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113 Stories|227 Ships|22 Cruise Lines
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Trending:#balcony#funny#great view#crew insider#quiet#interior#hidden gem#unforgettable

Stories tagged #great view

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Crew Insider1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 7, Cabin 7310
#crew insider#hidden gem#great view

The Deck 7 oceanview secret nobody advertises

Navigation officer, MSC Seashore. Deck 7 oceanview cabins on the Seaside-class ships (Seashore, Seaside, Seaview) have a unique advantage that is not in any brochure. Due to the ship's hull design, Deck 7 portholes sit at a height that catches the bioluminescence on tropical nights. Bioluminescence is the blue-green glow created by microscopic organisms in warm ocean water when disturbed by the ship's wake. From Deck 7, your porthole is close enough to the waterline that on the right nights you can see the water glowing blue-green directly outside your window. Higher cabins are too far from the waterline to see it. It does not happen every night — conditions have to be right — but when it does, Deck 7 guests get a private light show that nobody above Deck 9 can see. Cabin 7310 is perfectly positioned for it.

— Bioluminescence Navigator
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Story1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 11, Cabin 11044
#wildlife#unforgettable#balcony

The whale breach that nobody else saw

Early morning, Deck 11 balcony, somewhere off the coast of Portugal. I could not sleep and went out to the balcony at 5am with coffee. The ocean was completely still — mirror-flat, which is rare in the Atlantic. I was watching the horizon when something enormous broke the surface about two hundred meters from the ship. A whale. Full breach. It launched itself out of the water, twisted, and crashed back down sending spray in every direction. I screamed. Nobody heard me. There was not a single person on any visible balcony. No other witnesses. I did not have my phone. No photo. Just me and this whale in the pre-dawn Atlantic. I sat there for another hour hoping for a second breach. It did not come. I am the only person who knows it happened.

— Lone Whale Witness
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Story1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 10, Cabin 10066
#solo travel#unforgettable#balcony

The Italian grandfather who taught me to watch the sea

Solo trip on MSC Seashore, Mediterranean itinerary. My neighbor on the balcony next door was an Italian man in his eighties named Giorgio who was on his forty-seventh cruise. Forty-seventh. We could hear each other through the divider and on the first morning he said 'You are looking at your phone. Look at the water instead.' I put my phone down and looked at the water. He started narrating what he saw: the color changes as we passed over different depths, the pattern of the ship's wake, the way clouds form differently over warm and cold currents. He had been watching the sea for twenty years and he knew it like a language. We had coffee on our adjacent balconies every morning for seven days. I have not looked at my phone on a balcony since.

— Giorgio's Student
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Review1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 15, Cabin 15180
#noise#balcony#great view

High deck cabin with a pool deck view problem

Deck 15, cabin 15180. Beautiful cabin, modern finishes, the infinity balcony is wonderful. However, this cabin's balcony has a direct sightline to the pool deck on Deck 16, which means on sea days you are watching hundreds of people in swimwear from above like some kind of cruise ship surveillance operation. The noise from the pool reaches this deck easily. The DJ's music is clearly audible. On port days when the pool is less busy it is peaceful and lovely. My recommendation: if you want a high deck balcony on Seashore, go aft where the view is the wake, not forward where the view is the pool party. The cabin interior is excellent though — no complaints about the room itself.

— Pool Overlord
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Review1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 12, Cabin 12150
#great view#balcony#modern

The cabin with a view of the cruise terminal — worth it in port

Cabin 12150 on MSC Seashore faces starboard and at several ports, this meant we had a direct view of the cruise terminal and the city beyond. In Barcelona, we watched the entire port come alive from our balcony. In Marseille, we could see the Basilica on the hill. The ocean days the view is standard open water. The cabin is a typical MSC balcony, modern and functional. One thing I appreciate about MSC is the minibar comes pre-stocked with a couple of complimentary water bottles, which other lines charge for. The balcony furniture is slightly more elegant than the plastic chairs on American lines — actual cushioned seating. Small touches matter. The cabin was spotless throughout. No maintenance issues.

— Terminal Watcher
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Review1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 9, Cabin 9078
#great view#quiet#value

MSC oceanview — the porthole that became our clock

We booked an oceanview on Deck 9 because I wanted natural light without the balcony price. What I did not expect was how much the porthole would become our daily rhythm-setter. We woke with the light, watched the weather through it before getting dressed, and ended every evening checking the stars through it. The porthole on MSC Seashore is larger than on older ships — almost the size of a small window. Cabin 9078 is in a quiet section with minimal corridor traffic. The room is standard MSC quality: modern, compact, functional. The one surprise was excellent water pressure in the shower — better than my hotel in Rome the week before. For Mediterranean cruises where you are off the ship most days, oceanview is the smart choice.

