Is it worth the upgrade Bella to Aurea?

[ohdiane55]

Hi Friends!  We are sailing on Seascape for 11 nights on August 20.  This is our first MSC cruise and I booked a Balcony Bella cabin.  After reading many reviews I am stressing a bit and wondering if it would be worth the money to upgrade to Aurea.  Here are my concerns:

1.  Embarkation/Debarkation.  I'm hearing that the wait can be up to 2 hours.  Upgrading gets me priority boarding, so is that worth it?

2.  Dining Times:  I am a diabetic and don't want to eat at 9pm.  Also, are there any special dining options for this class that I'm missing?

3.  Thermal Spa: Aside from getting access to the thermal spa included, are there any really great perks for the Aurea Class?

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!

[JAGR]

I think you are asking some good questions, particularly if these things are a concern to you.  With Aurea on Seascape, you will have a better and enhanced check-in and boarding experience, as well as Anytime Dining in a dining room reserved for Aurea guests (same kitchen as the MDRs, but you are likely to get more experienced wait staff.  The spa is nice, but to my mind, the best perk is a private sun deck for Aurea guests, with a dedicated bar on that sun deck.  No worries about chair hogs!  If it is affordable for you, I would go with the Aurea experience.

[Morgsmom]

1 hour ago, ohdiane55 said:

Hi Friends!  We are sailing on Seascape for 11 nights on August 20.  This is our first MSC cruise and I booked a Balcony Bella cabin.  After reading many reviews I am stressing a bit and wondering if it would be worth the money to upgrade to Aurea.  Here are my concerns:

1.  Embarkation/Debarkation.  I'm hearing that the wait can be up to 2 hours.  Upgrading gets me priority boarding, so is that worth it?

2.  Dining Times:  I am a diabetic and don't want to eat at 9pm.  Also, are there any special dining options for this class that I'm missing?

3.  Thermal Spa: Aside from getting access to the thermal spa included, are there any really great perks for the Aurea Class?

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!

If you show up at noon or so the wait should not be 2 hours; if you get there very early then, indeed, it might be a wait.

 

It is correct that you will not be able to request a dining time with Bella; however if you are assigned the late slot you can go to the maitre d' on the first day to try to request earlier.  

 

Thermal spa is NICE, but I find personally that I use it twice in a week for maybe 45 minutes each time.   Your experience might vary.

 

As @JAGR said the private sundeck is lovely if that is important to you.  

[insidecabin]

Best/cheapest way to get priority is status match if you have high level anywhere else that matches diamond.