NEW MSC Drink Packages (2021 onwards)

[paceyswife]

I miss the drink coupons and wine packages. We still have a booklet. 

[Nunagoras]

23 minutes ago, paceyswife said:

I miss the drink coupons and wine packages. We still have a booklet. 

That's it exactly!... They used to be of good value, especially on those high port intensive cruises where you only needed a few drinks to go forward with your evening. Miss the coffee one and my father misses the beer ones!...

[Nunagoras]

2 hours ago, Até said:

Unfortunately MSC has really been changing the drinks packages a lot over the last several years.  What's even worse is you really can't be sure what the drink prices on the ship will be and what will be covered under your package by the time you sail, but that has also happened to me with other cruise lines.  While currently Aurea gets the Easy package there's a chance your Aurea booking will include the Easy Plus package, currently this is mentioned on the Canadian website and I expect to see it appear on other websites by this Fall (a few country's site still state Easy though).  To my knowledge the included Aurea drink packages have never included the minibar.

 

No MSC ship that I know of has soft serve 24 hours a day but I'm pretty sure Seashore will have it available enough hours to satisfy most kids.  It's highly unlikely there is a way for MSC to "downgrade" your package.  Your package includes soda, perhaps you could go with the Italian theme and would like gelato.  Available for a reasonable charge.

Sadly so true!... Couldn't agree more!... I'd wish that at least they could to follow what RCI is doing for quite a long time from now. I finished now to see their current drinks packages offering... And it is the same they had 6 years ago when I was there on the Allure!... Obviously they have just adjusted the price and the top limits for drinks to be had. Their schedule is quite small and easy to understand!... Just 2 big packages, one alcoholic, one non alcoholic plus a soda plan. Obviously for the Europeans I'd to add a 3rd big package option mixing the non alcoholic part with house wines and beers at meals and perhaps a little list of some well drinks to go along in the bars to please the light drinkers that in most markets should to be OK with that. It is not so difficult to do like some might to think about... If RCI can stick 6 years in a row with pretty much the same schedule, MSC could quite easily to do the same...

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

Just to clarify - the minibar was never included in Aurea, only in YC or with the upper drinks packages (originally Deluxe, then PremiumPlus). 

Sorry to contradict you, @Beamafar but the minibar was included when were in an Aurea balcony back in October 2018 on the Seaside. I guess they've since changed things but we absolutely did have free access to the minibar back then. Times have changed, apparently.

[Beamafar]

And you didn’t upgrade the included package?   Aurea always only included the lower drinks package which never covered the minibar.  We’ve had Aurea cabins many times and only had the minibar when we upgraded.  

[Até]

2 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

They have NO drink packages at any reasonable charge.

I've found MSC can have some outstanding deals on drink packages.  Often MSC will add the All In promotional rate to sailings a little while after the initial offering and bookings have slowed down.  THis promotional rate varies by ship, how well it's booking and closeness to sail date.  Many times I've see the Easy package and internet included for less than $20pp per day over the base rate.  Then you could upgrade to Premium for $24pp per day.  So for less than $44pp per day you could get a very decent package, plus if you pay in advance for the upgrade there is no gratuity added.

 

It does look like the new packages will be less inclusive.  But I have seen a few posters quite happy with the deal they got through the Memorial Day sale.  I'm sure there were also some bad deals, as with my sailing.  You just have to pay attention and be flexible.

[Nunagoras]

1 hour ago, Até said:

I've found MSC can have some outstanding deals on drink packages.  Often MSC will add the All In promotional rate to sailings a little while after the initial offering and bookings have slowed down.  THis promotional rate varies by ship, how well it's booking and closeness to sail date.  Many times I've see the Easy package and internet included for less than $20pp per day over the base rate.  Then you could upgrade to Premium for $24pp per day.  So for less than $44pp per day you could get a very decent package, plus if you pay in advance for the upgrade there is no gratuity added.

 

It does look like the new packages will be less inclusive.  But I have seen a few posters quite happy with the deal they got through the Memorial Day sale.  I'm sure there were also some bad deals, as with my sailing.  You just have to pay attention and be flexible.

Yeah!... The secret is to stay tuned with our market's MSC website and to decide in accordance if we need!...

[DCGuy64]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

And you didn’t upgrade the included package?   Aurea always only included the lower drinks package which never covered the minibar.  We’ve had Aurea cabins many times and only had the minibar when we upgraded.  

Yes, we did upgrade to Premium+ so we'd get the pricier drinks. Maybe that was why the minibar was included, come to think of it. (I just remembered that we were in Aurea and the minibar was included, that was all) Thank for jogging my memory, @Beamafar!

[Beamafar]

52 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Yes, we did upgrade to Premium+ so we'd get the pricier drinks. Maybe that was why the minibar was included, come to think of it.

No “maybe” about it - that’s exactly why you had free access to the minibar. 

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, Beamafar said:

No “maybe” about it - that’s exactly why you had free access to the minibar. 

At any rate, I stand by what I said-we had an Aurea cabin with access to the minibar. From what I recall, it was pretty cheap, too. Those were the days, LOL!

[sidari]

Coming in a bit late to this bit of the discussion but Bea is correct we sailed Seaside inaugural and the following April and had to upgrade to the Deluxe package on both occasions to have the mini bar included.

The same was true on Divina at Xmas and New year 2018/19.

[Beamafar]

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

At any rate, I stand by what I said-we had an Aurea cabin with access to the minibar.

