Rare JamieLogical Posted July 24 #1 Share Posted July 24 Has anyone had experience with this? My husband and I are Aurea on our January sailing on the Meraviglia and my parents will be joining us, but are only Fantastica. Obviously, they wouldn't be able to dine with us in the Aurea section of Panorama, but would we be able to go to the normal MDR maitre d on embarkation day and get our (and theirs) dining assignment changed so we can all sit together at dinner? I assume they will initially be assigned to a two-top or a sharing table with other passengers, so they would have to get their dining assignment changed as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boschmann Posted July 24 #2 Share Posted July 24 I did this on Meraviglia. I was on the previous cruise and was joined by family for the second leg of our back to back. I talked with an assistant Maitre d and he put us all together in his restaurant, Waves. We actually had excellent service and the restaurant was not too crowded. Didn't miss Panorama which was much more chaotic. I didn't link our reservations but it likely would be fine if you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moomsh Posted July 24 #3 Share Posted July 24 Curious about this situation too. We are booked Aurea and just had friends book Fantastica. Would like to dine with them at least a few nights. How and when do you link reservations? Would need to speak to maitre d at dining room they get assigned to? Than you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 24 Author #4 Share Posted July 24 8 minutes ago, moomsh said: Curious about this situation too. We are booked Aurea and just had friends book Fantastica. Would like to dine with them at least a few nights. How and when do you link reservations? Would need to speak to maitre d at dining room they get assigned to? Than you. In the past, I have been able to link reservations through the website after web check-in has opened. My concern is that I know there is some logic built into the linking system. I was sailing with 5 other solo cruises last October. Five of us had the drinks package and one did not. I was able to link all five of the reservations with the drinks package, but not the one person who did not have it. We had to wait until we were onboard to have him added to our table. I had assumed some similar logic might apply if/when trying to book a Fantastica booking to our Aurea booking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBeardedCruiser Posted July 25 #5 Share Posted July 25 13 hours ago, JamieLogical said: Has anyone had experience with this? My husband and I are Aurea on our January sailing on the Meraviglia and my parents will be joining us, but are only Fantastica. Obviously, they wouldn't be able to dine with us in the Aurea section of Panorama, but would we be able to go to the normal MDR maitre d on embarkation day and get our (and theirs) dining assignment changed so we can all sit together at dinner? I assume they will initially be assigned to a two-top or a sharing table with other passengers, so they would have to get their dining assignment changed as well. Wait, you are JamieLogical. You can't ask questions. You can only answer questions 🤣🤣🤣 I'm just teasing! I've seen you answer so many questions, it was fun to see you ask a question for once. In all seriousness, post cruise, would you mind filling us in on how this worked? I've been talking to two couples about joining my wife and I on a cruise, and we'll likely be in the same position that you currently are. Thank you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 25 Author #6 Share Posted July 25 9 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said: Wait, you are JamieLogical. You can't ask questions. You can only answer questions 🤣🤣🤣 I'm just teasing! I've seen you answer so many questions, it was fun to see you ask a question for once. In all seriousness, post cruise, would you mind filling us in on how this worked? I've been talking to two couples about joining my wife and I on a cruise, and we'll likely be in the same position that you currently are. Thank you! Ha! It must come as a real shock that I am not omnipotent! Honestly, the way I learned enough to answer so many other people's questions was by originally asking my own questions. I had a LOT of questions before my first MSC sailing and I am grateful to everyone who provided answers here. I enjoy "paying it forward" by answering questions for others. I will definitely let people know how it goes. I am sure to do a Live Blog of that sailing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perakcruiser Posted July 25 #7 Share Posted July 25 Since the special Aurea menu is gone and all restaurants and sections except YC share the same menu, it is not a big thing now to eat together. Maitre d will handle it. If a non drinks package guest can sit together with drinks package guests depends on the mood of the Maitre d, officially he cannot allow this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 25 Author #8 Share Posted July 25 2 minutes ago, perakcruiser said: Since the special Aurea menu is gone and all restaurants and sections except YC