-->The booking, preparation, check-in/out
After being
grounded for 16 months, I was dying for a holiday. I would prefer flying
somewhere but hubby wanted cruise. To me, going on cruise means being stuck on
a floating hotel with nothing to do but since hubby’s never been on one and he’s
the paymaster, I just followed his wishes. Plus with a 10.5months old baby who
still needs her 6 feeds of milk daily, it seemed more convenient to be on a cruise.
Based on
good reviews online, we selected Royal Caribbean Cruise ~ The Legend of the
Seas. Request for brochure and pricelist was via email. Booking was made via
phone. It’s interesting to note that it was cheaper in August than in July. So
early birds don’t necessarily get a better deal! I guess as everything onboard
is charged in USD, the original fare was probably in USD, hence the difference
in pricing due to fluctuating exchange rate.
I almost
didn’t want to proceed when I was told babies pay full adult fare. Hello? How
much food do you expect babies to eat?! Star Cruises only charged 25% of adult
fare for babies. I was so going to switch until I heard mostly poor reviews on
Star Cruises, so full fare it shall be. Then I was told because it was 3
persons in a room, we can only choose selected (and more expensive) cabins
meant for 3-4 persons. I kept telling them my baby does not need a bed but
rules are rules, we were left with no choice but take the Large Ocean View
room.
With
gratuities & tax included, our total fare was S$1500 for 4D3N cruise to Penang
and Malacca (excludes shore excursions), departing on 31 Oct 2012. Legend of the Seas, here we come!
--> The check-in
At the
Marina Bay Cruise Centre, we were given priority check-in as we were with a
baby. However the priority was quite useless as the ship wasn’t ready and we weren’t
allowed to enter immigration because of that. So we were still stuck with the
rest of the passengers waiting in front of immigration. We waited 30mins and
there were 2 long queues by then.
Once
onboard, there were no signage or anyone guiding us where to go until I approached
a crew who told us to take a lift up to The Windjammer Café for lunch. Then
everyone started rushing for the lift. Luckily we were kiasu enough to park
ourselves right in front of immigration gate earlier on and was among the first
few to board the ship and rush for lunch. Halfway through our meal the
restaurant was packed. There weren’t enough tables and people were loitering
near diners who were almost done to get a table. Desperate ones shared tables.
--> Our Cabin
The cabin was
smaller than we expected but still acceptable. With a queen-sized bed and
living area with sofa, it’s quite comfortable. But wait, where’s my baby crib?!
I had requested for one during booking and the confirmation stated my request
clearly. When I asked the stateroom attendant, he seemed surprised and told me
he’ll try to get one. He did manage to get a playpen WITHOUT a mattress. Are
you expecting baby to sleep on a soft playpen with a hard cross-bar base? I’ve
never travelled with a baby before and don’t know if it’s standard practice to
provide playpen without a mattress. Maybe they assume all babies sleep with
parents on the bed while playpen is just a play area. Although he used a thick
blanket to make into a makeshift “mattress”, it’s still too thin. In the end I
used 2 pillows to line the base and covered with a bedsheet. It’s actually
quite dangerous as babies can get suffocated by the soft pillows so I checked
on her often at night. On the last night I let baby sleep between us on the
bed.
The toilet
was small with limited toiletries. I’m glad we brought our own. No baby tub so
poor baby cried whenever it’s bath time as she’s scared of the shower.
Comfy bed with a great view
The small little toilet
Confined baby to sofa while waiting for the playpen
--> Activities
There were
many activities onboard. Free: Swim, rock-climb, dance lessons, watch movies.
With charges: karaoke, casino, spa. For kids there are clubs for babies below
3yrs, activity clubs for 3-11yrs, 12-17yrs. I saw a crew conducting activities
for those in the 3-11yrs club and they seemed to enjoy it. Their parents are
probably the happiest since they can park their kids there. For us, there is
the Royal Babies & Tots play area filled with Fisher-Price toys. A parent
must accompany the baby so we went there for 2 mornings to let baby play with
the toys there and interact with other babies. We borrowed some toys for free to
play in cabin too.
Overwhelmed with toys at play area
Borrowed these to play in cabin
Half the cabin belongs to baby with separate play & sleep areas
The casino
provides demo lesson on how to play some games in the afternoons. There are
also “How to play” guidecards available. As the casino was situated in the
middle of the ship, there were a few occasions we pushed the stroller with baby
right through it to get to the restaurant situated at the back of the ship.
Some gamblers stared at us as we passed through but no crew stopped us.
Hubby went
for a swim and commented it’s small and salty. He just dipped for a while and
roasted himself on the deckchair while listening to loud music blasting away like
what most others did. Baby & I relaxed at the sofa indoor, overlooking the
vast sea while listening to live piano performance. Spa services weren’t very
cheap and I wasn’t sure if it’s good so we didn’t go for it.
