MSC World America’s Secret Speakeasy Is the Cruise Ship’s Hardest Bar to Find
There is a red British phone booth on Deck 6 of MSC World America that looks like the sort of thing passengers stop beside for a quick vacation photo. But for a select group of cruisers, that phone booth is something else entirely: the entrance to one of the most talked-about hidden experiences at sea.
The catch is that finding the booth is easy. Getting through it is the hard part.
A Phone Booth That Is More Than Just Cruise Décor
MSC World America is enormous by almost any measure. The ship carries up to 6,764 guests, has 2,614 staterooms, 2,138 crew members and measures 216,638 gross tons, according to MSC Cruises. It entered service from Miami in April 2025, beginning a Caribbean-focused season that included destinations such as Puerto Plata, San Juan, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
That sheer size makes the secret bar’s setup particularly clever. Passengers can walk past the red phone booth on Deck 6 without realizing that it is connected to an invitation-only Prohibition-themed experience tucked away from the ship’s ordinary passenger flow. Recent cruise reporting confirms that the venue itself is located in a behind-the-scenes area on a lower deck, rather than simply sitting immediately behind the booth.
And yes, the whole thing is deliberately theatrical.
Guests who receive an invitation or token are given instructions for contacting the venue, with the vintage phone booth becoming the first stage of the experience. From there, crew members escort guests through service areas and down stairs before the hidden speakeasy finally appears.
The Golden Ticket Is Actually a Coin
This is where the story gets especially fun.
Recent passenger accounts describe small branded coins being used as invitations to the MSC World America speakeasy. Some cruisers say they received tokens unexpectedly from crew members, while others have reported getting them through interactions onboard, including at bars or specialty dining venues.
There is an important wrinkle, though: there doesn’t appear to be one publicly advertised formula for getting invited.In other words, there is no simple “complete this activity and receive a coin” rule that passengers can follow.
That uncertainty is part of the appeal. You’re not buying a standard specialty-restaurant reservation, and you can’t simply open the MSC app and select a time slot like you would for many other onboard activities. Recent reports indicate that some guests have even been given access through their cabin number rather than receiving a physical token, suggesting the system can change from sailing to sailing.
For travelers who love cruise ship secrets, that’s catnip.
Inside the 1920s-Inspired Speakeasy
Once admitted, the atmosphere shifts dramatically.
The hidden bar is designed around the aesthetics of a 1920s Prohibition-era speakeasy, with low lighting, vintage furnishings, period-style décor, live jazz and staff participating in the theme. One recent account described a space filled with mismatched furniture, worn rugs, a wooden bar and an antique telephone switchboard, while another described costumed performers and an intimate jazz-club atmosphere.
This isn’t simply a quiet lounge with an old-fashioned cocktail menu slapped onto it.
The journey to the bar is part of the attraction. Passengers are deliberately moved through areas they would normally never see, transforming what could have been another specialty bar into something closer to an onboard theatrical experience.
And then comes the bill.
Your Drink Package Won’t Save You Here
One of the biggest surprises for passengers is that the speakeasy’s cocktails are not covered by the ship’s standard drink package.
A 2025 firsthand report listed 14 specialty cocktails at $22 each, with one group spending roughly $100 on four drinks. Prices can change, so passengers should verify the current menu onboard rather than treating those figures as guaranteed.
That’s a pretty hefty cocktail tab, especially after you’ve already paid for a cruise and potentially purchased a beverage package.
But the pricing makes more sense when you think of the speakeasy as an entertainment experience as much as a bar. You’re paying for the drink, certainly, but you’re also paying for the invitation, the secret entrance, the crew interaction, the live performance and the novelty of doing something most people onboard won’t experience.
Is the MSC World America Speakeasy Worth Hunting Down?
For passengers who enjoy craft cocktails, live jazz, immersive entertainment and hidden-bar culture, the answer may be a resounding yes.
For everyone else, spending a week trying to charm every bartender on Deck 6 in hopes of finding a mysterious coin could become a little ridiculous. There are already plenty of legitimate bars on MSC World America, including Elixir Mixology Bar, Fizz Champagne Bar, Masters of the Sea and the Gin Project, which features more than 70 craft gins.
That’s what makes the secret speakeasy such an interesting cruise trend. On a ship built around restaurants, entertainment venues, pools, shops and enormous public spaces, MSC has created an experience whose biggest selling point is that most passengers can’t simply buy their way in.
The red phone booth is sitting there in plain sight. The mystery isn’t where it is. The mystery is whether anyone will decide you’re one of the lucky ones.
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