Skier 52 - Cabin Question

Hey there! We just booked the family in cabin 11248 on the Divinia in July. Can't wait as it'll be my first real cruise (I don't count a 4 day from Galveston) and our kids first ever. Leaving from Barcelona

I figured starboard side would be better for viewing land as we move from Naples to Rome and west around the Med.

I'd appreciate any info on this particular cabin. We also could have chosen 11147 or 10058.

thanks!

Hey there! We just booked the family in cabin 11248 on the Divinia in July. Can't wait as it'll be my first real cruise (I don't count a 4 day from Galveston) and our kids first ever. Leaving from Barcelona

 

I figured starboard side would be better for viewing land as we move from Naples to Rome and west around the Med.

 

I'd appreciate any info on this particular cabin. We also could have chosen 11147 or 10058.

 

thanks!

Here is your cabin location

The cabin is a standard size of 192 sq ft with a balcony of 42 sq ft. on the aft hump and should have a double sofa bed

Pros:-

1) it will not be affected by the overhang of deck 14 at all

2) it will have great views forward, backwards and down to the ocean

3) it has no "white space" near it on the deck plan, and only cabins above and below, so no noise problems other than inconsiderate neighbours

4) it is very convenient for the lift down to the MDR (Main Dining Room ) and as it is near the stern there will be very few guests walking past your door.

Cons:-

1) It is long walk to the theatre, which should only be a problem if anyone has mobility issues.

2) it is a relatively high deck and close to the stern and therefore is more likely to have motion issues in bad seas, but they are less likely in July

As for it being on he starboard side the greatest benefit is that it will have the sun all day on the sea day from Barcelona to Naples.

As for seeing the italian coast this is not going to be as good a point as you expect.

With sailing at 19:00 from both Naples and Civitivecchia you are likely to be either in the MDR (first sitting) or the theatre for the show (second sitting) at around 19:30 - 20:30 as these two events occur at the same time and change over later.

if you have a table in the MDR by a starboard window you may get a view of the coast if they leave the curtains open ( which is not certain). but all in all you probably won't see much as the ship sails overnight and the evening light will have gone by the time you have eaten and seen the show. Also they don't sail too close in for safety reasons

MY thoughts on the cabin are that the only better ones are either in the Yacht Club or on deck 9,10,11 on the stern ( they have large balconies).

You've made an excellent choice

Pete

Ps 11147 would be a bad altrnaive is it is deep within the stern reccess with limited fields of view and shadow from the hump wall.

10058 would be similar in to 11248 but be close to the theatre and a long way from the MDR

Skier, thanks for your help on the cabin selection. Waiting patiently 10037 opened, up which has the half plexiglass. If no more open up I will be happy with that one. Think Expedia is tried of me calling. I have switched cabins 4 times but new ones keep opening up every couple of weeks.

Skier, thanks for your help on the cabin selection. Waiting patiently 10037 opened, up which has the half plexiglass. If no more open up I will be happy with that one. Think Expedia is tried of me calling. I have switched cabins 4 times but new ones keep opening up every couple of weeks.

I've found this picture of a half plexiglass balcony and reproduce it courtesy of "Mum And More".

It doesn't actually look too bad

Pete

Skier52,

I would greatly appreciate any information on cabin 8060. It is an inside on Divina. I am hoping something on a higher floor will become available, but at this time this is what I have. Thank you.

Skier52,

 

I would greatly appreciate any information on cabin 8060. It is an inside on Divina. I am hoping something on a higher floor will become available, but at this time this is what I have. Thank you.

it's 169 sq ft with a bathroom of 24 sq ft and has 2 upper berths to give a total capacity of 4 guests.

It is immediately above the theatre which is not neccessarily a bad thing but there may be times of the day when you get a sneak sound preview of shows to come as the entertainment staff practice their routines.

Although this is likely to be when you are ashore or soaking up the sun on the outer decks.

