flyncruz

Thank you for a delightful blog and all your posts. I was on the very same cruise.

I just got off the Westerdam on March 3rd. I was shocked and dismayed with the number of people all over the ship coughing, sneezing and hacking! It was terrible. I even mentioned it on my comments. I rarely saw anyone using the hand sanitizers. I’ve been on other cruise lines that have placed employees with hand sanitizer all over the ship asking everyone to use it and giving them a squirt. Much healthier.

Just got off the Westerdam on March 3rd. Yes there were games and puzzles. People used tables by guest services for puzzles. Games were in a bar room on either deck 2 or 3. There was a very small trading library on deck 10.

We had 8802 for 3 weeks in July this year and we had nothing but trouble with our toilet. We wondered about the new spa suites just above perhaps causing issues. 8 times non functioning and 1 time where after "repair" it wouldn't stop flushing.

 

As veteran cruisers and DH ex navy we are quite familiar with vacuum flush systems and never use anything we shouldn't. Sometimes we would go out for the day sightseeing with the system working and come back to no flush.

 

We took to flushing first to see if it was working before using our own facilities.

A very stressful experience. Miserable experience and would not recommend the cabin.

 

Written complaint after 4th experience got us a call 2 days later.... by which time we were on our 6th unhappy moment. The 'fix' resulted in the system flushing periodically by itself which we endured for the sake of operational reasons until the moment when it wouldn't stop flushing.

 

Otherwise.... quiet location and fun to watch the captain as you are close to the bridge deck when the ship is navigating tricky spots.

Drats! I have this cabin for 3 weeks starting April 8th 2018

Yesterday we disembarked Azamara Journey in Hong Kong. We have been in cabin 8802 for the last 2 weeks. I would not recommend any of the cabins which were cut from the officers quarters. The walls between 8800 and 8802 were paper thin, so thin that the continual coughing all night and toilet flushing from the occupants in 8800 kept us awake. I am extremely disappointed. Take these cabins at your peril. I will be writing a full report once I return to Australia after Christmas. So watch this space!

Drats. I have this cabin sailing April 7th 2018.

This has certainly been a wonderful thread. My 23 yr old DS graduated with his MBA last Sat. I want to take him and my 16 yr old DS to Egypt as a graduation celebration. I have it narrowed down to Gate 1 and GCT. Will do some more research and be back with some questions.

On packing-think us crazy, but this really works! We went to China for 4 weeks and packed 'old' clothes that we were ready to retire to Goodwill. They became disposable and we would just throw away as we travelled. We were able to fill all that empty space with ALL of the wonderful and many purchases we made and never had a problem (as many people on our tour did) with weight limitations. Tossed EVERYTHING and came home with the clothes on our backs and maybe an extra pair of undies each! Hate wrestling suitcases and backpacks around

I'm with you on the balcony thingie.

 

Being a solo traveler' date=' I always booked the lowest price inside cabin I could get. What the heck, how much time do you spend in your cabin anyway??

 

Then, about 8-10 years ago, I was upgraded to a balcony. I'll never sail without one again. Now I know why I didn't spend much time in my cabin (it's like locking yourself up in a closet).

 

I spend so much time on the balcony just "watching".....early morning coffee, midnight, afternoon sunning, a quick nap...... I've seen some wonderous things from the balcony, dolphins racing with the ship, hundreds and hundres of flying fish, rays, sea turtles. On several occasions during that certain time of the year, in the darkness of midnight, I've been entertained by the sea being full of ghostly phosphorus with the unearthly glow. It's a wonderful hide-away from the noise and the music, the crowds and the hairy chest contests..... I'll head for the quiet of my own retreat........Sigh!:p[/quote']

 

I've done an inside cabin once and that was the longest 4 days of any vacation ever! Did 4-5 window cabins and finally took the plunge with a balcony on an Alaska cruise. There is no going back! We did a balcony on the Yangteze in China and will have a balcony for a 16 day HAL transatlantic cruise starting August 11th. I love it!