Splendida Top 18?

[bundtkate]

We're taking a 9 night med cruise on Splendida later this year that is looking to be pretty close to sold out Consequently, I was considering an upgrade to Aurea so we can access Top 18 and have an escape from the crowds, but I've never sailed on this ship or others in her class so I'm not sure if the value is really there given the differences from Meraviglia class and the Sea ships. For one, I've  heard that guests with other experiences can pay to access this sundeck. Does it get overcrowded with paying guests? It also looks like there is no bar in that area, per the deck plans, which would make it tough to utilize if you need to fight the crowds elsewhere to get a drink. Are there servers wandering and taking drink orders? Any opinions on whether it's worth the extra charge on a sold out sailing? We could upgrade to an Aurea suite with no balcony outright for about $1000 which feels a bit steep, but max bid on Aurea balcony (sold out atm so not a guarantee) is $400 total which is doable. YC would be a no-brainer here, but alas, that upgrade cost is a bit steep ($2600) and min bid is actually more than the cost of upgrading outright so not even a consideration.

[CruisingFox27]

Personally, I'd say yes if the ship will be busy. We've sailed twice on Splendida in an Aurea experience cabin. Loved having the sundeck available. You don't need to worry where a sunbed might be available and they're more comfortable. With regards to the paying guests, usually if the Aurea area is busy they don't sell the guest passes or they're only available after 3pm. That's been our experience anyway. The area does have a bar facility albeit that it's a 'pop up' one not a permanent built one so, has a limited range of drinks. We've been on sailings where they do approach you for drinks but if it's busy you need to go to the Top 18 bar yourself. Also, if you book Aurea you'll have the Anytime dining rather than fixed. We're back on Splendida ourselves in October.

[bundtkate]

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

We're back on Splendida ourselves in October.

That's when we'll be sailing! Embarking in Bari on 10/17, so maybe we'll see you there. We're presently in an aft-facing Fantastica balcony so I'm a bit reluctant to give that up (I love an aft balcony), but every time I check prices and whether a lower deck aft balcony has opened up, I find maybe 20 non-suite/YC cabins open and that's a frightening prospect. I really wish upgraded experiences were allowed to choose lower experience cabin locations or that you could pay to upgrade your experience without moving, but c'est la vie.

 

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

The area does have a bar facility albeit that it's a 'pop up' one not a permanent built one so, has a limited range of drinks.

This, even with limited drinks, makes the value prop a bit clearer so thank you a ton for that tip. We're generally beer, pina colada, or mimosa people depending on the time of day so we should be happy with something that's available. I'll probably hold off a bit to see if those YC bid amounts drop, but I expect we'll be putting in that max bid at some point so that we'll have that escape from crowds. An hour or so on a less busy sundeck with my Kindle should re-energize me enough to go to battle with the lines in the rest of the ship again.

[CruisingFox27]

Ahh.. we're not embarking until 28th October. We looked at embarkation in Bari but the flights were difficult for us so we're Trieste. 

 

Some Fantastica balcony cabins can also be Aurea experience cabins but, if you bid on an experience upgrade I strongly suspect you'll be in a new cabin. Although, it could be worth asking if yours could be upgraded. 

 

We tried a Fantastica experience on our last trip but did miss the sundeck, even though the ship wasn't really very busy. It just feels more tranquil.  We'd just have simple drinks so have never had an issue with the bar set up, they have beer, wine, some spirits and I've definitely seen an aperol served too. Frozen cocktails aren't served as they've no equipment but, there is a bar just below that would serve those. 

 

Oh and another advantage of the Top 18 is that they have their own nicer towels.

[bundtkate]

2 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Some Fantastica balcony cabins can also be Aurea experience cabins

Oh, I wasn't aware of this! I am currently in the highest category of Fantastica balcony so there's some chance I can do that. Dropped my TA an email and he's going to check for me when MSC's CS opens tomorrow. Since Aurea-only balconies aren't meaningfully different from normal balconies aside from the location, I'd consider the room a bit of a downgrade so would happily pay that max bid to move up experience without moving rooms.

 

2 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

We looked at embarkation in Bari but the flights were difficult for us so we're Trieste. 

Yea, they looked pretty brutal. Getting in for embarkation was easy enough since we'll be flying in from a short land stay in Malta and can just hop a non-stop Ryanair the evening before, but getting back home would have been an adventure. I ended up booking us first class seats on an express train to Rome and booking our US to Europe flights as a round trip from FCO. Bit more complicated, but cheaper (and much more comfortable) than a Ryanair back to FCO or adding a stopover to our transatlantic flight. Plus, there are zero usable trains in my neck of the woods so they still have enough novelty I really enjoy getting to ride them.

