Fantastica vs Aurea balconies availability

[igorjrr]

Hello!

After selecting Balcony...

Fantastica shows many decks and cabins available.

Aurea shows only two cabins available.

They are all the same size.

 

Why Aurea has more limited options? I understand Yacht Club would be limited because it's a separate area of the ship, but Fantastica and Aurea are all over the ship, so why Aurea and Fantastica don't show same cabins available?

 

If I book one of the two Aurea available, is it possible to move to any other available cabin (that is currently showing only under Fantastica)?

If it matters, it's a cruise in December (so many many months ahead).

 

Thank you!

Edited July 18, 2023 by igorjrr
typo in title

[Essiesmom]

You don’t mention which ship.  But there are always more Bella and Fantastica cabins than Aurea.

1.  Aurea and Fantastica are different experiences and you can’t move between them if you want to change cabins.

2.  Book what you want.  Don’t mess with your booking.  MSC is known for bizarre complications if you try to change things.

EM

[igorjrr]

5 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

You don’t mention which ship.  But there are always more Bella and Fantastica cabins than Aurea.

1.  Aurea and Fantastica are different experiences and you can’t move between them if you want to change cabins.

2.  Book what you want.  Don’t mess with your booking.  MSC is known for bizarre complications if you try to change things.

EM

 

Thank you. I understand they are different experiences, but physically cabins are the same, so one could stay anywhere in the ship. I don't understand why Aurea has specific cabins if they are physically the same as balcony cabins from Fantastica, Bella.

[JamieLogical]

My suspicion is the amenities associated with the Aurea experience might require additional duties to be performed by room stewards, such as replacing bathrobes, delivering your welcome sparkling wine and chocolates, etc. So they probably have all of the Aurea balcony rooms serviced by specific room stewards, thus the need for them to be in a specific "block" of the ship.

[perakcruiser]

10 hours ago, igorjrr said:

but physically cabins are the same

They are not. Maybe sometimes and in your case, depends on the ship. On the older ships Aurea cabins are the cabins formerly known as Junior Suites. 

 

And there are so many factors, which ship and of cause which embarking port. Certainly all ports get their share of Aurea cabins, that can limit the available ones for a minor port to very few. 

[Scottdalfonso]

Pretty sure on Seascape and newer ships, Aurea rooms are slightly bigger and even if not, they are in more "desirable" locations. 

[actuarian]

9 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

 On the older ships Aurea cabins are the cabins formerly known as Junior Suites. 

I am not sure which "older ships" you are referring to.  However, on the Seaside, there are 44 rooms on deck 9 that were once classified as "Fantastica Junior Suites" and that are now "Aurea Junior Suites" (rooms 9205,9207,9209-9250,9252). Those rooms are normal balcony rooms on the inside but are called Junior Suites because they have enormous balconies. However, there are also 48 rooms on the same deck that have balconies that are only slightly larger than normal balconies and are presently classified as "Aurea Balcony". Those 48 rooms were never called Junior Suites and seem to be classified as Aurea mainly because of their location being right above the spa (rooms 9018,9020-9065,9067).

Edited July 19, 2023 by actuarian

[perakcruiser]

18 minutes ago, actuarian said:

I am not sure which "older ships" you are referring to.

Lirica-class for example. The "Junior Suite" we had on the Armonia in 2011 is now Aurea. 

 

 

[actuarian]

30 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Lirica-class for example. The "Junior Suite" we had on the Armonia in 2011 is now Aurea. 

 

 

The deck plans that I have for the Armonia do not show any Aurea Balcony rooms, just the 130 Aurea Suites (Categories SR1 and SR2) on decks 10 and 12. I do not have plans from 2011 so I do not know if they were once been called Junior Suites. However, I do not think they should be equated with the category BA Aurea Balcony rooms that are on newer ships. Those BA rooms are the same size inside as non-Aurea Balcony rooms (categories with the first letter "B" but with a second letter other than "A"), although they usually (but not always) have larger balconies.

[Tierun]

The cabins are the same size, but they are priced differently based on the perceived preferred location. The experience level also determines the cabin selection options. So a cabin on the hump with a larger angled balcony could be under Aurea while the cabin next to it with a normal balcony will be fantastica. We all know MSC is quirky and peculiar so it is what it is.

