditions of the program, you’ll find the following:

MSC Voyagers Club Membership is subject to a minimum of one cruise every three years. If the last cruise disembarkation date is over 3 years (36 months) or no cruise has been completed in 3 years after the enrolment date, membership to the MSC Voyagers Club program will expire.

Something to keep in mind, and that’s not just for status matched members. If you’re interested in matching, here’s the link to the loyalty match page.

-MJ, July 31, 2015