Overall perspective:
We had a phenomenal time. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Our critiques are real, but ultimately we really enjoyed ourselves.
Ship Condition:
We stayed in CS 8106. Overall, we were very pleased with the room. It looks nice in person and met our needs for the cruise. There were, however, “Kelly Hoppen” functionality issues in both our room, my parents room, and the retreat areas.
On the balcony, there were only two seats, a table, and a couple of monolithic footrests. There was easily room for a third chair, but that request was too much for my stateroom attendant (who was otherwise very good). Having the aft balcony of the pair was nice and we spent substantial time out there.
No USB outlets were available in our room that I could find. The only bedside plugs were stolen by bedside lamps. Limited plug availability in the rest of the room.
As previously stated on the boards, the couch faces the TV instead of the great windows. I “accidentally” rotated it 90 degrees the first morning while everyone was asleep. Based on the carpet color and cleanliness underneath, I would guess I was the first one to do this in 8106 on Millie since revolution. This blocked one of the many underused cabinets, but was otherwise great. Staff didn’t say a word about it but very quickly vacuumed.
My parents stayed in SS 8117. They had the now infamous chair that doesn’t slide under the desk. There were some orange highlights they did not enjoy, but it was not offensive to myself or my wife. The blue highlights in our CS were nicer.
The couch on their balcony was nice, but there is a pole that is not ideal. We needed that stateroom to support our configuration, but I would not pick it if I had more flexibility.
My kids were in 8119. There were more plugs and USB outlets in their room than in my room and my parents room combined. The stateroom attendant for 8117 and 8119 was Jay. He was great. At some point my 9 year old was about to get lost on the ship and Jay rescued him.
I will try to find some pictures, but there have been previous photos on the boards of both 8117 and 8106.
In general, Kelly Hoppen furniture is poorly thought out from a practicality perspective. Thankfully there are hundreds of throw pillows available and they work quite nicely at making oddly shaped chairs more comfortable.