Let's move on to the larger bedroom and bathroom.
Looking into the larger bedroom from the living area. This little table lamp with its own toggle switch on the base worked great for a nightlight in case either of us came out of our bedrooms in the middle of the night.
My bed had a larger nightstand on the left with deep wide drawers and a smaller nightstand with a small drawer and a big open cubby space. The setup worked great because I could turn off all lights but one nightstand lamp before I got into bed. Then it was a simple reach to flip the toggle switch to turn off the last lamp when I was ready to sleep. The drawers were a great place to stow away small items like my medications and electronic charging cables.
This cabin now has the motion activated lights mounted at the bottom of each nightstand. However, it seemed like a retrofit because solely the base was attached to the furniture leaving the hardware and bulb visible. We mostly liked having these nightlights. Especially since the layout prevented them from being triggered simply by the bathroom door moving or my leg/arm dropping over the side of the bed like they would on the Sun Princess.
There was a USB port in the lamp base as well as in the wall above the nightstand. The area also included one each of a US and a European outlet. You can also control many of the overhead bedroom lights by the switches next to the outlets. Those trying to read next to a sleeping partner can use the small reading lights that extend out beside the pillow.
Both windows can be seen in this picture as the cabin wall curves.
The second nightstand area with the same reading light and plug arrangement (minus a wall mounted USB)
Looking back at the doorway to the living area:
Behind the half wall that the bed was positioned against, there was a dressing area with a vanity area and several cupboards with hangers and shelves for storage. There is a Dyson hairdryer and vanity mirror for your use as well as a lighted mirror on the wall. There is also a full length mirror mounted on the wall between the vanity and the wardrobe. This is also where you'd find one of our two cabin phones. We did have a couple moments of not being able to get to a call because we were in the main cabin space. There is some open shelving on the side of the vanity that would be a good fit for small things like a makeup bag. The three drawers on the front of the vanity make for some good hidden storage where I kept smaller clothing items like socks.
There is some outlets along the back of the vanity so you can plug in hairstyling products or your electronics if you need to work while on your cruise. If you read my Viking Radgrid blog posts, this vanity area is where I sat to write up the Explorer's Suite cabin tour posts. Is it wrong to be using your downtime on one cruise to write about the previous one? We did have the four device internet as part of the Premier rate so I was able to keep my phone, this chromebook, and my tablet connected. Dad had the option of his own four devices connected but only used his phone and tablet. Internet speed was relatively good. Routine things like email and social media loaded quickly. Uploading photos and blog posts, not as quickly.
Inside the top drawer at the vanity was a Drybar branded hairdryer.
The closest black plug is from my chromebook. The rest is from the hairdryer and the countertop magnifying mirror.
There is a single outlet behind the phone on the other side of this vanity but it wasn't easy to plug things in back there. The switch that says 0 and 1 is to control the light bars in the wall mirror above the vanity.
There are plenty of hangers and a variety of hanging space in the wardrobe. Both regular hangers and skirt/pant hangers were provided. Ask your steward if you find that you need more. This is where you will find the free/included blue tote bags and the replenished laundry bags. Since laundry service is included in every full suite on Princess, you can send in as many bags as you want and as often as you want. Just load up a bag and fill out the item count on the slip before leaving it on your bed. When we did this before leaving the cabin in the mornings, the steward was able to take our laundry during the morning cabin cleaning and get it back to us by the next day's evening turndown service. This is also an elite loyalty level perk so it may take as many as 2-3 days to return if there are a lot of passengers using the service. Suites do get priority.
We also got robes and slippers for use on board. Each bedroom had two robes and two sets of slippers so you're set whether you have two or four in this cabin. The blue bag with Princess logo hanging behind the robes is where you'll find new laundry bags.
I didn't have any long dresses to hang so the floor space under my hanging shirts in this closet was perfect for stowing my large suitcase. There is also plenty of room under the bed to store suitcases flat.
