Hi
I have stayed in a deck 8 and to be honest it was actually better than I thought. I did the usual and read all the reviews and dreaded it. Turns out that all those that say deck 8 is a poor cabin usually have not actually stayed in one.
A lot of the amenities are on deck 8 so it cut a lot of having to use the lifts. The hotubs are on deck so not far to walk in your wet gear back to cabin. People cant really see inside the cabin as the windows have reflective glass. They can only see inside when its dark and you have your curtains open.
The only downside I thought was cruising down the fjords you didnt get a great view on your balcony unlike the higher decks.
As I said, we were really dreading going and even thought about cancelling but we had a great time and in fact if I went saver fare again on Iona it wouldnt bother me if we got a deck 8 again.