[CruisingFox27]

When booking, if you select a balcony cabin, it then gives the option of the level of cabin and then the experience  available. At least that's how the UK site takes you through. I'm going to look for aft cabins on our sailing tomorrow and see if the options are there (I need the computer for that and I've logged out for bedtime now). I'll report back with any success. Hopefully,  your TA may have an answer anyway. The only minor issue may be that because they only sell a limited number of Aurea experience cabins, so not to over subscribe the Aurea restaurant and Top 18 there are no Aurea experiences remaining. 

 

The train journey sounds a lovely way to finish your trip. 

[bundtkate]

1 hour ago, CruisingFox27 said:

I'm going to look for aft cabins on our sailing tomorrow and see if the options are

Oh, that's a good idea! I went ahead and checked myself and it actually looks like your sailing may be all sold out, at least in the U.S. Only option I see from Trieste is Oct 9. That one has no aft balconies remaining. I honestly have no idea if I'd have been given the option because there were actually no aft cabins at the time we booked. I had my TA upgrade us later because one popped up later. On the US site, I think they always have you select the experience first and then they show you cabins eligible for that experience. I tried a few other Splendida sailings in the future to see if they showed any aft Aurea and I didn't see any, but because you have to go through so many steps to get to the point of looking at cabin locations it was a bit rough to go through too many. Fingers crossed my TA can find the right MSC rep to actually get answers, I guess. 😅

[perakcruiser]

1 hour ago, bundtkate said:

I went ahead and checked myself and it actually looks like your sailing may be all sold out, at least in the U.S. Only option I see from Trieste is Oct 9.

Yes, Trieste gets much more cabins allocated than Bari and the other ports. 

 

3 hours ago, bundtkate said:

Bit more complicated, but cheaper (and much more comfortable) than a Ryanair back to FCO or adding a stopover to our transatlantic flight.

You have not been to Europe if you haven´t been on a Ryanair flight 😄
And the trains in Italy are very cheap if you book online well in advance. 

[bundtkate]

38 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

You have not been to Europe if you haven´t been on a Ryanair flight

Malta to Bari will actually be my second and I found Frontier in the US much more painful, but it's been a spell (since 2011) so I guess it's possible I may not be as prepared as I think. I have since gained some noise canceling headphones that should improve the experience. Also spent a bit of extra money on extra leg room and we're playing for team carryon this trip so hopefully it should be a perfectly tolerable 1.5 hours. It's my husband's first time, so if we make it to Bari and I'm still married I'll call that a W. 😂

As for the train, I booked it about as early as I could so it came in far cheaper than the Ryanair with the carryon upgrade so I can't see how we go wrong there. Only downside is it leaves a bit on the late side so we'll just be trying to stay on the ship as long as we can so we're not hanging out at the station for too long and all should be well.

Edited July 31, 2023 by bundtkate

[CruisingFox27]

8 hours ago, bundtkate said:

Oh, that's a good idea! I went ahead and checked myself and it actually looks like your sailing may be all sold out, at least in the U.S. Only option I see from Trieste is Oct 9. That one has no aft balconies remaining. I honestly have no idea if I'd have been given the option because there were actually no aft cabins at the time we booked. I had my TA upgrade us later because one popped up later. On the US site, I think they always have you select the experience first and then they show you cabins eligible for that experience. I tried a few other Splendida sailings in the future to see if they showed any aft Aurea and I didn't see any, but because you have to go through so many steps to get to the point of looking at cabin locations it was a bit rough to go through too many. Fingers crossed my TA can find the right MSC rep to actually get answers, I guess. 😅

 

I have tried lots of mock bookings this morning, there is a lot of cabin availability on the UK site for our sailing, including aft cabins. Unfortunately, all only allowed me to select Fantastica in an aft cabin. I also looked at other sailings on Divina class ships, they only have Fantastica for the aft cabins too. I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I may have given you false hope for an Aurea experience aft cabin 😪

 

The sailing on 17th October from Bari only offers me availability in a suite or YC, and there are only 2 cabins available in those categories. Although, the Royal Suite did show as available 😀

 

I've flown with Ryanair a lot, when we lived in Ireland they were my only option when regularly returning to England to visit the family. Which, generally, cost £10 each way. Yay! I have always found that as long as you adhere to the T&C's, you're grand. The bad rep largely came from the people who didn't and then fell into paying fees. In the old days, before the app, the big one was not printing your boarding pass and being charged. People didn't print them and were charged....well, yes 🤷‍♀️ Our flight to Trieste is £120pp, including 2 x hold luggage each, extra legroom and fast track security. It would only be £65pp with carry-on only. It's basic but cost-effective.

