We chose a category C1 Central Park Balcony cabin expecting that the peace and tranquility of Central Park would enhance our cruise and we were not disappointed. Our cabin was no 597 on deck 10 close enough to Central Park and its amenities which were on deck 8 but far enough away so that we would not be bothered by any noise that there might be.
You enter your cabin using your sea pass or WOW bracelet by holding them against the lock. I found that I didn’t even have to take my sea pass out of my lanyard! On the inside of the door, there is a magnetic ‘do not disturb/make up room’ sign for use and so much better than hanging a paper sign on the door handle which can fall off.
The first thing that I noticed on entering the room is that you can see straight out through the balcony doors at the cabins across the park. Mental note: – remember to close the curtains when showering, changing or at night! I am surprised that there was no sheer/net curtain as well as the normal curtains.
The bathroom is to the left. For the smallest room, it is well designed. I particularly like the curved shower cabinet with a good powerful shower. No dreaded clinging shower curtain! Ample shelves for your toiletries , although there was a shower gel container on the wall of the shower unit plus tubes of Clarify shampoo, Hydrate conditioner, Revitalize shower gel and body lotion plus 2 tablets of Gentle soap which were all replenished regularly. A nice touch was the night light which came on automatically so you did not need to switch the main light on and wake anyone else up when using the bathroom during the night. Also a gentle blue light illuminated the light switch just by the bathroom door so you could also find your way there without disturbing anyone or falling over.
The room opens up with a super king size bed with rounded corners. The wardrobes are either side of the bed and there is a small shelf either side also instead of the normal bedside cabinet. Although small, it is large enough for the usual watch, glasses, book etc. even though my side lost quite a bit of surface area due to the phone. The wardrobes are not very large either but seeing as the Harmony of the Seas will be doing mainly 7 night sailings, they are sufficient. We managed quite well on the 13 night crossing. The wardrobe on the left of the bed had several shelves (one contained the safe) as well as hanging space, the other had just hanging space and a folded up case stand. The mattress on the bed was quite firm which suited us and we slept really well throughout the cruise. Opposite the bed, on the wall, is a large screen TV which can swivel slightly so you can watch it not only from the bed but also if sitting on the sofa, plus a rack underneath to store all the daily compass leaflets and remote control. There were the usual ships channels plus UK and USA news channels (these were only available when near land due to satellite coverage).
Past the bed, we had a sofa (bed) on one side and a desk/dressing table with a comfy armchair seat which had a handle on the back making it easy to pull out for use. The desk had a large mirror with a good light with a shelf underneath plus a bank of USBs (2) and plugs (3 USA and 1 European). Next to the desk is a set of 4 drawers and a fridge with a drawer above (this drawer housed the hairdryer).
Through the patio doors which had a really good vacuum seal (this eliminated any outside noise and weather), to a good size balcony. We have only experienced a few balconies but this balcony compared to our last one on NCL Getaway was generous. We had two chairs and a table large enough to eat on (not just a little 9 inch square to put your drinks on!) and ample space around us. It was very pleasant to sit there and people watch and listen to the occasional Spanish guitar or piano playing. We chose a balcony on the starboard side of the ship which was actually facing to the port side to get the sun; however, we found this was a mistake for us as it was actually too hot to sit out for too long as you didn’t get any sea breeze to cool you down! We could actually see the top of one of the trees in Central Park outside our balcony complete with small birds and their singing (although there are also taped bird songs I believe).
Overall we liked our cabin and the only things that would enhance it for us would be a sheer curtain for the patio doors and a retractable clothes line in the shower to help dry any wet swimsuits.