— Porthole Philosopher
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Review1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 11, Cabin 11310
#sunset#great view#infinity balcony

Port-side Deck 11 — the Mediterranean sunset position

If your MSC Seashore itinerary is in the Mediterranean heading south along the Italian coast, port-side cabins on Deck 11 get the sunset every single evening. Cabin 11310 had a perfect unobstructed view of the Amalfi coast at sunset on our second night and I have never taken more photos in my life. The cabin is a standard balcony with the MSC infinity concept — glass extension over the water. The room is well-maintained and modern. One issue specific to this cabin: the balcony divider between us and the next cabin has a small gap at the bottom that allows sound to travel. We could hear our neighbors' conversations clearly. Not a dealbreaker for us but worth noting for privacy-conscious travelers.

— Amalfi Gazer
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Review1mo ago
MSC Cruises · MSC Seashore · Deck 10, Cabin 10202
#infinity balcony#modern#great view

MSC infinity balcony — the glass floor is thrilling

The infinity balcony concept on MSC Seashore is unlike anything on other cruise lines. The balcony is not a separate outdoor space — the entire wall opens and the floor extends as a glass panel over the ocean. You are standing inside your cabin looking directly down at the water through the floor. It is vertiginous and beautiful. Cabin 10202 is mid-ship with an unobstructed view. The glass floor section is about two feet wide, enough to stand on but not enough for a chair. We spent hours just standing there watching the water pass below us. The cabin itself is modern European design — clean lines, good storage, slightly smaller bathroom than American cruise lines but well-designed. MSC knows how to make a visual impact.

— Glass Floor Walker
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Story1mo ago
Carnival Cruise Line · Carnival Celebration · Deck 9, Cabin 9330
#wildlife#funny#balcony

The stingray that watched us eat breakfast

Docked in Grand Cayman. Eating breakfast on our balcony, port side facing the tender dock. A massive stingray — easily five feet across — was circling in the water directly below our balcony. It stayed for over an hour, just gliding in slow circles. My partner started dropping small pieces of croissant into the water, which I told him was almost certainly not allowed. The stingray did not eat the croissant. A seagull did. The stingray continued its serene circles, unbothered by the seagull, unbothered by us, unbothered by existence. We named it Raymond. Ray for short. We watched Raymond until the tender boats started running and he glided away. Sometimes I think about Raymond's perfect, peaceful life and I am envious.

— Raymond's Friend
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Review1mo ago
Carnival Cruise Line · Carnival Celebration · Deck 10, Cabin 10520
#aft cabin#wake view#great view

Aft corner balcony — the wake view and the vibration

Carnival Celebration aft corner cabin 10520. The wake view is gorgeous and the corner position gives you a wider balcony with views in two directions. On our cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman the aft view was especially beautiful at sunrise. Now the honest part: there is engine vibration in aft cabins on this ship. It is a low hum, constant, present in the room and on the balcony. Some people will not notice. I noticed. It did not ruin anything but it was there. If you are vibration-sensitive, book mid-ship instead. The cabin is modern and well-designed with the Excel-class updates. The aft corner balcony is easily double the size of a standard balcony. Worth it if vibration does not bother you.

— Stern Surveyor
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Review1mo ago
Carnival Cruise Line · Carnival Celebration · Deck 7, Cabin 7320
#value#quiet#great view

Oceanview on Deck 7 — perfect for a short cruise

Three-night Bahamas cruise in an oceanview cabin. For a short trip, oceanview is the sweet spot. You get natural light, which prevents that disoriented feeling you get in interiors, but you do not pay balcony prices for a trip where you will barely use the room. Cabin 7320 has a standard porthole that was clean and provided a nice view. The room was freshly maintained, all fixtures worked. Location was convenient for the main dining room. The only negative is that Deck 7 on Celebration has some food service areas below it, and during lunch hours there was a faint kitchen smell. Not bad, kind of appetizing actually. For the price point on a short cruise this was exactly right. Would book the same category again.

— Weekend Voyager
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Review1mo ago
Carnival Cruise Line · Carnival Celebration · Deck 8, Cabin 8410
#new ship#balcony#modern

Excel-class balcony on Celebration — modern and spacious

Carnival Celebration is a new ship and it shows. Cabin 8410 is a standard balcony that feels bigger than balconies on older ships. The design is clean and modern with actual storage solutions that work — under-bed storage, a closet with real hangers, shelves that are deep enough for toiletries. The balcony has a small table and two chairs that are comfortable enough to eat breakfast outside. We had port-side facing and the view was gorgeous coming into Half Moon Cay. The bathroom is still small but the shower has decent water pressure which is not a given on cruise ships. Celebration runs very quietly for its size — no vibration at all in this cabin. Carnival has genuinely upped their game with the Excel class.

— Excel Explorer
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