Hey folks, if you've been following my Insta & FB, you'll see that I recently brought my mum on a 4D3N Royal Carribean cruise to Penang about 2 months ago. I think it was one of the best decision ever, and the cruise experience was so amazing! It was my first cruise in my 27 years of life (haha, yeah i know), but it was my mum's 2nd cruise with RC. She went with my bro & his family about 5 years ago on Mariner of the Sea. This time, our cruise carrier was Voyager of the Sea, with an addition of the Flowrider!

Ever since i came back from my cruise, i received lots of questions from friends & strangers asking me about the cruise and the details, so i thought I'd do a detailed blog post about the cruise to benefit those who may want to go on the cruise in the future.

Do note that this blog post is based entirely on my own opinion, and it's NOT sponsored by Royal Carribean or any other travel agencies.

Let's not compare the prices based on what I paid. I booked my cruise at a F&F rate, so it was cheaper than general. I made some friends on the cruise, and coincidentally two of them were my cabin neighbours (yes, B &A, i'm referring to you guys. haha)! They said that they booked their cruise on a sale online, and paid about $300 (incl of gratitues & port tax) each for interior stateroom. I actually went online to check the price for the cruise which i had booked on just to see the market rate. It cost about $540 each for interior room. So there you go, if you want to bag a bargain, look out for sales online or even at travel expos, they have quite good discount! Do your homework first and know the market rate so you know you won't be overcharged.

After you've booked your cruise, you will receive a few emails from RC with documents that you need to print out and fill up to bring on your departure day. Most importantly, you will receive your Deck Number & Stateroom number. You have to remember your Deck number as it will determine many things on the cruise. In the email, you will find a Check-in schedule, which indicates your check in time according to your deck level. We were on Deck 7 and our check in time was 1.30pm. However, i heard from my friends that they were allowed to check in earlier before their assigned hour, so we tried our luck. We arrived at Marina Bay Cruise Centre, very conveniently located within 5-10min walking distance from Marina South Pier MRT Station, at 11am.

We decided to hand carry our luggage up the cruise as we only had a small luggage and a handcarry. If you choose to check in your luggage, it will be sent to your stateroom much later after you board the cruise, you won't get it immediately even after you go into your rooms. Once you have set up the credit card linkage for your expenses onboard at the check in counter, you will have to take a photo on the spot and be issued with a Sea Pass card. This Sea Pass card is like your ID card wherever you go on the cruise, and it also serves as your room key! Depending on the time you check in, you'll be assigned a boarding group colour. So you'll have to sit at the area according to your colour and wait to be boarded.

I don't think we waited very long before our colour was called to board. I reckon it was less than 20min after we checked-in. Once your group colour is called, everyone will be ushered to the corridor to walk the passageway to the cruise ship. It's typically like the walkway at the airport where you walk to your plane. You know that "tube-like" thing which i don't know the name of..... haha. But anyway, once you're at the end of that tube, there will be crew to collect your passport and it will be placed in their care according to your Deck level and room number. So technically, you are passport-free throughout your entire trip (even when you disembark to go down Penang). Once we handed over our passports, we got our Sea Pass card scanned and faces checked (to see if it's a match), we were officially on the cruise!

As our staterooms are not ready (and no you can't actually go see if the room is ready early as the doors to all the staterooms are shut tight) until 130pm, we head straight to Windjammer for lunch.
Yes, windjammer is open for lunch service from 1130am- 330pm so expect lots of people there. We got on-board at 12 noon, and managed to find a table for both of us easily. Since we didn't check in our luggage, we had to lug it along everywhere we went. We just left our luggage at our table and went to the buffet line to get our lunch. 
Tip: Check in early, so you can enjoy the lunch buffet!

The cruise ship doesn't set off until the Muster Drill is conducted, which is at 430pm. As there are many passengers on-board the cruise, all of your Muster Assembly locations are on different parts of the cruise. You will see your Muster Assembly station printed on your Sea Pass card, mine was D24 (refer to my Sea Pass photo above). At around 3.45pm, there will be an announcement and all the crew members will politely chase you out of the venues to gather at your Muster Assembly Stations for the Muster Drill. It's basically like a briefing on what to do during an emergency. They take it very seriously and even if you're sleeping in your stateroom, they will chase you out of it. We were honestly quite confused on where to go for the drill, everyone was scrambling everywhere, but the crew had big signs that indicated the Number. So you'll just have to find the right floor, and the right exit and the right number signboard for your assembly station. But don't worry there are plenty of crew around to help and point you in the right direction to head towards. Once you're at the right spot, they will tick your names off the list and you'll be allowed to stand with the rest. When the list is fully ticked at all the stations, the drill will commence. The crew actually walked around and told people off to not use their phones or eat/drink during the Muster Drill. So serious! hahaha. Anyway, the safety briefing didn't take very long but the waiting took quite awhile since there's sooooo many people on the cruise! Once the Muster Drill is conducted, the ship left the docks. My mum and i went up to Deck 12 to see the ship leaving before playing a game of table tennis together. hahaha

