It has been a busy period for most of us. Spring cleaning, preparations to welcome the horse in the new year and visiting family, relative and friends during the past week.
It has also been a busy period for me. I was away on a 4D3N cruise vacation with
Mariners of the Seas one week before CNY. Back from vacation and it was time to shop for new year goodies, new clothes, new shoes, new storages for the toys and other items, spring clean and de-clutter the house. Then CNY came and it was time for visiting and gathering. Hence pardon me for being so quiet for almost a month.
I have been on board a cruise before but I was very young then and I have no recollection of the journey. Thus I was very excited when the day finally arrives for us to go on board Mariners of the Seas. We decided on the cruise vacation when we realised that my FIL was keen to go on one and Mariners of the Seas seems like the ideal choice with the Dreamworks Experience for the kids.
The ship was scheduled to depart
Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore at 5pm but we could board the ship from 11am. We decided to meet my parents in law at 11.30am at the cruise centre to board the ship so that we could have more time to explore the ship and we could have our lunch at Windjammer Cafe which was open for cruisers.
We were issued a Seapass card each upon checking in. The ship works on a cashless system and all purchases will be charged to the seapass card. We have to present the card upon boarding and departing the ship. It also works as our room key. So, be sure to keep the card well at all times during the vacation.
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| Professional photo taken before boarding the ship |
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| Checking out the view from the balcony in our room |
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| The happy girl with her cheeky pose at the balcony. Spot the wrist tag on her? All kids aged 3 and above are required to wear a wrist tag provided by RC. This is for easy identification especially in event of evacuation and if the kids are in Adventure Ocean, parents should not to rush to the centre to fetch them as they will be escorted by the staff to the meeting place to meet us. Ease of mind knowing that the kids will be well-taken care of at all times. |
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One of the facilities that attracted me to cruise with RC is the Adventure Ocean program hence we went to attend the Open House and enrolled Janelle for the program. They are open everyday till 10pm and we could send our kids there anytime and fetch them before the centre closed. Janelle loved it and requested to go on both Day 2 and Day 3. They also have Royal Babies (6-18 months) and Royal Tots (18-36 months) program but one parent have to accompany the child for the 45minute interactive program. Alternatively you may wish to leave your tots in the hands of professionally trained staffs at a nominal fee.
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| Checking out the Adventure Ocean at the Open House |
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| Sun-bathing |
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| Not forgetting to take picture with my firstborn |
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| Family shot |
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| View of the pool |
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| Checking out the casino (before operation) |
Not long after the ship departs, we went to catch the DreamWorks Parade at Royal Promenade. The kids were so excited to see their favourite characters and many others. It was a short 15mins festive parade and it was time to proceed to for our dinner at Main Dining Room. Our dinner is located at Sound of Music at Deck 5. Table has been allocated and stated on our Seapass card.
There was 2 dedicated service staff allocated to our table and the service was great. The food was not exactly the yummiest but it was good, taking into consideration that all food had to be frozen as they have to stock up the food for the cruise duration. The dessert was of reasonable portion too. And they have different menu for every night. Hence we decided to dine at Main Dining Room for all 3 nights. The first night and third night were causal dining hence we do not need to dress up for the dinner. Most people were in t-shirts, shorts, bermudas or sundresses. Formal dining happened on the second night and all cruisers coming for the dinner had to dress up. Well, you can choose to opt out of formal dining and enjoy dinner elsewehere as there are other dining options available on board. For us, we thought it was pretty fun to be dressing up for an occasion hence we brought along our formal attire. It was fun to see other people dressing up for the formal night too. There were some koreans dressed in their traditional hanboks and it was a pretty sight.
The kids love the breads and fruit platters. And the service staff made an effort to remember their likes and even prepare ice-cream topped with strawberry for Janelle after her meals. Thumbs up for their dedicated service!
