Pro and Cons of MSC Preziosa please. Mostly cruised Royal Caribbean, how do they compare?

[Jimbo]

Okay, please give me your thoughts? Probably just book a regular balcony cabin and not the yacht Club.

 

Any secret regular balcony cabins that are better then others? What category are the aft facing regular balconies?

 

How is the food and service, will we notice a huge difference between the 2 cruise lines?

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Preziosa]

I have done 8 Cruises on Preziosa.

the food is Very Italian, small portions, but you Can choose more of each group starters, entres, desserts etc

pastameals are Very good.

Good pizzas in the buffet.

 

there is is great pool in the back of the ship.

 

in the evening you have many bars with different Music, and every Night you Can Go to the theater with many drifferent art of Music and Dance,

 

the balconys in front and in the back are more outside the ship.

in the middle the ship design is more inside the ship.

I would choose deck 9, 10, 11 or 12.

 

have never had an aft facing balcony. I Think if you have many seadays with many miles, there Maybe Can Be some noice and mooving.

[Essiesmom]

Do not book any cabin that says junior in the description.  They will be small.  The junior balconies have no seating area and a shallower balcony.  Any balcony cabin with a B on it has a tub/shower rather than a walk-in shower.  This takes up a bit more cabin space so there is no couch, only an easy chair.  But those cabins are only for two, so if you are traveling with others in your cabin you won’t have the tub.  In balconies the bed for 3/4 persons is a foldout couch.

   You won’t have all the bells and whistles for kids that Royal has.  You book by Experience.  Bella is the least expensive.  Fantastica is next.  The cabins are the same size, just location differs.  Those two categories only offer fixed seating dining in the MDR.  Next up is Aurea experience which offers My Choice dining.  All food venues other than MDR are within the buffet.  No grill by the pool, etc.  There are for fee specialty restaurants.  EM

[Jimbo]

What are the difference between the BL1, 2 and 3's , just location?

 

BL3 cabin 13113  looks larger then cabin infront and behind on the deck plans that that section, is that true or just bad pictures?

 

What deck are the life boats on where they block the view on some of the balconies, are there obstructed view balconies?

 

Only need a cabin that holds 2. Sure would like to know what category those aft cabins are and any pictures of them would be great.

 

We like to either book aft facing the wake or midship. Any pictures?

Edited August 27, 2023 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

27 minutes ago, Preziosa said:

I have done 8 Cruises on Preziosa.

the food is Very Italian, small portions, but you Can choose more of each group starters, entres, desserts etc

pastameals are Very good.

Good pizzas in the buffet.

 

there is is great pool in the back of the ship.

 

in the evening you have many bars with different Music, and every Night you Can Go to the theater with many drifferent art of Music and Dance,

 

the balconys in front and in the back are more outside the ship.

in the middle the ship design is more inside the ship.

I would choose deck 9, 10, 11 or 12.

 

have never had an aft facing balcony. I Think if you have many seadays with many miles, there Maybe Can Be some noice and mooving.

So you mentioned don't book deck 13, but if we would get a cabin on deck 13........I assume that is because of the public deck above. What if I was to book one of the cabins between 13113- 127 or 13116-128

Above those cabins  there is 2 bars, Sapphire and Turquoise , they wouldn't be noisy would they? Any music or bands every play there?

[Essiesmom]

Those two bars on deck 14 are outside, pool area.  There appear to be some few tables there, so you might hear chairs scraping.  
   Suggest you go to cruisedeckplans.com and peruse the deck plans.  You can see what category the balconies are.  You will notice the aft facing balconies are deepest on deck 12 and become progressively shallower until deck 9 where they are hardly more than Juliet balconies.  
  The lifeboats are slightly below the deck 8 balconies but not up against them.  There is a sort of promenade on deck 7 but no view as the lifeboats obstruct it.  We had a balcony on deck 8 on Divina and did not have any problem with our view.  EM

[Preziosa]

On deck 13 there Can Be more shadow on  the balconies.

And there  Can Be noice from chairs

[Heartgrove]

We normally sail on HAL and are 4* Mariners. Currently we are aboard the MSC Preziosa sailing from Hamburg to Scotland and Ireland. Last year we were in YC aboard the MSC Splendida but decided to try the Fantastica Experience this time. Our staterooms is on Deck 11 a bit forward of mid-ships. Deck 11 is a good choice as you are below the large overhang of 13 but above the lifeboats. Other than a long walk to the Buffet and L' Arabesque dining room (our assigned dining room) the ship is fine. We are a full ship with 3,400 passengers so busy but not overly crowded at times.

 

Food is good with decent portion size. By the time you have the three courses you will be full. Maybe order the soup plus the appetizer depending on what the main is. Pizza in the Buffet is the best I have had on any cruise ship. I believe they have at least six different pizzas. My favorite is the Charcoal pizza.