There are 4 types of accommodation in the cruise; Interior, Oceanview (window room), Balcony and Deluxe Suite. There are a total of 1643 staterooms, with the majority going to Interior and Balcony rooms. Basically, interior room is a room with no windows or views. If you are mildly claustrophobic, i wouldn't recommend you to take this. You could opt for the oceanview (with an actual real window) or a room with virtual window (the view outside is fake). If you'd like to read up more info on the cruise ship, here's the the link - Royal Carribean Voyager of the Sea Factsheet


There are several places to dine (complimentary) at onboard. The breakfast and lunch restaurant will mainly be at Windjammer which is located on Deck 11. Breakfast is open from 7am - 10.30am, lunch is from 11.30am - 3.30pm and dinner is from 7pm - 10.30pm. Another place that is open for casual dining is Cafe Promenade which is located on Deck 5. This place is open 24hrs (i think so, they're always open...), and they have sandwiches, muffins, pizza slices, cookies, coffee, tea, water. Basically simple finger food, not something that can substitute a full meal in my opinion. For dinner, most people choose to have it at Sapphire Dining Room.

Sapphire Main Dining Room

It's a formal dining area, 3 levels high, and you will have to book your dinner time beforehand. Its a choice between 530pm or 8pm. We were given 8pm initially during our cruise booking bcos i didn't choose, but i wanted to change it to 530pm since we wanted to catch shows at night. Once i board the cruise, i went to my assigned dining level (it will be indicated on your Sea Pass card) to change the dinner timing. This should be the first thing to do if you need to change your dining time as there are limited seats per seating. I absolutely love Sapphire room dining as it is ala-carte, you get to choose an appetizer, a main and a dessert. oh yes, if you're still not full after your first round, feel free to order a second helping. Yes, the food is all complimentary! Order as much as you want from the fine-dining menu, just don't be wasteful..
Fyi, the menu changes every day, so that is a bonus! You get to enjoy different food each evening. 

Dinner menu on 1 of the nights at Sapphire main dining room

Every guest is assigned the same table and same waiter throughout your trip. So if you're travelling in a group of 8, you'll be given a long table and that will be the same table you will dine at for the rest of your dinners (except disembarkation night). My mum and i were given a corner table so we can enjoy a quiet dinner and our waiters (both from Philippines) were so pleasant!

If you want to have a special dinner on the cruise, there are 4 specialty restaurants to choose from (at an additional cost). You have Chops Grille, Giovanni's Table, Izumi and Johnny Rockets to choose from, and the restaurant staffs will actively sell you package to dine there..We didn't go for any of the specialty restaurants as we thought the Sapphire main dining was good enough for us.

We had coffees and cookies at Cafe Promenade only when we were waiting for a show or an activity to start. hahaha. Many people will sit there and watch people walk by... Oh and it was the only place to "refill" your water bottles. So the water on RC is not bottled water, they actually distill their own water from seawater. If you are cautious of the water you're drinking, you can either bring your own water (keep it in your luggage), or purchase a drinks package. There is only water, coffee and tea served at Cafe promenade and juices/cordials at Windjammer during meal times.

If you need your daily fix of soft drinks, you will need to purchase a drinks package. The drinks package can be bought beforehand/online (which is slightly discounted) or onboard. Regular drinks package include all drinks except alcohol, and it is free-flow. However, the down side is that you have to purchase the drinks package for the entire duration of your cruise. You cannot only purchase 1 day of your cruise and not for the rest of the days, you'll have to purchase the full duration. The non-alcohol drinks package cost about $125 for 4 days, and the alcohol package is about $250 for 4 days? Ballpark figure, i can't recall exactly... If you drink alot, it's worth it to get the alcohol package. Imagine free-flow alcohol from 14 bars onboard... Since it was only my mum and i, we didn't get any drinks package. haha.


