Aurea Drink Package

[stoddaj1]

We are considering booking another MSC cruise but it seems that the drink package which is included is the very limited Easy package.  Is this really the case?  I have done a search and have read that Aurea receives the premium package while others have stated it is the easy package.  The Aurea experience while lovely, seems to be quite downgraded without being able to have a wider variety of drinks included.  Having to pay 400ish more to upgrade seems to make the pricing of the Aurea experience no longer worthwhile for us.

 

Just wondering if any recent cruisers can speak to this?

[Até]

I was hoping for some price decreases in the Aurea cabins to go along with the lesser drink package.  Haven't seen it happen though.  So for me the current Aurea benefits come nowhere near close to the increased cost of the cabin.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2606133-aurea-experince-downgraded/?tab=comments#comment-56173103

[Bobal]

Is there an actual list anywhere of what is included in the new Aurea drinks package

[reedprincess]

29 minutes ago, Bobal said:

Is there an actual list anywhere of what is included in the new Aurea drinks package

See post #6. I haven't figured out how to embed a picture so typed it all out ..

 

 

[nikkiw60]

We are considering booking another MSC cruise but it seems that the drink package which is included is the very limited Easy package.  Is this really the case?  I have done a search and have read that Aurea receives the premium package while others have stated it is the easy package.  The Aurea experience while lovely, seems to be quite downgraded without being able to have a wider variety of drinks included.  Having to pay 400ish more to upgrade seems to make the pricing of the Aurea experience no longer worthwhile for us.
 
Just wondering if any recent cruisers can speak to this?

The irony is yesterday I received an email fro MSC Uk saying that for a limited time the Premium package is included on Fantastica reservations.


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[Beamafar]

3 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

The irony is yesterday I received an email fro MSC Uk saying that for a limited time the Premium package is included on Fantastica reservations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I believe that Aurea gets an upgrade to Premium on that promotion, Nikki.  It does here, anyway.

 

Totally agree with the OP - the difference in price between Fantastica and Aurea is not justified or justifiable.  I always do the calculations by discounting the prices by 5%, then adding the cost of a drinks package to Fantastica;  if the difference is less than €150, I reckon that Aurea is good value based on the extras such as included massage, Spa and Solarium access and - especially - Anytime dining.  However, the difference is a lot greater than that for a lot of the cruises I've priced for 2020, making Aurea very poor value indeed.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Beamafar

[cruiser man 60]

The prices seem to vary constantly, it looks like they have bumped prices up a bit recently to allow for the 10% discount voucher they are running. Also assume U.K. Prices will be bumped up soon to allow for included gratuities.

we booked a resposition cruise for 2020 in Aurea and difference with price over fantastica was £15 pppd which i thought was reasonable given the drinks package, spa access, massage and anytime dining. Also can upgrade drinks package for 10 euros pppd to premium.

[EngIceDave]

I am Aurea on my cruise in 2 weeks (Armonia - Cuba) and I am to have the easy package to my understanding

 

Seems to me, you need to add into the equation, what you drink, how much you drink and how particular you are.

 

If you're fine with Bacardi and Smirnoff (Rum and coke, screwdriver, etc...) then easy is fine. If you're ok with Heineken for beer (Draught), then you're fine.

 

Bacardi and Smirnoff as your "well brand" is a pretty darn good well brand. If you have to have call brands like Appleton or Titos, and nothing else will do, then the upgrade may be worth the coin.

 

IMO, if you're doing mostly blended drinks or cocktails, the available well brands on easy, are fine. If you're doing lesser blended drinks like Cuba Libre (Rum/Coke) or Vodka/soda, then you may want the more expensive call brands.

 

Look at the bigger picture and what you normally order when at a bar or restaurant. Do you pay the extra for the premium brands or do you normally just order your drink and take what they give ya?

[Beamafar]

The 'Easy' package is a downgrade on the one that was originally included in Aurea, which now dilutes the Aurea 'Experience'.

[Até]

10 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

I am Aurea on my cruise in 2 weeks (Armonia - Cuba) and I am to have the easy package to my understanding

It depends on when you booked.  I still have one more Aurea sailing booked before November 12 so it will come with the old Classic package, which I have already upgraded to the old Deluxe package.  I have no Aurea bookings after that one.

