Stateroom 8632
Looking for a luxurious getaway on a cruise ship? Book now on Oceania before their fares increase on January 1, 2008.
Cabin 8632, Category C, Oceanview
As previously mentioned, our cabin was opposite the doorway to the elevator lobby on Deck 8. This proved to be an ideal spot for a stateroom although originally, we had some concerns about traffic and noise. Those worries turned out to be unfounded. The cabin was quiet and in a very convenient location for easy access to the elevators, the Versailles Dining Room and Endless
Summer.
We had plenty of closet space, which included both shelves and a rack for hanging. The refrigerator was on a shelf that was high enough so that we didn’t have to bend over. The coffee maker was absent from the desk, but I did request one, which should come in every cabin, and it appeared shortly thereafter.
Our beds were still in a twin configuration, so we asked our kind room stewards to combine them into one bed. In this particular cabin the head of the bed is along the window. I have never figured out if there is an advantage to having the bed facing in a certain direction when traveling through rough waters. On each side of the bed is a table and reading lamp, but we never found switches near the bed to turn off the main light in the room.
The desk had drawers and shelves and enough room for more storage. We removed the Bible from the drawer and tossed it up onto a high shelf that we weren’t using. I had brought my own reading material along with me. The chairs in the room included a regular desk-type chair and a round, backless stool best suited for a dressing table. There was but one outlet at the desk, but we brought along a multi-plug so that we had plenty of places to plug in the laptop and chargers. The coffee maker had its own outlet. We found the cabin adequate at 140 square feet. This cabin is set up for four people with a pullman bed and a trundle bed. It might get a bit crowded with four adults.
The bathroom is divided into two areas. When you enter, the sink, which had a kitchen faucet on it, is directly ahead, with the toilet compartment to the left and the shower area to the right. Both the toilet and shower have sliding doors. The entry into the toilet area was about 18″ which could pose a problem to those who have overindulged in one too many midnight buffets. The compartment itself was rather narrow as well. The shower had a wider opening. The bathroom came supplied with a shower cap, body lotion, shoe mitt and dispensed hand soap. In the shower both shampoo and soap were dispensed. We found the pressure and temp of the water to be good.
On the large bathroom mirror, there is also a magnifying mirror, which I think some refer to as shaving mirrors. I can tell you that looking into that mirror sent me looking for a razor. It’s amazing how much those little mirrors expose – chin hairs, broken capillaries, enlarged pores… Use that mirror at your own risk. NCL should hook a razor right on that mirror. I felt like never leaving the confines of my cabin again.
We had some issues with the room being a bit warm, but had this resolved. It simply involved somebody coming and pulling a panel in the hall and making an adjustment. Within a short time our room was comfortably cool. As luck would have it, the outside temperature dropped several degrees the next few days, so we had to warm up the room a little, which for us means just slightly warmer than a meat locker.
The pillows on the bed were fine for Bugsy, but not for me. I asked our steward, Suyatno, if he could find me a feather pillow to which he responded that those are usually for guests in the higher category cabins. I didn’t expect to see a pillow change, but sure enough, there was a feather pillow on the bed later that day. That made me a very happy camper. NCL might consider replacing these beds, which are a little worse for the wear. The only other NCL ship that we have sailed is the Spirit and that had worn-out beds as well. When you can see that the mattress has a big impression in it, it should be obvious that it is time for a replacement.
Our stewards sometimes brought us chocolates for our pillows and occasionally created the much sought after towel animals. We both find it fascinating that some judge a cruise on the number and type of towel animals that they find in their rooms. When or why this tradition started, I don’t know, but it will certainly, if ever it does, die hard.
Our cabin was always clean. With the Freestyle concept, it isn’t always obvious to the room stewards when we were at dinner. A simple turn of the dial outside the room assisted the stewards in figuring this out and getting the rooms cleaned while we were on shore or at dinner.
On the first day, there was a pressing special for $1 per item. I didn’t worry about the tux being a bit wrinkly because I figured I would take advantage of this offer, which is only for embarkation day. Well, it turns out the fine print says that suits, dry clean only items and other fancy-dancy stuff don’t qualify. The tux would cost $6.50 to press, but $10.50 to dryclean and press. Compared to our local cleaners, this was quite a deal, so we had it cleaned. When it came back the next day, the jacket was missing. Bugsy told the person who delivered it that something was missing, but that person seemed a bit baffled but said that he would hunt it down. When the next day came and we still didn’t have the jacket for formal night, we asked our steward about it. He pleasantly explained that we should have let him know about it in the first place. We assumed that the other person would really go looking for it. Obviously not. Suyatno attended to this immediately and when we returned later that day, the jacket was there. Throughout the cruise, he and Dinkie made sure that everything was fine, although we really didn’t ask for much other than the jacket. They greeted us even when they were far down the hall and always had smiles on their faces.