DreamWorks Move it Move It Parade (Deck 5)
On the first day of your cruise, after it departs Singapore, make sure to camp at Deck 5, Royal Promenade, for a good spot to catch the DreamWorks Move it Move It Parade. It takes place at 5pm, and it only happens ONCE in the entire cruise. We made a mistake of not looking properly at our cruise compass and only stumbled upon it nearing the end of the show. So saddddd. I'm a big fan of DreamWorks characters and i'm so bummed that i actually missed the one and only showtime of this parade. :(


"Ice Odyssey" Ice Spectacular Performance (Deck 3, Studio B)
MUST WATCH PERFORMANCE!!!!!! I honestly think this is one of the best production performance on the cruise! The ice skating acts are so thrilling, entertaining and fun to watch. I shall not ruin the surprise for you, but definitely go catch it when it's showing. There are 2 shows on Day 1 and Day 3 (no shows on Day 2 since it's ice skating session), so you gotta time your dinner and catch the show. Also, there is no reservation of tickets for the performance, so it is based on first come first serve queue system. Studio B is relatively small as compared to the other theater on the cruise, so make sure you head down early to queue. We actually queued 45min prior to the show and there was already a long line infront of us.
P.s. they will call a member of the audience up to "participate" in their show. I won't tell you how they choose this person (it's a surprise!), but i got chosen and i sat on the throne while they pushed me around on the ice. It was hilarious!




Royal Carribean's Production Show "Music in Pictures" (Deck 3 & 4, La Scala Theatre)
On Day 2, there was music production with the RC singers & dancers at the theater. It was okay in my opinion, even though i didn't know most of the songs that they sang in the show. The theater is pretty big so there isn't a need to queue early for this show. Besides, there were quite a number of empty seats in the theater, maybe it isn't as popular...

 p.s. the best place on the cruise to take photos is actually infront of the La Scala Theatre. The signage is super brightly lit and it gives a very nice effect on your photos. I actually took this photo right infront of the theatre. hehe.

Headliner Showtime featuring "The Aussie Boys" (Deck 3 & 4, La Scala Theatre)
One of the special performances that we had on the cruise was The Aussie Boys. I understand they are not a permanent show on this cruise, but I think they do hop from one cruise to another and in between their other performances elsewhere too. But if you do see this performance on your cruise compass, make sure to attend one of their shows! I had a front row seat and it was sooooo good! The 3 dashing Australian singers danced and sang to popular australian hit music and even MANDARIN songs! Yes, you didn't hear me wrongly. They sang not only 1 chinese song but quite a few! And it ranged from like oldies to jay chou songs. hahahaa, i was so caught by surprise when i heard mandarin words coming out... hop over to my instagram to see snippets of their performance (@chhyyee)



70's Disco Inferno Street Party (Deck 5)
MUST WATCH!! This was the final dance party to bring the cruise to an end. It was so high in action, with the Cruise Director, Ricky, making an appearance together with his activities team, dancing and singing the night away. We even got to take photos with the team members after the street party was over. It would be nice to be able to interact with the crew who has spent the last couple of days with us. :)

Ricky, the Cruise Director

Napkin Folding Class / Towel Folding Demo
One of the activities that my mom wanted to try out was the napkin folding and towel folding class, so I made it a point to cut short one of my sporting activities to make time to head down to Schooner Bar (Deck 4) to attend the class together. It was pretty chill, with mainly only aunties (haha) and the staff will then pass around some thick square napkins. It was an actual folding class so you get to try it out and fold on the spot with the staff guiding you along. The towel folding demonstration wasn't an actual class, they just showcased the way that the housekeepers fold to form different types of animals which they place in your room on the last night of your voyage.

We got a cute kangaroo in our room on the last night!

Others
On the last night of dinner, the entire F&B crew at Sapphire Dining came together and put up a small performance where they sang and danced for the guests dining in the hall. It was quite a nice mini show to watch, knowing that they worked so hard day in and out to serve us and still have to put time aside to learn the dance moves and song lyrics to put up this performance. Kudos to you guys!

We initially didn't plan to leave the cruise and disembark at Penang as we wanted to go for the other programs that was happening during these hours. However, it rained and the pool programs were cancelled, and there wasn't much programs thereafter. So we decided to get out of the jacuzzi and change out to head to Penang. Our cruise docked (and cleared imigration) at about 330pm, and guests could disembark afterwards, but we have to be back by 10pm if not the cruise ship will leave without you. What surprised me most was that we didn't even have to collect our passport and we could just disembark and walk freely into Penang. I guess its hassle free to travel around without a passport? hahaha.

Anyway, it was raining quite heavily when we disembarked, so we brought our own brolly and walked to George Town. We didn't plan to walk all the way to george town, it kinda just happened and we stumbled upon it while trying to navigate with our google maps. There are heaps of taxi drivers waiting at the port to pick passengers up, but i heard their prices are quite exorbitant. If you really want a ride, it's much cheaper and safer to book on GRAB. As it was a Sunday afternoon when we arrived at Penang, most of the shops were closed for some reason, and we ended up at this local coffee shop to have our Penang laksa! It was just a short exploring for us as we intended to make itt back to the cruise at 6pm for our dinner at Sapphire Dining. Dining is still available on disembark day but the table seating is not fixed (as not everyone will be back for dinner), so it was a free seating style.