share the same menu, it is not a big thing now to eat together. Maitre d will handle it. If a non drinks package guest can sit together with drinks package guests depends on the mood of the Maitre d, officially he cannot allow this. I am just concerned that if the cruise is fully booked and all tables assigned, it might be hard to "make room" for two people who should be eating in the Aurea section of Panorama in some other dining room and finding a 4-top for us when my parents will have already been assigned a 2-top or a sharing table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moomsh Posted July 25 #9 Share Posted July 25 @JamieLogical if I may ask another question from such experienced cruisers. When traveling to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, what route near the city do you take from Rochester? The Cruise Terminal site list one way but when we enter into our gps it shows us completely different ways. (Battery Tunnel vs Brooklyn Bridge, etc) Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 25 Author #10 Share Posted July 25 16 minutes ago, moomsh said: @JamieLogical if I may ask another question from such experienced cruisers. When traveling to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, what route near the city do you take from Rochester? The Cruise Terminal site list one way but when we enter into our gps it shows us completely different ways. (Battery Tunnel vs Brooklyn Bridge, etc) Thanks in advance I have actually not driven to a cruise out of Brooklyn yet, I have only driven to sailings out of Manhattan. However, I do intend to drive to my October sailing and will likely just take the route my GPS advises since I get real-time traffic updates to my car's GPS, so it will factor in constructions and accidents that could cause delays. It seems to me that the most likely route would be the Holland Tunnel and then Battery Tunnel? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBeardedCruiser Posted July 25 #11 Share Posted July 25 3 hours ago, JamieLogical said: Ha! It must come as a real shock that I am not omnipotent! Honestly, the way I learned enough to answer so many other people's questions was by originally asking my own questions. I had a LOT of questions before my first MSC sailing and I am grateful to everyone who provided answers here. I enjoy "paying it forward" by answering questions for others. I will definitely let people know how it goes. I am sure to do a Live Blog of that sailing. I'm looking forward to the Live Blog. No pressure if you decide not to though! It's your vacation after all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notley-cruise Posted July 25 #12 Share Posted July 25 20 hours ago, moomsh said: Curious about this situation too. We are booked Aurea and just had friends book Fantastica. Would like to dine with them at least a few nights. How and when do you link reservations? Would need to speak to maitre d at dining room they get assigned to? Than you. The website won't allow bookings to be linked if the drinks and experience packages differ. You need to speak to the Restaurant manager once on board, it's at their discretion whether to combine diverse bookings in whichever MDR they decide. You may need to accept fixed dining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notley-cruise Posted July 25 #13 Share Posted July 25 (edited) 2 hours ago, JamieLogical said: I am just concerned that if the cruise is fully booked and all tables assigned, it might be hard to "make room" for two people who should be eating in the Aurea section of Panorama in some other dining room and finding a 4-top for us when my parents will have already been assigned a 2-top or a sharing table. Aurea is anytime dining so where people are seated is determined by table availability, although you typically get the same table and waiting staff each time. It's at the restaurant manager's discretion as to whether it's possible. you may need to move to fixed time dining section, or they may be moved to anytime dining. Even on an at capacity sailing not every table is fully utilised at every seating, as many guests skip the Main Dining Rooms and use Buffet or Speciality restaurants. Ancedotally, we were able to have family upgraded to anytime dining to join us on last cruise in April, and will look to do the same next month, this is on Adriatic sailings. Edited July 25 by notley-cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 25 Author #14 Share Posted July 25 (edited) 25 minutes ago, notley-cruise said: The website won't allow bookings to be linked if the drinks and experience packages differ. You need to speak to the Restaurant manager once on board, it's at their discretion whether to combine diverse bookings in whichever MDR they decide. You may need to accept fixed dining. I was already willing to accept fixed dining. I said that in my first post. I have ZERO expectation that my Fantastica parents would be able to do anytime dining in the Aurea section of Panorama. That would be nuts! Edited July 25 by JamieLogical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fissues Posted July 26 #15 Share Posted July 26 Last time on Mera, We were Aurea and they let our friends dine with us in Panorama. They were not Aurea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 26 Author #16 Share Posted July 26 2 hours ago, Fissues said: Last time on Mera, We were Aurea and they let our friends dine with us in Panorama. They were not Aurea. That doesn't seem super fair to all the folks who pay extra for Aurea so they can have anytime dining.