It does back on to a large "White space" on the deck plan and there is no indication as to what is in there., so there may be a possiblity of noise coming from there, but bear in mind it is over the theatre roof so may just be access to lighting rigs/ sound equipment for the theatre.

It could be something or nothing.

That's about all the info i have on that cabin.

Pete

Pete, Cabin 10044 on the Divina opened up so I now have a full plexiglass balcony. I can rest now. :)

Any info on 12056 on Divina? Is it a good balcony view?

Pete, Cabin 10044 on the Divina opened up so I now have a full plexiglass balcony. I can rest now. :)

Great News!!!:D:D

Any info on 12056 on Divina? Is it a good balcony view?

It's a standard balcony cabin with a double sofa bed. It's 192 sq ft ( 168 living area; 24 bathroom) and 42 sq ft balcony. The views are as good as you can get for a side facing cabin, only some of the forward facing YC cabins and cabins on the stern offer better views , IMHO.

You'll have a great cruise, I'm sure

Pete

It's a standard balcony cabin with a double sofa bed. It's 192 sq ft ( 168 living area; 24 bathroom) and 42 sq ft balcony. The views are as good as you can get for a side facing cabin, only some of the forward facing YC cabins and cabins on the stern offer better views , IMHO.

 

You'll have a great cruise, I'm sure

 

Pete

Thanks Pete

Hi Skier 52,

Just wondering if there is flexi-glass on any of the forward cabin balconies on Deck 9, or are they all steel panels on Splendida?

Was on Preziosa (9021) earlier this year and it had steel panels on the balcony.

Am looking to book cabin 9067 or 9069 onboard Splendida.

Also, are these cabins the same sizing as 9021 was onboard Preziosa?

Any other tips for good cabins on deck 9?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Hi Skier 52,

Just wondering if there is flexi-glass on any of the forward cabin balconies on Deck 9, or are they all steel panels on Splendida?

Was on Preziosa (9021) earlier this year and it had steel panels on the balcony.

Am looking to book cabin 9067 or 9069 onboard Splendida.

Also, are these cabins the same sizing as 9021 was onboard Preziosa?

Any other tips for good cabins on deck 9?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Hi ,

You can see from the image below that Splendida deck 9 does have plexiglass balconies on the forward hump, which is in contrast to Divina and Preziosa which have all steel balconies on the forward hump.

The extra steel balconies on Preziosa and Divina are outlined in red on the right hand part of the image

The plexiglass cabins are on the starboard side (EVEN NUMBERS)

9054/58/62/66/70/72/76/78/80/82/84

with 9050 being part plexiglass

port side (ODD NUMBERS)

9053/57/6/65/67/69/73/75/77/79/81

with 9043 being part plexiglass

the cabin size should be the same at 192 sq ft

deck 9 cabins worth considering IMHO are:-

a) those mentioned above ,

b) any cabin on the rear hump , except 9236/3740/41.

c) any of the cabins on the stern (these can be a bit noisy when docking is taking place, but saying that any of the cabins on the forward or rear humps is likely to get noise and vibration when the bow or stern thrusters are used)

and

d) if you like large baconies and don't mind a view either forward or rearwards only, then, the "corner" balconies 9085/88; 9201/10 for the very large balconies or the cabins next to them 9087/90; (these two cabins have connecting doors to the cabin alongside which may be a black mark against them) and 9199/9200.( these two don't have connecting doors)

Because the central hump on Splendida is only small there are only a few cabins that I would not have on deck (9139/9140/41/42/43/44; 9163/64/5/66/67/6869/70) because they have views limited by by the hunp wall.

I personally don't like cabins with connecting doors and there are quite a few of those.

9145 and 9146 are cabins which are at 90 degres to the normal lay out and therefore have bigger balconies than standard cabins, not as large as the corner balconies, but only have a view forward

a large corner balcony (118sq ft)

this is one on deck 13 so has the overhang affecting it. This won't be the same on deck 9.

the next cabin along balcony (~90sq ft)

Hope this gives you a good insight to the cabins on deck 9,

there is of course another consideration such how near the lifts are, which is down to personal taste.

