MSC Aurea Experience: Are the Benefits Worth the Money?

When we booked our MSC Virtuosa cruise, we hadn’t actually set out to book an Aurea experience. We’d booked the cruise just three weeks before departure and by that point, the only cabins still available around the middle of the ship happened to be Aurea balcony cabins.

At the time of booking we didn’t entirely understand what benefits we’d paid extra for. But now having experienced the MSC Aurea package for ourselves, I can see why people choose it. There’s quite a few additional perks that come with it, but whether they’re worth paying extra for will really depend on what you want from your cruise.

If you’re considering upgrading to MSC Aurea and wondering what you actually get for your money, here’s our experience of the Aurea package whilst onboard MSC Virtuosa, and whether we’d book it again.

Aurea Experience at a Glance 👀

Only available on balcony cabins or suites
Exclusive access to part of deck 19
My Choice Dining for added flexibility
Free access to the onboard spa
Priority boarding and bag drop off

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What is the MSC Aurea experience?

Aurea is one of MSC’s higher-level cruise experiences. It sits above Bella and Fantastica, with Yacht Club being the more exclusive option above it.

The Aurea experience can only be booked with a balcony cabin or suite, and you get all the benefits included with the lower experiences alongside the additional Aurea perks. We ended up booking our Aurea balcony cabin through Cruisenation, who had a great deal on at the time.

But what extra benefits do you actually get with Aurea, and is it worth upgrading to? Here’s a breakdown of whats included to help you decide.

1. Priority boarding and luggage drop-off

One of the first benefits we experienced was priority boarding and luggage drop-off. This isn’t necessarily something I’d pay a huge amount extra for on its own, as I generally find getting through a cruise terminal and embarking is quite quick anyway, but it’s a nice perk to have on the off chance that there are any queues.

2. My Choice Dining (our favourite MSC Aurea benefit)

This was by far our favourite Aurea benefit. As part of the experience, we were allocated My Choice Dining, which meant we could eat dinner at a time that suited us rather than being tied to a set dining time.

As we were cruising with children, being able to turn up at our designated restaurant (Il Campo) anytime between 6pm and 9pm and walk straight on in without any queues was so convenient. Especially being on a cruise ship like MSC Virtuosa, where there’s always fun activities going on. We found having the flexibility to eat when we were ready meant we didn’t have to rush everyone back to the cabin or cut an activity short just to make a particular dining time. It was such a brilliant perk.

We also really liked the Il Campo restaurant. It was a smaller dining room which was separate from the main dining rooms, and the tables felt a little more spread out by MSC standards.

This one perk alone made the Aurea experience feel worthwhile for us as a family. So if you’re travelling with children and are trying to decide whether Aurea is worth the upgrade, I’d definitely take the flexible dining into consideration. It was brilliant.

3. A welcome gift in your cabin

When we first arrived at our cabin we had a lovely little Aurea welcome gift waiting for us, which included a bar of dark chocolate, a bottle of Prosecco and an MSC room diffuser in the signature scent you’ll smell all around the ship.

This was a nice touch, although obviously not something I’d base my decision to upgrade on. We ended up bringing all three things home with us, so at least they got a longer life beyond the cruise!

4. Exclusive Aurea sun deck

Another brilliant benefit which we really enjoyed, was having access to an exclusive section of Deck 19. It took us a little while to actually find it, but once we did it it quickly became one of our favourite spots on the ship.

There were cushioned sunbeds, a large hot tub overlooking the outdoor pool and TV screen below, as well as a small pop-up bar. But the best thing was it never got that busy up here, so we could always find a sunbed without having any trouble at all. For anyone who enjoys having somewhere quieter to escape to, I’d say this is one of the more valuable MSC Aurea benefits. We used it a lot!

5. Free Thermal Spa access

MSC Aurea guests get free access to the Thermal Spa. Unfortunately, because children aren’t allowed in the thermal spa, we didn’t actually get to use this benefit during our family cruise, but what a lovely treat this would have been!

I can’t give you a first-hand review of this part of the package, but if you’re travelling without children, this could potentially add even more value to the Aurea experience.

You do need to reserve your slot for the days you want to use the spa, and treatments aren’t included. You’d still need to pay separately if you wanted something like a relaxing massage.

6. Free room service delivery

Another Aurea benefit is getting 24-hour room service, with the delivery itself being free.

You can also have a continental breakfast delivered to your cabin with free delivery. We didn’t actually use the room service during this cruise, but we did do it once on MSC Euribia. If you like the idea of having breakfast on your balcony, or being able to order something to your cabin without paying a delivery charge, it could be a nice Aurea benefit.

room service MSC Euribia cabin — room service MSC Euribia

7. Choice of cabin location

Aurea guests also get the option to choose from cabins in what MSC considers to be the more desirable areas of the ship. Which worked out well for us, as we wanted to be around the middle of the ship. Being prone to travel sickness means we prefer being midship as there’s generally less movement here.

Availability will depend on when you book, so this isn’t necessarily going to mean you can have any cabin you want, but having more choice over your cabin location is certainly a nice benefit. I’ll be writing a separate post all about the cabin soon.

8. Bathrobes and slippers

Another little perk was being provided with white bathrobes and slippers. Although we didn’t make use of the bathrobes for their intended spa purposes, they certainly came in handy when we were heading off for a fun afternoon at the aquapark! (If you want to see what other fun activities there are, read my post 8 fun things to do on MSC Virtuosa) One thing I did think was a shame was that there weren’t smaller robes for the children. It would have been a nice touch for a family package.

9. Spa discounts and MSC Voyager Club points

There’s a couple of additional financial benefits attached to Aurea too. You get a 10% discount on spa treatments purchased onboard, along with access to certain discounted packages. Aurea guests also collect MSC Voyager Club points, although there was an exception on our short cruise to Bruges and Cherbourg, as cruises of three nights/four days or less don’t earn points.

These aren’t benefits that made much difference to us on this particular trip, but they could become more valuable if you’re a regular MSC cruiser.

So, is the MSC Aurea package worth it?

I think this really depends on how you cruise. For us travelling as a family, I’d say yes, and we’d book Aurea again. But I wouldn’t say every single benefit was essential. We didn’t use the thermal spa because we had the children with us, we didn’t use the room service and although the welcome gift was nice, it certainly wasn’t enough to justify paying extra.

The things that made the biggest difference to us were My Choice Dining and the exclusive Aurea sun deck. Being able to eat whenever we wanted between 6pm and 9pm was fantastic when sailing with our boys. It gave us so much more flexibility and meant we didn’t have to organise our entire evening around a dinner reservation. The private sun deck was another lovely bonus as it gave us somewhere quieter to escape to when the main pool areas were busy.

I’d say that Aurea makes more sense if you’re already considering a balcony cabin. If you’re going to pay for a balcony anyway, it’s worth comparing the price difference between the standard balcony options.

Would we choose Aurea again?

Yes, if Cruisenation had another great deal and the price difference wasn’t a huge jump up from a standard balcony room we would definitely book the Aurea experience again.

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