MSC Cabin Categories Changing.

[phissy]

2 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Yes, but my point was that @phissy paid for a YC and ended up with Bella 🙂

 

That's worse, right?

It is the Royal Suite on the Meraviglia.  
Not sure if Bella Experience explains change in direction for MSC?

Just joking….will be interesting.

[tweakes]

So I booked Fantastica balcony on Seashore because Bella was showing as obstructed view. All cabins were GTY, but now I can choose Fantastica and for the price I paid select a Bella balcony on deck 9/10. 

 

Maybe it's the wine talking, but I see no benefit in choosing Fantastica guarantee if they can give me a prior Bella balcony that could be obstructed view. Should I "downgrade" to save $120 since I'll still end up with a GTY balcony? 

 

These changes are pretty straightforward, and I think I will like them in the long run but for cruises already booked it seems silly. The timing also seems weird when they could have been done before things got busier again, but such is life. 

[dexddd]

16 hours ago, phissy said:

Logged into our account . Shows our cabin 15008 on Meraviglia and experience Bella.
Wow, surprised to see that🙄

No room service for you.

[JezzaC]

Now my booking is visible again and cabin seems correct as well. New category is Oceanview Premium 3 and Aurea experience.

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, JezzaC said:

Now my booking is visible again and cabin seems correct as well. New category is Oceanview Premium 3 and Aurea experience.

What category was it before?

[sidari]

Not content with charging extra for the Experience ie Fantastica and Aurea they are also now bumping the prices by charging for the grade of cabin!

[SirWolf]

I compared prices in Yacht Club of 3 future cruises. The prices didn’t change as of today.. they are just shown differently. Price structure is Yacht Club Experience plus Extra for stateroom (Interior, Deluxe Suite, Grand Deluxe Suite, Royal Suite, Owners Suite).

I just hope they will not change/reduce YC amenities. 

[phissy]

6 hours ago, SirWolf said:

I compared prices in Yacht Club of 3 future cruises. The prices didn’t change as of today.. they are just shown differently. Price structure is Yacht Club Experience plus Extra for stateroom (Interior, Deluxe Suite, Grand Deluxe Suite, Royal Suite, Owners Suite).

I just hope they will not change/reduce YC amenities. 

Seems like they already have.
At dinner asked for wine list of included wines for YC.

Told two of each type ( white, sparkling, rose and red) have been preselected for dinner.

Those are the only ones I could select for wine by the glass. 
Otherwise I had to purchase a bottle.

When I asked for champagne, glass was brought to table.

Asked which champagne is was … Prosecco was the answer.

No!!!!

Asked for NF . There was a discussion and finally brought me a glass. 
Not a good way to start a 15 day YC cruise.

 

[Beamafar]

11 minutes ago, phissy said:

Seems like they already have.
At dinner asked for wine list of included wines for YC.

Told two of each type ( white, sparkling, rose and red) have been preselected for dinner.

Those are the only ones I could select for wine by the glass. 
Otherwise I had to purchase a bottle.
 

They’ve been pulling that one for years!   We did the 28 night Dubai-Japan repo in 2018.  Was given that speil on the first night when I requested one of my favourites.   Was told they’d serve my choice sometime during the cruise. 
 

We were on Splendida which meant we had to traverse the ship to get to the restaurant.  We used to go down to deck 7 to get there, which meant we passed the Enoteca on the way.  I picked up a couple of glasses of wine each night for a couple of nights.  The sommelier came to the table and asked why I was bringing wine to the restaurant.  When I told him he said I could have any wine I wished from the wine list.  So, that sorted that!

 

On the same sailing, the barman was new in TSL and, when I asked for a glass of NF, he said it wasn’t included.  We argued back and forth;  one of the butlers came over to find out what was going on, then another, then the head butler got involved and I finally got my glass of NF. 

 

Later that evening, I spoke to the sommelier about the incident and he confirmed NF was, indeed, included.  Every night after that, as soon as we were seated for dinner, he personally brought a glass of NF to the table for me. 

[Fishwife2016]

On 11/7/2021 at 9:07 AM, kernow said:

We have booked Aurea on Magnifica in Feb and our TA has assured us that we will get the current benefits. I have printed off screenshots of our booking just in case!

Totally agree with printing off anything that has to do with a benefit of Aurea.  I am hoping that MSC does not take away anything from those of us who have already booked and make the changes from this point forward for new bookings.

[Beamafar]

The list of inclusions is in your booking confirmation.  That’s a contract that they can’t renege on.  

[Fishwife2016]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:23 AM, bafinegan said:

Wonder how those of us booked under the old system will be grandfathered in?

Right, wondering the same thing.  Why should we give up the benefits of the drink package and the spa.

[sidari]

11 hours ago, Beamafar said:

The list of inclusions is in your booking confirmation.  That’s a contract that they can’t renege on.  

I wonder if they will still give the Diffuser as that is also now a thing of the past! 

[Beamafar]

Just now, sidari said:

I wonder if they will still give the Diffuser as that is also now a thing of the past! 

It’s on our booking confirmation, Dave, so I’ll be expecting one!   We’ll have some fun comparing what we’re getting (or not 🙄).   

