Almost the sign of the devil 😈 6166 was our balcony cabin, or stateroom as Celebrity tend to call them…
It is deck 6 starboard side forward (on the right of the ship towards the front!), quite close to the forward stairs and lifts and a deck above the theatre.
Our cabin felt spacious from the moment we stepped into it – very noticeable when battling to get a stroller through the door 😉 This time we took our little GB Pockit Stroller – it’s a dream through all cabin doors to be honest, but once in we could still get around easily even if we didn’t collapse it.
Through the door, the bathroom was to our right, which was the most spacious bathroom we’ve had – the wood effect made for a nice change, too! Complimentary toiletries were from Gilchrist & Soames and included Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Lotion and bars of soap.
A full length mirror and wardrobe (with doors!) rounded the corner facing the bed, which had two spacious overhead cupboards. Past the bed was a unit that included three deep drawers, the fridge and a good-size safe, with a large TV above.
In the fridge you’ll find the ‘Private Bar’… best avoided unless money’s no object 😉
To the right of the unit was a dressing table and chair – two American electric sockets and one European socket are here, as well as a kettle and tea/coffee tray. Teas are typically Tetley, so pretty good, but sadly the coffee is Nescafé’s instant sweepings!
Opposite this unit was a coffee table and long sofa that could also be a bed – a Pullman bed was above that.
And then… to the balcony 🙂
It is a good size balcony with two large reclining chairs and a good size table suitable for a breakfast tray and/or several cocktails! Our balcony was just one deck above the lifeboats, so is considered the lower price balcony / obstructed view… being orange it is a bit in your face, but it certainly didn’t detract from our views and our enjoyment and relaxation sitting out day or night.
All of deck 6 is cabins, so very little ‘through-traffic’ if corridor noise bothers you, and our steward was Mani. The stewards are very polite and friendly, and will assist you as much as they can without imposing – they will make your bed and clean in the morning, then turn down your bed and tidy round again in the evening.
Our European socket wasn’t working on arrival, but Mani sent for an electrician as soon as we let him know, and when we returned to the room shortly after everything was fixed.
The only other issue we had was a blocked toilet (not by us!)… but the maintenance guy was already on the case before we had chance to report it. More often than not this is due to people putting things down the toilet that they shouldn’t or too much toilet paper at once – please do remember that this will block the pipework, so go easy on the toilets and flush little and often 😉
For us, this has been the best cruise in terms of having a clean and well-maintained cabin throughout the cruise… most noticeably by comparison to our P&O and Royal Caribbean cruises, the stewards seemed to spend more time in the cabins, especially in the mornings, and the rooms were vacuumed more often and the bathroom was spotless every day.
There was only one annoyance with the cabin – the door to the neighbouring cabin is very close to your own cabin door – not only do the doors open outwards, which seemed a little odd at first to us, but if your neighbour leaves the door to close by itself it will slam shut and it makes an awful noise, almost as though your own door has been opened and closed, so another consideration for your neighbour is to close the door with care rather than let it shut behind you and make them jump out of their skin!
For a family of three, this was the perfect cabin for us and our best yet 🙂