At night
there are live shows which I managed to catch only on the first night. Poor
hubby missed all as he had to babysit baby. The dancing was ok, the singing was
just too loud. One guy beside me even covered his ears when the performer was
singing. Needless to say, he left half-way through the show. On the whole,
nothing much hubby missed.
There are
boutiques onboard but really nothing much to buy. There is the usual souvenir
shop selling tshirts, mugs etc with RC logos. There are shops selling Guess and
LeSportSac bags, swatch watches and sportswear too. On the 2nd day,
there was a cheap sale of everything going at $10 at the bazaar area that
included scarves, hats, beach bags. On the 3rd day they had a watch
sale. For a while I thought I was at some pasar malam or Expo sale as there
were many people crowded around a few tables stacked with boxes of watch. Then
they countdown “5,4,3,2,1!” together and started grabbing it. I can’t remember
how good the discount was but it was quite an amusing scene.
--> Food & Beverages
Lots to eat
onboard but not necessarily satisfying. For all meals, there is a choice of
buffet at The Windjammer Café or ala-carte at The Romeo &Juliet
restaurant. All free as it has been included in the cruise fare. We chose buffet breakfast on Day 2 & 3. It
was very crowded at 9+ and we had to share table. Reasonable variety of food
but nothing to rave about. Anyway we had no intention to stuff ourselves.
Having tried the lunch buffet on Day 1, we went to The Romeo & Juliet
restaurant for lunch. Not too crowded but we had to share table as they always
try to fill up the 10-seater tables. The menu looked good, the food looked good
but the taste didn’t quite match it. I only liked the salad where I chose the
ingredients and they tossed it for me on the spot.
For dinner
we went to The Romeo & Juliet restaurant for all 3 nights. They divide the
diners into 2 seatings: 6pm & 8.15pm, and there is a fixed table number for
all guests. There is also a “My Time” seating where you reserve the timing for
meal, however it was fully reserved when I booked the cruise. We were in the
6pm seating which is ideal since baby’s bedtime is 9.30pm. Nice presentation with
so-so food and portions enough to fill the stomach but not feel full. There
were a few items which I liked though I was too embarrassed to ask for seconds.
Service was great. There were 2 waiters assigned to our table for the 3 nights.
I guess this is for better personalized service and easier for feedback and
gratuities. On the last night, all the waiters in The Romeo & Juliet
restaurant performed for us.
Our designated table for 3 days
Dinner menu
Performance by the Romeo & Juliet crew
Outside of
the standard meal times, there is tea-break available at the Windjammer Café
which we didn’t try. At night there is a
snack bar near the pool with free flow of burgers, hotdogs, fries and pizza.
That was our supper for 2 nights. There is also a café selling Ben &
Jerry’s ice-cream.
Supper in the cabin
Standard
drinks like lemonade, orange juice, coffee and tea are available throughout the
day for free. Soda and alcohol are chargeable. On the first day they tried to
sell us a “Soda Package” where we can have unlimited soda drinks at US$6.95 per
day (must buy as a package for 3 days). It comes with a nice tumbler but we
decided we won’t die without soda drinks.
The bar is
open throughout the day too so we can have our alcohol fix anytime of the day.
Prices seem cheap at first but after you add in the 15% gratuity and convert
all to USD, it’s similar to prices in Singapore. Quite a good selection
available. I had their cocktail Drink of the Day for 2 nights. At $6.95 per
drink with a free glass as souvenir it was a quite a good deal.
--> Shore Excursions
Shore
excursions were well organized in terms of moving us off to the buses in
batches. We didn’t quite enjoy our Penang excursion as it was very rushed and
we missed our 6pm dinner seating and had to queue up for table at the 8pm
seating. We also missed the Captain’s speech. I wished they had informed us of
that evening’s activities before we booked the excursions. At least we can
decide which to forego.
Malacca was
more enjoyable and relaxing. The tendering process was well organized and fast
although I find it scary when I embarked and disembarked the boats.
--> The overall experience
On the
whole, the cruise experience was good and I would recommend Royal Caribbean
cruise to others. However I feel it’s probably better to go on a cruise when
baby is older. If younger, it’s better to go with a helper or family members so
that they can help take care of baby sometimes while you enjoy some of the
facilities and shows. I’m not sure if it’s due to teething, unfamiliar environment or
wrong timing, baby was very demanding and difficult to handle during the
trip. Luckily hubby was wonderful in his babysitting role, ever so patient and
took care of baby most of the time. We hope to go on a cruise again in future
(when baby’s old enough to join the kids playgroup onboard), maybe a fly-cruise
package departing from overseas port. Saving up now!
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