Mexican Riviera December 14-21 Part II

continued from Part I ...

THE CABIN

This was the "crowning glory" of the ship. Even for the lowest vista suite (which was the same inside as the typical verandah suite), it was in fact more like a compact sized luxury hotel room than a ship cabin. Even standard rooms in the average five-star hotels on land would not have all the luxury trappings of this cabin.

Right inside the 26" wide cabin door was a short walkway 3'7.5" wide, and next to the bathroom outside door was a small wooden counter 3'0" long and 8" wide, for you to place small items (such as your cabin card) which you needed to remember to take with you frequently in and out of your cabin. On top of this was a 20" wide and 46" high mirror. Unlike standard cabins on mass market ships, there were no outwardly openable closet doors and washroom doors, plus the inwardly openable cabin door to constantly collide with one another when more than one were open at the same time.

The "bathroom" (and truly deserving of this word instead of a "washing closet") was impressive. Its floor was raised 5" compared to the rest of the cabin. All its walls were "square-foot marble tiled", and its floor was lined with a marble-like material (the ceiling was "white" though). The one-piece granite counter top had two porcelain hemispherical wash basins each 14" in diameter and 7" deep (deep enough not to spash). The bath tub (not designed for showers since there was no curtain) was 61" long, 22" wide and 14" deep (inside dimensions and therefore truly "full sized"). The shower stall was irregular in shape, but large enough to be comfortable inside (not rubbing against the wall all the time), and 6'7" in height. It had a glass door 21.5" wide. The shower water temperature tended to fluctuate especially when the ship was moving (balancing problem between the hot and cold water tanks?) This, however, was common to all ships we had been on.

The toilet was "pressure type" (as on aeroplanes), and the porcelain bowl opening was 10.5"x12.5", while the plastic seat opening was 9"x11". The male cat would prefer this seat opening to be lengthed by an inch or so (even without changing the bowl itself) if that could be possible during the next renovation. The toilet paper holder was kind of "tight" with those large "double rolls" of toilet paper (at the beginning of each roll). Perhaps it was designed for smaller European rolls (?) and we hoped the responsible department would look into this in the long run. By the way, there was even a telephone inside the bathroom close to the door!

On our voyage, Bulgari toiletries were still supplied, including a round hand soap, an egg shaped piece of bath soap, one bottle each of body lotion, shampoo, bath gel and hair conditioner, plus shower caps. These were only repaced when used up, not on any interval, and once we had to call to get replacements. There was also a small container with cotton balls and Q-tips.

The walk-in closet was well appreciated. It was 6'6" long and 4'1" wide (inside dimensions), with one corner "chopped off" to make the (outside fully mirrored) door, which was 21" wide. Inside this closet was a 1'1" wide board spanning the full length, less than a foot below the ceiling. Under this was a hanging rod with a score of high quality wooden clothes hangers. On the floor towards the back was a wooden box (for putting your suitcase?) 3'7" long and 1'7" wide, and 1' tall with a drawer beneath about half as long. Next to it, at the other back corner was a chest of seven drawers, topped by a digital electronic safe at eye height. They gave us two bathrobes, four pairs of slippers, a sewing kit, a hand-held hair dryer, and shoeshine. Inside this closet (kept at the bottom near the outer wall) was a plastic "table top converter" measuring 27.5"x31", which (with "catchers" on three sides) could be slid on top of the "sitting area centre table" to make it a dining table.

The sleeping area was separated from the sitting area with a fully closeable curtain. This was very nice as one person could sleep while the other could read or write. The bed was nice and moderately soft, the mattress was 78" long and 66" wide, with a 11.5" clearance under the bed for luggage storage (usually not necessary because of ample closet space). There were four pillows and a large comforter. We would prefer the pillows to be somewhat thicker, and (since the room temperature could be finely controlled to our preference) the comforter to be somewhat thinner and lighter (so as not to feel too warm with it on and too cool with it off). There was one 15"x15" (top measurement) night table on each side of the bed, and a lamp on each nightable.

The female cat was ecstatic with the wall mounted make-up module. This consisted of an arc shaped counter 48" long and up to 10" wide at the centre. Inside this counter was a box shaped storage space 11.7" x 9.2" x 2.5" deep, with a hinged top "lid" which had an indentation on the underside 8" x 4" x 0.5" deep (this extra 0.5" made it possible for some of those small make-up bottles to "stand up" instead of lying down!) She could keep her stuff covered (with the lid closed) and needn't remove them for "housekeeping" every day. Above this counter was a small railing for further cosmetic storage, and a mirror 27" wide x 47" tall flanked by florescent lighting on both sides and a halogen lamp on top. There was an upholstered stool 14" in diameter.

