Meraviglia - Bow of Ship

[cellfree]

Bow on Mera has three Bella Balcony Cabins on both Port and Starboard sides. There appears to be some sort of wall there. I suppose that is why they are Bella Balconies. Has anyone stayed in those Balconies?

 

[Até]

Not sure where you are describing, but deck 13 has four Bella balconies forward on each side.  Each deck below has a few more because they are hull balconies where the superstructure of the ship requires a solid metal balcony rail.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Até

[cellfree]

Ate I am referring to those Bellas Cabins on Deck13.  What do you mean by "solid metal balcony rail?" Is it from eye level to floor?

[Até]

I didn't see any Meraviglia specific pictures so best to just Google "Hull balcony" and look at the images.  The solid metal is from waist height to the floor, often there is also more metal around the sides and top.  You can look at side views of Meraviglia to see how each cabin may differ.

[cellfree]

Thank you, will try that, always appreciate suggestions.

[CruisingFox27]

Meraviglia bow cabins.

[cellfree]

Did some googling and watched a few videos of similar cabins - appears to be solid white rather than clear glass on the balcony - so blocks views when sitting but not when standing. We actually cruise Inside most of the time but have been investigating sale MSC has going on right now. 

[Hlitner]

Bow balconies come with too many issues for this frequent (until COVID) cruiser.  Consider that these balconies have steel/aluminum blocking the bottom half of the view (when looking out of the cabin).  When the ship is moving there is also a very good chance that the balcony will be unusable due to high winds (unless the ship has a following wind).  When sitting on those balconies you have a view of mostly metal!   We always prefer balconies on the side of a vessel that allows for better views and gives better shelter from wind.  By the way, even the Yacht Club has bow balconies on the Meraviglia.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Bow balconies come with too many issues for this frequent (until COVID) cruiser.  Consider that these balconies have steel/aluminum blocking the bottom half of the view (when looking out of the cabin).  When the ship is moving there is also a very good chance that the balcony will be unusable due to high winds (unless the ship has a following wind).  When sitting on those balconies you have a view of mostly metal!   We always prefer balconies on the side of a vessel that allows for better views and gives better shelter from wind.  By the way, even the Yacht Club has bow balconies on the Meraviglia.

 

Hank

 

This is my opinion as well.  On Queen Mary 2, I booked a hull balcony stateroom on the Port side of the ship.  Arriving at the stateroom, loved the cabin and bath, stepped out onto the hull balcony and thought "this will be well protected from Sun and wind; I'll enjoy this!"  That thought lasted until I sat down in the deck chair.  Magnificent view of the sky; no view of the sea!  Just a view of metal.  I'd never book such a cabin again and would not book one with a balcony facing the bow of the ship because of the probable wind issues.  

[sealynx]

If you book the Bella cabin with solid balcony railing that is directly next to the Fantastica cabin with a glass balcony railing, you might be lucky and get a partial glass railing (just try and count the cabins on a photo of the ship, then you might be able to see in advance). We had this situation in our cabin (14009) on MSC Seaview, 1/3 was glass, the rest was solid. We loved this location, since it was under the bridge wing it had mostly shadow (I burn easily in the sun).

[EllieinNJ]

Are there any Bella balconies that are not hull balconies?

[Kevin79]

18 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Are there any Bella balconies that are not hull balconies?

 

There are, If you take a look at the deck plans, you'll notice that for example cabins 8001 - 8047 have a shaded balcony. However, if you go aft on the same deck, you'll get to more bella cabins with a non-shaded balcony.

 

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Discover-MSC/Cruise-Ships/MSC-Meraviglia/Deckplan.aspx

 

There is a key further down the page that lets you know which are metal balconies, those that are half glass/metal etc. Hope it helps.

[sealynx]

15 hours ago, Kevin79 said:

 

There are, If you take a look at the deck plans, you'll notice that for example cabins 8001 - 8047 have a shaded balcony. However, if you go aft on the same deck, you'll get to more bella cabins with a non-shaded balcony.