[EngIceDave]

Understood, I am only speaking as to any recent bookings, as I booked in December. 

[nikkiw60]

42 minutes ago, Até said:

It depends on when you booked.  I still have one more Aurea sailing booked before November 12 so it will come with the old Classic package, which I have already upgraded to the old Deluxe package.  I have no Aurea bookings after that one.

I am same as you but on the 28 October on the Meraviglia Including having upgraded to the old deluxe.  Unless the Aurea area is amazing as it is on the Seaside it isn’t worth the extra money for future bookings.

We have only booked Fantastica on our next Divina.

[Até]

1 minute ago, Beamafar said:

The 'Easy' package is a downgrade on the one that was originally included in Aurea, which now dilutes the Aurea 'Experience'.

For non Caribbean sailings Easy for Aurea was definitely a downgrade as the prices remained the same.  And as nikkw60 mentioned I saw several promo sailings on the UK site where Fantastica got Premium - and when I looked Aurea still got Easy.  I admit the websites are wonky and can't say if that is still the case or would truly happen if you actually went through with the booking. 

 

I think a lot of non drinkers wouldn't feel their experience was downgraded if they were able to purchase Aurea or even YC without a drinks package at a better price.  As I've expressed before I really wouldn't mind if MSC totally separated drinks packages from cabin class, as long as they price them accordingly.  Before the recent package and pricing changes I always felt MSC had some of the best values, even when purchased outright.  Unfortunately for US sailings MSC seems to be taking on more of an NCL approach where everyone gets a diluted package.  And I'm now left with 25 days booked in Europe in 2020 with no packages as I'm not willing to pay the current Aurea or YC asking prices nor the significantly higher drink package prices.  Actually I can't even tell how much those European packages will cost as they are unavailable on the US website, but I think I saw Premium would be $47pp/d, which would be $2350 for drinks?

 

Are there really that big of drinking differences in the demographics?  I really think MSC needs to drop this nonsense about different models between US and Europe and come up with one plan for all sailings. 

[Até]

2 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

I am same as you but on the 28 October on the Meraviglia Including having upgraded to the old deluxe.  Unless the Aurea area is amazing as it is on the Seaside it isn’t worth the extra money for future bookings.

We have only booked Fantastica on our next Divina.

I have Meraviglia booked Winter 2020, but only found a moderate deal on a YC.  Not that I'm overly impressed with what I've seen of the Meraviglia YC, I also don't think the Aurea sundeck area is as nice as on Seaside.  It looks more like on Divina.  Meraviglia does offer a much nicer spa and the Panorama restaurant for Aurea, so better in those aspects.  But since they both get Easy package for US booking, Aurea would still come down to the price difference between Fantastica.  I also feel no great need to book Aurea, or even YC, on Divina.

[Beamafar]

Deleted (made a mess of editing  🙄)

Edited March 5, 2019 by Beamafar

[Até]

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I thought they'd done that with the new packages, seeing as they're now all named the same, regardless of itinerary.

Yes the package names/inclusions are more consistent now.  What I was referring to was how both US sailings and US made bookings are getting drastically different inclusions and prices versus European sailings and European bookings.  I can understand some regional promotions, but this is way too confusing.  I'd much prefer a more standardized product from the same company no matter where I sail, or book.

[Beamafar]

6 minutes ago, Até said:

Yes the package names/inclusions are more consistent now.  What I was referring to was how both US sailings and US made bookings are getting drastically different inclusions and prices versus European sailings and European bookings.  I can understand some regional promotions, but this is way too confusing.  I'd much prefer a more standardized product from the same company no matter where I sail, or book.

 

Glad you 'caught' the post before I accidentally deleted it!

 

I agree!  It causes a lot of confusion on here - especially when people don't specify the region they're booking from when mentioning promotions.

 

Nikki ... I just checked out (on the Ireland website) one of the cruises that has the Premium included for Fantastica bookings - the 'upgrade' that was included on the Aurea pricings is now gone!