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| Alex at the DreamWorks Parade |
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| Po, the Kungfu Panda at the parade |
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| The Seapass card. The dining details are stated on the card for easy reference. There are 2 seating times and we chose the earlier timing so that the kids will not get cranky from hunger. |
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| Fruit platter was served to the kids before we even placed our orders. Remarkable service! |
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| Formal night dining - Jayven all dressed up |
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| Professional photo taken before the formal dining commenced |
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| Formal dining - family photo |
There are many dining options and the cruisers never have to worry about being hungry while on board. Apart from buffet at Windjammer cafe, there is a cafe at deck 5 (oops! I have forgotten the name) which offered sweet treats, pastries, bakery and cookies 24/7. Alternatively, you may wish to order room service at no additional charge if you are feeling lazy. Or you can also choose to dine at specialty dining restaurants at additional charge.
My kids indulged in chocolate chips cookies during the trip. They asked for the cookies during breakfast, lunch, post-lunch, dinner and supper! Gosh! And I allowed them in such indulgence (well, only during vacation). Thanks goodness they did not fall sick thereafter.
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| Me and my happy girl with her cookie |
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| The satisfied girl with the cookie in her mouth |
The ship docked at Port Klang at the second morning but we decided to stay on board. This vacation is all about relaxation hence I have no intention to shop at KL with 2 kids on tow. We would rather enjoy the facilities on board. Plus we assumed that the ship should be much less crowded with most cruisers off the ship to KL but we were wrong.
We started the second morning with a dip in the jacuzzi. And the jacuzzi and pool were crowded. Not the squeezy-sardine packed crowd but there were many people.
After being in the pool for almost an hour, we brought the kids up to shower and got them ready for poolside BBQ lunch. Yes! poolside BBQ lunch! Sounds great right? Well, to our disappointment, there was not much variety. Only BBQ drumsticks, hotdogs and corns along with rice, sweet treats and fruits. And the food was not up to expectation. Eventually we ended up at Windjammer for lunch.
After the lunch, we decided to explore the sports facilities at deck 12. For the first time, my kids came into contact with basketball, golf and table tennis and we had loads of fun.
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| Enjoying the jacuzzi |
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| Excited to have the basketball in hand |
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| Slam dunk? Let's start with the basics |
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| Needless to say, didi want to give it a try too |
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| Own attempt to shoot the ball. Well-done! |
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| My happy girl at the mini golf course |
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| Daddy guiding the girl. I always love to watch them bond. |
Apart from enjoying the facilities on board, we also loved to catch the different performances at different showtimes. Every evening, there will be a cruise compass and kids daily planner placed on our bed so that we are kept aware of the happenings for the next day. In the event if there is no cruise compass given, you can easily access the happenings at the interactive screens located near the lifts.
One of the performances that we enjoyed most was Ice Under The Big Top. It is an ice-skating performance with different themes such as backstage romance, circus, Russian and more with amazing spins, twirls, twists and flips. There was also special appearance from International Ice Cast Oxana and Adam. Even the kids sat through the performances without fussing.
There are 4 seatings for this performances and they have allocated the showtime according to your room number (even or odd) thus you do not have to worry that it will be over-crowded in the ice-skating rink.
There were 2 other performances "Gallery of Dreams" and farewell show starring the multi-talented YouTube Sensation David DiMuzio followed by a finale with representatives of all the officers, staff and crew on board. These performances have 2 seatings as they catered to both Main Seating Guests and Second Seating Guests (according to Main Dining Room seating time).
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| The breathtaking ice-skating performance |
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| The cruise compass and kids daily planner placed on the bed |
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| Oh! And I forgot to mention that the housekeeping team will fold the towel into different animals every evening. This is an elephant towel and Janelle loved it that she was so sad when we had to use the towels. Well, I'm not too sure if this is for all rooms or for those with kids. |
As I have mentioned earlier, one of the deciding factors on choosing Mariners of The Seas is due to the DreamWorks Experience so there was no way that we could miss the
Rise & Shine with DreamWorks (at no additional charge). I'll recommend to make the reservation online as the seats are limited. We were lucky to get the seats through online reservation for the third morning as the second morning was full.