Looking back over the vanity area shows the one cabinet behind the vanity area. This cabinet held shelves, lifejackets, the code programmable safe (each bedroom had their own safe), and the shoeshine bag. I used it for shoe storage and for the clothing that didn't need hanging. It was also where we stored the freezer bags full of over the counter meds we bring on cruises. Always best to have it and not need it than try to find something in a foreign country or pay handsomely for a small version of the product in the onboard shop. The heavier duty freezer bags Ziploc sent me to review (#notsponsoredbutIwishitwas) worked great for corralling this supply of meds. I also use them if I have to pack potentially messy items like larger mouthwash or sunscreen bottles. It's malleable enough to nestle amongst your clothes in the suitcase and can easily be placed directly on a shelf like packing cubes. Best part is that if something unexpectedly breaks or explodes, it's contained in an easily rinseable bag and not on your favorite outfit.
Since this cabin features Princess's typical split suite bathrooms (one side is toilet and sink while the other side is sink, tub, and shower stall), there are two entrances and exits for the bigger bathroom completely within this bedroom. Also inside is a door that closes between the two sides so you can have total privacy for either bathroom task while someone else is using the other side.
Door leading to the shower side was by the wardrobe. Both sides are lockable and have a light switch. Both require a step up to walk into the bathroom.
The toilet side features a sink and a counter basically big enough to hold the Beekman 1802 liquid hand soap and lotion bottles. A few shelves lined the mirror to hold glasses and spare toilet paper. Both sides do get a trash can and there's a caddy mounted just by the toilet for collecting any feminine hygiene products in baggies for clean disposal into the trash can. You can see how the open connecting door almost lines up with the main doorway. Sometimes it was easier to shut both doors to get the most room to move around in the space.
Looking through to the other half of the bathroom:
Looking back at the toilet half - why there are towel racks there but never any towels - one of life's great mysteries.
Unfortunately, while Dad's requested shower chair was readily brought to our cabin, the shower stall in his bathroom was not big enough for it. As a result, I had to keep moving the chair in and out whenever I used the shower. On the plus side, it's a perfect fit to sit stowed out of the way in the bathtub.
This shower half of the bathroom also featured a few corner mounted shelves on each side. Good for couples sharing the space to have their own group of shelves to use. I found it easier to unpack my most routinely used toiletries to make for an easy grab as I got ready. Note the razor outlet on the wall.
The shower side featured only one sink but tons of counter space. This sink has its own two bottles of hand soap and lotion along with two more washcloths. Why one of the lights by the mirror had white light and the other had pink light, I never could tell. Ambience?
Close up of the Beekman 1802 products. The brand was also provided for bottles of body wash and shampoo/conditioner.
The tub setup includes a rubber mat for traction, a small towel to use for stepping out onto, and a grab bar to hold onto when stepping out. The tub height came to my knees so it would require a large high step to climb inside. Neither of us ever used the tub. These racks are where you'd find the larger shower towels.
The glass enclosed shower stall featured a fixed shower head but also a removable wand shower head. I may have accidentally washed the ceiling a few times not realizing which way that wand was aiming. A shelf above the knobs worked well to hold the Beekman products and my products. There is a retractable clothesline inside the shower. There is one grab bar inside the shower at the same height as the knob.
The shower door swings outward to open and close. While open, it blocks the entire doorway between the two sections of the bathroom. Only really a problem when you need to step out onto the small towel for safety and then have to step to the side where there normally wouldn't be a safety towel in order to close the door to the shower. Either put one of the small hand towels down next to it and/or just hold onto the counter while you step since the space in between is really just enough for a walkway.
The inside of the door leading back to the dressing area has two hooks for hanging. For the first several days of our cruise, I would leave my nightshirt on the bed and our steward always left it neatly folded after making the bed. After a while, I found it easier to keep it hung up in the bathroom since I was changing in and out of it to wash up. Otherwise, those hooks would have been a great space to hang up my toiletry bag. The pink item on the left is my hair towel that takes up no real space in the suitcase and works so much better than trying to balance one of the provided towels on my head after a shower. I bring it home after each trip and wash it with the next load of towels.
The view when you step back out of this side of the split bathroom. This door is directly across from the wall mirror so it can be a bit of a surprise when you forget and think someone else has snuck into your cabin until you remember it's your own reflection.
Lastly, looking back toward the larger bedroom area with my back to the dressing area:
Still to come...the smaller bedroom/bathroom and the wraparound balcony!
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