You’re insisting on implying that you had free access to the minibar on account of having an Aurea stateroom when that is not the case.   You had free access because you had PremiumPlus which would have applied had you had a Bella Inside (or any other level cabin for that matter) and had nothing to do with having the Aurea “Experience”. 

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

You’re insisting on implying that you had free access to the minibar on account of having an Aurea stateroom when that is not the case.   You had free access because you had PremiumPlus which would have applied had you had a Bella Inside (or any other level cabin for that matter) and had nothing to do with having the Aurea “Experience”. 

Wow, Bea, take it easy, you're seeking an argument where none is warranted. All I said was that I remember we had a cabin with the Aurea experience and I distinctly remember we had access to the minibar. You suggested it might have been because we upgraded the drinks package and I thanked you for reminding me of just that. So you are correct. Can we please just drop this now? 🤷‍♂️

(as a side note, I'd say we enjoyed having the perks of the Aurea experience like the solarium and the Thermal Spa, things a Bella passenger with upgraded drinks wouldn't have gotten)

Edited June 2, 2021 by DCGuy64

[Beamafar]

As I clarified earlier, to those not familiar with the MSC “Experiences”, the minibar was never included in Aurea so there is no downgrading in that regard.  

[sidari]

If my memory is correct the downgrade was from Classic to Easy, an upgrade to Easy plus would go someway to restoring things.

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, sidari said:

If my memory is correct the downgrade was from Classic to Easy, an upgrade to Easy plus would go someway to restoring things.

It was quite funny when the current packages were introduced and MSC were offering the Premium drinks package as a promotional inclusion if you booked the “Fantastica Experience” (in the UK/Ireland market) before copping on that it left Aurea with only the ‘Easy’ package included.   It wasn’t long before they changed it to “Aurea upgrade” meaning that it also had Premium included 😂

[Nunagoras]

Maybe, both Bea and DCGuy do have their reason right out of the box!... While officially Aurea has had the lower rate drinks package for ages, sometimes in certain markets they do have had some deals where they happened to have Aurea with the top drinks package and Fantastica with the lower one. Plenty of those deals here in Portugal till very recently...

[hamrag]

On 6/2/2021 at 3:17 PM, DCGuy64 said:

....we benefit from a 5+5% Voyagers Club discount and we're getting $250 OBC each for our upcoming sailing, so it's kind of a wash. And we're in Yacht Club, so there's not a whole lot we'll have to pay for out of pocket...

Yacht Club?....I swear that you wrote on another thread you were frugal! 🤣

 

YC is the most amazing experience...enjoy thoroughly. 

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, hamrag said:

Yacht Club?....I swear that you wrote on another thread you were frugal! 🤣

 

YC is the most amazing experience...enjoy thoroughly. 

HAHA, yes I did. Compared to The Haven and The Retreat, YC is cheap! 😁

[hamrag]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

HAHA, yes I did. Compared to The Haven and The Retreat, YC is cheap! 😁

Just been reading your little spat with Bea!  🤣

So, no spats please when I suggest it's not cheap anymore....price continues on an upward trajectory.

[DCGuy64]

Just now, hamrag said:

Just been reading your little spat with Bea!  🤣

So, no spats please when I suggest it's not cheap anymore....price continues on an upward trajectory.

That was a weird interaction, as I indicated above, I wasn't trying to get into an argument. I simply forgot that the reason we got the minibar was that we'd upgraded. Anyway....

And yes, you're absolutely right about the prices. I've been looking at some YC cabins for later this summer and they're not cheap! I guess they got too popular so MSC hiked the prices. But I think it's still good value compared to other lines. Are you booked on one sometime soon?

 

[hamrag]

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

That was a weird interaction, as I indicated above, I wasn't trying to get into an argument. I simply forgot that the reason we got the minibar was that we'd upgraded. Anyway....

And yes, you're absolutely right about the prices. I've been looking at some YC cabins for later this summer and they're not cheap! I guess they got too popular so MSC hiked the prices. But I think it's still good value compared to other lines. Are you booked on one sometime soon?

 

With regard to the Bea interaction...In the UK, and probably Ireland also we sometimes use the expression '(s)he doth protest too much' originating from Shakespeares Hamlet play. 😉

 

We  have a YC Deluxe Suite booking on the Seaview repositioning 17 night cruise Barcelona to Fort-de-France, Martinique 17th November. My confidence this will go ahead increases each week, following a previous cancellation October 2020 on Meraviglia from NYC to Miami.

 

You've probably followed the Virtuosa UK cruise threads in recent weeks. We are considering booking for July or August, but YC pricing is exorbitant especially for Deluxe Suite. If we do book, it will be a YC inside which is priced at a level we would expect for Deluxe Suite! 😲

[wetcoast]

Looks like even with the Premium Extra package, no champagne is available. Upgrading from my included easy package to easy plus is $16 /day is reasonable for what you get.   $44 a day to premium extra is not worth it for me. Happy i upgraded to premium plus on my last cruise, i got my monies worth from that one.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Guess I must be missing something. Unless I am a heavy drinker, I do not see any MSC drink package worth the cost. Even if all I drink is soda. That price is nuts.

[drsel]

When the Easy Plus or Easy package is included in your cruise fare at the time of booking, will 15% drinks service charges for each & every "free" drink be added to your bill ? ( like Norwegian) or not added ? (like Celebrity)