Is aurea worth an extra $800 from fantastica? Has anyone done both?

[blueslily]

Thanks for this question. I am getting ready to book cabins and 2 friends are going. We will be on the Seascape for a Caribbean sailing out of Miami. First, sorry, but the Florida departures for Caribbean sailings are not looking like the deals they used to be. Man, this will be the most that I've paid for a MSC sailing and its not a holiday sailing. Its early December which I sail every year. I get that it's a new MSC ship, but been there done that on MSC also, and this is still more. But, definitely not as inflated as the other lines that have bumped their heads with prices for Caribbean sailings.

 

Back to the topic. One person going has only cruised once and it was with me on Royal's Symphony of the Seas. He fell in love crusing on that sailing. The other person has never cruised. For our sailing, Aurea is $270 more per person just for a deluxe balcony room that we can get with Fantastica. Honestly, the room locations for those cabins are not good. They are at the front or back and that isn't the best for views from the balcony. But, if we book suites, then you get better rooms and Aurea benefits for hundreds more.

 

I was feeling torn because of all the options included, I want the Anytime dining, the Solarium, and the thermal suite access. I called and asked how much for the thermal suite as an add on for the week. The price is half the upgrade cost which is good. So, that leaves us without the Solarium and Anytime dining. I could deal with the dining loss, but I think we want the Solarium just to have a quieter outdoor space since ships are sailing full. It's ok if there isn't a pool. We just want access to a quieter outdoor space for relaxing, in addition to our own balconies of course. We just dont wat to be limited to staying in our rooms for quiet outdoor space. So, my internal debate continues. 

 

Sorry for the long post. 

[CruisingFox27]

18 hours ago, blueslily said:

Thanks for this question. I am getting ready to book cabins and 2 friends are going. We will be on the Seascape for a Caribbean sailing out of Miami. First, sorry, but the Florida departures for Caribbean sailings are not looking like the deals they used to be. Man, this will be the most that I've paid for a MSC sailing and its not a holiday sailing. Its early December which I sail every year. I get that it's a new MSC ship, but been there done that on MSC also, and this is still more. But, definitely not as inflated as the other lines that have bumped their heads with prices for Caribbean sailings.

 

Back to the topic. One person going has only cruised once and it was with me on Royal's Symphony of the Seas. He fell in love crusing on that sailing. The other person has never cruised. For our sailing, Aurea is $270 more per person just for a deluxe balcony room that we can get with Fantastica. Honestly, the room locations for those cabins are not good. They are at the front or back and that isn't the best for views from the balcony. But, if we book suites, then you get better rooms and Aurea benefits for hundreds more.

 

I was feeling torn because of all the options included, I want the Anytime dining, the Solarium, and the thermal suite access. I called and asked how much for the thermal suite as an add on for the week. The price is half the upgrade cost which is good. So, that leaves us without the Solarium and Anytime dining. I could deal with the dining loss, but I think we want the Solarium just to have a quieter outdoor space since ships are sailing full. It's ok if there isn't a pool. We just want access to a quieter outdoor space for relaxing, in addition to our own balconies of course. We just dont wat to be limited to staying in our rooms for quiet outdoor space. So, my internal debate continues. 

 

Sorry for the long post. 

Usually, you can pay per day to access the solarium. It was €20 per day on our last sailing. Google informs me that is approx $23. 

Although, the access is subject to availability. 

[blueslily]

28 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Usually, you can pay per day to access the solarium. It was €20 per day on our last sailing. Google informs me that is approx $23. 

Although, the access is subject to availability. 

 

Thanks. Which ship and sailing date was that price for? Thanks so much!

[CruisingFox27]

17 minutes ago, blueslily said:

 

Thanks. Which ship and sailing date was that price for? Thanks so much!

We were on Lirica early April. I've seen it on most ships previously though.

[blueslily]

2 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

We were on Lirica early April. I've seen it on most ships previously though.

Wonderful, thank you. One more question please. Is day access usually sold prior to sailing or only once we board the ship? Thanks

[CruisingFox27]

19 minutes ago, blueslily said:

Wonderful, thank you. One more question please. Is day access usually sold prior to sailing or only once we board the ship? Thanks

 

Just on board, daily, as it's subject to availability in the area. If it is full with Aurea guests, they won't sell additional spaces to non Aurea guests. So, it is a gamble if there will be availability on your chosen sailing.

 

Also, they usually have a discounted rate for use after 3pm.

Edited April 23, 2023 by CruisingFox27

[Morgsmom]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:51 PM, azilr said:

Does anyone know how you access the 40% discount on a prepaid dedicated spa package?  The options showing up for my upcoming cruise show online as a 30% discount compared on onboard.

Another "mystery" that has not been solved. There is no 40% discount on prepaid spa package unfortunately.

[Ryan82]

Personally I don't think Aurea is even remotely worth it unless you want an actual Aurea suite.

The anytime dinning is not that great - I enjoy sitting with random. The thermal spas are special - but realistically how many times do you want to go. If you status match to gold or diamond you can access them for an hour anyway.

[wayne_trisha]

I went back and forth about aurea or fantastica and decided against it. Don't care about anytime dining as we want to eat early, do not really like the cabin locations as we prefer midship, might use the thermal spa 2-3 times but I know we will miss the top deck area. Glad to see we might be able to buy access.

[actuarian]

1 hour ago, wayne_trisha said:

I know we will miss the top deck area. Glad to see we might be able to buy access.

I just got off my April 23-27 cruise on the Seaside. They were not selling access to the Top 19 sundeck; it was available only to Aurea Experience members and to Yacht Club members (including myself), who were able to access it through the doorway that connects the Yacht Club pool deck with the Top 19 deck.