Aurea Experience as well as general questions

[bangzoom6877]

Some background info...We are a family of 4 who loves cruising. Like most working middle class families (DH and I are both teachers), we always have a certain vacation budget to work with. Our sons are 8 and 10 years old, love cruises, and particularly have enjoyed the kids activities on NCL and Carnival. Our upcoming cruise this July is on the Breakaway on NCL. We always cruise in two connecting cabins, the lowest price our TA can get for us mid-ship. This upcoming cruise is two connecting inside cabins, same as we had on Carnival two years ago. Love having the space and privacy, plus it's within our price range! DH and I also enjoy going to the thermal suite every day of our cruise so we purchase the spa pass for the week.

 

DH and I are considering a Western Caribbean cruise out of Miami for our next cruise. I saw online that the MSC Divina does this itinerary next summer, and the Aurea experience in a suite is in our price range. Some questions about the Aurea experience, to make sure I'm understanding correctly:

 

1. DH and I would both be entitled to one 1-hour massage AND unlimited spa access throughout the whole week? As in steam rooms and saunas and such?

2. Certain alcoholic beverages are included except premium brands. So I could get something like a basic daiquiri or piña colada and it's included? Or a glass of wine with dinner? Are these drinks only in designated areas on the ship?

3. Are there specialty restaurants like on NCL, and if so are they included with Aurea?

4. How spacious is the suite? Is it just like one big room or is there a partition?

5. Do all suites have a balcony?

6. How does MSC handle food allergies? DS10 is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish but would be interested in the children's cooking classes for sure.

7. How does the food on MSC compare to NCL, carnival and other major cruise lines?

8. What types of accommodations do they have for families of 5? My sister and her family usually cruise with us and they have 5 in their family. Are there at least connecting cabins?

9. Anything else we should know about MSC for a family used to NCL and Carnival (and happy with both)?

 

Thanks for any info that you could give me!

[Skier52]

Some background info...We are a family of 4 who loves cruising. Like most working middle class families (DH and I are both teachers), we always have a certain vacation budget to work with. Our sons are 8 and 10 years old, love cruises, and particularly have enjoyed the kids activities on NCL and Carnival. Our upcoming cruise this July is on the Breakaway on NCL. We always cruise in two connecting cabins, the lowest price our TA can get for us mid-ship. This upcoming cruise is two connecting inside cabins, same as we had on Carnival two years ago. Love having the space and privacy, plus it's within our price range! DH and I also enjoy going to the thermal suite every day of our cruise so we purchase the spa pass for the week.

 

DH and I are considering a Western Caribbean cruise out of Miami for our next cruise. I saw online that the MSC Divina does this itinerary next summer, and the Aurea experience in a suite is in our price range. Some questions about the Aurea experience, to make sure I'm understanding correctly:

 

1. DH and I would both be entitled to one 1-hour massage AND unlimited spa access throughout the whole week? As in steam rooms and saunas and such?The entiltlement is for 1 x Bali massage usually 45 - 60 minutes and access the the thermal area which has steam rooms and saunas.

 

2. Certain alcoholic beverages are included except premium brands. So I could get something like a basic daiquiri or piña colada and it's included? Or a glass of wine with dinner? There are about 20 cocktails available and the ones you mention are included. Wine by the Glass is from a limited selection of 2 reds ; 2 whites, one rose and 1 or 2 sparkling. Beers are from a small selection of draught beers and bottled beer is not included. Are these drinks only in designated areas on the ship? They are available throughout the ship.

 

3. Are there specialty restaurants like on NCL, and if so are they included with Aurea? There are speciallity restaurants on the ships but they are NOT included in the Aurea experience

 

4. How spacious is the suite? Is it just like one big room or is there a partition? Some suites have 2 rooms others have only one, they range in size from ~ 250 sq feet to ~ 530 sq ft. So getting one with 2 rooms and a balcony may be difficult. On Divina they are suites #9009; 9010; 10007; 10008.

