MSC Preziosa: Premium Balcony Cabin Tour and Review

If you’re looking to cruise onboard MSC Preziosa, there are some amazing deals on offer at the moment - why not click here, or click the image below to explore more? (AD | Affiliate)

I recently took a 7-night cruise onboard MSC Preziosa, one of the ships within the Fantasia Class from MSC Cruises. Other ships within this class are MSC Fantasia, MSC Splendida and MSC Divina, so you may recognise this room I’ll be showing you today if you’ve cruised on any of these ships. The room I’ll be showing you today is cabin 11273, so we’re heading up to Deck 11 of the ship.

In terms of overall location, I found this deck to be really convenient on Preziosa - the buffet and main pool deck is Deck 14, so you’re not too far away - it’s easy to take the stairs to head up there each time. The main entertainment venues downstairs are mostly spread across Decks 6 and 7, so you’re also not a million miles away from there either. Having a cabin that’s within easy reach of public spaces could help you to keep fit while cruising, as it’s much more likely you’ll take the stairs if you’re only climbing/descending a few floors…!

Before we enter the cabin to look around, 2 observations from outside the room:

1) The cabin number is presented both in the usual number format, but also in braille! This is fantastic to see - I love seeing the little things that cruise lines can do to be more accessible.

My cabin door, with the number on the usual MSC door sign, and also written in braille!

2) On embarkation day, you’ll usually find your room key in your mail holder outside your cabin door on an MSC cruise ship. On Preziosa, they use these neat little door hangers, and your room key sits inside - very clever, and a good first impression!

The door hanger outside the cabin when you board MSC Preziosa - I loved this!

Let’s move into the cabin to have a look around…

My cabin onboard MSC Preziosa: 11273 - a Premium Balcony cabin

First impressions of this cabin were really positive, and I must say that this was a very comfortable cabin for my 7 night cruise. I found the rich red colours quite intense initially, but this cabin really was lovely to return to each day. One point I would add - I was cruising on this ship on a cold weather itinerary, and so the warm tones in here were certainly welcome when looking out across a cold North Sea off the coast of the U.K. and Northern Europe!

Size-wise, this room is about 18sqm, with a 4sqm balcony, so it’s a decent size inside. In terms of facilities, you’ll find the usual stuff you’d expect from a cruise ship cabin in here: lots of lighting, pool towels (but leave these behind, or expect a fee!), multiple pillow options, a workstation/vanity unit, a safe, a hair dryer, and more!

One thing that was great to see was the modern television in the position shown above and in the image below. I’ve been on many ships around this age (Preziosa was launched in 2011), and they’ve moved the TV to be wall mounted, leaving a really awkward gap where the old TV was previously. It’s nice to see it remaining in position - I’d expect the older model would be on the shelf directly behind the TV.

Looking across the workstation to the modern TV.

Like what you’re seeing so far? Click here to explore some great deals onboard MSC Preziosa! (AD | Affiliate)

By the desk, you’ve got your in-cabin power outlets. You’ll find European power outlets and US plug points, but this room is not equipped with any USB power options. I’d like to see this change in the future.

With this room, I had my own (good sized!) balcony. This room is located pretty close to the back of the ship, and had really great views looking out. I had two chairs, and a footstool out on the balcony.

Here’s my balcony. A nice size, right?!

What was the bathroom like?

Moving back inside the cabin, let’s explore the bathroom. Historically, I’ve always felt that MSC Cruises do a really good job when it comes to bathroom design. I’m delighted to report that, following this cruise, my opinion remains the same!

My cabin bathroom on MSC Preziosa (Picture 1 of 2)

My cabin bathroom on MSC Preziosa (Picture 2 of 2)

So, what are my key points from the bathroom?

• The shower screen! I hate a shower curtain on a cruise ship, so it was brilliant to see a screen being offered on a much older MSC cruise ship than I’m used to - huge thumbs up!

• MSC’s toiletry selection - I really love the smell of MSC’s complimentary toiletries. In the shower cubicle, you have shower gel and shampoo, with hand wash being offered in the dispenser at the sink.

• A large sink - There’s nothing worse than using a tiny little sink in a bathroom, right? Well, you don’t need to worry about that in here!

• Storage - In this bathroom, you’ve got glass shelves available to store your toiletries, but you’ve also got closed storage (cupboards) underneath the sink - a big thumbs up from me for this!

• Cleanliness - I always find my MSC bathrooms to be spotlessly clean, and my cabin attendant did a wonderful job of maintaining this throughout the week. The mirror was also absolutely spotless all day!

So, what did I not like about this cabin?

If I’m being really honest, while this was a super comfortable cabin, it did feel tired and a bit worn in places. There were a few noticeable stains on the furniture that simply wouldn’t be there on the newer ships, or on ships that are having a closer attention to detail applied. Here’s 2 examples from the desk area - look at how worn the power outlets are, and what is this stain dripping down the front of my desk?!

I know these get scratched when passengers are using them, but this seemed excessive…

Here’s the front of my desk. I did try to remove this, but it’s stained onto the wood finish…

Another frustration I had in here (which I’ve never had in a cruise ship cabin before) was the sofa. It was always so difficult to make the sofa in the room look good, due to the fact that the base and back cushions seemed to always have a gap between them. I’ve never seen this before, so can only assume this has worn over time - surely it’s not intended to look like this? The sofa looked exhausted…!

Here’s the sofa in my cabin - those cushions were driving me mad. Remember to check the gap when you leave the ship to ensure nothing’s fallen out of your pockets while sitting here…!

Don’t worry - my last few points here may have sounded very critical, and may have had you thinking that I didn’t enjoy cruising in this cabin. Truth be told, that’s not the case.

I really enjoyed my Premium Balcony cabin onboard MSC Preziosa, and I would book this room again if the price was right. I’ll be intrigued to watch this ship in the months and years to come - she’s had some visible upgrades in the various public areas, and I think it’s now time for MSC Cruises to consider upgrading and updating the cabins to bring them up to the same standard as the rest of the ship.

If you’d like to read more of my posts on the topic of MSC Cruises, just click here! Stay tuned - I’ve got lots more coming from my time onboard MSC Preziosa!