JAGR

Ditto on what Morgsmom said. I would add, though, that one other Aurea advantage you would potentially miss with a non-Aurea room would be access to the dedicated sun deck reserved for Aurea. That perk does allow you to not have to worry about getting up early in the morning with the chair-hog brigade!"

As defbref wrote, if you put your cursor over the heart, you should see three options:

That's how they get you! Lol

Hang Up, Call Again, I believe. The best way to work with MSC Customer Service. Eventually, you get someone who knows what they are talking about,

Great news! He is what my DW calls, "Good People!" We, along with a few fellow passengers we met back in 2018 made it a point to commend him to the YC Director (the great Robert Balla), and singles him out for recognition in our comments cards. Happy cruising with Onil!

You could try and get to know Onil Jay Pedernal on social media. I don't know if cabin/work area assignments change much (I doubt wholesale change occurs, maybe a cabin or two), but he may be able to suggest a cabin or cabins you may be interested in. 😉 I will tell you from personal experience on a recent Seashore B2B we were given a chance to switch our YC room for the second week (we ended up not doing it), and our first week butler said that he would make sure that he was still our "assigned" butler. Not sure if that can be done in your situation, but something to keep in mind. At the very least, if you do get "associated" with Onil through the book, he can make sure to follow up with your butler to assure that you won't be treated like you were on Meraviglia.

It is still currently Terminal F. The new Terminal AA has quite some time before it is going to be finished.

I don't know how you would request a specific butler, unless you were friends with them on social media and knew what area they were working in to see if cabins were available. You did get me thinking when you mentioned the butler you met. By any chance was it Onil Jay? We met him back in 2018 when he was a YC pool guard/attendant. He was fabulous and we have stayed in touch since then. He moved to Jr. Butler years ago and became Butler this year. Fantastic person with a great smile and warm heart!

Sorry, Lol! I was reading it as Son-in-Law! You and I are in the same "boat" on time left at work! Happy Cruising!

Thanks for a good summary. Have to admit I did a double take when you talked about sailing with your DW, SIL, and DD. When you said DD was 16, I had to think about how old the SIL was! At least old enough to gamble! 😉

Hi, Raj: Hopefully someone with recent experience will chime in. Back before COVID, Armonia Aurea experience was a genuine pleasure. As you note, the Aurea experience has been diluted with the elimination of free drinks (you do get a welcome package of prosecco and chocolats), cutting the unlimited spa thermal access and free massage to now just getting a 40% discount on a spa package and 10% on spa services. You don't get a butler, but you usually get the most senior cabin attendants. Cabins are usually "suites", but not much different than Fantastica (except you get robes, slippers and pillow menu. You get all the Diamond benefits and had priority check-in with Aurea (although you should get that as Diamond anyway. What you do get is My Choice dining in a dedicate restaurant or dedicated section of a restaurant (usually with the most experienced servers. You also do have a private sun deck area with plenty of open seating so you don't have to worry about chair hogs (big thing to my DW who loves the sun). So, a water-down product, but still the best on the ship. I think a potential hidden advantage is the fact that you are likely to get the most experienced crew members for your cabin and dining. With the crunch crews lines are going through trying to hire, it may very well be a tremendous advantage to have dedicated crew members with experience.

YW!

I'm not sure who said that. All the references I see in this post say the tent is near or before the escalator, not after.

You can use it for laundry charges (any charges to your room). If you look at your confirmation from MSC (not your travel documents), it should appear on Page 2 or 3 with the detailed breakdown of charges and credits. The section is headed "Booking Details" and shows as Shipboard Credit: It may not always appear, especially if it is OBC offered by your travel agent. That may very well not appear until the day you board.

You can use it anywhere they will take your cruise card. Think of it as a deposit to your room account. It will automatically be deducted from you account, so you can use it at a bar, a specialty restaurant, the gift shop, etc. It can also be applied toward the daily service charge (tips for employees).

Hate to offer a correction, so please treat it as a qualifying statement. Ships in the Meraviglia class include Meraviglia, then Bellissima, Grandiosa, and MSC Virtuosa. Seaside is a different class ship, and includes her, Seaview, and then the larger Seashore and Seascape. Just wanted to clarify the question on Meraviglia-class ships.

That was the understanding I got from what I read.

We've only done the YC dining at OC, and it was great. Some of those items (like the lobster roll are for sale at a location near the main shopping area, but there is also a free buffet there with traditional barbeque (ribs, etc.) as well as jerk chicken and the like. Food trucks with burgers and hot dogs are located around the island and are free to all. Your drinks are free inside the YC area as well as at any bar elsewhere on OC. Enjoy your time there.

Assuming you're a US citizen or Permanent Resident, it wouldn't impact you. There is no published expiration date in the US (at least for the vaccine's effectiveness), but the EU has started the process of using expiration dates for the vaccination certificates and is starting to send out notifications soon that vaccinations over a year old will be expired. That would meant that if someone with your vaccination status was coming to the US from an EU country, they would not be able to board since the vaccination was over 12 months ago. A booster would be needed, at least after 1 October for an EU resident.

I would say it's a matter of buyer beware. The Future Cruise Consultant (aka commission-based sales agent!), will make promises of OBC and cheapest rates, etc., but they know that they will not be around when the actual contracts and confirmations are issued.

MSC is more relaxed on enforcing dress standards, for the most part. The dress code is "suggested" only. Shorts would be discouraged in the dining room on formal nights, and on some ships you mat be asked to change if you try and show up in shorts. In a Caribbean cruise, the atmosphere is relaxed. Wasn't sure if the OP was sailing soon in the Med or was asking about after the transatlantic sailing in the fall. YC is definitely more relaxed. There now is really only one "formal" night for a week long cruise. I would think a decent shirt and long pants on Christmas gala night would be fine. You will see probably only a quarter to a third dressed up in any real way. On the jazz club question, there is no dedicated club, but I'm sure they will have at least one musical act that is likely to do some jazz. MSC tends to be more eclectic than a few other lines.

Not to take advantage of "culinary" fluctuations! Always do it only for climate fluctuations!😄 Honestly, it would be nice to know if we could take advantage of monetary differences. I have read that UK members cannot take advantage of occasional US discounts, but not sure if booking restrictions to one's home only is widespread

Good point. I never open links on emails like that, I can see it potentially causing problems for the unwary.

I can't get her or that line out of my head, and we were on for her first sailing as CD on Seashore. I hear she is on break now.

Well, the IT and marketing department is hard at work. My wife got an email (picture below) inviting her to add a photo package to her upcoming cruise. Only a few problems: 1. The booking number is not ours. I make all of our bookings so I know I didn't make this one. 2. The email address is hers, but the salutation is to Margaret, inviting her to add the photo package. The problem is that her name is Christina, not Margaret. 3. Now I have a wife wondering who this Margaret is that I am going on a cruise with.😊 In fairness, MSC is not targeting only her. I just got an offer for the photo promotion for another booking that is not mine. Also, it is offered to a passenger named Brian, not John. Now I'm left to wondering who this Brian is that my wife is going on a cruise with! Lol. Well played, MSC. Well played....