5. Do all suites have a balcony? No, some have panoramic windows (they are marked on most deck plans by a rectangle with a dot inside , whereas those with balconies are marked by two rectangles side by side)

 

6. How does MSC handle food allergies? DS10 is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts and shellfish but would be interested in the children's cooking classes for sure. I have no experience of MSC and special diets, although the official info given out says that arrangements can be made to accomodate these requirements. However there are some instances , on these boards, where people report severe difficulties , but that applies to most cruise lines I've read about.

 

7. How does the food on MSC compare to NCL, carnival and other major cruise lines? That is a very subjective question as it is impossible to account for individual tastes, many people say it is very good and just as many say it is awful. You have to make up your own mind once aboard, It is different to say RCI

 

8. What types of accommodations do they have for families of 5? My sister and her family usually cruise with us and they have 5 in their family. Are there at least connecting cabins? There are a significant number of connecting rooms some of which are now marketed as super family cabins

 

9. Anything else we should know about MSC for a family used to NCL and Carnival (and happy with both)? MSC are a different experience to both the lines you mention and I have not sailed on a USA based itinerary, which are tailored to the USA market and differ from the European experience that I have had. I have sailed with both Carnival and NCL

 

Thanks for any info that you could give me!

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Pete

Edited May 29, 2015 by Skier52

[Skier52]

I've looked at the deck plans and there are 45 pairs of connected cabins designated as "Super family cabins". They are all within the two recessed areas of the ships.

 

Some (8 pairs) have the 2nd and 3rd cabins from the hump so will benefit from the larger balcony (~90 sq ft) of the 2nd from the hump cabin.

 

All cabins are on decks 10/11/12/13 and are all Fantastica Experience,,, no Bella or Aurea.

 

Of the 28 Aurea suites, all at the front of the ship on decks 9/10/11, only 6 have balconies and of these only 4 have two rooms deck 9/10. Deck 11 , according to the deck plan, is one room

 

Pete

Edited May 29, 2015 by Skier52

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you for the info! So no rooms or connecting rooms for a family of 5 right?

 

How are the activities on MSC? Is there a lot to do during the day?

 

Anyone have menus for the cocktails included in the Aurea Experience?

 

Anyone have menus for the included food?

[Skier52]

bangzoom6877;46736183 wrote:-Thank you for the info! So no rooms or connecting rooms for a family of 5 right?

 

 

None of the Aurea suites are designated for more than four guests.

 

 

There are 45 pairs of connnected rooms which will take six guests but none of them are Aurea , they are all Fantasica.

 

 

IMHO the best pairs for fields of view forward and aft are 10101/10103 ; 10096/10096 ; 11121/11123; 11098/11100 these are the best for sunshine on the balcony

 

 

12107/12109 ; 12092/12094 some issues with the shadow caused by the overhang of deck 14

 

 

13063/13065 ; 13066/13068 severe issues with the shadow of the overhang

 

Other pairs will have poorer views forward and aft

 

Best for balcony size are the pairs which are close to the hump wall (and so have limited fields of view forward) but have one of the larger balconies. The lower the deck the better the chance of sunshine on the balcony

10089/10091 ; 10082/10084 ; 11003/11105 ; 11086/11088 ; 12095/12097 12080/12082 ;

 

13051/12052 ; 13054/13056 (these two pairs will have hardly any sunshine)

 

 

 

How are the activities on MSC? Is there a lot to do during the day?

 

 

I'm not sure how the USA based activities vary from the Med based sailings which have a lot of activities on deck centred around dance and/or physical fitness. There is the aqua park for kids/teenagers.

 

 

Indoor/ non physical activities have included Cookery demonstratons; bridge tournamants, chess tournaments; quizzes. "party type" games with the Animation team, as well as table tennis and shuffle board tournements

 

 

Anyone have menus for the cocktails included in the Aurea Experience?