 

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Discover-MSC/Cruise-Ships/MSC-Meraviglia/Deckplan.aspx

 

There is a key further down the page that lets you know which are metal balconies, those that are half glass/metal etc. Hope it helps.

That is a very nice and detailed deck plan, I didn't know they had this.

I'm guessing the reason why these cabins on deck 8 with glass balustrade are Bella, is because the view down to the water is blocked by the lifeboats. Don't expect to see the first 100m from the ship.

[Kevin79]

2 hours ago, sealynx said:

That is a very nice and detailed deck plan, I didn't know they had this.

The UK site ship page has the same deck plans on it at the bottom of the page, though bizarrely not the shaded balcony key.

 

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/cruises/ships/msc-meraviglia

[EllieinNJ]

20 hours ago, Kevin79 said:

 

There are, If you take a look at the deck plans, you'll notice that for example cabins 8001 - 8047 have a shaded balcony. However, if you go aft on the same deck, you'll get to more bella cabins with a non-shaded balcony.

 

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Discover-MSC/Cruise-Ships/MSC-Meraviglia/Deckplan.aspx

 

There is a key further down the page that lets you know which are metal balconies, those that are half glass/metal etc. Hope it helps.

It seems that the only non cove balconies are on deck 8, right above the lifeboats.  Is it this way for all MSC ships for Bella balconies?

[Kevin79]

5 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

It seems that the only non cove balconies are on deck 8, right above the lifeboats.  Is it this way for all MSC ships for Bella balconies?

It's quite possible but I've not looked at every deck plan. Generally, as you work up for different MSC experiences from Bella to Fantastica to Aurea, the cabins move into more desirable location. 

[sealynx]

On 8/18/2020 at 2:02 PM, EllieinNJ said:

It seems that the only non cove balconies are on deck 8, right above the lifeboats.  Is it this way for all MSC ships for Bella balconies?

On the Seaside / Seaview the balcony cabins on decks 9 and 10 have glass balustrades and are Bella experience. They are closer down to deck 8 where all the venues are that might produce noise.

On the Magnifica most cabins on the rear part of the ship on decks 8, 9 and 10 have glass balustrates and most are Bella experience. On this location on this class of ship you're more likely to experience vibrations from the ships engine.

 

Please notice that these metal balustrades are a different thing from a cove balcony. Cove balconies have much smaller opening to the outdoors, not just the balustrate, but also the top and the sides: more like an window without glass.

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, sealynx said:

Please notice that these metal balustrades are a different thing from a cove balcony. Cove balconies have much smaller opening to the outdoors, not just the balustrate, but also the top and the sides: more like an window without glass.

 

A very good post.  For me, I do not want any obstruction for my line of sight when I am sitting in a deck chair on my veranda.  

[Warrenf186]

Considering an April Caribbean cruise and looked at stateroom 9009 which is in the port bow.  Does anyone have any comments about this stateroom.  It looks too good to be true.

[go fish 44]

The site I looked at shows it colour purple which is an inside cabin.  Perhaps a call to MSC would be best before you book this cabin.

 

[Hlitner]

On 10/2/2020 at 11:37 AM, Warrenf186 said:

Considering an April Caribbean cruise and looked at stateroom 9009 which is in the port bow.  Does anyone have any comments about this stateroom.  It looks too good to be true.

According to MSCs Meraviglia Deck plan that is an Aurea Suite on the Port Bow.  I am taking a very educated guess that the lower portion of the balcony will have a solid steel wall which serves as a windbreak.  That would mean that your view both forward and to port would be partially obstructed.  Otherwise we would be happy with the cabin.  There are many cruisers who avoid cabins towards the bow because of the increased motion in rough seas but we actually love forward cabins.  Folks might also consider that MSC locates it high priced Yacht Club on the bow :).  

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Folks might also consider that MSC locates it high priced Yacht Club on the bow :).  

