Is Aurea still worth it?

[georgiapeach84]

We haven't sailed since 2019, but our past two cruises were with MSC with and Aurea suite (Divina) and Aurea balcony (Seaside). This was back when a free massage and the drink plus package included all specialty coffee and gelato from the 3rd party spots (chances are they discontinued this because of the amount of gelato our kids alone consumed that week :D)  Needless to say we enjoyed the MSC charm and rolled well with all it's quirks. 

 

Other perks that we enjoyed:

*we loved the (at the time) thermal spa on the Seaside

*flexible dining 

*access to the top solarium

 

We're looking at Seaside or Meraviglia sometime in the next several months- Caribbean/Bahamas for 4 or 7 nights. 

Thoughts from recent travelers? Any other perks I'm missing? (Also please don't say Yacht Club...my heart says yes but my bank account says no.) Cheers!

 

[Fla Mike]

This was something Lovey and I debated for a while.

 

While we have cruised on Divina and Mera, it was Fantastica, and with Divina we were able to score an aft balcony, (our fav).

 

We figured we would give MSC one more chance, (horrendous service on Mera) with Seashore, but the aft cabins are all Aurea Suites.

 

The reduced perks were still worth it to us  and the aft Aurea suite was only about $150-200 more pp.

 

The location alone is worth it, the Thermal Spa, Top 19 and smaller MDR are icing on the cake.

We are also on a four day cruise, so if the crowd is too "Carny" we will just run away to the sun deck on 19 or the deck in the spa!

 

If the difference in price is reasonable, and you like the cabin, go for it.

 

Like you, we do not see YC as doable, but this Aurea Suite comes in at over $500pp less than a Concierge level cabin we were looking at with similar Celebrity cruise.

[Nunagoras]

JIMHO; at the current perks per value scheme I'd say it doesn't worth it anymore. Better to have a YIN cabin a little bit above those rates than Aurea suites... To each their own though. If a particular cabin location, anytime dining and the top deck are priorities for you go for it. For me Aurea is just a glorified Fantastica with very few to add on. I'd to save those extra bucks for anything else.

[sidari]

23 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

JIMHO; at the current perks per value scheme I'd say it doesn't worth it anymore. Better to have a YIN cabin a little bit above those rates than Aurea suites... To each their own though. If a particular cabin location, anytime dining and the top deck are priorities for you go for it. For me Aurea is just a glorified Fantastica with very few to add on. I'd to save those extra bucks for anything else.

We were thinking along those lines but booked an Aurea suite on Virtuosa because the premium extra drinks were with it, will miss the massage though. Our first stop is Lisbon in early May.

[macusr]

18 hours ago, georgiapeach84 said:

We haven't sailed since 2019, but our past two cruises were with MSC with and Aurea suite (Divina) and Aurea balcony (Seaside). This was back when a free massage and the drink plus package included all specialty coffee and gelato from the 3rd party spots (chances are they discontinued this because of the amount of gelato our kids alone consumed that week :D)  Needless to say we enjoyed the MSC charm and rolled well with all it's quirks. 

 

Other perks that we enjoyed:

*we loved the (at the time) thermal spa on the Seaside

*flexible dining 

*access to the top solarium

 

We're looking at Seaside or Meraviglia sometime in the next several months- Caribbean/Bahamas for 4 or 7 nights. 

Thoughts from recent travelers? Any other perks I'm missing? (Also please don't say Yacht Club...my heart says yes but my bank account says no.) Cheers!

 

Yes even with the elimination of a couple perks, I still think Aurea is the next best thing to booking Yacht Club.  Anytime dining (and on some ships like Seascape that means a dedicated dining room), Top 19 sun deck, and thermal suite benefits are definitely worth it to us.

[Nunagoras]

19 hours ago, sidari said:

We were thinking along those lines but booked an Aurea suite on Virtuosa because the premium extra drinks were with it, will miss the massage though. Our first stop is Lisbon in early May.

Yeah!... I was talking about regular catalogue pricing and T&C's. Of course if a special promotion was in season, things would to be different, though! Meanwhile be very welcome to our lovely Lisbon! Lovely and very easy to go once the cruise terminal is right in the center of the city, near the central railway station which is one of our landmarks by itself!... Have a nice sailing!...

[Tierun]

One of the best perks of Aurea is the priority embarkation. It keeps you from having to wait in a line that can stretch for hours at times.

[georgiapeach84]

To be fair, thinking in retro, this alone might make it worth it 😁 (re: priority embarkation)

Edited February 5, 2023 by georgiapeach84
addition of reference

[styles27]

21 hours ago, macusr said:

Yes even with the elimination of a couple perks, I still think Aurea is the next best thing to booking Yacht Club.  Anytime dining (and on some ships like Seascape that means a dedicated dining room), Top 19 sun deck, and thermal suite benefits are definitely worth it to us.

I agree esecially the anytime dining is worth it to us.  We chose 1st seating for our last cruise (Fantastica) on our paperwork it said 6:30 but when we boarded we were assigned 5:30.  Technically it was the 1st of 3 seatings because the ship was soldout, but way too early for us.  

We couldn't switch it for the entire 14 days.  

Also, couldn't find a chair on deck on sea days so that is another advantage of Aurea.

For those 2 things alone it's worth it for us. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by styles27

[CruisingFox27]

On 2/4/2023 at 6:17 PM, Nunagoras said:

JIMHO; at the current perks per value scheme I'd say it doesn't worth it anymore. Better to have a YIN cabin a little bit above those rates than Aurea suites... To each their own though. If a particular cabin location, anytime dining and the top deck are priorities for you go for it. For me Aurea is just a glorified Fantastica with very few to add on. I'd to save those extra bucks for anything else.

We also thought the same and will be completing our Fantastica experiment in April. The anytime dining was the big advantage for us, severe reservations over the fixed dining and table sharing (will ask onboard if a table for 2 is available but we're on an older ship).

[Sysdeath]

What does priority boarding really mean?  I am on the Mera in a couple of weeks and my embarkation time is 2:30 PM.   Does that mean I can board earlier than 2:30 PM?   I cannot get a clear answer from MSC.

[sidari]

9 hours ago, Sysdeath said:

What does priority boarding really mean?  I am on the Mera in a couple of weeks and my embarkation time is 2:30 PM.   Does that mean I can board earlier than 2:30 PM?   I cannot get a clear answer from MSC.

It means you will queue in a different line to all those who are booked in Fantastica and Bella cabins, usually Aurea will have a smaller queue.