 

 

These vary by region and date, I only have 2 year old Med bar lists (which have the cocktails in them) and i know there have been changes recently.

 

 

Anyone have menus for the included food?

 

These again vary by region so I don't have any for USA based cruises

 

Pete

Edited June 3, 2015 by Skier52

[Skier52]

Thank you for the info! So no rooms or connecting rooms for a family of 5 right?

 

How are the activities on MSC? Is there a lot to do during the day?

 

Anyone have menus for the cocktails included in the Aurea Experience?

 

Anyone have menus for the included food?

I've aquired a Mediterranean Bar List valid in Dec 2014 and scanned the cocktails sections for you.

 

 

They should give you a good idea of what is likely to be avilable to you.

 

Drinks which have a RED * next to them are NOT INCLUDED in the Allegrissimo package. i've blanked them off in red outlining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

Edited June 3, 2015 by Skier52

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you very much for posting the drink menus Pete! Looks like everything I drink on vacation would be included!

 

Are straight up shots of liquor included as well? For example, my husband enjoys Bailey's in his coffee after dinner when we are on vacation. Would he be able to get some Bailey's so he could add it to his coffee?

 

I was talking to my parents today and they said that a couple of years ago, our travel agent (who we've been using for 25 years) recommended MSC and the only reason they didn't look further into MSC was because they found out that they don't cruise to the Caribbean or Bermuda out of NYC. (We are from NYC and love cruising out of here). The only Caribbean itinerary was out of Miami. We are all going to Bermuda next month on the Norwegian Breakaway, but DH and I would really love to go to the Western Caribbean for our next cruise. So we would have to sail out of Florida since there are no cruises out of NYC in the summer that go to the western Caribbean. They go to Bermuda, Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean and we have done all of those itineraries already in recent years. DH really wants to see the Western Caribbean, and the last time I was there was 21 years ago!

 

The more I read about MSC, the more I think it would be a wonderful cruise!

[mib150]

I've aquired a Mediterranean Bar List valid in Dec 2014 and scanned the cocktails sections for you.

 

 

They should give you a good idea of what is likely to be avilable to you.

 

Drinks which have a RED * next to them are NOT INCLUDED in the Allegrissimo package. i've blanked them off in red outlining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

 

This may have changed slightly (just to confuse you!)

We have just come back from a week round the Med on the MSC Musica - the items with the red asterisk are now the included drinks! The list is pretty much the same, but the Champagne Cocktail was definitely included.

The cocktails were very good :D

[mib150]

Thank you very much for posting the drink menus Pete! Looks like everything I drink on vacation would be included!

 

Are straight up shots of liquor included as well? For example, my husband enjoys Bailey's in his coffee after dinner when we are on vacation. Would he be able to get some Bailey's so he could add it to his coffee?

 

I was talking to my parents today and they said that a couple of years ago, our travel agent (who we've been using for 25 years) recommended MSC and the only reason they didn't look further into MSC was because they found out that they don't cruise to the Caribbean or Bermuda out of NYC. (We are from NYC and love cruising out of here). The only Caribbean itinerary was out of Miami. We are all going to Bermuda next month on the Norwegian Breakaway, but DH and I would really love to go to the Western Caribbean for our next cruise. So we would have to sail out of Florida since there are no cruises out of NYC in the summer that go to the western Caribbean. They go to Bermuda, Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean and we have done all of those itineraries already in recent years. DH really wants to see the Western Caribbean, and the last time I was there was 21 years ago!

 

The more I read about MSC, the more I think it would be a wonderful cruise!

 

Spirit shots were included with our Allegressimo package, but I'm not sure if you can order them at the dinner table - you may have to go to a bar/lounge to have your coffee and baileys.

[Skier52]

Thank you very much for posting the drink menus Pete! Looks like everything I drink on vacation would be included!

 

Are straight up shots of liquor included as well? For example, my husband enjoys Bailey's in his coffee after dinner when we are on vacation. Would he be able to get some Bailey's so he could add it to his coffee?

