Cabin Review

I have an ocean view balcony cabin. Now on most ships all I have to say is I have a balcony cabin. But on this ship there are three broad categories of balcony cabins. The least expensive are the Central Park view balcony cabins. These cabins look down on the Central Park neighborhood. You will not be able to see the ocean at all. One level up is the Boardwalk view cabins. You will have an obstructed view of the ocean by looking aft. Also, more is happening on the Boardwalk than in Central Park. Central Park is a quiet place filled with restaurants and stores. Boardwalk has a merry-go-round and a view of the Aqua Theater. The most expensive balcony cabins are the traditional balcony cabins with a view of the ocean. When I first entered the room it seemed a little smaller than I expected. However, my last two Royal Caribbean cruises in February 2012 and March 2013 were in junior suites and my last Royal Caribbean balcony cabin was in June 2009. So perhaps I have just forgotten what a typical Royal Caribbean balcony cabin looks like.This is a connecting cabin and the place where the closet normally is has a door to the adjoining cabin. The closet was moved next to the couch and was facing the balcony. Thus the closet was taking up some of the main cabin space in the sitting room, which is the likely reason the cabin looked smaller. The cabin of course does not have separate bed and sitting rooms. It is all one area with the bed next to the balcony and the couch and desk between the bed and the bathroom and entry way. Other than looking smaller, the cabin worked out well for me. I liked the lighting set up. There was a main switch near the entry door which would turn off ALL the lights (including the bathroom light). With the main switch in the on position there were three other switches that control the lights in the cabin. There was a switch for the main cabin lights, a switch for the lights above the paintings (one painting is on the wall behind the couch and one is on the opposite wall at the foot of the bed). I like using this switch when I wanted the cabin to be dark with some light. Finally there was a switch for the bathroom. Interestingly enough, even if the bathroom light was off, it still glowed, so if you left the bathroom door open, you could find the bathroom without turning on any other lights. There were two switches near the bed that would also control the main cabin lights and the lights over the paintings. Finally there were two reading lights with separate switches near the bed. The balcony seemed to be a good size. It was as wide as the cabin but seems a little deeper (perhaps by only a few inches) than typical. The balcony furniture consisted of two chairs and a small table. The bathroom was small, but well laid out. It had the clam shell door shower that I didn't like on the other ships because there was not enough room for me to raise my knee to a full ninety degree angle. However, this shower is a little wider and I could raise my knee past a ninety degree angle, so I was happy that I didn't have to open the shower door to wash my lower leg and feet. The desk space was adequate and the mirror had side lights. The electrical outlet had receptacles for three 120 volt plugs. Royal Caribbean finally figured out that people bring a lot of battery powered things that need to be charged at night. That said, I have never had my extension cord or three plug extension confiscated (though some claim their power strips have been confiscated). I recommend bringing the short (six to twelve inch long) extension cords if the plug for your charger is integrated into the charger. The three plugs are at a 45 degree angle and right next to the mirror. So in one direction anything longer than a few inches will hit the desk, in the other direction it will hit the mirror. Anything longer than three inches might not fit which is solved with the short extension cord.