Pete

Hi Pete

May I trouble you with my dilemma?

Just booked to go on MSC Fantasia next May - having been on Preziosa last October and liking it.

The only issue I had last year was that out of a party of 12 people (we had all booked B1 balconies), half of the party had 'large' cabins (with sofa) and the other half were assigned cabins on the 'hump' which are obviously shorter even although we all paid the same price!

This time round, on Fantasia, we are currently booked in 10194 - this is one of the angled balconies, but I'm hesitant about it being shaded and also the limited field of view even if the balcony is larger.

There are still some cabins available with MSC so I can change by calling them but my question is:

Is Fantasia the same as Preziosa i.e. the 'hump' cabins are shorter, but all other midship cabins are of sufficient size to have a sofa etc?

What I'm looking at is moving to something like 11118 which should be 'full sized' when compared to say 11148.

Can you confirm the only 'shorter' cabins on for e.g. deck 11 are those from 11146 - 11195 and all the others are of 'standard' size?

There was also 1 aft cabin available when I called but on Preziosa relatives were travelling in an aft cabin on Deck 8 and said the vibration and noise from the engines and stern thrusters was quite off-putting - being the same class of ship we thought better not to risk it!

Is my understanding correct?

Thanks

John

Hi Pete

 

May I trouble you with my dilemma?

 

Just booked to go on MSC Fantasia next May - having been on Preziosa last October and liking it.

 

The only issue I had last year was that out of a party of 12 people (we had all booked B1 balconies), half of the party had 'large' cabins (with sofa) and the other half were assigned cabins on the 'hump' which are obviously shorter even although we all paid the same price!

 

This time round, on Fantasia, we are currently booked in 10194 - this is one of the angled balconies, but I'm hesitant about it being shaded and also the limited field of view even if the balcony is larger.

 

There are still some cabins available with MSC so I can change by calling them but my question is:

 

Is Fantasia the same as Preziosa i.e. the 'hump' cabins are shorter, but all other midship cabins are of sufficient size to have a sofa etc?

 

What I'm looking at is moving to something like 11118 which should be 'full sized' when compared to say 11148.

 

Can you confirm the only 'shorter' cabins on for e.g. deck 11 are those from 11146 - 11195 and all the others are of 'standard' size?

 

There was also 1 aft cabin available when I called but on Preziosa relatives were travelling in an aft cabin on Deck 8 and said the vibration and noise from the engines and stern thrusters was quite off-putting - being the same class of ship we thought better not to risk it!

 

Is my understanding correct?

 

Thanks

John

There are 2 designs of fantasia class ship with Fantasia and Splendida having the early design, which has a small central hump; and Preziosa and Divina the later design , with a much larger central hump.

It's the large central hump which has the 2 sizes of balcony cabin see the image below for the comparison . The hump on Preziosa goes rom cabin 10157 / 10142 to 10219 /10204 which off the bottom of my image (the shorter cabins are the bLUE ones)

The shorter cabins don't exist on Fantasia so your concerns about a deck 11 cabin are unfounded

As for the larger balcony second from the hump being shaded that realy only applies to deck 13 and to some extent 12.

You can see the problem for the higher decks, the overhang of deck 14, in the next image (your balcony is indicated with a RED DOT)

There will be some shading by the hump wall but nowhere near as much as the cabin right next to the wall.

The fields of view are limited but not to 90 degrees but a little more like 130 - 140 degrees as shown by the RED lines in the next image.

Deck 8 aft cabins have standard balconies and are IMHO not worth the vibration and noise when compared to any other standard balcony cabin. It's deck 10 and 11 aft cabins which are much covetted by some cruisers.