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted July 26 #17 Share Posted July 26 29 minutes ago, JamieLogical said: That doesn't seem super fair to all the folks who pay extra for Aurea so they can have anytime dining.... It may seem that way, but I think cruises from the US have more people wanting early seating than they can accommodate, so it might be an advantage to them to allow the others to move to Aurea. EM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin79 Posted July 27 #18 Share Posted July 27 (edited) On 7/24/2024 at 2:51 PM, JamieLogical said: Has anyone had experience with this? My husband and I are Aurea on our January sailing on the Meraviglia and my parents will be joining us, but are only Fantastica. We sailed on Grandiosa with Aurea September 2022, with 2 solo friends who were both Fantastica. As they had the same drink package as us, I was able to get the bookings linked. Went to the restaurant on the first day to get assigned together, thinking same as you, and Friends were allowed to use the Aurea dining area with us. We were totally prepared to use fixed dining times. I should add I wasn't able to link bookings online, but they did it via email. I just sent an email without any expectation for timing of reply or if it would happen etc. Edited July 27 by Kevin79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidari Posted July 27 #19 Share Posted July 27 On 7/25/2024 at 2:50 PM, perakcruiser said: Since the special Aurea menu is gone and all restaurants and sections except YC share the same menu, it is not a big thing now to eat together. Maitre d will handle it. If a non drinks package guest can sit together with drinks package guests depends on the mood of the Maitre d, officially he cannot allow this. As far as I recall there has never been a special Aurea menu! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisingFox27 Posted July 27 #20 Share Posted July 27 On 7/26/2024 at 1:20 PM, JamieLogical said: That doesn't seem super fair to all the folks who pay extra for Aurea so they can have anytime dining.... It definitely isn't. The anytime dining is the significant benefit of Aurea. On 7/26/2024 at 1:51 PM, Essiesmom said: It may seem that way, but I think cruises from the US have more people wanting early seating than they can accommodate, so it might be an advantage to them to allow the others to move to Aurea. EM But then that's using up space that the Aurea people have paid extra to access. I wouldn't be very happy to find I couldn't be seated in the Aurea restaurant at the time of my choice because it was taken up with non Aurea experience passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 27 Author #21 Share Posted July 27 21 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said: It definitely isn't. The anytime dining is the significant benefit of Aurea. But then that's using up space that the Aurea people have paid extra to access. I wouldn't be very happy to find I couldn't be seated in the Aurea restaurant at the time of my choice because it was taken up with non Aurea experience passengers. I will say that the one time I was in Aurea on the Meraviglia so far, there was always PLENTY of free tables in the Aurea section of Panorama. I agree, it would be much more egregious if real Aurea passengers were having to wait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perakcruiser Posted July 27 #22 Share Posted July 27 3 hours ago, sidari said: As far as I recall there has never been a special Aurea menu! Of cause there was! At least until 2018. Not on all ships maybe. It had dishes from the speciality restaurants included, for example the signature pistachio crusted rack of lamb. You remember the MSC Galaxy restaurant? That was gone earlier, but some Galaxy dished survived in the Aurea restaurant, the last time I saw it was on the Armonia in the Caribbean in summer 2018. The menu of the Aurea restaurant usually contained the MDR dished with two or three "high end" extra options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidari Posted August 2 #23 Share Posted August 2 On 7/27/2024 at 3:52 PM, perakcruiser said: Of cause there was! At least until 2018. Not on all ships maybe. It had dishes from the speciality restaurants included, for example the signature pistachio crusted rack of lamb. You remember the MSC Galaxy restaurant? That was gone earlier, but some Galaxy dished survived in the Aurea restaurant, the last time I saw it was on the Armonia in the Caribbean in summer 2018. The menu of the Aurea restaurant usually contained the MDR dished with two or three "high end" extra options. Never used the Galaxy restaurant on Divina or Preziosa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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