[bundtkate]

15 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

I'm sorry, I'm afraid that I may have given you false hope for an Aurea experience aft cabin

Oh, it's all good, I just appreciate you checking at all. My TA corroborated your findings as well -- I'd have to swap rooms to get Aurea. At this point it's looking like even that may be unlikely since this evening the U.S. site is only showing me Yacht Club. It was a nice idea, but looks like I'll be best served waiting it out. Who knows? Maybe those Yacht Club prices will drop before we sail. Unlikely, but a girl can dream, right? 😂

[bundtkate]

15 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Our flight to Trieste is £120pp, including 2 x hold luggage each, extra legroom and fast track security. It would only be £65pp with carry-on only. It's basic but cost-effective.

I was gonna just edit my prior comment, but CC seems morally opposed to adding a quote to an edit so I guess we're double posting. Our Ryanair from Malta to Bari ran about the same. It was $25pp base far, but with extra leg room and carry on luggage, it went up to about $150 for two.  Alas, I'm going to have to tack an extra $50 onto that because apparently American carry-on sized luggage is about 2" too deep to qualify as hold luggage for Ryanair. So far as I can tell, you can't really buy a bag small enough for them here so it's 10kg checked bags for us. I guess I should have done basic and added on the checked luggage instead. Lesson learned. Saw some anecdotal evidence they won't fuss you over a minor overage these days, but knowing what it costs to check at the gate I'm not sure I want to chance it.

[perakcruiser]

1 hour ago, bundtkate said:

So far as I can tell, you can't really buy a bag small enough for them here so it's 10kg checked bags for us.

Oh no, there is a big market meanwhile for "ryanair cabin bags" (check Amazon UK) as many other European airlines (or almost all) have adopted the same rules now. I am a proud owner meanwhile and will go with my next Ryanair flight the first time only with the free small hand luggage. The kids also, but my wife and mom both certainly need the full specs checked in and even carry on 😄

 

1 hour ago, bundtkate said:

Saw some anecdotal evidence they won't fuss you over a minor overage these days, but knowing what it costs to check at the gate I'm not sure I want to chance it.

Yes, there are much more relaxed and friendly now, they annouced it as "friendlier and cuddlier so that people love Ryanair even more" some years before. Last January I had a trip with two friends and one of them broke the rules for his paid big and his free small hand luggage quite spectacularly. We were sure that they will never let him go thru, but they did. Both ways 😄 

 

But I am not so brave, same like you, knowing the prices they ask at the gate for nonconformists I do not want to take the risk. Still witnessing many dramas at the gate, but not as much as before. 

 

1 hour ago, bundtkate said:

I guess I should have done basic and added on the checked luggage instead. Lesson learned.

True. Also took me some time to find out that this is cheaper. 

 

[bundtkate]

7 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Yes, there are much more relaxed and friendly now, they annouced it as "friendlier and cuddlier so that people love Ryanair even more" some years before.

Somehow my memories of the seats on my last Ryanair flight don't feel particularly compatible with the "cuddly" description. Slightly cushy would be generous if I'm being honest. 😂

 

9 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

there is a big market meanwhile for "ryanair cabin bags" (check Amazon UK) as many other European airlines (or almost all) have adopted the same rules now.

I actually saw that, but alas, the cost to get them to the U.S. can be pretty steep. And, honest, it probably wouldn't be worth it anyway. I can't see myself flying to Europe for less than 2 weeks and I think I need that extra 1.5" of depth and 2" of height to make 2 weeks work. Better to give Ryanair some extra cash on an as needed basis, which hopefully won't be too often.

[perakcruiser]

17 minutes ago, bundtkate said:

Better to give Ryanair some extra cash on an as needed basis, which hopefully won't be too often.

Yes, if you don´t have a "base" in Europe for your intercontinental luggage then it not makes much sense. 

 

For us a short Ryanair trip when on holiday in Europe is almost a tradition already, including the scratch cards and the luggage worries 😄