We got up early in Bangkok, flew to Singapore, taxied to the pier, and by afternoon we were on a cruise ship.
We had debated spending some extra time in Singapore on one side of the cruise or the other, but really couldn't justify the expense, since we had just been there, so we waved goodbye to one of our favorite cities in the world as we set sail.
One of the first things on our cruise agenda was signing the girls up for the kids club. There was a sign on the door to the club saying it wasn't opening until 8:00pm that night. This was very different from what we were used to with Disney cruises where the kids get signed up right away. We decided to go to guest services and see if we could fill out paperwork there, but when we got to the main street area in the ship we found everything set up for a parade and had to join the crowds on the sides of the "street."
It was hard to get pictures, because it was crowded and the parade people were all moving. It was basically a Dreamworks parade with other random themes thrown in. Elena was super impressed, and every time we went by the street for the rest of the cruise she said that was where the parade was.
When the parade was done, we didn't have enough time left before dinner to go to guest services, so we decided to wait until after dinner. We started our cruise off right with dinner at Royal Caribbean's specialty steak restaurant, Chops Grille. It cost a little extra, but it was worth it. The steak was yummy. Vivian inhaled hers, while Elena was happy with chicken and french fries. They were both very well behaved.
After dinner, we went to sign the girls up for the kids club. I was a little worried, because the rooms were pretty empty. There were hardly any special kids decorations or games. They also told us that they were strict about separating age groups, so the girls couldn't be together.
The next morning, we got breakfast delivered by room service. I took part of it out on to the balcaony to enjoy.
We were sailing most of the day, so we explored the ship a little. Happy Chinese New Year!
After exploring, we took the girls to the kids clubs. Vivian jumped right into hers, but Elena did NOT want to stay in the one for the 3-5 year olds. I can't say I blamed her. There were almost no toys to be seen, and only two adults there, one of whom was signing kids in. There was a Singaporean family in line with us who also had a three year old girl. Their daughter rejected the kids club too. They told us about a room with toys in it that little kids could play in supervised by parents. We went to check it out. It was a padded foam mat with some plastic toys on it in what looked like the unused teens club area. It was pretty sad, but the worst part was that they had toys like a toddler music table that SHOULD have lit up and made sounds, but none of them worked. Elena played for a little while with the other girl, but she was not impressed. The lack of a good kids club for her was a major disappointment.
We went to pick Viv up for lunch, because she really wanted to try the Johnny Rockets restaurant on the ship. She was very satisfied with her burger and strawberry milkshake.
Since the kids club was a success for Viv, we signed her up for the dinner program, since we were doing a Taste of Penang tour that evening. Unfortunately though, the only dinner foods they were offering were pizza and french fries, so we fed Vivian from the main buffet before dropping her off for "dinner."
The main problem was with Elena. Since she refused to stay in the kids club, we figured the best solution was to take her with us. She was really good, but I had to carry her, which was not as much fun for me. We were also very disappointed in the tour. The name and the description made us think it would be a food tour, but it was really a tourist trap shopping tour. We started with chocolate and coffee shops that we were shepparded through and then presented with buying options. I did buy Elena some coconut flavored chocolate, because she was a bit overwhelmed, and the chocolate made her happy. Then they told us they were going to take us to a "local products" store, and, oh, by the way, there's a hawker center next door where you can eat when you're done shopping. We bypassed the shopping and went right for dinner. We got some good pinapple fried rice for me and Elena, and Jeff got a beer big enough for four people.
Luckily, we already knew how hawker centers worked, because our "guide" provided us with zero instruction. At that point it was about 8:30 at night, and Elena had fallen asleep on me. The rest of the "tour" consisted of going to the mall and then hitting another hawker center. We opted for a taxi back to the ship. The good news was that the ship was easy to find.
We picked Viv up from a great evening at the kids club and called it a day.
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