MSC Virtuosa Balcony Cabin Review: What Are the Cabins Really Like?

Its always nice to have a balcony cabin on a cruise and get that exciting feeling of drawing back the curtains each morning to a new view. So when we saw Cruisenation had a great deal on an MSC Virtuosa Aurea balcony cabin, we booked it right away. Having that little bit of private outdoor space makes such a difference on a cruise, especially when you’re cruising as a family of four for a little bit of extra floor space.

If you’re considering booking a balcony cabin on MSC Virtuosa, here’s my experience on what you can expect to find.

Virtuosa balcony cabin at a Glance

Sofa transforms into a bunk bed for kids and teens
Well designed ensuite bathroom
Green decor throughout
Small balcony with chairs for two
Kettle, minibar and safe inside the cabin

In this article...

What type of cabin did we book on MSC Virtuosa?

As we booked our cruise only three weeks before departure, there wasn’t a huge amount of choice left in the middle of the ship (which was where we wanted to be). The only cabins available happened to be Aurea, so we ended up on deck 11 in an Aurea balcony cabin.

At the time, we didn’t really understand what that meant. We knew we’d paid a little more for the cabin, but we hadn’t appreciated just how many additional perks came with the Aurea experience. I go into those in much more detail in my separate MSC Aurea experience review. Apart from the additional perks, the balcony layout is the same as a standard balcony.

How big is the balcony on MSC Virtuosa?

We were really looking forward to having a balcony and although the balcony itself wasn’t huge on Virtuosa, it still gave us some additional space and our own private outdoor area.

It was just big enough for two chairs and a footstool, or enough space for the four of us to stand in a line and look over the balustrade. It wasn’t often all of us wanted to be out there at the exact same time anyway, but it gave us somewhere to sit with a drink, get some fresh air or stand outside and watch the world go by.

When we sailed on MSC Euriba (Virtuosa’s sister ship) we booked a partial-view balcony which was far more generous. I’d say it was around double the depth of the regular balcony on MSC Virtuosa. You can read more about that cabin in my MSC Euribia partial-view balcony review.

What’s it like having an interconnecting cabin?

Our cabin happened to be an interconnecting cabin, so we had an internal door connecting our room to the cabin next door. We were a little unsure what it was going to be like seeing as we only had one side of the interconnecting cabins.

But to be completely honest it made zero difference. The door remained locked throughout our stay (we did check from time to time!) so if you’re assigned an interconnecting room don’t stress.

Getting an Interconnecting cabin is a great option for larger families though, especially if you have older kids and need the extra space and storage. It also means you still feel like you’re all together, rather than having two completely separate cabins on the ship.

Initially we were a little apprehensive about having one side of an interconnecting cabin, mainly worrying about whether we’d hear more noise from our neighbours. But we never heard a peep from the people in the cabin next door. If anything, our noisy neighbours were on the other side of our cabin. But thats always going to be pot luck and unfortunately you cant choose your neighbours.

What are the balcony cabins like on MSC Virtuosa?

Our Virtuosa cabin had a strong green colour scheme going on, so if you don’t like green you’re well and truly out of luck! There was speckled green carpet, a forest green sofa and some green abstract artwork hung on the walls. Quite the green overload, but balcony cabins might be a different colour with different MSC packages (ours was Aurea)

The queen-size bed was firm but comfortable and it was dressed in bright white bedding, green cushions and a coordinating bed runner at the foot of the bed. Unlike our cabin on Euribia, I didn’t notice a pillow menu on Virtuosa, but the pillows provided were really comfortable anyway. We did have to ask our cabin porter for one more though, as only one of the boys had been provided one. But they very quickly arrived with an extra pillow and put that right.

As we were cruising as a family of four, our sofa has been converted into bunk beds (which I think is much better than a sofa bed) as there’s no sibling squabbles about who’s stealing the duvet, Etc. If you’re a parent, you know. Not all Virtuosa cabins have bunk beds though, some have a regular sofa bed so if you’re cruising with children, check the symbol key on the deck plans when choosing your cabin.