 

The old cliche:  "The more you pay, the more you sway."  It's true.  Yet, my YC Suite on Meraviglia on Deck 15, when the seas were a bit active, I did experience more motion than I would have on a lower deck, mid-ships.  But, what I experienced was not unpleasant at all.

Actually, I noticed less motion when I was in the YC Lounge and Restaurant than I did that day in my suite,  

Edited October 3, 2020 by rkacruiser

[Hlitner]

15 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The old cliche:  "The more you pay, the more you sway."  It's true.  Yet, my YC Suite on Meraviglia on Deck 15, when the seas were a bit active, I did experience more motion than I would have on a lower deck, mid-ships.  But, what I experienced was not unpleasant at all.

Actually, I noticed less motion when I was in the YC Lounge and Restaurant than I did that day in my suite,  

DW and I are strange cruisers because we actually prefer cabins towards the bow and often seek out locations forward of the forward elevators on most cruises.  We have little problem with the motion and, in fact, prefer being on a ship that actually feels like  a ship!  Being rocked to sleep on the high seas is something we really miss in this COVID era of cruise cancelations.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Being rocked to sleep on the high seas is something we really miss in this COVID era 

 

Yes!  Me too!

 

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

  We have little problem with the motion and, in fact, prefer being on a ship that actually feels like  a ship

 

If I wanted a "Marriott resort", I would have booked such.  I prefer that King Neptune not having a "really bad day", but experiencing some motion that tells me that I am not at a land based resort is part of my cruise enjoyment.  

 

I wonder, Hlitner, if you have experienced in your upper deck staterooms what I experienced on the Volendam in 2002 in the North Pacific.  Having to sail through the tail end of a typhoon with the seas crashing over the Crow's Nest when the bow dropped into a wave's trough.  

 

I was glad that my stateroom was mid-ships on Dolphin Deck that day!

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes!  Me too!

 

 

If I wanted a "Marriott resort", I would have booked such.  I prefer that King Neptune not having a "really bad day", but experiencing some motion that tells me that I am not at a land based resort is part of my cruise enjoyment.  

 

I wonder, Hlitner, if you have experienced in your upper deck staterooms what I experienced on the Volendam in 2002 in the North Pacific.  Having to sail through the tail end of a typhoon with the seas crashing over the Crow's Nest when the bow dropped into a wave's trough.  

 

I was glad that my stateroom was mid-ships on Dolphin Deck that day!

We have never had really rough seas on our HAL cruises.  But in the early morning hours of August 19, 1991, while on the Celebrity Meridian cruising from NYC to Bermuda, we ran smack into the heart of Hurricane Bob (which later caused a lot of damage in New England).  Our Captain thought we would miss the hurricane by about 200 miles but the storm changed course and caught our ship and the Nordic Prince (RCCL).  Seas hit approximately 40 feet and winds were over 100 knots.  We cruised through that hurricane for about 8 hours until finally getting in the clear in the late afternoon.  It was a bad situation, walking around the ship was nearly impossible. the crew roped off the doors to the decks, and most on the ship were greener then the sea.  The Nordic Prince suffered hull damage to her bow (a very large dent) but our ship did OK except for the casino glass doors which were smashed by a rogue Roulette Wheel which flew off its spindle, rolled through the casino and smashed those doors (nobody was injured).  

 

A few years later we did cruise on the Prinsendam (our favorite HAL ship) a few months after she took a huge hit from a rogue wave off Scotland.  That wave hit their Crows Nest and smashed several of the large windows.  When we later cruised on the ship HAL had actually boarded-up (with a large sheet of plywood) one of those missing windows (it took them many months to get a replacement).  An elderly lady we met who was on that Prinsendam cruise told us she was having her breakfast in the MDR when they got hit and she immediately found herself on the floor with her plate of food in her hands (she did not know how).  She told us that she continued to eat her breakfast on the floor :).  Tough ole sailors on HAL :).

 

Hank