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VERANDA SUITE
When the door to our veranda suite was opened, it hit me like a villain in Batman: "WHAM! A crushing blow to the head!" This was going to be one heck of a cruise. Seriously, our room wasn't even one of their top-of-the-line suites. In fact, out of the seven room categories, ours was ranked second from the bottom of the list and it was still that impressive. These suites range from 269 to 302 square feet so it was generous in size and without a doubt, I've been in way smaller hotel rooms. To think this was on a ship was mind-boggling.

OUR ROOMS
The room was tastefully decorated with modern elements. The first thing I noticed was the queen-sized bed, with its bone-colored, stitched leather headboard. On it were our bags that had been magically placed there for us, on top of a leather mat to prevent the filthy wheels from getting the glorious bedding dirty.



ROOM 604
Like a kid in a candy store, I whizzed around the room like a storm checking everything out as fast as I could. In the middle of the room there was a moderate-sized (19-inch) flat-screen TV with DVD and CD players that could be swiveled to be seen from the bed or from the honey-, chocolate- and black-striped couch or from the multi-use table that could be turned into a dinner table or a desk. The custard-colored leather club chairs were not only stylish but comfy as well. There were two sets of curtains, one for the balcony door and the other in the middle of the room so it could provide privacy in case two friends were sharing a room; they do have rooms with twin beds.

BALCONY
With the exception of the bed, I. spent most of my time on the 65-square-foot teak balcony. It has two chairs, a table and a lounger. The views. from here were unbelievable and it was the ideal place to read a book, check email, and of course eat breakfast, lunch and dinner -- especially if you're in the mood for something quiet and intimate.

BALCONY IMPROVEMENTS
The only thing about the balcony that needed improving was the door. They are so thick and heavy that they slammed abruptly and loudly if you didn't hold on to the handle. And unfortunately, our neighbors didn't take the time to handle theirs gently. But hopefully that's a non-issue by now.

THE BATHROOM
Another masterpiece was the large marble bathroom that featured his and hers sinks, a separate tub and stand-up shower with Molton Brown bath products, fresh white towels and fluffy white bathrobes.

MAKEUP VANITY
To prevent couples from fighting about who's hogging the bathroom (ah, women!), just outside the bathroom door was a makeup vanity with a mirror and a plug for the hairdryer. Genius.

STORAGE
More good news for women is the storage facilities. At the top of the list was the walk-in closet that had plenty of hangers, five drawers, a personal safe (large enough to fit a laptop) and a full-length mirror on back of the door. That was plenty of space for Natalie and me and we hardly even used the additional room storage of nine more drawers and a couple of cupboards. However, we did use the storage below the bed for our empty suitcases.

MUSTER DRILL
The closet also contained life preservers and the only time we touched them (thank God) was for the mandatory muster drill that took place around 4pm on first day in the main dining room on the fourth floor. FYI: The muster drill took just 15 minutes and passengers don't need to put the life vests on until they get to the positioning post.

OPEN BAR
I'm sure you know that cruising is one of the best values around since your room, meals and entertainment are all included. However, most cruise ships make a lot of their money by selling alcohol, but not on Seabourn! That too, is included. In fact, each room has its own stocked mini-bar with two large bottles of hard booze (gin and vodka) and a mini-fridge with soft drinks.

BOTTLED WATER
We didn't even touch the liquor. But if we had, the bottles would have been replaced immediately. I can't say the same about the large bottles of water or the welcome champagne and salmon canapés that our stewardess Marlena brought in.

MARLENA
Also on Marlena's welcome tray were mini bars of soap: Hermes for him and L'Occitane for her (that's in addition to the Molton Brown soap). After welcoming us aboard, Marlena (who hailed from Poland) showed us around the room. She turned out to be awesome and a really hard worker who was eager to help or answer questions at any time. My only complaint about Marlena is that she insisted on replacing my towel every day because she said it was wet, despite the fact that I wanted to reuse it, in an effort to do my part for the environment.

NO TIPPING
What's crazy is that on Seabourn, they have a no tipping policy since it's already built into the price. So there's no worrying about how much money to leave or reminders (pressure) like on other cruises.

WIRELESS INTERNET
I'm an Internet junkie so I loved the fact that the ship had Wi-Fi available 24/7 no matter where we were in the world. If you didn't bring your laptop, no worries. There were several computers available in Seabourn Square. However, with satellite Internet comes a steep price so the trick to not ringing up a huge bill is to quickly log on, download your emails (or make a Skype call), log off and work offline while replying or writing new emails. When they're ready to be sent, log back on and start the whole process over.

IN-ROOM ENTERTAINMENT
The TV also used satellite to receive a number of channels including CNN (no charge). The TV also comes with on-demand music and videos -- just like those hotel rooms that have all the entertainment choices including new releases, classics, comedy and horror films. The big difference here is that there is no fee (and no porn).

BEDDING
That's right! All the free movies you want! And that's a bad thing because the bed is so comfortable with its crisp white cotton duvet cover and sheets that you won't want to leave. If I wasn't motivated I could have easily just lounged around all day long.

LIVE MAPPING
My favorite aspect of the TV were the info channels: from the live mapping with location, speed and weather to the information on each port of call. I was also fascinated by the ease of booking excursions with just a few clicks of the remote. And I loved watching promo videos or seeing previous ship lecturers talking about particular destinations and their history. Perfect to lull you to sleep but make you wake up smarter!

ELECTRICAL OUTLETS
There's no need to worry about bringing converters because the rooms have outlets that work for both U.S. and European plugs. TIP: I always bring a travel power strip so I can charge multiple electronics at once.

IPODS
Also in the room are two telephones and an iPod docking station. Actually, I later read that Seabourn will loan passengers iPods or netbooks.

PREVENT GERMS
The first thing I did (what I do on every cruise ship or in any hotel room) was wipe down all the switches, remotes, handles and controls with an antibacterial wipe. You know what they say: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

SEASICK
I am not immune to getting seasick but I didn't take any pills or precautions for this cruise. In fact, I only saw one guy wearing the patch behind his ear and I didn't see or hear of anyone getting sick. Actually, the bumpiest time for me was when we first got on the boat and I could feel the sway. It made me nervous that it was going to get bad but it was rarely bumpy. The only other time that was uncomfortable was when we made the crossing from Turkey to Greece but it was late at night and was nothing too crazy. Each restaurant has dried ginger at the entranceway as this is supposed to be a great remedy. FYI: If I was doing an ocean crossing, I would stock up on ginger, Dramamine … you name it.

UNPACKING
The second thing I did was unpack, which is a not a normal occurrence for me since usually, I leave everything in my bag; I'm always on the go. In fact, this was the first time in years that I'd really stayed in the same place (other than my house) for seven straight nights. What a great relief it was to be able to just relax and not have to worry about schlepping bags and on top of that, still get to visit multiple destinations. It's like a dream.

FREE LAUNDRY
While unpacking I realized that I was almost out of clean clothes since I'd been on the road for over 10 days. I started looking at the laundry prices, realizing I had no choice but to splurge. The good news is that the laundry service prices aren't as outrageous as the hotels I'd just been staying in. The even better news is that when I handed Marlena my laundry bag to be sent down for cleaning, she informed me that there's a free option as well. Score! On the fifth floor, they have two small launderettes with two washers/dryers and ironing boards in each. There is no charge and they even supply the detergent. Now, that's a beautiful thing! FYI: Like all ships, there are no irons in the rooms; they're a fire hazard.

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