 

Service onboard is excellent! Our staterooms is serviced twice a day. The stateroom is a Deluxe and very good size. It is also an adjoing room as we are traveling with DSIL.

 

 

 

[CarbonRiver]

Not sure if you are still looking but we just booked on Splendida, which is the sister ship I believe with the same general cabin layout. Saw a tip on here for some of the cabins where the forward and aft sections bump out from the middle. That reviewer said the balcony in those cabins was as large as it looks on the map and amazing. The deckplans link below shows cabin 10087 with a note that it has a 124sqft balcony. That is the cabin we booked on Spendida for our Med cruise next June. Had to sort of hunt through the options to find it while booking. Giving a tip and hijacking thread a bit in hopes anyone might have thoughts on if the noise from the adjacent lifts will be so bad as to outweigh the larger balcony space. We're traveling with 4 in our cabin, so the extra space has a high premium for us.    

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/deckbydeck.php?ship=MSC-Preziosa&deck=10

[Heartgrove]

On 9/21/2023 at 1:22 PM, CarbonRiver said:

Not sure if you are still looking but we just booked on Splendida, which is the sister ship I believe with the same general cabin layout. Saw a tip on here for some of the cabins where the forward and aft sections bump out from the middle. That reviewer said the balcony in those cabins was as large as it looks on the map and amazing. The deckplans link below shows cabin 10087 with a note that it has a 124sqft balcony. That is the cabin we booked on Spendida for our Med cruise next June. Had to sort of hunt through the options to find it while booking. Giving a tip and hijacking thread a bit in hopes anyone might have thoughts on if the noise from the adjacent lifts will be so bad as to outweigh the larger balcony space. We're traveling with 4 in our cabin, so the extra space has a high premium for us.    

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/deckbydeck.php?ship=MSC-Preziosa&deck=10

 

Attached are photos of the same stateroom balconies on the sister ship, MSC Preziosa. I am standing on our balcony on Deck 11 looking forward to 10087 and 10089. The cropped photo shows more detail of the dividing wall. You will not have a view forward because of the bulkhead. The balcony does have that amount of sq. ft. but it is mostly enclosed.

 

 

 

[3dogmom]

On 9/19/2023 at 6:00 AM, Heartgrove said:

We normally sail on HAL and are 4* Mariners. Currently we are aboard the MSC Preziosa sailing from Hamburg to Scotland and Ireland. Last year we were in YC aboard the MSC Splendida but decided to try the Fantastica Experience this time. Our staterooms is on Deck 11 a bit forward of mid-ships. Deck 11 is a good choice as you are below the large overhang of 13 but above the lifeboats. Other than a long walk to the Buffet and L' Arabesque dining room (our assigned dining room) the ship is fine. We are a full ship with 3,400 passengers so busy but not overly crowded at times.

 

Food is good with decent portion size. By the time you have the three courses you will be full. Maybe order the soup plus the appetizer depending on what the main is. Pizza in the Buffet is the best I have had on any cruise ship. I believe they have at least six different pizzas. My favorite is the Charcoal pizza.

 

Service onboard is excellent! Our staterooms is serviced twice a day. The stateroom is a Deluxe and very good size. It is also an adjoing room as we are traveling with DSIL.

 

 

 

 

I'm taking this same cruise; Hamburg to Scotland and Ireland this September.  I booked cabin 13088. Based on the video posted on Cruisedeckplans, I think this will be a good choice.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but Preziosa reviews are rare!  Any info to share about the ship or ports? I booked the 2 night dinner pkg for Butcher's Cut and Sushi, based on reviews of the overall thoughts on the main dining room food.

 

Still researching Belfast and Stornoway, UK for private tours. Any recommendations? Besides Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, are any other ports tender ports?

 

Thank you!

[perakcruiser]

15 minutes ago, 3dogmom said:

Sorry to hijack the thread, but Preziosa reviews are rare!  Any info to share about the ship or ports?

You will find a lot a comments that say that the Preziosa is the best ship. Not just from MSC. I am one of those. She is such a beauty and just the right size. Even Splendida and Fantasia are quite similar, for me still a different feeling. Divina maybe is 100% same, I never been on that ship.

[Heartgrove]

3 hours ago, 3dogmom said:

 

I'm taking this same cruise; Hamburg to Scotland and Ireland this September.  I booked cabin 13088. Based on the video posted on Cruisedeckplans, I think this will be a good choice.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but Preziosa reviews are rare!  Any info to share about the ship or ports? I booked the 2 night dinner pkg for Butcher's Cut and Sushi, based on reviews of the overall thoughts on the main dining room food.

 

Still researching Belfast and Stornoway, UK for private tours. Any recommendations? Besides Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, are any other ports tender ports?

 

Thank you!

