It’s good to be back on on a ship during the pandemic when all other travel options are off the table.

Covid Testing/Jab

We have been scheduled to get our Covid-19 Swab test 3 days before the embarkation date. Mother and I had an interesting conversation with our aunt. My cousin, (her son), is a med student who is going on this cruise as well. This means that he is prioritised and highly recommended to get the vaccine. Still, quite a large number of Singapore’s population are taking a wait and see approach. She asked whether it would be better for him to get the jab before the trip, and we told him to hold off. There seems to be no official policy on the requirements of Covid-19 jab so far. But I’m sure that’ll change as more get vaccinated.

Cabin Availability/Price

All cabin grades were for sale. I booked through my Aunt who is a TA and will be going with us, there’s a total of 7 of us, with a possibility of +2 more (but that’s not under the same booking). She told me that Suites were all sold out for many sailing dates well out beyond a month, a rather interesting trend, I must say. Interior cabins were also on sale at the time of booking, though I would think are less less popular given the relatively low prices of Balcony cabins. The 7 of us are staying in 3 Oceanview Balcony Staterooms. Price came up to around $3800 SGD which is equivalent to $2800USD or $3633AUD.

Capacity

My current knowledge about this is that it should be following the same protocol of 50% ship capacity or maybe slightly more for the time being. I am aware however, that they have plans to increase that in the very near future and i am not sure whether this sailing will have these changes.

Cruise Planner Attractions

Both the North Star Experience and Ripcord by IFLY on Quantum were very expensive. I did not book this due to the price. Hopefully, one day i’ll be able to try this when the price lowers, or when i’m on a quantum class ship sailing that is free.

Booking Pre-Departure PCR Test

I have now booked my PCR test for 19th March. This process was much smoother, though there is tight security, but for the better of the passengers. Royal requires passenger to register an account with Trust One which both have an app and a website, before booking your test. At this time it is unknown whether this avenue is a local/regional partnership, or something that will be rolled out over the long term to other global homeports. So far, it looks like a very organised system for the PCR testing of Passengers and delivery of results. I will come back to this point next week.

Pre-Departure COVID Swab Test (PCR)

Today I went down to Raffles City Shopping Center to get my pre-departure Covid swab test done. This was the Polymerase Chain Reaction Test. We got there around 3:05 pm for our 3 pm slot appointment slot. Whilst I was entering the premise, I was actually filming this for a vlog that i am releasing later, but the facilitators were very strict about filming. One of them asked me to delete that exact footage right on the spot, which I couldn’t do so because my camera was giving me technical difficulties at that time.

The testing place was very well organized. I would enter the split archway, one going to the restaurant (Kopitiam) on the left and the other going to a foyer that was the testing area. Once entering the main lobby, I needed to get registered which was done efficiently, all under about 1 minute, before proceeding to my assigned booth for the swab. In the entirety of my time there, I saw only 1 other couple taking a swab who were arriving as I had just finished mine, even my mother who went in about 3 minutes earlier, I never did see, until I left the place and I saw her waiting for me outside.

The Swab

Each personal experience of the PCR swab test is different according to each individual. Out of 6 of us who got swabbed at that time, I was the only one who experienced significant pain and discomfort. Mind you, I was well aware that this was more invasive and because of that tried to think less of it. My mother on the other hand, who was scared to death to be swabbed, said it was only uncomfortable at most. To be precise, what i felt can be best described as an elongated injection in my nose whilst they are turning the swab stick to collect my sample. Both sides felt this. Of the 6 of us, 1 of them said they felt absolutely nothing at all (hard to believe, given how i was clenching my fists to try to avoid moving too much). Would I do it again? If for another cruise, yes, I’d probably have to be more mentally prepared then for the pain that I know I might feel! But to each their own.

The countdown is on! 2 more days to go! I am getting excited! Are you? Oh yea! Our party has expanded to 8 now, the maximum number allowed under Singapore Covid-restrictions, so it will be interesting to see whether this becomes more of a burden or still makes for smooth sailing!

Following the signs to the testing area.

Entrance of the testing area next to the Kopitiam cafe.

Day 1 (Embarkation Day)

Welcome all to Embarkation day! There is so much for me to comment on, but I simply don’t have the time to write an entire essay right now with all the things I need to prioritise to make it a great trip. I will try to be succinct as possible.

