The rooms:
We stayed in two connecting inside rooms. I squeezed myself, my husband, and two pack and plays in there at night. During the day I collapsed one pack and play and put it in the other room.
The furnishings were nice and everything in the rooms worked as they should have. The room steward did a wonderful job and was very helpful. There was one odd thing that happened, though. Apparently they don't have pack and play sheets, so a steward (I don't know who) gave my friend two regular sheets. That was fine with us--she's a pediatric nurse and I've made enough beds to know how to make a bed safely for a baby even without a fitted sheet. But when my toddler threw up and I asked our steward for a new sheet, he said they "aren't allowed to give out sheets for the pack and plays for safety reasons" (???). I don't know who gave my friend the sheets originally, but I kind of just stared at our steward because I was speechless for a moment. If they don't HAVE pack and play sheets and they won't give us flat sheets, what are babies supposed to sleep on? Surely not the pack and play "mattress"? I must have looked pretty perplexed because he said he'd just give me one since we had already had them. I told him I wouldn't tell anyone he gave it to me.
Other than that, he was perfect. I need to follow up with Royal and find out what's what. They need to offer the sheets specifically designed for pack and plays--they aren't expensive. If they can't, they have no business offering pack and plays--OR they need to tell parents ahead of time. Or something. I have a few sheets that I could have brought.
The room itself was small. The main part of the room was about 4 feet shorter (but the same width) than the typical rooms on
DCL. In other words, there was only room for a chair--not a couch. There ARE bigger insides, though. We just chose the cheapest rooms we could get. And honestly, it was fine. The only tricky part is that the bunks are above the main bed. So, in order to use a bunk (or both), you have to have the bed split so that the ladder for the bunks can fit in between the split beds. OR you can keep the bed together and put the ladder at the end of one of the bunks, but not the other (because the TV is there). So that configuration would sleep three. I really don't care how we break up the beds/rooms, but that might be an issue for some. We also squeezed two pack and plays side by side at the end of the bed with room to get up and go to the bathroom, so the rooms weren't THAT small.
The bathroom is small, as well. But it's a cruise ship bathroom, so it is what it is. There was a sink with plenty of counter space and some shelves behind part of the mirror. There was also a tiny shower cubicle, but the shower head was fully adjustable up and down and detachable, so it was actually extremely useful. I could stand my toddler in the shower and rinse him off quickly with the shower head. No bathtub, though. If that matters. I thought it would, but the shower was actually fine. It was big enough for me to fit in there with my toddler, so that was all I needed it.
Toiletries provided were bar soap and shower gel/shampoo, which loyal cruisers call "goop." I brought my own. I also brought my own hair dryer, just in case the one in the drawer didn't work well. Of course, I used my hair dryer exactly once. But ladies, definitely bring your own if that matters to you! We always had plenty of towels and the bathroom was always cleaned thoroughly each day.
They didn't have diaper genies, like they do on DCL, but it was fine with me. We don't use a diaper genie even when we use disposables (we cloth diaper at home, but use disposables on vacation). I brought a few grocery bags from home for stinky diapers, and since the trash is thrown out twice a day pee diapers don't have a chance to smell up the place anyway. You could probably ask for a bag or something if that kind of thing bothers you.
If anyone cares, we had some really creative towel animals. But no chocolates.
In terms of other rooms we saw, the verandah rooms looked to be about the same size as regular DCL rooms (but I didn't see the bathroom set up). Promenade rooms looked bigger than ours, too. If I had a choice, we wouldn't stay so far forward--we were the second and third rooms from the very front of the ship. But given that we need connecting rooms and the price was right, it worked. I'd do it again if I had to in order to afford a cruise!
Closets were great. Lots of shelves and room to hang things. Oh, and I put the coffee table in there because we needed the room for the pack and play. I just stored our shoes under it and used it as another shelf. Perfect! We managed to fit 7 people's stuff (OK, 5 plus a baby and a toddler) into the space available in the closet and drawers of the two room...with a few drawers to spare. Plus, there was plenty of space on each side of the vanity mirror to store little things. The storage space was really cunningly designed. Oh, and we stored the stroller in the closet too (it's a full-size Chicco that folds up umbrella-style). There's also a mini bar that you can have emptied if you want. We just ignored it except for once when we stored a carton of milk in there.
The suitcases fit under the bed fine, with some maneuvering around the bed frame. We had many, many suitcases
All righty, I think that about covers it. Let me know if you have any questions about the rooms!
