Starfire T.
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The check-in process was very easy, and we were met by porters immediately who took our luggage. We breezed through security and were sent off to get on the ship. The gangway was made up of stairs instead of a ramp, so I took my time so I wouldn't fall. Once on the ship, we were each handed a glass of champagne and then we did the ship's check-in (photo and credit card) right in the lobby. Everything was smooth and quick. The rooms wouldn't be ready until 2 PM, so we went up to the 11th floor for the buffet lunch. We had at least six people come up to us offering water and wine. Don was impressed that they were carving a huge chunk of Filet Mignon in the buffet! I had a spinach/ricotta cheese lasagna which was fabulous and a Cesare salad. There were very few people in the buffet, so every time our wine glasses got low, immediately someone appeared to top them off. A very dangerous practice but appreciated.
Then it was time to visit our cabin. We were told we were upgraded, so we were excited to see what we'll never be able to afford on any other cruise in our future. We were happy to discover we were assigned a balcony suite with three rooms--a living room, a separate bedroom, and a huge separate bathroom. There was a walk-in closet with plenty of room for all our things. There was a desk, table with chairs, and a three-seater couch. One whole cabinet was dedicated to a refrigerator filled with water, wine, beer, and sodas. We could let them know what we would prefer, and they would restock the fridge every day.
The bathroom has a huge walk-in shower with just glass. There were three ways to have water delivered to you - two spickets in the wall facing you, an overhead raincloud type shower head and a wand with a pressure spray. You just had to press a button to choose which one or you could use all three at once. We had double sinks with plenty of counter room and storage. Everything looked brand new.
The bedroom has a larger bed than your normal cruise ship bed. It's a split mattress but pushed together turns them into what we thought felt like a standard king size. The mattresses were very firm, and the linen was so soft. We felt we were being spoiled with luxury.
The balcony stretched across both the living room and bedroom with loungers equipped with super thick cushions. There is also a nice glass table so you could have room service delivered and eat it out on the balcony. Oh, yeah in addition to several dining rooms even specialty restaurants which you can visit once with no extra charge during your stay, there was 24-hour room service which we never ordered because we liked going to the restaurant so much.
Soon after we stopped marveling at the room's added touches: bathrobes, slippers, binoculars, laundry services and an umbrella, our butler came in to introduce himself. He was dressed in a formal black tux with tails and a white bow tie. His name was Rajeer. He was very nice and professional. Our room attendant, Myla, even gave me a hug for my birthday.
We had dinner in the main dining room. Lobster was on the menu. They do complimentary room service. You are also invited to dine once per your voyage at each of their two specialty restaurants. As you move up in room categories, so do the amenities. Categories higher than a double guest room with veranda, receive afternoon canapés, walk-in closet, espresso maker, binoculars, and complimentary pressing (5 items per day).
We were assigned the Sapphire Veranda Suite. The size of the suite is up to 40 square meters and the veranda size is up to 10 square meters. The room potentially sleeps three with a pull-out couch. Some ‘classic suites’ may include a separate bathtub, a washer and dryer combo, and a bidet. In addition to the espresso maker, five items pressed each day, binoculars, and afternoon canapés, you can have five items dry cleaned and one complimentary bag of laundry every 10 cruise days.
We never had a bad meal the whole week. Not being foodies, we thought a fancier version of a cruise dinner would be too ‘foo foo’ for us. But it was spectacular!
