Spirit of Discovery, cabin C020

[Arizona]

We booked late on a cabin guarantee basis and were allocated a well positioned standard cabin on Deck 9. We were very happy with this cabin.

Good points:
A deep glass fronted balcony with comfortable cushioned seating and a small table. Tartan travel rugs for cooler days.
A very large comfy bed
Light, airy decor
2 comfy armchairs with cushions
A large sliding door wardrobe with 56 hangers, safe and drawers
Extras including Olympus binoculars, large umbrella, fast hairdryer, tea and coffee making, glass water bottles, milk in the fridge, fruit bowl
Excellent soundproofing. No engine noise. No corridor noise. No vibration.
Easily controllable, silent air con
Good varied lighting options
Plenty of 3 pin sockets and 2 USB sockets on the bedside lights
Very good included room service, including the option to order from the dining room menus during meal times
Large screen tv with British channels (satellite coverage permitting), live coverage from the theatre and on demand video
Compact but well thought out bathroom with excellent towels, good sized glass shower cubicle and ample cupboard storage

Less good:
Limited drawer storage - use those 56 hangers!
Fridge too small for supplied champagne bottle

[judgegeoff]

Many thanks for your cabin review Arizona, I am glad that the pros seemed to have outweighed the cons. It is always very useful to get a good cabin review, we must give this ship a try.

[rdw123]

That’s a bit of a bummer, the fridge being too small for the champagne bottle. That means I shall just have to drink it quicker!

[khkate]

That’s a bit of a bummer, the fridge being too small for the champagne bottle. That means I shall just have to drink it quicker!

I highlighted this issue with Saga - the fact that one cannot fit the complimentary bottle of Hush Heath into the fridge, or indeed any other bottle - and their response was "We would encourage guests to ask the cabin steward to chill any drinks that are required including the sparkling wine".

hmm, the cabin stewards have enough to do without having to deal with this. I am sure there are less cabin stewards pro rata. We were on Deck 13 (Sun Deck) which only has 16 cabins (8 each side), but still there was only 1 cabin steward for all those cabins. Bearing in mind, the cabins are much bigger and thus take a lot longer to clean, it kept him busy, so to add the task of chilling drinks somewhere and retrieving them when passengers want a wee tipple is a bit much.

I would post up images of our cabin, but the forum no longer allows me to post photos, no matter how hard i try!

[Arizona]

I agree. The cabin stewards, although always smiling and helpful, seem to have an awful lot to do already. I can’t imagine who can have thought that a fridge you can’t fit anything into other than a small milk carton was fit for purpose. I have never come across a fridge like this before.

[Camela]

Arizona, in a nutshell. Stewards always smiling and supposedly there to cater for needs but on all lines I've been on it doesn't work that way.

[Arizona]

I must say that the cabin stewards on Saga are outstanding. Nothing is too much trouble for them but the company should not be giving them extra work to make up for poor decision making on choosing these inadequate fridges.
It’s unfortunate that instead of focusing on what a lovely ship this is we are nitpicking about the fridge but the fact is that this fridge doesn’t do the job required.

[rdw123]

I must say that the cabin stewards on Saga are outstanding. Nothing is too much trouble for them but the company should not be giving them extra work to make up for poor decision making on choosing these inadequate fridges.
It’s unfortunate that instead of focusing on what a lovely ship this is we are nitpicking about the fridge but the fact is that this fridge doesn’t do the job required.

I rang room service and was very quickly brought a large ice bucket full of ice.

[Gillzajoker]

Not really 'nit-picking' because if no-one mentions these little problems, we would not be aware of them, and the powers that be would perhaps not realise it was a problem and thus not addresss it. So it is a valid observation not a 'nit'!

[khkate]

Not really 'nit-picking' because if no-one mentions these little problems, we would not be aware of them, and the powers that be would perhaps not realise it was a problem and thus not addresss it. So it is a valid observation not a 'nit'!

The powers-that-be are very aware of the ridiculous size of the fridges in the standard cabins. Their excuse (rather poor) was to make more space for wardrobes! Grades of cabins higher than standard apparently have normal size fridges in them and they get mini-bars too! Not seen this personally, but what i have been told.