[igorjrr]

53 minutes ago, Tierun said:

The cabins are the same size, but they are priced differently based on the perceived preferred location. The experience level also determines the cabin selection options. So a cabin on the hump with a larger angled balcony could be under Aurea while the cabin next to it with a normal balcony will be fantastica. We all know MSC is quirky and peculiar so it is what it is.

 

In my case the selections available for Aurea are exactly the same size of Fantastica (no larger balcony, same room size). It's weird.

[Tierun]

1 hour ago, igorjrr said:

 

In my case the selections available for Aurea are exactly the same size of Fantastica (no larger balcony, same room size). It's weird.

Therefore in your case it seems that the location is the differentiator.

[clarky213]

The Number of Cabins allocated is to control the numbers in the dining room. If they changed experiences in cabins this would complicate the numbers when there are Multiple embarkation days as they have on some ships. If a cabin is allocated to Aurea they can't have extra people in the dining room

[CruisingWalter]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:40 PM, igorjrr said:

Thank you. I understand they are different experiences, but physically cabins are the same, so one could stay anywhere in the ship. I don't understand why Aurea has specific cabins if they are physically the same as balcony cabins from Fantastica, Bella.

 

Bella = Guarantee

Fantastica = Stateroom Selection

Aurea = Spa category.

 

There are Spa amenities that come with the Aurea category that do not come with the Bella or Fantastica category. The cabins are identical, but usually the interior decor is a little different to set them apart from everyone else. If you want the Aurea cabin you have to pay for it.

 

It's the same across all cruise lines. Aqua Class cabins are identical to Verandas on Celebrity. Cloud 9 Spa cabins are the same as standard Balconies on Carnival. The cruise lines partition out specific cabins to be part of a different class with a different set of amenities than the standard cabin. For MSC it's Aurea. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by CruisingWalter

[actuarian]

11 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Bella = Guarantee

Fantastica = Stateroom Selection

Aurea = Spa category.

 

There are Spa amenities that come with the Aurea category that do not come with the Bella or Fantastica category. The cabins are identical, but usually the interior decor is a little different to set them apart from everyone else. If you want the Aurea cabin you have to pay for it.

 

It's the same across all cruise lines. Aqua Class cabins are identical to Verandas on Celebrity. Cloud 9 Spa cabins are the same as standard Balconies on Carnival. The cruise lines partition out specific cabins to be part of a different class with a different set of amenities than the standard cabin. For MSC it's Aurea. 

I think Aurea Experience is significantly different from Celebrity Aqua Class and I have been on both multiple times. I have been on 26 Celebrity cruises and 7 MSC cruises. While both receive priority boarding after check-in, Aqua class does not have a priority check-in line like Aurea has. Also Aqua Class does not have an exclusive sundeck. Aqua Class guests do have a dedicated restaurant called Blu, which has its own kitchen. By contrast Aurea guests have their own restaurant on some of the newest MSC ships but only an area in a shared MDR on older ships and Aurea Experience guests do not have their own kitchen on any MSC ships. Perhaps the biggest difference is that Aurea Experience guests have no set dining time on MSC. On Celebrity, that is irrelevant since "my time dining" is available to all Celebrity guests on request, regardless of what class of service they are it. Both do include a few other perks such as amenities found in the rooms on arrival.

 

IMHO, the difference between the Fantastica and Aurea experiences on MSC are much more substantial than the differences between base class and Aqua Class on Celebrity, because of the priority check-in line and the exclusive sundeck. One last thing is that all MSC ships have Aurea Experience suites, in addition to the Aurea Balcony rooms. The so called "Aqua Sky Suites" on Celebrity are part of The Retreat, not Aqua Class. All suites on Celebrity are part of The Retreat and even the least expensive suite on Celebrity is much more expensive than an Aurea suite on MSC. 

 

However, even the base class of service on Celebrity usually costs more than than the Aurea Experience on MSC.  In fact, a base class room on Celebrity often costs as much as a Yacht Club room on MSC.