 

I was talking to my parents today and they said that a couple of years ago, our travel agent (who we've been using for 25 years) recommended MSC and the only reason they didn't look further into MSC was because they found out that they don't cruise to the Caribbean or Bermuda out of NYC. (We are from NYC and love cruising out of here). The only Caribbean itinerary was out of Miami. We are all going to Bermuda next month on the Norwegian Breakaway, but DH and I would really love to go to the Western Caribbean for our next cruise. So we would have to sail out of Florida since there are no cruises out of NYC in the summer that go to the western Caribbean. They go to Bermuda, Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean and we have done all of those itineraries already in recent years. DH really wants to see the Western Caribbean, and the last time I was there was 21 years ago!

 

The more I read about MSC, the more I think it would be a wonderful cruise!

Here are the spirits and liqueurs sections of my bar list.

 

I would expect hese to be quite different in the US because of the differences in tastes betweeen the US and Europe. eg Bourbon on the list in the US

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you again! Jim Beam is bourbon and is on the list you posted. But you are certainly correct that American and European tastes could be so different! That certainly goes for food. I've read so many negative reviews about food on certain cruise ships and I get the suspicion that many of the people who wrote those reviews are looking more for fast food type fare. Our family is not like that. We actually love all different types of ethnic foods, and we feel very lucky for live in NYC where we have ethnic foods in abundance! In fact, the times we have been to Disney World in Florida, our children have enjoyed eating in the various restaurants at the World Showcase at the Epcot theme park. The World Showcase consists of 11 "countries" and each one has its own restaurant, and counter service restaurant. We believe these are the best restaurants on property there, but they frequently get negative reviews because they are very different than the typical American chain restaurants, of which we are not fans! It certainly helps that the people who work in the countries at Epcot are from the actual countries! Mostly college interns in a special program by Disney.

 

Anyway, thanks again for all the helpful information!

[bangzoom6877]

Could guests under the Fantastica experience dine in the main dining room for dinner at the same table as guests under the Aurea experience? So for example, if my parents and my sister and her family are traveling with us, and they all have the Fantastica experience but DH, the boys and I have the Aurea suite, could we arrange to have dinner together every night in the main dining room for all 11 of us?

[Mikesa1721]

Here is a link to MSC Divina's dining room menus. They may have changed since they were posted and they may change again once she returns from the Med this fall but they will give you an idea as to the type of food served.

https://www.pinterest.com/msccruisesusa/msc-divina-main-dining-room-menus/

 

You can check out one of the specialty restaurants "Eataly" menus as well.

https://www.pinterest.com/msccruisesusa/eataly-menus/

 

Other promo and information is available here:https://www.pinterest.com/msccruisesusa/

Edited June 12, 2015 by Mikesa1721

[sjpo]

I have just been offered a good price on a January Med cruise on MSC Fantasia on a Aurea balcony cabin... tempted to perhaps pay the difference for a suite but not sure if the only difference would be the extra space. Would anybody know how do the balcony and the suites compare on the Aurea rates?

 

Are coffees also included on the drinks package? Can the drink package be 'upgraded' to Premium if the pax pays the difference (either on board or in advance)?

 

Many thanks

[Skier52]

I have just been offered a good price on a January Med cruise on MSC Fantasia on a Aurea balcony cabin... tempted to perhaps pay the difference for a suite but not sure if the only difference would be the extra space. Would anybody know how do the balcony and the suites compare on the Aurea rates?

The only difference is the size of the cabin and location. The Aurea experience is the same for all the aurea guests irrespective of the cabin.

Are coffees also included on the drinks package?

Some are (from my 2014 Mediterranian bar list):-

Espresso

Shakerato

American style coffee

American style coffee with milk

Mini cappuccino

Decaf coffee

Barley coffee

Cappuccino

NOT included:-

Amaretto capuccino

Irish coffee

Baileys coffee

Note:- you can have a coffee and a Baileys, separately, and pour the Baileys into your coffee!!! et voila, Baileys coffee

Can the drink package be 'upgraded' to Premium if the pax pays the difference (either on board or in advance)?

