The class system explained...

Help me with the different classes....

As my name suggests, I'm kinda a Royal Caribbean junkie. I'm trying out something new, and likely booking MSC.

I'm having trouble understanding the class system, can someone explain it to me?

There's the all in-clusive yacht club -- which I understand includes private pool & restaurant, elevators to the spa? is the spa free too?? free drinks?

Then there's a wellness, aurora, and fantastic experience....

We're really interested in the Grand Suites, but it looks like they're not available in the all inclusive area. So I'm trying to figure out if we get one, what will we be giving up.

Someone told me MSC was very ala carte, even coffee had a fee, they told me only go if I did the all-inclusive. Is that true?

Help a royal caribbean guy out

This might be a good place to start:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Cruise-Deals/Our-Fares.aspx

There is a table that tells you what's included with each experience:

Inclusive Experience Benefits

So yes, the YC includes access to some exclusive parts of the ship, free drinks, and free access to the thermal suite in the spa. But even if you choose the cheapest experience (Bella), you can add an unlimited beverage package and purchase access to the spa, access to the private sundeck, etc. and your cruise will be pretty much all-inclusive. I'm not saying it will be equivalent to the YC, but you won't have to worry about paying for every coffee.

Info for the Yacht Club:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Why-MSC/MSC-Yacht-Club.aspx

I had already seen the yacht club and fare links and was still a little confused, the chart hawkeye posted helped.

So it appears the free menu of spa services in the Aurea class is not available in the yacht club. So Yacht club gives you the butler and private part of the ship, but not everything that's in the other classes.

Just trying to understand.

Also Room Service mentioned service being free at parts of the day and service and breakfast being free in some groups.

Does this mean there's a fee in general?

Aurea includes a Balinese massage or equivalent priced alternative. Free access to the thermal area is included in both Aurea and Yacht Club bookings.

Bella guests pay for room service as well as items on the breakfast and room service menus. All others include the service plus breakfast items, but the room service menu items come with a charge - except in YC, where there's no charge for service or items.

We are also RC fans and booked our first MSC trip for June. We also found that perks vary, depending on ship and itinerary (Northern Europe has different perks than the Caribbean). We went with the "Fantastica" experience, as it came with 12 drink coupons (Northern Europe itinerary), which is plenty for us. But again, depending on destination, that could vary. It is a confusing process. I've had to call them twice due to problems with the website (nothing new to a RC fan!!), but customer service has been great!

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Another long-time RCI cruiser here, and we, too, are booked on our first MSC Divina cruise for December. We went with the Fantastica Balcony experience for a few reasons: mainly this allowed us to choose our preferred dining time, without worrying about them assigning us a dining time. Also, this gives us each 12 drink vouchers, which would be close to what we'd get in RCI's Diamond lounge each evening. Plus they're offering restaurant vouchers, AND status match to our RCI D-status. All in all, very nice incentives to try a new cruise line, which I'm really ready to do.

I agree with you--the customer service has been excellent. We are working directly with an MSC vacation planner, and he's been very responsive to phone calls and/or emails. So far I'm very pleased with the MSC experience. We're very much looking forward to our cruise in December.

We are long time RCCL folks too. We have booked on Seaside April 18. We booked a Grand Suite cheaper that our normal 2 inside cabins. The MSC vacation planner we are working with is awesome. We are looking forward to trying them out!

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We are also long time RCCL cruisers (since 1993). We took our first MSC cruise this past November and we've since booked 4 more cruises with them. Vibe onboard to me seemed like Celebrity ships. Little more laid back than RCL, which suits us. They still have games like Quest and trivia, etc. Bars in the evening stayed open very late and all had live entertainment. Drinks, much more reasonable than RCCL. We matched our RCCL loyalty status to MSC black card, which gave us each a complimentary specialty dining and a gift of bubbly and chocolate covered strawberries in our room and each received a MSC ball cap (sometimes they give bags). We also each received a chocolate ship model. Overall, we were very pleased with the MSC product and price points.