[stoddaj1]

It really is a shame that the Aurea drink package benefit has been downgraded so much.  This change will probably make us choose another cruise line for our next cruises.  It's just too much more to pay for a private sundeck and anytime dining.  We have massage covered under our medical plans and the thermal area is not where we want to spend out time while in the sunny south. Too bad as we really enjoyed our Seaside cruise last year.

[kerryincork]

I agree that the Aurea with the old drinks package was worth booking. But with the new easy package I would no longer book Aurea. Especially when the cabins are the same. We hardly ever used the private sundeck so l won't miss it. We did enjoy the spa, but not worth the extra we had to pay for the Aurea cabin.

[stoneman56]

9 minutes ago, stoddaj1 said:

It really is a shame that the Aurea drink package benefit has been downgraded so much.  This change will probably make us choose another cruise line for our next cruises.  It's just too much more to pay for a private sundeck and anytime dining.  We have massage covered under our medical plans and the thermal area is not where we want to spend out time while in the sunny south. Too bad as we really enjoyed our Seaside cruise last year.

MSC prices are still a lot less than most cruise lines though. Where you gonna go NCL? The're a joke now with their pricing. 

We are in the UK and it cost us £8 a day each more to upgrade from Easy to Premium for our next Aurea booking. Hardly going to make us change lines now. We had the best cruise we ever had in December on the Seaside. 

[Beamafar]

The biggest draw for us to book Aurea is MyChoice dining.  Access to the thermal Spa and Solarium don't interest us and we only have massages when they're included, so wouldn't miss them either.  So the price difference between Fantastica and Aurea (which has also seen an increase) is no longer worth it - especially where Fantastica bookings are getting the Premium drinks package included.

[stoneman56]

Just now, Beamafar said:

The biggest draw for us to book Aurea is MyChoice dining.  Access to the thermal Spa and Solarium don't interest us and we only have massages when they're included, so wouldn't miss them either.  So the price difference between Fantastica and Aurea (which has also seen an increase) is no longer worth it - especially where Fantastica bookings are getting the Premium drinks package included.

But you can't book some of the better suites with Fantastica.

 

[Até]

1 hour ago, stoneman56 said:

But you can't book some of the better suites with Fantastica.

I agree, the truly special Aurea suites are a more complicated decision.  But I think most people on this thread, at least myself, are talking Fantastica versus Aurea balcony cabins, the majority of Aurea cabins, where the only differences are the perks.  On the other side you have the Fantasia class forward facing Aurea suites with sealed panoramic windows which I would compare to ocean view cabins, those are usually still available late in bookings and my bet is they frequently get filled by upgrades from ocean view.

[stoneman56]

On 3/6/2019 at 9:46 PM, Até said:

I agree, the truly special Aurea suites are a more complicated decision.  But I think most people on this thread, at least myself, are talking Fantastica versus Aurea balcony cabins, the majority of Aurea cabins, where the only differences are the perks.  On the other side you have the Fantasia class forward facing Aurea suites with sealed panoramic windows which I would compare to ocean view cabins, those are usually still available late in bookings and my bet is they frequently get filled by upgrades from ocean view.

I can see your point now as I have just booked this offer going for a Balcony cabin and Fantastica with the free drinks upgrade. We usually only go for suites and we are booked for a week on the Grandiosa June 2020,  so after reading this thread I started looking (as you do)  and found a nice 2 week cruise on Seaside this December with the promotion. It was half the cost of an Aurea package. 

I'm sure we'll suffer the smaller cabin lol

[mom2tcdx2]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:03 AM, Até said:

It depends on when you booked.  I still have one more Aurea sailing booked before November 12 so it will come with the old Classic package, which I have already upgraded to the old Deluxe package.  I have no Aurea bookings after that one.

 

How do we get any actual confirmation for MSC regarding the package received with Aurea?  My sister booked in August of 2018 and at the time was offered what I thought was the classic package.  When I tried calling MSC to verify the change, the rep stated that they would only get the Easy Package and said they knew of no cutoff dates for the change in the packages?  My sister will utterly be pissed if she doesn't get the drink package she thought she was getting.