Has anyone upgraded to Aurea recently ?

[sidari]

Trying to find recent info on this for a friend, read on a number of other platforms varying answers regarding whether people get the full Aurea experience if they win an upgrade bid. Some are saying yes while others are saying the Spa is not included, so has anyone won an Aurea bid to upgrade and sailed, if so did you get everything included in Aurea ? With MSC doing different thing on different ships no one seems clear as to what is or is not included.

[JAGR]

Oh dear, David!  I think you have just firmly placed yourself in the position of chair umpire at a tennis match!  I can see the ball (comments) flying all over on both sides of the net.  Well played, sir!  Well played!

[sidari]

51 minutes ago, JAGR said:

Oh dear, David!  I think you have just firmly placed yourself in the position of chair umpire at a tennis match!  I can see the ball (comments) flying all over on both sides of the net.  Well played, sir!  Well played!

Hi John ... The issue is that a friend not us has had the upgrade email, We are already booked in an Aurea suite for our sailing. It appears that there is a lot of guessing going on with regard to the issue and it would be pointless asking MSC direct because only a few weeks ago they were telling me that they no longer match anyone to Diamond when posts here on CC prove otherwise.

 

[JAGR]

51 minutes ago, sidari said:

Hi John ... The issue is that a friend not us has had the upgrade email, We are already booked in an Aurea suite for our sailing. It appears that there is a lot of guessing going on with regard to the issue and it would be pointless asking MSC direct because only a few weeks ago they were telling me that they no longer match anyone to Diamond when posts here on CC prove otherwise.

 

The C in MSC does not stand for "Consistency." 😁

[SirJackDaniels]

I've put in a bid for a cruise in may - the t&c's within the upgrade offer clearly stated that for yacht Club or Aurea you get the full benefits/experience.

[Até]

I haven't seen any verification but it's in the Plusgrade T&C's.

 

https://upg.stage.plusgrade.com/terms/partner/9Ck2Ks4MSC?lang=en

[sidari]

1 hour ago, Até said:

I haven't seen any verification but it's in the Plusgrade T&C's.

 

https://upg.stage.plusgrade.com/terms/partner/9Ck2Ks4MSC?lang=en

Thanks Ate.

So it seems like a free upgrade to Aurea gives you the room only.

[CruisingFox27]

4 hours ago, SirJackDaniels said:

I've put in a bid for a cruise in may - the t&c's within the upgrade offer clearly stated that for yacht Club or Aurea you get the full benefits/experience.

We also had an email regarding an upgrade for an Aurea Suite, it stated it was inclusive of the full Aurea experience. 

I was reeling at the cost, so didn't read much of the details but do recall that section. 

[Até]

5 hours ago, sidari said:

Thanks Ate.

So it seems like a free upgrade to Aurea gives you the room only.

According to the Terms I'd expect a winning upgrade to Aurea to include all the Aurea benefits including thermal spa access, my choice dining with dedicated restaurant if applicable,  priority embark/disembark, cabin amenities,  etc....

 

21. If the Guest wins an Upgrade to an "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience cabin, the original booked experience "Bella" or "Fantastica" will be changed with the new experience "Aurea" or "Yacht Club". The new experience will guarantee to Guests all the benefits related to the "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience.

[sidari]

12 hours ago, Até said:

According to the Terms I'd expect a winning upgrade to Aurea to include all the Aurea benefits including thermal spa access, my choice dining with dedicated restaurant if applicable,  priority embark/disembark, cabin amenities,  etc....

 

21. If the Guest wins an Upgrade to an "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience cabin, the original booked experience "Bella" or "Fantastica" will be changed with the new experience "Aurea" or "Yacht Club". The new experience will guarantee to Guests all the benefits related to the "Aurea" or "Yacht Club" experience.

I was talking about an Aurea upgrade given free by MSC only being for the room  and not a bid upgrade which does include everything.

[insidecabin]

5 minutes ago, sidari said:

I was talking about an Aurea upgrade given free by MSC only being for the room  and not a bid upgrade which does include everything.

Agree

The experience and cabin are really separate entities

 

[Até]

5 hours ago, sidari said:

I was talking about an Aurea upgrade given free by MSC only being for the room  and not a bid upgrade which does include everything.

Sorry, I missed your free word.

 

I've not seen MSC even mention the word Aurea when people who booked Bella are assigned the unsold Aurea cabins.  I've met people who booked Bella OV and got a free balcony upgrade which happened to be an Aurea cabin, but yes they were still considered Bella.

 

ETA: I remember seeing reports before the bidding system of people in OV on Fantasia class ship’s being upgraded to the forward Aurea suites with panoramic windows.  They remained with their original experience. 

 

Then for a while when the bidding system was first implemented they tried to offer those Suites as an upgrade from balconies, and back then upgrade bids didn't include the Aurea perks.  Maybe MSC changed the policy to entice people to bid on Aurea, which many of the basic cabins I don't think sell that well at current prices.

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Até

[sidari]

7 hours ago, Até said:

Sorry, I missed your free word.

 

I've not seen MSC even mention the word Aurea when people who booked Bella are assigned the unsold Aurea cabins.  I've met people who booked Bella OV and got a free balcony upgrade which happened to be an Aurea cabin, but yes they were still considered Bella.

 

ETA: I remember seeing reports before the bidding system of people in OV on Fantasia class ship’s being upgraded to the forward Aurea suites with panoramic windows.  They remained with their original experience. 

 

Then for a while when the bidding system was first implemented they tried to offer those Suites as an upgrade from balconies, and back then upgrade bids didn't include the Aurea perks.  Maybe MSC changed the policy to entice people to bid on Aurea, which many of the basic cabins I don't think sell that well at current prices.

 

This is what is now included in the email for upgrade bids.

17. The Upgrade does not include any additional promotions. Guests whose upgrade bid is accepted will receive the experience level included with their original reservation. The exceptions will be in the case of a Winning Bid in “Aurea” or “Yacht Club” Experience. In these cases, the Guests will also be guaranteed all the benefits relative to the new experience.

[heathstockton4]

Thinking of bidding on a Aurea Balcony upgrade from our present Fantastica Balcony, mainly to benefit from Anytime Dining and the Spa Experience.

 

If we are successfull do we get any option on cabin or is it allocated automatically?

 

Very happy with our cabin at the moment, which we chose ourself, would i be correct to resume all Aurea cabins are in what are considered to be the best locations.

 

Thanks

[Heskimo65]

We put in a bid for an Aurea premium suite and have been given suite 14029 which is showing as a YC1 suite. So does this mean we now gave YC and the yacht club experience? The app is still showing Fantastica, didn't even bid on YC so I'm a bit confused!?

[Fradycat]

We just boarded the MSC Musica. We were awarded an Aurea upgrade several days ago. Our room card still stated Bella. When visiting the Solarium we were told we would need a new card or letter stating our experience had been upgraded. At customer service the supervisor stated we only bid and paid for the room and not the experience. I’d remembered reading this post when I received the acceptance letter, which was very brief, but had a link to the T&C which I pulled up and showed the information in #17. The supervisor still didn’t believe it, or translated the information differently. Even his subordinate tried to explain. He went and got his manager who gladly resolved the situation and upgraded our experience also. Good luck and happy sailing to all. 

[nikoo.s]

Free upgrade is just the room, but if you bid for and won an upgrade , you get the full aurea experience as we just had on world europa. Your paperwork will still say the original experience you booked, so to skip the check in queue have a print out of your purchased extras ready , which will say aurea benefits. When you get on board go to reception and they will print you a new card which will save you a lot of hassle when using the spa / solarium.