SirWolf

Main Dining Room has fix assigned dining time. Aurea has MyChoice flexible dining times. MyChoice alone doesn’t justify the cost.. Aurea includes priority embarking, cabins in best locations, access to Aurea Thermal Area, access to Top 19 Solarium deck, and more perks.

Explora offers some itineraries priced the same or even lower than MSC Yacht Club. Example: Explora ~ 14 Nights Caribbean Embarking Miami ~ 11/03/2023 Ocean Terrace Suite OT1 $ 10,800 MSC Seascape ~ 14 Nights Caribbean Embarking Miami ~ 11/04/2023 Yacht Club Deluxe Suite $ 10,838 Explora advantages: • Cabin with walk-in- closet • Gratuities included • All Restaurants included We already booked a repo-cruise in October 2023 in MSC Yacht Club, otherwise the Explora cruise would be tempting. We are looking into Alaska cruises of Explora in 2024.

Most itineraries are $800+ per night/cabin but can go up significantly. Very few sailings are equally priced to MSC Yacht Club on newer ships. .. one of the high-end sailings .. 29 Nights from Vancouver to Miami in August 2024 in Owner’s Residence (155sqm /1,668sqft) is $174,000.- Early Booking Benefit $156,720.- / 100% payment at time of booking.

I think World Promenade is on deck 8 (please correct me if I am wrong). The Aurea Premium Suites are on deck 11 and 16 , deck 11 would be for me too close to the action on World Promenade. Events with music and lights are maybe fun to watch but I (we) prefer a quiet location on a cruise ship. * off-topic * MSC World Europa has no deck 13 .. the number 13 is the unlucky number in some countries, like number 17 is unlucky number in Italy.

I don’t understand the logic in your response. You got the answer .. Why would you book something which is already included in your booking ? What harm is done when you see the prices of internet packages and drink packages ?

Enhancements are not customized as per Experience, all available enhancements are offered to all passengers.

Access to Aurea Thermal Spa is included in Aurea Experience for the length of your cruise.

Voyagers Club Benefits: Diamond -> Specialty restaurant dinner (No Beverages - Members + 1 Guest of the same cabin NO DIAMOND member) (as per VC chart on MSC USA website)

Question for @hamrag : Healthcare Heroes Discount (10%) can not be combined with Voyagers Club Discount (5%) ? It says “Is combinable with promotional rates and MSC Club discount” in Terms & Conditions of Healthcare Heroes Offer. .. it’s confusing when Terms & Conditions didn’t match the booking condition ..

The three cruises don’t necessarily start all in Barcelona. They are cruising loops and only have Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa in common. All other ports are different. So, basically these are three different cruises (loops) with multiple embarking/disembarking ports.

Each passenger can get his/her own Voyagers Club account and VC number. The VC number must be entered into passenger data to be active and count points. Prices for excursions are per person and go to each individual VC member. Purchases on board (gifts, jewelry, handbags, etc) go to the VC member who used his/her cruise card for the purchase.

YC cruise cards didn’t worked for access to Aurea Top 19 Solarium on MSC Grandiosa, MSC Belissima, MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seaview. We tried it while wandering around and exploring. We took the photos posted above during a Med cruise on MSC Seashore in Aurea category. We never entered Aurea Top 19 when sailing in Yacht Club.

Top 19 Exclusive Solarium on MSC Seashore

Correct.. Top 19 is not part of the Yacht Club. Top 19 Exclusive Solarium is the sun deck area reserved for Aurea passengers. Located on deck on both sides of the retractable roof. Aurea Bar is on the deck plan in the upper left corner. Access to Top 19 Exclusive Solarium is via cruise card for Aurea passengers only. Top 19 is usually very quiet and less passengers than sun deck area on main pool(s).

We got the eMail with the documents (attached PDF) 22 days prior to embarking in Barcelona and printed them before flying to Europe. We printed other papers, not related to the cruise, in the hotel in Barcelona for free.