 

Two suggestions. First: Stateroom 13088 has a connecting door to 13090. Did you mean to write 13086? We enjoyed being on Deck 11 but Deck 13 should be fine.

 

Second: I would recommend doing the ship excursion for Stornoway. The anchorage is about a 15-20 minute ride to shore. MSC's policy is to get the MSC excursion passengers ashore first. It took three hours before starting the general passengers tendering to shore. The queue to go back to the ship was almost 1-1/2 hours long. But Stornoway was supposedly building a cruise ship pier but I am not sure when it will be completed.

 

Also, the Galaxy Restaurant for Sushi is in a very nice part of the ship on Deck 16 with great views. The Galaxy Lounge adjacent to the restaurant is also great for views and seems to be underused as a lounge.

 

[3dogmom]

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Two suggestions. First: Stateroom 13088 has a connecting door to 13090. Did you mean to write 13086? We enjoyed being on Deck 11 but Deck 13 should be fine.

 

Second: I would recommend doing the ship excursion for Stornoway. The anchorage is about a 15-20 minute ride to shore. MSC's policy is to get the MSC excursion passengers ashore first. It took three hours before starting the general passengers tendering to shore. The queue to go back to the ship was almost 1-1/2 hours long. But Stornoway was supposedly building a cruise ship pier but I am not sure when it will be completed.

 

Also, the Galaxy Restaurant for Sushi is in a very nice part of the ship on Deck 16 with great views. The Galaxy Lounge adjacent to the restaurant is also great for views and seems to be underused as a lounge.

 

Thank you for all the information. I wasn't clear on the cabin. I did book 13088 (I think 13086 was already booked), but based on the video I assume they will be the same since they are neighboring cabins.

 

I booked the "On your own" excursion in Dun Laoghaire for the same tendering nightmare reason you mention. I wish MSC would list which ports were tender on their invoice! I will definitely take a look at the Stornoway excursions available.

 

Anything else you care to share about the ship/ports/transportation, I'd love to hear.  Thanks!

[Heartgrove]

3 hours ago, 3dogmom said:

Thank you for all the information. I wasn't clear on the cabin. I did book 13088 (I think 13086 was already booked), but based on the video I assume they will be the same since they are neighboring cabins.

 

I booked the "On your own" excursion in Dun Laoghaire for the same tendering nightmare reason you mention. I wish MSC would list which ports were tender on their invoice! I will definitely take a look at the Stornoway excursions available.

 

Anything else you care to share about the ship/ports/transportation, I'd love to hear.  Thanks!

 

The 13088 has a door to 13090 so it is not a solid wall. You might hear your neighbors if they are loud. For the buffet, there is more seating available at the rear. For breakfast and some lunches, we would stay on our deck until the rear elevator and then go up to Deck 14 . That way you don't fight the crowd as much. The MDR was quite good as we ate there 9 of 10 nights.

 

Those two are the only ports that you will need to tender. On our cruise last year we also tendered when we visited Edinburgh.  Our cruise did not go to Belfast.

[3dogmom]

Thanks, Heartgrove, this was very helpful.

 

I booked an excursion for Stornoway, so I'm making great progress!

 

 

[oceans.calling]

2 hours ago, 3dogmom said:

 

I booked an excursion for Stornoway, so I'm making great progress!

 

 

We’re on the same cruise with you in Sept. May I ask what tour you booked?

[3dogmom]

41 minutes ago, oceans.calling said:

We’re on the same cruise with you in Sept. May I ask what tour you booked?

I booked the EVOCATIVE SCENERY OF THE ISLE OF LEWIS: PORT NESS AND ITS LIGHTHOUSE tour.

 

Please join the group on the social media site if your sailing September 7th!

[oceans.calling]

Sorry, no social media site for me. Our cruise is Sept 8-18 and I’ll look into that tour. Thanks. Sounds like something we would like. 

[3dogmom]

16 hours ago, oceans.calling said:

Sorry, no social media site for me. Our cruise is Sept 8-18 and I’ll look into that tour. Thanks. Sounds like something we would like. 

Yes, 9/8!

[LostAtSeaForever]

On 1/19/2024 at 3:34 PM, 3dogmom said:

I booked the EVOCATIVE SCENERY OF THE ISLE OF LEWIS: PORT NESS AND ITS LIGHTHOUSE tour.

 

Please join the group on the social media site if your sailing September 7th!

I am also on this cruise and sounds like we are on all the same tours. On your Own  Dublin, evocative Scenery Isle of Lewis. I am also in fb group

[3dogmom]

11 hours ago, LostAtSeaForever said:

I am also on this cruise and sounds like we are on all the same tours. On your Own  Dublin, evocative Scenery Isle of Lewis. I am also in fb group

What are you planning to do in Belfast? 

[oceans.calling]

3dogmom, can we move to the roll call page to have excursion discussion?  Might be beneficial to others on our cruise. Thanks.