I wrote this pretty much as we went, please forgive the tense irregularities! Embarkation was very good. We arrived at the port at 11:00 and were stepping aboard by 11:35. Some lineups but handled very well and quickly. We headed up to the Windjammer to have some lunch and were joined by some people from the roll call. Very nice choices for lunch including the famed Honey Stung Chicken (it looked like a deep fried cutlet -- I gave it a pass) and when we had finished, an announcement that our cabins were ready. We made our way to our Promenade Stateroom (7601) and found that it was exactly as the photos we'd seen. Small but lots more storage than we'd expected. This particular stateroom is well situated, right across from Guest Services. We have not heard any noise from the Promenade.

The bed is indeed a king size. I expect they have to say queen because of the length but it is very wide and comfortable. There is a kettle and makings for tea but not coffee. I had brought some Nescafe instant Latte sachets -- a good idea! If you are an instant coffee lover, take some with you. The coffee on board while not terrible is also not great, whether you like instant or not. There is a small fridge filled with mini-bar stuff including coke products, water, and some chocolate snacks. The fridge does not get very cold but I found that if we left the outer cupboard door opened for ventilation, it maintained a cooler temperature. The couch and window seat are adequate -- not very long but reasonably comfortable. There is a blow dryer and two American style outlets in the vanity and a shaver outlet in the bathroom (on the ceiling). The shower is equipped with a short clothes line and there is a small bar of soap in the shower and by the sink. There is also a wall dispenser with 'gloop' in the shower. I used it as body wash and laundry soap. The water pressure in the sink is very light but the shower is lovely, with lots of water pressure. The shower is a hand held one, useful for rinsing clothing in the sink. The stopper in our sink does not work. The bed is high enough for us to stow our three suitcases under it. There were two mattress pads under the bed which I asked the stateroom attendant (Olinda) to remove. One was large which she took away and the other had two twins. I asked her to put them on my side of the bed and I now have a very comfortable (for me) bed.

There is a channel on the TV that shows our position, things like speed, wind, time, etc and occasional shots from the deck but there is no channel dedicated to the web cam at the front of the ship. Revision, on about the third day of the cruise, this channel with the deck camera was turned on. We tried to leave it on -- muted -- through the night to sort of simulate sunrise, but found the ambient light of the turned on TV was too bright for us. This channel plays classical music. Read more