The Embarkation Form must be printed and signed. -> 01. Embarkation Form THIS FORM MUST BE MUST BE PRESENTED AT EMBARKATION (^ in capital letters on ticket^) -> MANDATORY HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE must be printed, filled out and signed ..and.. -> 10. Luggage Tags

@9876 .. the order form is misleading .. they make you fill out the form offering “Dry cleaning” and “Wash & Ironing” but they only wash & dry accordingly to service included in Laundry Package. We never had the single page with Laundry Packages onboard. Now that I know how it works I will most probably not buy the laundry package anymore.. but will give 2 pairs of pants to the YC butler for pressing/ironing.

In the past laundry service included • Dry cleaning (pants, dresses), pressing, delivered on hanger • Washing , drying and pressing of shirts, polos , T-Shirts and pajamas , delivered on hanger ..or.. folded in plastic. A shirt (washed , dried & folded) is not what I usually wear and dress pants doesn’t go into the washer. Pressing is a must for most shirts and pants. ** Off-topic ** We had another issue.. YC bathrobes ! Only one robe was in the closet when we embarked. We had to ask the butler for a second bathrobe. The butler took both robes the day before disembarking out of the cabin. I asked him about the missing bathrobes and he explained that he has to send all bathrobes to be laundered for new passengers embarking the next day. He further told me that they are short of bathrobes.. that explains the large hole on the back of one of the robes. My overall impressing was that the service in Yacht Club is slowly slipping..

All laundry packages are “Back Home Clean” and can be used throughout the cruise. MSC has scaled down the services included in laundry packages. No pressing ! No dry cleaning ! No hangers ! No neatly fold in plastic (shirts) ! We have been made aware of these changes after receiving our clothes back from the ship laundry in a brown paper bag. (Med cruise October 2022 on MSC Grandiosa). Our Yacht Club butler told us about the changes when he delivered the bag to our cabin and that we have to read the fine print in the description of the package. All laundry packages are now “Wash, Dry & Fold” only, they used to include dry cleaning, pressing, hangers or fold in plastic. I marked 2 pairs of pants for dry cleaning on the order sheet and all shirts on hangers. Laundry staff ignored the order sheet and threw everything into the washer. Needless to say that both pairs of pants are ruined. When I pointed out that the clothes look worse after being laundered than before the YC butler gave me the speech to read the fine print and offered that pressing of 2 pieces are included in YC perks. We learned the lesson.. laundry packages are only good for underwear, swim shorts, pajamas and socks. Dry cleaning, pressing and shirts on hangers are services which can be ordered for a fee. To be fair.. I didn’t read the fine print when I ordered the laundry package and didn’t read the description in the booking confirmation. I assumed that I will get the same laundry service as on all cruises with MSC in the past. Unfortunately that was not the case.

Embarking may vary slightly by port .. it’s a multi-step process : • Waiting in line • Brief screening of papers & drop-off luggage • Waiting in line • Security check inside cruise terminal (similar to airport security screening) • Waiting in line • Check-in at MSC counter with extensive check of documents and taking photo for cruise card. • Walking onto the ship with cruise card check when stepping onto the ship. Embarking in Yacht Club is less waiting and more butler assisted.

What’s the length of the cruise / cost of drinking package per day ?

Not all perks are listed in the small window describing Aurea Experience. Same with Yacht Club, not all perks listed during booking process but YC passengers get all YC perks.

Why are you questioning the privileges of Aurea Experience if they are listed on MSC Cruises USA website ? Aurea Experience is called “Aurea” for a reason.. why call it Aurea when Aurea is not included ? I would print the description of Aurea Privileges.. and check the Privileges included in booking confirmation. If something didn’t match.. I would call MSC to clarify.

Aurea access to Thermal Area is listed in Comparison Chart of Experiences ..and.. in description of privileges of Aurea Experience. CC member @mmbcater posted the link to the chart and later stated that the Aurea Thermal Area access is not included.. giving no proof.

Yacht Club priority starts at the white tent outside of the cruise terminal. Luggage drop-off, escorted to check-in and escorted onto the ship. The process is usually quick and smooth. Aurea had no priority line before security check inside the terminal at Port of Miami (Dec. 2021). Waiting time was 1+ hour in line with normal passengers. Priority check-in after security. Yacht Club is quicker and more convenient when it comes to Embarking and Disembarking.