sidari

We have a Virtuosa sailing at the end of April when the ship home ports in Southampton and the currency changes from Euros to Pounds, our booking details say 14 which we take to be pounds sterling per drink, have not seen any posts on other platform groups as to whether there are issues with being refused drinks. I will ask the question and post a reply.

First Sea trials began today.

9 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Don't spouses both get the same (higher) status together? 

No, both have to earn the same points number for them both to have Diamond level. Unlike other cruise lines.

1 hour ago, Sthrncrusr said:

I guess I could print out multiple of his bag tags? My tag with my name says classic. My kids don’t say anything on theirs as far as level. But I was told we could board with him in the priority line,etc which seems accurate since the four of us are in a cabin together. Just wondering what people have actually experienced!

The wording in my post is from the Diamond benefits list on our booking on the MSC app.

3 hours ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Got of the ship today with noro symptons. Be carefull! And i desinfect my hands all the time. 

Hopefully you will be ok 

52 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

I don’t think 3 other adults can queue jump check in

I read a couple of days ago that those traveling with a Diamond member can board with them if they are cabin occupants which you would expect, sure I also read that members of the same party can also board together.

7 hours ago, Até said:

Sorry, I missed your free word.

 

I've not seen MSC even mention the word Aurea when people who booked Bella are assigned the unsold Aurea cabins.  I've met people who booked Bella OV and got a free balcony upgrade which happened to be an Aurea cabin, but yes they were still considered Bella.

 

ETA: I remember seeing reports before the bidding system of people in OV on Fantasia class ship’s being upgraded to the forward Aurea suites with panoramic windows.  They remained with their original experience. 

 

Then for a while when the bidding system was first implemented they tried to offer those Suites as an upgrade from balconies, and back then upgrade bids didn't include the Aurea perks.  Maybe MSC changed the policy to entice people to bid on Aurea, which many of the basic cabins I don't think sell that well at current prices.

 

This is what is now included in the email for upgrade bids.

17. The Upgrade does not include any additional promotions. Guests whose upgrade bid is accepted will receive the experience level included with their original reservation. The exceptions will be in the case of a Winning Bid in “Aurea” or “Yacht Club” Experience. In these cases, the Guests will also be guaranteed all the benefits relative to the new experience.

12 hours ago, Até said:

According to the Terms I'd expect a winning upgrade to Aurea to include all the Aurea benefits including thermal spa access, my choice dining with dedicated restaurant if applicable,  priority embark/disembark, cabin amenities,  etc....

 

21. If the Guest wins an Upgrade to an "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience cabin, the original booked experience "Bella" or "Fantastica" will be changed with the new experience "Aurea" or "Yacht Club". The new experience will guarantee to Guests all the benefits related to the "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience.

I was talking about an Aurea upgrade given free by MSC only being for the room  and not a bid upgrade which does include everything.

9 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

Where is the "all inclusive" nature, including the drink package?

Aurea no longer has drinks included and has not done so for some time now.

1 hour ago, Até said:

I haven't seen any verification but it's in the Plusgrade T&C's.

 

https://upg.stage.plusgrade.com/terms/partner/9Ck2Ks4MSC?lang=en

Thanks Ate.

So it seems like a free upgrade to Aurea gives you the room only.

51 minutes ago, JAGR said:

Oh dear, David!  I think you have just firmly placed yourself in the position of chair umpire at a tennis match!  I can see the ball (comments) flying all over on both sides of the net.  Well played, sir!  Well played!

Hi John ... The issue is that a friend not us has had the upgrade email, We are already booked in an Aurea suite for our sailing. It appears that there is a lot of guessing going on with regard to the issue and it would be pointless asking MSC direct because only a few weeks ago they were telling me that they no longer match anyone to Diamond when posts here on CC prove otherwise.

Trying to find recent info on this for a friend, read on a number of other platforms varying answers regarding whether people get the full Aurea experience if they win an upgrade bid. Some are saying yes while others are saying the Spa is not included, so has anyone won an Aurea bid to upgrade and sailed, if so did you get everything included in Aurea ? With MSC doing different thing on different ships no one seems clear as to what is or is not included.

1 hour ago, misguy said:

We just boarded the ship and have Aurea package, I did not see any priority in checking or boarding.  I would say the Divina in Miami is the worst boarding process I have seen in 20 cruises since the pandemic ended.  We will see what we think, but I can see I am not likely to recommend this to my friends so far.

Did you not ask which was the priority check in line? If Divina had returned from Columbia then no surprise at the delay, been there done that.

11 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Difficult to say but the ships will be totally full the first two weeks of April when all of Europe having Easter holidays. 

Good job ours is at the end of April.

5 hours ago, smokey01 said:

Is 10am the earliest check in from Southampton?

Got our tickets today and our time is 9 am, though we expect that to change before our sailing at the end of April.

