Aurea Drink Package

[Avril]

I’m sailing on the Meraviglia Transatlantic from Kiel to New York City in September 2019, super excited!! 😀 I’m wondering about which drink Package we’ll get with our cabin. We’re booked in an Aurea Balcony with an included drink package. When we booked in February 2018, it was the Classic (I think that’s what it was called anyway) package but they changed their packages after we booked. I don’t like the Easy Package and it’s not what we agreed to and paid for when we booked. I’m just wondering, will they give us the equivalent to the Classic Package (since we booked before they changed the packages) or will we have to pay to upgrade to the equivalent of the Classic Package when we get onboard the ship? We do have proof of when we booked if that makes a difference. I hope this all makes sense, haha. Thanks!! 😀

Edited May 20, 2019 by Avril

[Epos Man]

it'll be the equivalent to the original classic package that you had included in the original booking when you are able to get your tickets it will have package that was included in the paperwork

Edited May 20, 2019 by Epos Man

[Até]

I think that sailing only offered the 431 All Inclusive restaurant & bar classic package which was a little different than the 534 Classic package offered for US sailings.  From reports I've seen you may have a significantly limited selection of bottled beers, but otherwise a decent selection of drinks.  The attached list should be fairly accurate for your sailing.  The X mark for wine over €10 on 431 package is a typo, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be wine under €10.

[Avril]

2 hours ago, Epos Man said:

it'll be the equivalent to the original classic package that you had included in the original booking when you are able to get your tickets it will have package that was included in the paperwork

 

Ok, thanks!! 😀 I figured it would be the equivalant to Classic and I have heard of people getting just that but I’ve also heard a few stories about people having to go and argue (and show proof of when they booked) with the Staff at Guest Services to get what they booked and paid for. I just wanted to know which was right/more commen to get an idea of what to expect. It wouldn’t bother me having to pay for the upgrade but it’s even better if we don’t have to.

[Avril]

2 hours ago, Até said:

I think that sailing only offered the 431 All Inclusive restaurant & bar classic package which was a little different than the 534 Classic package offered for US sailings.  From reports I've seen you may have a significantly limited selection of bottled beers, but otherwise a decent selection of drinks.  The attached list should be fairly accurate for your sailing.  The X mark for wine over €10 on 431 package is a typo, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be wine under €10.

 

What’s the difference between the Classic Package (not sure what they call it now) and the All Inclusive Restaurant and Bar Package? Are there some places we can’t use it or something? I don’t really care about canned beer, when I have a beer it’s almost always draft. As long as I can get the majority of cocktails (which I understand you can’t wait the Easy Package), wines, other drinks, gelato (which I think is included in Aurea), etc and can use it anywhere on the ship I’ll be a happy cruiser. 😀🛳 We can’t get our tickets, boarding passes, etc yet since we’re still 124 days away from sailing.

[Até]

The Classic package was sold for US based cruises and was a little more descriptive in what was included.  For me the All Inclusive R&B package was always a little harder to pin down.  If you look at the prices in the picture I posted above it shows amounts allowable under each category.  Sorry it's a bit blurry, but I borrowed it from another poster.  If you copy it into a photo viewer you may be able to blow it up to better read it.  For the most part the 431 package covers cocktails & wines up to €10, but you will notice certain discrepancies/exclusions/lower limits for specific categories.  Bottled beer is one as it now only includes Heineken even though other bottles are less than €10.  Luckily Meraviglia has a good draft selection at the Brass Anchor pub.  Compare those limits to the prices on the linked thread below which has a fairly recent, post drink package changes Meraviglia bar menu.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2616425-pub-beers-available-on-new-drink-packages-meraviglia/?tab=comments#comment-56398140

 

 

[Beamafar]

The R&B package was very easy (before the introduction of the new packages, that is!).  Everything without an asterisk was included.  This meant that there were no questions around items that were under a certain price limit not being included.

 

However, it's much more difficult now, alright, to determine what's included if you've booked with the old R&B included.

[CruisingFox27]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

The R&B package was very easy (before the introduction of the new packages, that is!).  Everything without an asterisk was included.  This meant that there were no questions around items that were under a certain price limit not being included.

 

However, it's much more difficult now, alright, to determine what's included if you've booked with the old R&B included.

 

It certainly feels far more difficult. I never thought I'd find myself longing for an asterisk 😕

 

We are boarding Orchestra on Saturday, we are Aurea and have AIB&R, I await to find out how easy or difficult it has become in reality. I know the drinks I've ordered previously and have copies of the old menu's, denoting no asterisk. I am optimistically hoping it's easier than it's been sounding 😎