Boarding in Seattle proved simple and took only an hour of waiting. Room keycard delivered without a map of the ship. Departed on time and baggage available at room by late afternoon.

9th deck inside cabin no adjacent to any noise sources (housekeeping room was a few doors down and neighbors said some early morning noises bothered them). Twin beds were placed together but moved apart a few hours later after a request to Herman. Nightstand in between beds with two fixed lamps. Fairly stiff bedding and pillows. Small desk with two US-style AC electrical outlets and one European-style. Small sofa and oval glass table. Last-generation 19" CRT-style TV with 30-some channels, but satellite channels often unavailable. No modern A/V equipment such as iPod dock or. DVD. Closet space was fine, safe worked well and adequate clothing drawers. Bathroom was fairly clean and showed only minimal signs of wear. Everything worked fine, including the electric wall-mounted hair drier. Minibar/fridge was unused. Drinking water pitcher was kept full throughout the day.

Room was usually quiet enough to sleep in on at-sea days, but one day of sever deck swimming pool sloshing caused loud metallic pinging noises all morning. Read more