The breakfast start at 8am but you may want to reach earlier as the best seats get fill up pretty fast. We were expecting to see many DreamWorks characters but only Shrek and Po appeared. Think King Julien and Gloria appeared on the second morning. Nonetheless, it was good enough to get the kids excited and happy to take photos with the characters.
The staff will ensure that the photo taking session is organised and orderly by getting the families ready according to table number. I saw a few parents trying to jump in for their kids to take photos with the characters but they did not make a reservation hence the staff have to reject them politely. Therefore, I will strongly recommend to reserve early to avoid disappointment.
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| My sleepyhead with the breakfast menu |
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| And that's my boy munching his bread |
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| Rise & Shine with Shrek |
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| Rise & Shine with Po |
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| The backdrop at the breakfast. Jayven must be wondering where is Alex. |
Apart from having breakfast with the characters, we also took note of the various character appearance timings so that the kids can get their photos taken with them. Even my boy knew all the characters by their names after the vacation. The appearance timings will be stated on the cruise compass given the night before.
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| Penguins of Madagascar |
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| Meet Puss in Boots |
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| The Royal Shrek and Princess Fiona |
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| Finally! Janelle was asking for Gloria and she only appeared on the last evening |
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| The delighted girl with Gloria on hand after photo taking with Gloria |
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| Me and my 2 babies! |
There are a few things that I have noticed on board and I would like to share with everyone.
Hand Sanitisers
I realised that they have hand sanitisers available everywhere especially at the entrances of all cafes and restaurants. So for parents who worry that you may forget to pack hand santisers, rest assured that those little hands are well-taken care of before food.
Service with a smile
The vacation was great and the crew have made the vacation even better with their warm and friendly service. The allocated service staff at the dining places and housekeeping crew are always wearing a smile and provided excellent services. As you walked about the ship, the crew will greet you with a smile.
Photography
Even before you board the ship, you will realise that there are a few photo booths that you can take pictures with professional photographer. And once you are on board, there are many photo taking opportunities (with the DreamWorks Characters and photo booths at different decks with different backdrops). Afterall, what is a vacation if we do not take pictures of these memorable moments? Hence if you loves taking pictures and usually cannot resist the temptation to purchase those beautiful photos taken by the professional photographers, I would recommend that you should consider getting the photo package. We gotten the photo package at Photo Gallery at USD149.90 on the first day and it was a promotional price. The usual price is USD199.90. With the photo package, you can pick up all your photo prints and digital photos in DVD. We gotten 82 photo prints and digital photos in total.
Organised and orderly
Before I went for the vacation, I was worried that things will be very chaotic with more than 3,000 cruisers on board. But my worries were unfounded. From boarding, cruising to departure, everything have been smooth-sailing and organised. Except my parents in law luggage was misplaced due to the drop off of the luggage tag on the first day. The dining area in Windjammer cafe and Main Dining Room is spacious so no feeling of over-crowding. With the character appearances, queues are usually formed in advance so there is no pushing or q-cutting. Performances have different seatings so that everyone gets the chance to watch in comfort instead of squeezing. And at departure, different decks are supposed to depart at different departure points (we will be advised the night before) so that there will be no bottlenecks at any time.
Overall, it has been a fun-tastic cruise vacation especially for the
kids. Janelle even told me that she like cruise and she want to go for
cruise for very very long. I'm sure that the characters have played a
very big part in her enjoyable cruise experience. Though my boy is not
able to express himself in words now, we knew that he had a great time
too. As for me, at least I do not have to plan the itinerary. We leave
it to the cruise and we just participate in the activities, enjoyed the
facilities and food is always available. Just relax and enjoy the
journey!
Furthermore, we managed to steal some couple time for 2 nights with the help of my MIL to look after the lil ones. YEAH!