On 3/1/2023 at 5:52 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes, it is a shame. But to be expected on a mass market ship. Just be aware that the person next to you might not belong.We switched three cruises(so far) after reading your posts. At the present time Yacht Club is still the best value in 'the ship within a ship' category.The service has been exceptional, the food is cooked to how we like it. The dining room is open port days for lunch. The deck lounges are cushioned for long hours of contemplation. The cabin is cleaned twice per day. The Seascape still has reserved theatre seating until show time. E muster is a dream. (I posted my top 15 in another post). Suffice to say, you both will love the Seascape YC.

MSC have much to answer for on this issue, the handing out of Diamond and other levels of membership like confetti with status match has started this free for all. The YC sounds like it needs to have some security staff based in there in order to stop the nonsense of interlopers, I recall a few people trying it on with the Top 19 on the Inaugural Seaside sailing from Miami but were sent packing by the crew based there.

7 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

That is exactly what we received on the Meraviglia last month. No specialty dinner card, we did get a bottle of prossecco, one chocolate bar to split for 2 Diamond members (when I asked was told it is 1 bar per cabin, not per Diamond member), and a plate of macaroons.  We missed the Diamond party because there was no notification of it. Was told they had one at 11am on a port day (not a great time at all).

On Seascape they get smaller chocolate ships, the benefits have become a joke. The Diamond benefits should be the same on every ship in the fleet.

1 hour ago, RudiRatlos said:

That would be a downgrade. According to MSC specialty restaurants should still be included in Easy plus and Premium (this seems to be the new description as it has the new price limit €14 / $16, signature venues like Hola or Venchi have not been included before also):

 

PREMIUM EXTRA PACKAGE

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price! Includes all beverages priced up to €14 / $16!*

 

• Wide Selection of Premium and International cocktails
• Non-alcoholic cocktails and all non-alcoholic drinks
• Fresh fruit and protein cocktails
• Premium brand spirits, liqueurs and cordials
• Wide selection of fine wine by glass
• Champagne by glass
• Wide variety of draft and bottled beer
• Bottled Mineral Water
• Wide selection of classic and specialty hot drinks
• 25% discount on purchased of bottled wine and champagne
• Beverage gratuities included

 

*The Premium Extra Package can be enjoyed in our bars, buffet, main restaurant and specialty restaurants as well as on private islands, but does not cover our signature venues. 

Ours still says speciality restaurants for premium extra on our April Virtuosa sailing but it was booked some months back, the price now is over £700 pp for 12 nights.

1 hour ago, RudiRatlos said:

I looked it up on both german and U.S. MSC website and to me it appears as you will still pay less when prebooking, they just name it "discount vs onboard prices" instead of adding a service charge only to onboard bookings. In the end both prices are increased by about 5% (according to the link you gave).

This from msccruises.com (of course we will have to see, if "up to 15% discount" doesn't mean "far less than 15% in most cases"...):

Are gratuities included in the drinks package cost?

Yes. All MSC Cruises' pre-paid and post-paid drink packages include gratuities.

Can I purchase a drink package before my cruise?

Yes, all drink packages can be purchased before the cruise by benefiting of an up to 15% discount vs onboard prices.

 

That contradicts itself, it says gratuity included as it does on the UK site, so there is no 15% saving by booking prior to a cruise because it has now been included. Shorter cruises attract a higher per day cost. While we have Premium extra included for our next cruise, when I look at the Easy package it works out at £34 per day for 12 nights, someone on a 3 night cruise is paying £111 pp, so £37 per day.

10 hours ago, RudiRatlos said:

Inflation everywhere...

 

Drinks will be included up to higher price limits also - probably the drinks themselves will also become more expensive.

 

Also the wording on service charge and pre-booking discounts has changed (seems to be more the wording than effective changes):

Until now: same basic price if pre-booked or purchased on board, but with an additional 15% service charge added to the package price when purchased on board (service charge already included in pre-booked packages).

From now on: service charge always included in the (significantly more expensive) package price, with "up to" 15% discount on pre-booked drink packages.

 

Previously if you bought the package prior to cruising you did not pay the 15% gratuity on the drinks, now it appears it is included if you buy before or added if bought onboard so no savings to be had by purchasing prior to sailing.

MSC Cruises Makes Major Beverage Changes Passengers Won't Like (cruisehive.com)

3 hours ago, Stu UK said:

We did on Virtuosa. We were Celebrity Elite plus and were matched Black (now diamond). Got all the benefits on first cruise. 

Strangely, having been given a number of example's MSC have failed to respond.

The sun deck/ solarium only has a hot tub and sunbeds.

When we sailed Aurea on Meraviglia there was a separate area section in the Aft Dining room overlooking the stern of the ship.

On 1/20/2023 at 1:09 AM, Essiesmom said:

It makes you wonder…if it’s an American (North American) thing, to make changes, regard, etc.  Do the long time European customer base just book and be satisfied?  EM

EM ... If we cancel we lose our deposit as we have recently on a Europa sailing and booking another forward cruise would have cost even more. We had a booking with US travel agent on Seascape that we had to cancel during the COVID crap, got our deposit back crazy but true. UK and Ireland bookings have port fees included as well as the daily service charge unlike the US.