We are also long time RCCL cruisers (since 1993). We took our first MSC cruise this past November and we've since booked 4 more cruises with them. Vibe onboard to me seemed like Celebrity ships. Little more laid back than RCL, which suits us. They still have games like Quest and trivia, etc. Bars in the evening stayed open very late and all had live entertainment. Drinks, much more reasonable than RCCL. We matched our RCCL loyalty status to MSC black card, which gave us each a complimentary specialty dining and a gift of bubbly and chocolate covered strawberries in our room and each received a MSC ball cap (sometimes they give bags). We also each received a chocolate ship model. Overall, we were very pleased with the MSC product and price points.

I am curious, what is the size of that chocolate ship model.

Maybe 10 inches long :cool: Not great chocolate, but it's a fun gift.

Hawkeyetlse...thanks for the info and photo.

Also, this gives us each 12 drink vouchers

So both passengers receive the 12-drink vouchers? They don't have to share?

Maybe 10 inches long :cool: Not great chocolate, but it's a fun gift.

 

here is "OPERA" fresh from the mould you can ses the sort of size they are

Pete

And it's a solid chocolate mold, not hollow. Funny thing was I got snagged by TSA trying to bring it home in my carry-on, because it looked "suspicious" to them.

The bigger the ship you're on the bigger the chocolate ship you receive! The chocolate is Yuck!! Italians aren't renowned for their chocolate.

One nice thing(among others) is that each of you gets the Black Card gifts, not one per stateroom like on RC and Celebrity. 2 Bottles of Prosecco, 2 trays of chocolate covered strawberries, 2 dinners for 2 in the pay dining room etc.

One nice thing(among others) is that each of you gets the Black Card gifts 2 Bottles of Prosecco, 2 trays of chocolate covered strawberries,

Not always. Both myself and DH are Black Card holders and have done a number of cruises with both of us at that level. We only ever receive one bottle with one plate of choc fruits and, when we query it, we're told it's one per cabin. On only one occasion, the Cruise Consultant offered to send a second bottle & plate to the cabin. We declined the offer as DH doesn't drink Prosecco anyway and we rarely eat the strawberries/fruit.

I'm aware that others on the forum have a different experience - I'm just saying that it's not always the case.

Some of the gifts we only got one of (prosecco, fruit bowl, fruit plate), some we got two (MSC logo gift, chocolate ship). I don't know if there is a strict policy about this, but it was fine with us. Zero fruit bowls would have been fine, too :D

What do you mean by "restaurant voucher" What does this get you? We booked fantastica class. How much to upgrade to unlimited beverage? Does everyone in the cabin have to do the same?

Some of the gifts we only got one of (prosecco, fruit bowl, fruit plate), some we got two (MSC logo gift, chocolate ship). I don't know if there is a strict policy about this, but it was fine with us. Zero fruit bowls would have been fine, too :D

I was beginning to get a bit neurotic about this as I always felt from reading posts/reviews on here that we were the only ones getting only one bottle LOL It's good to know I'm not the only poster who gets just the one. On our recent Fantasia cruise we only received one MSC logo gift (tote bag). When I asked the Cruise Consultant why he'd only sent one to the room he said it was because they were running low on stock!!!!

What do you mean by "restaurant voucher" What does this get you?

How much to upgrade to unlimited beverage? Does everyone in the cabin have to do the same?

What do you mean by "restaurant voucher" What does this get you? We booked fantastica class. How much to upgrade to unlimited beverage? Does everyone in the cabin have to do the same?

Not too sure where you read "restaurant voucher". Black Card holders get one voucher each for a meal for two in a Speciality Restaurant. As you mention that you booked Fantastica class, I can only assume that you meant the included 12 drinks vouchers with this category booking. I'm not sure that you can upgrade from vouchers to all-inclusive. Everyone in the same cabin must have the same drinks package. Vouchers, on the other hand, can be shared, though each person in the cabin receives the 12 vouchers.

On the Divina, we received 2 of each black card gift (one for each of us). Regarding the specialty dinners, you get to choose one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert each from the regular menu. MSC changed this from the "limited" menu last fall. Sorry I can't answer re vouchers upgrading to all inclusive drinks, since we had the all inclusive to start with.