We arrived at Marina Bay Cruise Center (MBCC) at 2:25 pm, 5 minutes before our boarding time. Already, outside was a separate queue for the 3:00pm and 3:30pm boarding group and it was long. The notable difference cruising now compared to pre-covid era is the increased amount of security and documentation checks. We used Trace Together to scan 3-4 different QR codes for different purposes. On top of that we had to show our set sail pass and passport numerous times (better safe than sorry). The immigration has become a lot smoother at MBCC. No fingerprint, just facial recognition, a real improvement. Upon boarding I actually wanted to film more, but I was surprised at how strict the cruise terminal was in allowing videography and photography. Even standing by the railings to snap a shot of the ship got me talked to. Here are some shots of the terminal. The entire check-in process was good, but not seamless. I found myself struggling to juggle my bags, with passport in one hand, set sail pass/mobile in the other. But i’m relieved it was relatively efficient.

We were given blue Tracelets to allow contact tracing to occur for each passenger. As i’m typing this, the internet is pretty horrible. I can’t even upload pictures as of now. Still using hotspot to upload these images.

Exploring the ship is made much harder with staff sitting at entrance’s and exits of each place in the ship. Guests have to scan their set sail cards once before proceeding, at some stations, my temperature has to be taken, at others staff check for the ‘TraceTogether’ app. Not sure why there is a discrepancy. I wanted to go explore the seaplex but the staff said, “sorry, we are only allowing guests with bumper car reservations into the seaplex at this time”. Kinda bummed that they are that strict, but it is what it is. I’m probably going to soak in hot tub at the solarium before dinner.

The gym is surprisingly empty today. I’ve only seen less than 5 people in that massive gym. Staff are also very strict about ensuring guests wear their face masks properly. My mask keeps slipping down past my nose bridge, and countless times already I’ve been reminded to bring it up. Guess It’s time to buy a ‘royal’ mask!

Cabin 12168 Oceanview Balcony

Our cabin is 12168, located on deck 12right next to the Forward elevator lobby. Very convenient, and so far doesn’t seem to noisy. Here are some pics of the cabin!

Upon entering the cabin, the vanity desk had my wifi instruction letter, 2 complimentary masks, safety cruising material and promotional material.

Wonderland Dinner

Dinner tonight was at 8pm at Wonderland, the first meal of our UDP. It was fantastic. I knew getting the specialty dining package would serve better food, and I even heard good things about Wonderland previously, but I think the quality and presentation of food was almost michelin star quality. It blew me away. Every dish. Probably the best this evening was the slow cooked beef short ribs. Best i’ve had I must say. Our waiter Raj in Wonderland also provided top notch fine dining service, we even tipped him on top of gratuities that we paid. He explained the method of cooking each dish, the ingredients that went in, and the way the chef enhances each dish. Here are some pics from tonight.

Clarified Tomato Juice and Avocado Crab Cone

A palette cleanser, Lime Sorbet with Marinated Tuna in a Spicy Sauce.

These devilled eggs is on a whole different level.

My Main and the best dish! Short Rib Beef with meat that falls off the bone!

And for Dessert:

Day 2 (At Sea)

Good Morning! It’s day 2 and we are out sailing in the South China Sea now! The sun is extremely glaring today and hot!

Decided to have breakfast at Windjammer’s. Couple of things to note, the breakfast spread is quite limited. My grandfather tried to find a salad dish and there was none. Can you believe that? Here’s what i had for breakfast.

Oh yes! And those who are interested i manage to pick up a copy of the daily cruise compass.

After breakfast, we attended two Trivia activities. The first was guessing country flags and the second was guessing that Michael Jackson song. The crowd was rather bad for the first, but the energy and turn out was much better for the second.

Lunch

Lunch was at 12pm at Jamies Italian. It was overall a good-great experience. Our waitress Michaela from Romania was almost as good as Raj last night at Wonderland. The cold cut plank and appetisers were very good! The pastas, not so impressive but still okay. And the dessert was good.

Seaplex

Once lunch finished we took a rest in the cabin before going to the seaplex for table tennis. Reservation slots for table tennis were 20 minutes each. The receptionist was kind enough to give us B2B sessions (which actually flew by quite fast by the time we were done setting up and getting into things). There were 4 table tennis tables so getting a slot wasn’t too hard.

Table Tennis finished around 4 which was when i wanted to go to the gym. I had forgot to make a reservation and so arriving at the reception of the fitness center, they tried to accommodate me which was nice. They gave me a blue party band to strap on. Apparently the gym was filling up in the next hour or 2. This band was used so that if they needed to make room for new guests with reservations, they would be able to do so comfortably without inconveniencing certain guests too much.