I hope there is enough information for you to be able to make an informed choice . If not just ask again

Pete

^^

That's wonderful, thank you so much! It was the anticipation of being disappointed again with a smaller cabin that has made me so cautious, glad to know it's only the later ships that this affects.

I guess then the question becomes:

Do I keep the cabin I have? Do I accept 12259 as offered? Or do I move to a standard non-angled balcony anywhere amidships?

The Deck 12 aft balcony does have its appeal,, but the experience of my relatives in a Deck 8 aft balcony on Preziosa is still the concern. Appreciate what you are saying that there is no advantage to a Deck 8 aft balcony but does it change things that it's Deck 12? It's the noise/vibration thing again. There are only 2 stops on this route where we dock at 8AM, the rest are much later in the day so that mitigates things - I can't recall if there was engine noise and vibration always on Preziosa for my relatives or just during docking.

Thanks again Pete for your efforts and the information supplied.

^^

 

That's wonderful, thank you so much! It was the anticipation of being disappointed again with a smaller cabin that has made me so cautious, glad to know it's only the later ships that this affects.

 

I guess then the question becomes:

 

Do I keep the cabin I have? Do I accept 12259 as offered? Or do I move to a standard non-angled balcony anywhere amidships?

 

The Deck 12 aft balcony does have its appeal,, but the experience of my relatives in a Deck 8 aft balcony on Preziosa is still the concern. Appreciate what you are saying that there is no advantage to a Deck 8 aft balcony but does it change things that it's Deck 12? It's the noise/vibration thing again. There are only 2 stops on this route where we dock at 8AM, the rest are much later in the day so that mitigates things - I can't recall if there was engine noise and vibration always on Preziosa for my relatives or just during docking.

 

Thanks again Pete for your efforts and the information supplied.

A deck 12 aft cabin balcony looks like this (55 sq ft as against 42 sq ft for a stndard balcony)

It's a little larger than a stnadard balcony which looks like this

Personally with a lot of sea days i'd take the deck 12 aft balcony, but then I like aft balconies. remember lots of cruise linres put their higher grade suites on the stern.

Pete

No sea days at all on this route sadly ( I like at least 1!).

Will consider the options over the next few days based on your information and insight - will make a decision by the end of the week and call MSC with our final choice. :)

Thanks again.

Any info on MSC Orchestra 8218? We have to have a double sofa bed as we are traveling with 2 small children and I'm not comfortable with them being in a Pullman, so it looks like we can only book aft balconies. I've read about a lot of vibrations - hoping it won't be that bad.

Any info on MSC Orchestra 8218? We have to have a double sofa bed as we are traveling with 2 small children and I'm not comfortable with them being in a Pullman, so it looks like we can only book aft balconies. I've read about a lot of vibrations - hoping it won't be that bad.

Looking at the deck plans 8218 isn't equipped with bunkbeds or any other form of 3/4 bed, however it does say on the most recent plans that all catagories of cabin , except suites, can have 3/4th beds

From the deck plans

All cabins have one double bed convertible to two single beds except in cabins for guests with disabilities or reduced mobility (H), this does not apply to cabins 15025 3rd bed available in all categories 4th bed available in all categories (except Suite Aurea)

This is different to the older deck plans I have, which have catagories 1 to 12,

and it says:-

3rd bed available in catagories 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

4th bed available in catagories 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 9 - 11

NB:- cat 6 - 7 - 8 had no provision for 3/4th beds

8218 was a catagory 6 so had no 3/4th had available.

Obviously things have changed and I suspect that the extra beds wiil be in the form of cots or folding beds.

As for vibration, in my experience the vibration when manouvering in port is felt throughout the ship , it is however felt most at the stern and bow sections and there is little you can do to avoid it.

In fact I'm on Orchestra for 28 days in total (two B2B cruises in March/April 2016) in a forward cabin and fully expect to feel vibration when the bow thrusters are used.

