From the moment we stepped into the cruise terminal until we boarded the bus to the airport home, we felt like VIP was stamped on our foreheads. We were whisked to the Suites area to get registered (a breeze) then through to the special seating area until we boarded the ship. We met our concierge, Alex here and only sat for about 15 minutes until we boarded the ship and were escorted to our forward penthouse suite, 9500. We met our phenomenal room stewards, Ross and Leonor and also our butler, Maurice.
Our stateroom was everything I could have asked! I loved it's colors, nice and bright. There was plenty of room, tons of storage and it was really lovely. The bathroom was nice sized, with a tub, separate loo and sink area. Nice amenities as well. I loved the vanity area for getting ready. The closet was large and you could access it from both sides. We used the espresso machine daily at least.
However, it's the balcony that makes this room so wonderful. Our balcony was, in a word- HUGE!! It's one of 4, the biggest balconies on the ship. Even the bigger suites on the sides didn't have a balcony as big. We spent so much time on it. In fact, we spent a lot of time in our room on this ship because it was so cozy and comfortable. Not to mention the most comfortable bed on any ship I've taken. I don't understand some of the reviews I had read prior to cruising in this room, the wind never kept us off the balcony, even on one night when we had gale force winds! In fact, we kept our door open each night to get that wonderful breeze. You could easily fit 25 people out there. It was great when docking because you could see everything happening.