This trip was joined by grandmaKwan, the brothers, and Nicolette's (neighbour) family. The boarding time was 1130 for our Deck 9, so it wasn't that bad, just that the grab was pretty expensive as we had to travel in a family ride for our strength. The ride was about $40 if i'm not wrong about it.
*Quick tips: The cigarettes are cheaper compared to Singapore's price if you purchased from the casino.
We cut through the casino and made our way to windjammer. However, we were guided by ushers to level 4 dining room for our lunch. Thankfully we followed the ushers, as we were made known subsequently that the windjammer was full, but the dining halls were pretty empty. The lunch was a buffet (pretty down-scaled version of what you will be eating at windjammer for the next few days), but it sufficed our stomach while waiting for the rooms to be ready.
Once we entered the room, we were glad to see a wonderful suite with a large balcony that you can enjoy the sea view. Looking at the Cruise Compass for Day 1, we quickly decide our itinerary for the day. For Day 1, we picked to go the following:
1400-1545: Short walk around the cruise (Royal Promenade, Arcade and Poolside)
1600-1700: Compulsory evacuation drill
1700-1730: Viewing of the Parade at Royal Promenade
1730-2000: Dinner at Dining Hall
2030-2130: Ice Odyssey
Beyond: Good Night
Quick tips: Take the stairs if you can, the lifts are really a long wait. Also, cruise compass will be issued to you the day before. Do take a look through and see what are the highlights of the next day. Plan the timing well, so that you don't miss any of the shows.
Within the arcade, there is the children activities area. Do remember to book in advance if you want your kinds to play, as i heard that the activities are always fully booked. Heard that your kid has to be toilet-trained too, to participate in the activities.
The dinner was fine-dining to certain extent. You were given menus and you can pick any amount of food that you wanted. Normally for papaTan, he will pick two mains (one staple food, one meat), and most of us will have taken two entrees (soup and an appetizer). If you are really a big eater, you can pick much more than that, they will not restrict your orders. Do note that you would have to order one by one, as the waiter will remember your order, and serve you your food. Also, you will be sit at the same table every night, served by the same waiters, so they will pretty much remember your preferences (the waiter knows babyTan preferences for fruit platter and final ice-creams).
Quick tip: Do make a reservation for your dinner. If not, you would need to queue at the side without any reservations made, and the queue is quite long. With reservation, you firstly join the shorter queue, and also you will already been assigned with a seat.
The ice-skating show was really amazing, with lots of nice stunts from the performers and this is really worth the watch. So i would strongly recommend this show, if it is still available when it's your turn to go up the cruise.
Do note that the casino would have been opened by this timing, and if you are not a show lover, you could make your way to try your luck at the casino.
This pretty much summed up the first day in cruise! Stay tuned for Day 2!
Quick tip: There are only three smoking points at the cruise. They are (1) deck 11 swimming pool, (2) deck 4 casino, and (3) deck 4 outdoor areas.