[dexddd]

On 11/15/2021 at 9:25 AM, SirWolf said:

I compared prices in Yacht Club of 3 future cruises. The prices didn’t change as of today.. they are just shown differently. Price structure is Yacht Club Experience plus Extra for stateroom (Interior, Deluxe Suite, Grand Deluxe Suite, Royal Suite, Owners Suite).

I just hope they will not change/reduce YC amenities. 

Only tried website once since weekend update.  It was clunky before and now extra steps to get to room type and price.  Roughly six steps to get to price vs three.

[JezzaC]

Everything was fine couple days and now I got new booking confirmation - cabin was changed to GUARANTEE even though I had picked certain cabin. No communication at all to me, only that one email send by system.

[JezzaC]

1 hour ago, JezzaC said:

Everything was fine couple days and now I got new booking confirmation - cabin was changed to GUARANTEE even though I had picked certain cabin. No communication at all to me, only that one email send by system.

 

This will actually get pretty interesting since I have OL2 Premium Oceanview cabin with Aurea. And it is mentioned in terms when my booking was done that if cabin has to be changed, guests will be guaranteed a cabin category upgrade. Ship doesn't have OL3 cabins and only Deluxe balconies which are way smaller than my Premium Oceanview cabin. If they want to upgrade me, then it would have to be Yacht Club.

[sidari]

8 hours ago, Beamafar said:

It’s on our booking confirmation, Dave, so I’ll be expecting one!   We’ll have some fun comparing what we’re getting (or not 🙄).   

Well MSC today confirmed that in their shake up they have downgraded all of the Europa Infinite Ocean view cabins to Fantastica from Aurea (2 Decks) to Four Fantastica Decks! and of course no information until I got our TA to ask the question. We will however retain our Infinite OV cabin and Aurea pre change benefits. Aurea on Europa will be Balcony and upwards.

Edited November 17, 2021 by sidari

[MrsDustin16]

Does anyone understand the changes for Balcony cabins? We've booked a Balcony Fantastica (to try to avoid obstructed/partial views) and were supposedly in a B2 cabin with no issues. Now it says we have a cabin with partial views (which I paid for Fantasitica so I could pick my room and avoid this) and I've called 5 times to get put back to a normal balcony and they can't do that for me. One girl said it would be $300, which we are not willing to pay since we've already paid way more than we could right now due to 4 cruise changes with Covid issues. Supposedly now I only qualify for a BP (partial view) even though we paid for B2 (which now appears to be BR1, BR2, or BR3). Anyone else understanding this? We are booked for the MSC Grandiosa. Thanks, any help is appreciated because this is our honeymoon and I've loved MSC in the past, but it seems customer service has change 😞

[sealynx]

I'm not really understanding most of the changes MSC has made. Especially that now all Bella-bookings are guaranteed. With other companies I understand the gueranteed-concept. Those are considered passengers that pay less for not having a preference in the exact room location. Other passengers pay more, so they can choose. Though with MSC Bella that latter option is not available. So it is only a downgrade of service, with no benefits for anyone. Not for MSC (passengers with a preference pay more), not for pax (lower prices for not having a preference).

[Janet&Carl]

On 11/7/2021 at 4:54 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I feel like if they are going to keep the experiences, then they really need to simplify what is included in each. I think the selling point for Aurea is going to be the special deck space on the newer ships where you don't have to compete for a lounge chair. The area on Divina was not very appealing (at all), but it looks nice on the newer builds. It's a bit like the NCL model where you can purchase Vibe passes. I think there is a market for this amenity.

Having sailed Aurea many times on ships that dont have YC  - the last time YC was booked out and we chose an Aurea suite on  a ship that had YC. Never again.  The supposed peaceful sun deck was anything but peaceful being behind pool deck where the entertainment crew screamed ALL day.  Never again ~!!!

[tweakes]

3 hours ago, sealynx said:

I'm not really understanding most of the changes MSC has made. Especially that now all Bella-bookings are guaranteed. With other companies I understand the gueranteed-concept. Those are considered passengers that pay less for not having a preference in the exact room location. Other passengers pay more, so they can choose. Though with MSC Bella that latter option is not available. So it is only a downgrade of service, with no benefits for anyone. Not for MSC (passengers with a preference pay more), not for pax (lower prices for not having a preference).

I don't understand what you're saying?

 

I honestly don't care where I am on the ship because I do not want to be in my cabin so a GTY is just fine. No need for me to pay more, so I'm happy. For MSC, a lot of passengers will see that it is only $30 more pp to choose their location... that isn't much so why not upgrade? They'll get a few extra bucks from plenty of people and not have to provide any better services. It is the same as what airlines do now with seats. For some, it is worth the extra money so airlines make a few extra bucks. For others, no big deal and they're happy with paying the bare minimum. 

[BermudaBound2014]

4 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

Having sailed Aurea many times on ships that dont have YC  - the last time YC was booked out and we chose an Aurea suite on  a ship that had YC. Never again.  The supposed peaceful sun deck was anything but peaceful being behind pool deck where the entertainment crew screamed ALL day.  Never again ~!!!

 

What ship were you one? I've recently learned Aurea is a completely different experience based on ship class.

[sealynx]

By upgrading it is not possible to select Bella-category cabins. So by upgrading so to be able to choose your cabin, you cannot choose from any cabin, plus you'll get extra amenities you might not want.

[cellfree]

Apart from upcoming Seashore cruises, has anyone had their cabin # changed on a booked cruise since the new categories have gone into effect?