1fifthavenue

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Congratulations on your latest news, Tim  @1fifthavenue   - just heard it!  😎  Very best of luck!  😀

Thank you Bea! We're working it as a side to our main jobs so won't be aggressively selling

8 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

What's the difference?  If the benefits are the same, why the change.  I am a Princess Elite guest and my cruise card is Black.  That color of card is recognized by Princess crew members and I feel more appreciated as a Princess past guest.

Yacht Club cards look pretty similar to Black, and also the dark blue of no membership until you get closer to the card?

Just now, Beamafar said:

 

I'm surprised you didn't post it here, Tim - I'm not a fan of FB

I rarely use CC these days, the facebook forums are taking a lot more time, glad you shared it though 🙂

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

According to a post on FB, Diamond will be introduced on Oct 20th (2 days after our embarkation date 😏) as a replacement for Black and not as a higher tier.

 

I didn't know you were in our group Bea, good to have you onboard 🙂

It was wonderful to be there last night as the news was announced; we've known about it since March but not the finer details. Keeping it secret has been so difficult and a challenge! There is talk that if this is successful then the next thing will be to go for one of the newest ships based out of Southampton

 http://timthorpetravel.com/2019/09/11/msc-magnifica-news

Dave, you know where to be for all the news 

Looking forward to finding out more 

Glad he's on the mend Bea, must have been very stressful for you both. Hopefully you can enjoy the rest of your cruise now

Have a fabulous time Bea! Seaview is my favourite ship. Was the Veuve included?

My choice would be Magnifica - great ship, plenty of balcony cabins which makes them a bit cheaper than on the Lirica class.

Sailed on Lirica class both pre and post stretch, and have been on all 4 of them; they're nice ships but really do lack any wow factor and they are starting to show their age

The bid for an upgrade programme isn't active in the UK Cruisingfox

We were somewhat excited about the launch, and was considering it, despite the itinerary, but the prices have put us off

Sorry you're not enjoying the food Phil... do try Ramon Freixa's duck royale on one of the two gala nights - it's on the left hand side of the menu - I think that's what you've seen on the video?

@CruisingFox27

 - yes for any new bookings

2 minutes ago, sidari said:

Comes in from July 1st, seen that date posted elsewhere.

Hi Dave, dummy booking for Magnifica on 24th June shows it's included...

29 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

Well, just had a conversation with the travel agent we are using for our Bellissima cruise and mentioned this and she won’t have it! I was only asking if she was aware of it for future cruises!

Oh dear! Change only seems to have come in place over night and is definitely on the UK website, wonder if MSC Book (the TA system) hasn't been updated for some reason

completely agree; like you we always factored it in to the cost when booking. I bet there will still be people wanting to take them off 😉

Same here... our Facebook group will become very quiet without the tips threads though haha

Finally some decisive action on the DSC being included

The below screenshot is for a cruise in September...

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

I thought Aurea had their own MDR on Mera?

Hmm we dined in the Panorama restaurant which was for both MyChoice and had set times; maybe it's a distance between time and events confusing me

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Totally agree about YC prices, though we got a great rate for Preziosa for next year in the 5 + 15% VC section.

 

I'm finding Aurea prices getting ridiculously high, too, in comparison to regular balcony cabins.  The fact that only the 'Easy' package is included makes it even less value, too.  The only benefit in Aurea that I really like is MyChoice dining.  It'd be cheaper to book a lower experience cabin, purchase a Premium package and eat in the SRs.

 

We had no problem upgrading to Prem+ with our Germany booking, but had a little to-ing and fro-ing with emails to get MSC UK to upgrade us.

 

I think it may have been covered in that other thread, but Cruisers6 had upgraded (MSC UK) his package for the Oct Meraviglia YC sailing for this year.  He booked again for next year for the New York - Miami itinerary;  when he requested the upgrade for that cruise he was told it was no longer possible.  Several weeks later he received an email from MSC advising that they had upgraded the package for him!

Thank you Bea 🙂 And for the other examples. My TA will get in touch with them again.

I think all cruises have gone up, and as you know we like a drink but are happy with the 'regular' experience, and a couple of cruises we've been looking at have been showing a difference of about £150-200 between Fantastica and Aurea with premium drinks, which makes Aurea worth it for me  (taking in to account Fantastica balcony with no drinks vs Aurea with an upgrade)

Again sorry to the OP for hijacking his thread. 

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

Do Aurea guests not have a separate dining room on Seaside-class?

No, just a section of one of the MDRs, same as Fantasia / Meraviglia

@Beamafar thanks for the link to your thread, I took a screenshot of the code needed and sent it to my agent, did you manage to get yours upgraded then? I had a quick read through. In all honesty this is putting me off Yacht Club in future and although the Easy package included with Aurea is so limited I'd sooner pay to upgrade that package than pay over the odds for YC as the prices just seem to be going up and up

46 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Trying to figure out if it's worth it to upgrade the Premium package in YC to Premium+. I'd only consider it if champagne by the glass were included. Someday I'll figure out why if you're in Aurea and buy Premium, you don't get the mini bar or the 30% off bottles of wine and champagne, but if you have Yacht Club (which comes with Premium), you DO get those things. And yet you STILL have to pay extra for Premium+ in YC. 😕

Yacht Club doesn't come with the true premium package, it's a bit of a mish mash and hybrid... in the UK we can't upgrade it 😞

Thanks for sharing Dave, been a hectic day at work so not been online all that much 🙂 Aurea is getting more and more tempting with the rise in YC prices