For our most recent cruise with MSC Cruises onboard the Preziosa, we again went with a balcony cabin. I love being able to wake up in the morning and look outside when pulling into port! And, with the cool weather we had on our cruise, there’s nothing like feeling that fresh, crisp morning air without having to leave your room! We’re in an inside cabin on our next cruise in August on the Norwegian Sun, so I’m trying to get all that balcony action while I still can. 🙂

The balcony cabin we chose was part of the Fantastica package on MSC. You can check out the description of the package (experience) tiers with MSC here, but it just boiled down to it being in a more desirable location (mid-ship and close to the elevators).

Layout

The layout was a pretty typical of a cruise ship balcony cabin. When you entered the room, a bank of closets was to your left while the door to the bathroom was on your right. There were three closet doors with two being hanging space and one being drawers, shelves and the safe. Our room had plenty of hangers, but I think if yours doesn’t, you might be able to request more from your cabin steward.

Once inside the bathroom to your left was the sink area. There was one sink with a mirror above, three small shelves and two shallow cabinets below. I stored all of our most used toiletries on the shelves and put our lesser used items and our toiletry bags in the cabinet below the sink. The second cabinet had the trash can and any extra toilet paper and Kleenex, so it wasn’t really useable for storage.

Once you enter the room, the bed was immediately to your right flanked by two nightstands with two drawers each. On the left wall was a full length mirror. Also on the left wall was the door to the adjoining cabin (9116). We did have it unlocked because we were traveling with family in the next cabin. Be aware that (because there was just the one door between the cabins) they could hear everything that we said or did inside our cabin (and likewise, we could hear them). This wasn’t an issue for us, because… well… they were family, but if there are strangers next door, I can see how this would be an issue.

Past the bed to the left was the vanity area with two drawers and the mini bar. Our mini bar was locked for the duration of our cruise, so I can’t speak to what was inside. We never asked to have it opened, but I’m sure we could have. On the wall above the vanity was the mirror as well as a shelf with the TV.

On the right past the bed was the sofa and end table. This sofa does pull out into a bed if you are traveling with more than two people in the room.

Beyond that was, of course, the balcony. We had two chairs on our balcony with one footstool/end table. Our cabin was situated in the recessed area of the ship right above the lifeboats. Neither obstructed our views in any way.

Video

If you want to see more about our cabin, check out my video overview on my YouTube channel.

Have you ever sailed with MSC? Which ship is your favorite in their fleet? Let me know in the comments below!