Dinner at Chops Grille

Dinner was at Chops Grille which was again, good. And this was followed by Star Water show at 270.

StarWater @270

StarWater was something I’d seen before and forgot that I had seen it before, but I think all of us thought that apart from the robotic arm screens and the main singer, the show wasn’t very entertaining. It got boring quickly, which was a shame. After 7 years i expected the show to either improve or become different all together. The concept of the dance itself was what dragged the entire show. It was just a glorified fashion show act. You get the point, I shan’t go on any further.

Day 3 (At Sea)

From my balcony the next morning I saw Ovation Of the Seas sailing behind us for a while. The picture is quite blurry. This was considered near us on Cruisemapper!

Breakfast was less today as we had planned to eat lunch earlier today to catch the juggling comedic show by Steve Rawlings at 1:45pm.

Almost the entirety of the last day was spent in the Casino! The Grandparents wanted to play some more and so we all joined. It was nice to see that on the BlackJack tables, players were roughly around my age. This was a common sight throughout the Casino which you don’t get to see on Genting and World Dream out of Singapore.

Lunch in the ‘Main Dining Room’ (American Icon Grill)

After a while we headed to the main dining for lunch. We planned to go to Silk, but were escorted to American Icon Grill instead. I heard it had filled up already. The food was good for main dining. I think the standard of food has vastly increased in quality since being on a royal ship 5 years ago.

Here are more pictures of Lunch.

White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Coolie

Steve Rawlings Comedy Show

I enjoyed the show put on by Steve Rawlings. His show was more of a slapstick type humour show, which made it enjoyable to watch. The evening show was more of a let down. We walked out halfway, not so much because of the act, but because the magic tricks that were being performed were mostly smaller in size, which was hard to see when seated in the Royal Theatre. Due to social distancing one row of 10-12 seats would have 2 if not 3 people at most and this made the audience very spread apart. I was seated at the back right corner of the theatre. To watch this show was impossible, because there was no screen firstly for viewers at the back (and mind you, the hall is pretty large when all space is used), and secondly, that the second floor of box seats were intruding our line of sight from the top to the stage as it was elevated quite high. Visual elements on the large screen at the back of the stage was also not visible to us. It seemed to be that the staff were more focused on adhering to social distancing rules, rather than worrying about the enjoyment and satisfaction of entertainment in that venue.

Also there was staff member who saw that we moved two seats to the right because of a pillar blocking. He was so adamant to make us move, although I saw no point in that. Sitting directly behind us were three people less than a meter away. Still, he wanted us to move right, and that didn’t change the distance from them, but because we were sitting in ‘reserved seats’ for social distancing, he made such a fuss. So we left.

Last Night Dinner at Izumi

Dinner on the last night was at Izumi. I had heard less great things about this place compared to the other specialty restaurants, but I found the food to be quite good. Some of the rolls were really good.

Disembarkation Tags

On the last night, baggage tags were given and we were assigned the second group to disembark (I assume its the same order as embarkation, the one we chose). Our timing for disembarkation was 7:30am. Breakfast was available from 6am, but it was too early for us, so we immediately left after waking up.

Arrival into MBCCS

Back at MBCC on a rainy day as it has been the past few days with us gone! Goodluck to the next group of passengers!

Final Thoughts

So that just about wraps up my live cruise report! Hope you enjoyed it! Overall, I feel that there is less activities for people my age (20-25) to revisit. The only i can really think of that I had the most fun is the Casino sad to say. I didn’t go on the Flowrider this time round, but a lot of the riding time was cut short due to covid etc. I think the food surpassed all our expectations with the Ultimate Dining Package. We watched 3 out of 4 shows this trip, I don’t know whether it was a mistake to pass up the Production show, ‘Sequins and Feather’s’. Based on that title alone, it doesn’t sound like it would entice my party either.

There are a lot of adjustments with Covid, but I think it was a very safe, clean and smooth experience for cruising in such an environment. Passing through every venue or attending an event would require you to tap your sea pass card, take your temperature and sanitise your hands. Hand sanitisation was also extremely emphasised in the casino. Once before entering, once before cashing in, once before play and once before cashing out. Staff would wait for guests to leave their places at the table and then would come over with a spray bottle and cloth to wipe down the entire chair. On the last night in the casino, I also saw two cruise safe ambassadors wondering the Casino, the place that is most likely to have safe distancing measures broken once in a while, due to the nature of the venue. But all protocols were strictly enforced time and time again.