The Stateroom 5061 - Accessible Oceanview on Plaza Deck 5 - great size, although it was set up as a twin, Martino our steward rearranged the beds into a queen.
Before and After bed configerations.
I think the configuration was better than the Diamond in some respects, especially the bathroom. The door into the bathroom is a sliding door which can remain open, whereas the Diamond was an outward opening door which was actually a pain. There are plenty of rails, and shelving is much better. The mirror in the bathroom is high; however there is a mechanism to tilt it down so someone in a chair can use it while sitting right up under the wall hung basin. The tap configuration is interesting so the tap can be moved to any angle. The only downside is the pull down shower seat - it is tiny,
There is an ice bucket which is replenished twice daily along with a jug of water, so we needn’t have purchased drinking water at all. At least we will have that for going ashore. The fridge is small, but once we got Martino to empty it we could fit two bottles of wine and two bottles of water in it.
The ocean view window set off to one side is perfectly adequate. Not as large as Deck 8, but suits us fine. We are quite low to the water.
One problem we have encountered is the power points. There is one American and one European. We had an American/NZ double adaptor, and as we passed through the airport in NZ we bought an European one. Except we could not have both adaptors plugged in at the same time. The electric toothbrush runs only on 220 volts, so we could only use the European plug for that, meaning nothing else could be charged at the same time. Fortunately the power chair and the Netbook are 110/220 volts. By day 3 we had perfected the right routine to charge the different appliances.
The Location of our cabin:
Deck 5 forward of the Guest relations is perfect. There are two banks of elevators close by; our cabin is about halfway between. From the midship elevators we can quickly access the Buffet on deck 11.
The Plaza - Guest Reception - our stateroom was to the left and behind this area.
The Lifts - although a lot smaller than the Diamonds lifts, holding 6 or so passengers at a time, they are cleverly programmed, so they do not stop at every floor on the way up or down. They call at one deck, load with passengers and go directly to the deck or decks selected by those riding at that particular time. And they seem to be quite quick. The only time it was bedlam was straight after Muster.
The Deck Plans were really clear and easy to follow
The Buffet (Islands Cafe) - brilliantly laid out with a huge range for breakfast lunch and dinner. With only vinyl around serving areas with the dining tables being carpeted. So much quieter and more elegant. The layout makes more segmented areas so it does not look like a huge cafeteria. The banks of coffee, tea and juice runs 24hrs, and tastes fine, contrary to what some say.
The Grand Dining Room. Over two levels is wonderful. We are dining Select Dining, so we eat on the upper level. Some of the tables for two seem to be rather close together, but the table we had the first night was separate and very easy to get the chair under - thank goodness.
The Layout - overall accessibility and ease of moving the Century seems better than the Diamond, although the atrium is no where near as impressive.