As the ship has azimuthing pods at the stern ( a system where the motor is in a pod with the propeller attached to the pod, and the whole pod turns to steer) I would not expect the vibration to be as bad at the back as it is at the front.

bow thrusters are within the hull so cause more vibration

Azimuthing pods

Bow thrusters

hope this helps a bit

Pete

Looking at the deck plans 8218 isn't equipped with bunkbeds or any other form of 3/4 bed, however it does say on the most recent plans that all catagories of cabin , except suites, can have 3/4th beds

 

From the deck plans

 

This is different to the older deck plans I have, which have catagories 1 to 12,

and it says:-

 

 

 

NB:- cat 6 - 7 - 8 had no provision for 3/4th beds

 

8218 was a catagory 6 so had no 3/4th had available.

Obviously things have changed and I suspect that the extra beds wiil be in the form of cots or folding beds.

 

As for vibration, in my experience the vibration when manouvering in port is felt throughout the ship , it is however felt most at the stern and bow sections and there is little you can do to avoid it.

 

In fact I'm on Orchestra for 28 days in total (two B2B cruises in March/April 2016) in a forward cabin and fully expect to feel vibration when the bow thrusters are used.

 

As the ship has azimuthing pods at the stern ( a system where the motor is in a pod with the propeller attached to the pod, and the whole pod turns to steer) I would not expect the vibration to be as bad at the back as it is at the front.

 

bow thrusters are within the hull so cause more vibration

 

 

Azimuthing pods

 

 

 

Bow thrusters

 

 

 

 

 

hope this helps a bit

 

Pete

Thank you so much for your quick reply! It looks like only the aft balconies have the double sofa bed, which is what I want. We are booked for May 2016 out of Venice. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the ship!

Thank you so much for your quick reply! It looks like only the aft balconies have the double sofa bed, which is what I want. We are booked for May 2016 out of Venice. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the ship!

I've been on her twice before, in 2008 (W.Med) and 2009 (N. Caribbean) (my 3rd and 4th cruises with MSC), at those dates she was fairly new (entered service May 2007) so I'll be interested to see if she has changed much, after nearly 8 years more cruising.

For a while she was 1 of 4 ships in my favourite class of MSC ship, the middle size Musica Class, but now my favourite is the YC on the Fantasia class.

I'll write a review when i get back, but in the mean time if there is anything special you want to know just ask and I'll try and get the info. (within reason, I will be on holiday).

Room specific info may be difficult to get , except for the type i'm in. (Aurea Balcony)

I expect menus and food/drink will be different for you as you'll be in the Med and I'll be in the Caribbean. So i won't answer questions about those topics.

Pete

Skier

This is our first cruise on MSC, we wanted to get to Bermuda from FL with out flying anywhere. This is the only cruise I've found.

Our TA has a hold on 12277,(Fantastia) looking at the deck plan....uh...I'm not sure about that one....kinda strange?

Comments?

Pete,

You helped me out by letting me know that 12219 was a small balcony cabin. I was able to change to 13065 that I believe is a standard size cabin with a sofa and a standard 42 sq ft balcony. It looks like it has an overhang from 14th deck, but that isn't all bad if you look for a shady place to read. Did I make a good switch?

Skier

This is our first cruise on MSC, we wanted to get to Bermuda from FL with out flying anywhere. This is the only cruise I've found.

Our TA has a hold on 12277,(Fantastia) looking at the deck plan....uh...I'm not sure about that one....kinda strange?

Comments?

The only comment I can make is there is no cabin 12277 on Fantasia so somebody has made a typo or looked at the wrong deck plans.

There is a cabin 12277 on Divina.

The other possibility is that you mean cabin 12277 on Divina with a "Fantastica" experience. In which case the cabin is a standard cabin, last of the sideways facing cabins on the port side.

It is next to the balcony washing equipment which may get in the way of the view backwards but other than that it should be in a quiet location, There is a staircase next to it but in my experience it has very little use by anyone

here is as view of the cabin position

Pete