The cabin also came with a minibar, kettle and tea and coffee making facilities (something we didn’t get on Enchanted Princess) as well as a small safe inside the wardrobe. The safe wasn’t big enough for a laptop, but its great for things like passports, wallets and cameras. We also had a dressing table, hairdryer and two mirrors. One was positioned above the vanity, while the other was a full length mirror beside the bathroom door.

The plug sockets were a mixture of two-pin EU and two-pin US sockets, and there were several USB ports around the cabin too. We found the ones beside the bed useful for charging our phones overnight. Overall, the room worked really well for what we needed. Having the balcony also gave us that little bit of extra breathing room when all four of us were getting ready.

I did miss the huge mirror we’d had in our Euribia cabin, as that made the room feel much brighter and created the illusion that it was more spacious.

What’s the storage like in an MSC Virtuosa balcony cabin?

Standard balcony cabins aren’t the biggest on the MSC (at least not on the ships I’ve been on so far) so you’re not going to find endless amounts of storage here. Even so, between the wardrobe, drawers and cubbies we still managed to unpack two medium sized suitcases and one carry-on case between the 4 of us. Then we slid our suitcases under the bed to keep them out of the way.

The fairly small wardrobe on MSC Virtuosa runs beside the length of the bed, and the sliding doors don’t give you the easiest access to everything inside, but it wasn’t a major problem.

We always make sure to pack these magnetic cruise hooks too as they’re so handy for extra storage options. As the ceilings and walls are metal, you can attach the hooks in seconds and use them to hang all sorts. They hold a decent amount of weight without falling down too, perfect for heavier winter coats so that they don’t take up all the space in the wardrobe.

We were only on a three-night cruise and managed to fit everything in for the 4 of us without too much trouble. For a family of 4 on a much longer cruise, storage could start to feel a little snug on Virtuosa.

What is the bathroom like on MSC Virtuosa?

The ensuite is compact but I actually think MSC has made really good use of the small footprint.

There’s a decent sized corner shower with a glass door, which is much nicer than wrestling with a soggy shower curtain. Shower gel and shampoo are provided in wall mounted dispensers, so you don’t have to bring your own. And there’s a retractable washing line inside the shower, which came in handy after spending the afternoon at the waterpark.

Theres plenty of storage around the basin for all your toiletries, and the large mirror make the bathroom feel bigger than it actually is. For such a small space, I thought the bathroom on Virtuosa worked really well.

How clean was our MSC Virtuosa cabin?

Our cabin steward was very quick at making up the room each day, but he wasn’t as meticulous as the steward we had on our previous MSC cruise. Some days he didn’t take the empty cups and glasses, so we gradually started accumulating a little collection on the side.

We also didn’t receive the regular daily activity sheet, and were only given the children’s version. I’m not sure if that was because we were sailing with children or whether MSC was encouraging guests to use the digital activity information in the MSC For ME app instead.

These were only small things, and overall the cabin was clean and perfectly comfortable for the 4 of us. If I was really nitpicking, there were a couple of small signs of wear and tear. We noticed a few stains on the carpet and some of the chrome around the basin was beginning to show its age despite Virtuosa only having been built in 2021.

It wasn’t anything that affected our stay, but equally be prepared that everything might not look absolutely pristine.

Is an MSC Virtuosa balcony cabin big enough for a family of four?

The cabin on Virtuosa wasn’t particularly spacious, but it was perfectly adequate for two adults and two children and the balcony gave us a little extra breathing room. The bunk beds worked well for the boys and we had just about enough storage space to fully unpack our stuff.

I think the age of your children would make a big difference though. At 9 and 10, our boys were perfectly happy and it didn’t feel like we were in each others way. If you’re travelling with teenagers or you’re planning a longer cruise, I think you might start to notice the lack of space a little more.

If you’re sailing with just two people the standard balcony feels a very comfortable size.

Would we book an MSC Virtuosa balcony cabin again?

Yes we would! Having a balcony was worth the extra cost because it gave us somewhere to escape to when we wanted a little fresh air or a few minutes away from the busyness of the ship. The cabin itself wasn’t overly luxurious in terms of space, but we got a great cruise deal and it was comfortable and worked well for our family of four.

If I was booking Virtuosa again I’d happily choose another balcony cabin, and I’d be more than happy to book an interconnecting cabin if that was the best option available.

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