Don't know, you can but ask

Many thanks

 

 

hope this is OK

 

I doubt the list will have changed much since the pubication of my list

 

 

Pete

Edited August 15, 2015 by Skier52

[sjpo]

Many thanks.

 

Originally we were offered a YC suite but it was double the price and we felt that exclusivity and butler would be nice but a drinks package for the whole ship was not included, which was odd fir the rates.

[AmoMondo]

I wouldn't get too hung up on paying extra for a balcony in the Med in January, it is not likely it will be warm enough to be using it in the middle of winter.

[sjpo]

We make little use of it in the winter, I agree, but the cruise goes to Israel where it is generally warmer, so, there is hope :-)

[sjpo]

we have now been offered 11010. Tempted to accept it as it is an unusual location (corner of a deck). TA says that we have both: access to the balcony and panoramic windows. Wondering if anybody had this type of cabin before which could tell me more about it :-)

 

Thanks

[Skier52]

we have now been offered 11010. Tempted to accept it as it is an unusual location (corner of a deck). TA says that we have both: access to the balcony and panoramic windows. Wondering if anybody had this type of cabin before which could tell me more about it :-)

 

Thanks

The cabin is 413 sq ft with a balcony of approximately 130sq ft,

 

 

here is a link to info about 10008 which I believe is very similar

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2159037

 

 

here is a image of the rear section balcony of cabin 11009, which is a mirror iamge of 11010 and should give you an idea of what it is like

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the location of 11009 whch shows the windows and balcony area..again it's a mirror image of 11010

 

 

 

 

Pete

Edited August 18, 2015 by Skier52

[sjpo]

Many, many thanks for the images and the link. Where could I find more technical info on the cabin. Amazed by the size 😊

[Skier52]

Many, many thanks for the images and the link. Where could I find more technical info on the cabin. Amazed by the size

You can find out some information on the MSC web sites

here is a link to the relevant page on the UK web site

 

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/uk_en/Ships/MSC-Divina.aspx

 

press the tab "cabins and suites" and then look at the 360 video of a SUITE (4th set of info down) This is actually a video of a suite on Splendida but it is the same as the one you are looking to have

 

Pete

Edited August 18, 2015 by Skier52

[sjpo]

Good morning Pete,

 

Many thanks. I would think that video is exactly the 11010 :-)

 

Now trying to find out if the call in Rhodes is at Lindos (as I see in some sites) or in Rhodes Town (as in others) :-)

 

Thanks

[hhoope01]

13051/12052 ; 13054/13056 (these two pairs will have hardly any sunshine)

My wife and I have signed on for our first MSC cruise which will be on the Divina out of Miami in May. I was finally able to get them to give me our room assignment which is 13051.

 

I'm worried based on the above comment that this is not good balcony as is looks like there is no sun. Is this correct or is it still an nice room/balcony?

 

Thanks.

[Skier52]

My wife and I have signed on for our first MSC cruise which will be on the Divina out of Miami in May. I was finally able to get them to give me our room assignment which is 13051.

 

I'm worried based on the above comment that this is not good balcony as is looks like there is no sun. Is this correct or is it still an nice room/balcony?

 

Thanks.

 

I'll let the pictures do the talking

 

In the first image the balcony you have would be exactly as the one with the blue dot, you can see the size of the overhang and the close proximity of the wall.

there will be sunshine on the balcony when the sun is low in the sky (morning/ evening)

 

The lower image is there to give you a view of the overhang from a deck 12 cabin on the central hump looking up at deck 13 cabins, your cabin will be fully recessed and have the full width of the overhang over it, albeit your balcony will protrude a little more than those shown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I suspect this is not what you wanted to see.

 

Pete

Edited November 5, 2015 by Skier52