The clearance from this make-up module counter to the end of the bed was 25", and from the wall to the bed was a generous 37", ample to walk by when nobody was sitting on the stool. However, it so attracted the female cat that she spent more than half an hour there each day, and the male cat had to squeeze past her to get from one end of the cabin to the other. Or worse, he had to climb over the bed when she was doing her delicate eyelashes .. meow!

The sitting area was adorned with a full height desk/wall unit combination. The desk was again arc shaped at 7'8" long and the width varied from 12" at the two ends to 24" at the centre. On the desk surface, there was a 28" x 19.5" leatherette insert at the centre. The desk top height was 28.5" from the floor. Below the desk top, there was a cupboard containing the minibar (and side vents for air ventilation) on one side, and a shallow drawer plus cupboard space on the other. Above the desk top, there was a 32" wide x 47" high mirror at the centre, with halogen lighting on top. On the two sides were a cupboard (for glassware) on the window side, and a Philips 19" television with VCR "combo" on a swivel pedestal on the other side, which could be adjusted to face the bed. A chair (with back but no arm rest) was used with the desk. A second (arm) chair formed a set with the full sized "loveseat", at 62" x 30" overall dimensions. This "loveseat" was again flanked by 15" x 15" top night tables on both sides (a total of four such night tables in the cabin), each with a lamp on it. Then there was the oval shaped 27" x 20" glass topped and wooden rimmed centre table, which could be converted into a dinner table (as mentioned before).

There were slit-shaped warm/cool air conditioning vents on the ceiling divide between the sleeping and sitting areas, facing both sides. These were long and narrow, at 2" X 57", which were better than the usual hotel rectangular shaped air conditioning vents, because they spread air more evenly, and would not cause as much of a draught. The entire cabin floor (other than the bathroom) was carpeted. The ceiling height was 7'1". The entire cabin length, from door to window, was 29'0", while its width was 9'8.5", which came to 280 sq.ft. As the bathroom extended two to three feet beyond the cabin door, the overall interior area would be in excess of 287 sq.ft., so Silversea's claim for the vista suite was well justified.

Incidentally, the entire ceiling was "bordered" with wood, and the entire floor was "bordered" with carpet. The extensive usage of arcs and curves not only saved on space, but also made the cabin looked more elegant, even though that would make the cabin more expensive to build. (Afterall, the Shadow/Whisper were built just around the turn of the millennium, at the peak of the world economic cycle.)

A new acquaintance kindly allowed us to measure the balcony of their verandah suite on deck 5. It spanned the full 9'8.5" width and was 6'0" deep, or 58 sq.ft., so again Silversea's claim of 345 sq.ft. for the verandah suite was justified. Strangely the ceiling height of this deck balcony was a whopping 10'6", some 3'5" higher than the interior. We didn't know whether such deep "drop ceiling" was needed for pipes, etc., or just to accomodate the height needed for public rooms on this deck (such as the two-storeyed theatre).

Deck 4 had two aisles, facing cabins on the port and starboard sides respectively, with workstation/storage closets in between. All other decks had only one centre aisle which was 4 ft wide at its minimum (with hand railings on one side). At its widest (between two opposite facing cabin doors), the distance was 10 ft. So when you added up for the beam width of the ship, it should be 6 ft (balcony) + 29 ft (cabin to door) + 10 ft (between opposite doors) + 29 ft + 6 ft = 80 ft. Given another foot for wall thicknesses, it agreed with the ship's claimed 81 ft beam width.

These detailed measurements are not available in any brochure, and are meant for ship enthusiasts, those interested in cabin design. It may also be useful for those who may be tall, chubby, have to use baby cribs or walkers, have large pieces of luggage, or bring bottles of cosmetics, etc. Hopefully, some folks will find them useful. The designers of this cabin deserve a prize for their clever and efficient use of space, and carefully thought out attention to detail.

... to be continued

Wow -- fabulous, detailed review. Just the kind of thing this cat likes. I have never viewed such detail before and it is invaluable. Many thanks and head butts to you!

Darn, I usually pack everything but I see that I forgot my measuring tape on this trip. ;) I'm hoping you did find time to enjoy your vacation with all that measuring.

In reply to the TP comments. I noticed they never let the roll get low. I was wondering if they took the remnants to the crew's quarters.

We found the comforter to be just right. But we use a thick comforter during the winter months so I'm sure it's what we are used to.

Thanx, I love it...but...I prefer blankets and pillows to comforters...never a problem to those accommodating SS folks.

I suspect measuring is how Meow enjoys her trip.