Cabin Review

(I am not sure if we were M9 or MB - the people we spoke with said we were upgraded to M9 from MB, but on the vacation summary website it still said MB.) We had booked this cruise with a "mini suite or better" guarantee, so we were supposed to get a Spa Mini Suite with a Balcony. When we got in the room, however, it looked like the plain old Mini Suite. My aunt called up Guest Services (or whoever) and explained that she was confused and why didn't our room look like the one in the book/on the website. Turns out that we didn't get a *room* upgrade, just an amenities upgrade. That was okay, though, since we got to use the Thermal Suite in the spa for free! That was amazing. I loved everything about it. Very relaxing, unlike the pool outside (more on that later). The room itself is short on elegance (and space for some people) but it serves its purpose. As other reviews have said, there aren't drawers, but there is a closet and there are shelves within the closet and under the TV/next to the refrigerator. Unfortunately, my aunt took up most of the space with her stuff, so I lived out of my suitcase - not that convenient! The balcony is adequate - 2 chairs and a mini table. I wish it was a bit cleaner, though. The bathroom was fine for 2 people. It has a rainfall shower head with jets, no bathtub. It's a little difficult to figure out at first. There is a double/shared vanity/sink and ample space to put all toiletries. What I didn't like about the bathroom is that they do not provide you with conditioner (a must-have for my hair!), a bar of soap, body lotion, shower caps, q-tips, or cotton balls. They provide shampoo and shower gel from dispensers in the shower and liquid soap on the side for the sink. I'm anal about having all my stuff, so I had all this (except for the bar of soap) in advance, but I ran out of conditioner and lotion. We ended up purchasing aloe vera gel at the tax and duty-free gift shop and conditioner at the Atlantis gift shop (I honestly don't recall the gift shop on board having conditioner). Lastly, we had the two twin beds in our room put together. I don't know if it was the rocking of the ship, or the fact that we were exhausted each day, or the bed/bed linens, but we both fell asleep like babies each night! The bed was so, so comfortable (all white linens). It was warm too, which was a plus for me because the A/C was always on and I was freezing every time I came into the room or if I had to get dressed. But that's just me. Another thing that annoyed me about the room, which I saw in another review and scoffed at initially, was the positioning of the TV. One would think that the TV would be placed directly in front of the bed, but it was actually placed in between where the bed and the sofa was, making the angle to use the remote inconvenient. I found it hard to use the remote, actually. The channels on the TV were adequate, I guess - we didn't watch much because we didn't have the time and we were simply too tired at night! There are a couple of news stations, a channel for TV shows, a channel where you can rent movies, and other NCL channels. I really wanted to see the "Welcome Aboard" video from beginning to end, but I only saw the tail end and I don't think it replayed. I couldn't find it again. Last thing about the room: we were directly under Deck 15, which was the pool deck. Sometimes in the late afternoon/at night, you can hear chairs being moved around and the footsteps of people running, but there wasn't too much noise. And at first we thought we would have to walk a very long way to get to our room, but afterwards, we realized our room was very close to a second set of elevators, so that was good for my aunt. It's good exercise, though! :P