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Thanks so much for sharing! I guess the moral of the story is... No time like the present, right?!

We are super excited to take this cruise in 2024! It has been a goal of mine to sail on an R-class vessel since they were built, and it's finally going to happen for my 50th birthday! We booked the 26-day spice route on the Journey from Singapore to Greece. We wanted to get V1, and the only staterooms left were either next to the elevators, or next to the laundry room. We know we definitely do not want to be next to the elevators, so we chose laundry room. Our room is 7081, on the starboard side. My question is -- for anyone who has stayed in this location, how bad is the noise from the laundry? Will we hear machines running, and people chatting there? I am thinking of maybe going to V2 to move further aft. Even though V1 is technically mid-ship, we're at the end of the section, so a few more doors down would be in V2, and that would be further from the laundry and the elevators. Should we consider moving more aft? I don't think there is any difference between V1 and V2 except location, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the insight! I think we are going to wait for an expedition so we can go ashore. It looks and sounds amazing, and we decided we want the full experience!

While browsing Azamara itineraries, we saw there is a 17-day one to the Antarctic (RT from Buenos Aires) on sale for Feb '24. We were seriously considering it until I realized that it's a "drive-by" cruise, so we won't actually set foot in Antarctica. But then I started reconsidering because it's a very good price for the cruise, and, c'mon, it's Antarctica! I feel like taking the opportunity even to just see the place might be worth it. The alternative is to wait until we can afford to pay more than twice as much for an expedition cruise. Opinions? The fare we got is $3950pp for a balcony. The boat spends 3 days in the Antarctic Sound, and stops at Port Stanley. I like that we'd also get to see some of Patagonia on this one. (Though I was thinking that a cruise that goes down the other side through the Chilean fjords might be cooler.) It seems that an expedition will cost $10000+ each and they all leave from Ushuaia. So, people who have been there, WDYT? Does this sound like a deal we should take? Or wait for a "real deal" expedition? Thanks for your input!